Mid Travel kit

I was looking at maybe doing a Mid travel Icon shock, but I heard that you only gain an inch of travel. Is this even worth it? I do light off roading,so would a stock travel icon shock be better for me. If I only lift m truck to 2.5" and used stock travel I wouldn't need new UCA's, right? or would the truck sway all over the road. I want a great ride lift, but don't really want to do UCA's just for 1" more of travel due to my 100,000 mile warranty. Thank you for your help!

 

It's worth the extra wheel travel. That 1 inch translates to much more droop than you would expect in actual wheel articulation. When I installed my kit I was suprised at how much more my front suspension would droop down opposed to stock. I have to stick a piece of 4x4 lumber on top of a normal floor jack to just get the tires off the ground.

 

What he said. ^^^

Do the UCA. You will be happy with the increased droop, improved ride quality, and the additional caster adjustment that you will be able to get out of it over the stock one.

 

Just like holding a stick in your hand. The closer the stick is from your hand won't move as much. But towards the end of the stick, it moves almost a foot.

 

Not saying you're goijg to get another foot of travel. Lol but it does add up

 

Does a mid travel extend the wheels out of the truck further like having a negative offset wheel? I wonldnt need glass fenders correct?

Also, I decided to go Icon mid travel and LR UCA's. I figure even if warranty dosent cover it, no touch can go wrong with a 3" lift. Right? Thanks for the help!

 

Also, If I just do 2.5" of lift and also add a diff drop, would my CV boots leak or any other complications? thank you

 

"Does a mid travel extend the wheels out of the truck further like having a negative offset wheel? I wonldnt need glass fenders correct?

Also, I decided to go Icon mid travel and LR UCA's. I figure even if warranty dosent cover it, no touch can go wrong with a 3" lift. Right? Thanks for the help!"

You will not need fiber glass fenders. You will have the same range of articulation as stock except the wheels will droop lower because the extra length of the shock. The wheels will not compress any higher due to the stock bump stop position.

The only way you will have rubbing issues is if you have go with a wheel with more backspacing and/or a bigger tire such as a 285. If you find a shop that can set the alignment right you will be fine. It took 2 trys for me to get my alignment right. I took it to a Toyota dealership and they set it to stock specs which is fine but you will rub with a bigger wheel and tire combo. Then, I took my truck to a Americas Tire and I guy that understood uniball UCA knew how to adjust my my alignment to get it right. No rubbing and the truck rides smoother than stock.

I wouldn't worry about the warranty. The only thing you will be voiding is the suspension components and maybe a little bit of the drivetrain components such as CV axles. To be truthful, in the event you do have issues a dealership is going to point at the lift and say "that's why.
If you do your homework and know what you are talking about mechanically they can't touch you. Unless your lift actually caused said damage. Do you your homework and be educated to what you are doing to your truck and you shouldn't have any issues.

Also, If I just do 2.5" of lift and also add a diff drop, would my CV boots leak or any other complications? thank you

Most guys will tell you not to go over 2.5 inches. I'm just under 3" but,I wouldn't go over 3". That's what the upper control arms are for is to be able to get the truck into alignment over 2.5'' becuase you lose caster.

As far as the Cv boots, the beauty in adjustable coilovers isyou can fine tune your ride hieght. I jacked the truck up and slowly adjusted my CO's just enough to where I got the ride hieght I wanted but the CV boot fins where not touching. I would let the truck settle then adjust. As long as the fins on the boots aren't touching you will be fine. I'm right under 3''.

 

Thank you!!! Now with upper control arms should I get uni ball. I don't plan on beating my suspension. Lol

 

Yeah, just get the uniball ones. They cost a little more but they are of higher quality then ball joints. The only thing is that they are not as maintenance free as ball joints because they are exposed to the elements where as the ball joints are sealed in a rubber boot encapsulated in grease.

Seeing that you live in Sac, you might as well get the Uniball, even if you go up to Tahoe every here and there just wash your undercarriage as I would expect you would anyways and spray out your wheel wells as well. Every here and there a spray of teflon spray on the ball itself and that's all the maintenance you will ever have to do.

 

I actually live in Jackson about an hour from Sac, but do the uniball uppers make a lot of noise. I heard that was the down fall...

 

If you run them dry, yes they will. Make sure you get uppers that have zerk fittings on them on the bushing side so you can grease them up every so often. That will be able to keep them noise free. As for the uniball making noise, like I said, a quick blast of Teflon spray and you are set to go. Super simple.

I wouldnt worry about squeaks for a long time after the initial maintenance you give them, being you don't live in a salty area or have to deal with the ocean bearing salted wind of an area of, oh let's say Pacifica or Santa Cruz.

Get Total Chaos, or Dirt King. They both have zerks on them. Dirt King is cheaper priced, it's what I have on my truck and it just screams quality.

 

I may just end up doing total chaos and some external resi extended travel icons. I will be moving up by Oregon Coast, so I hope that isn't bad

 

the down south motorsports uca's by desert products are awesome, mine have never squeaked and they also have zerks. send them a pm on here and they'll most likely hook you up.

*but all of them are great, essentially the same stuff different companies. except camburg which uses a 1.25in uniball i believe.

 

Not looking to thread jack you here OP, this is just very helpful as Im looking for the same as you right now.

Since Im on the coast and deal with the salty winds, should I not go with the unibal? Also sometimes I end up balls deep in water or mud on trails so would that be hard on them too?

 

Why not get icon uca's also? I put anti seize on bushings during install and no squeaks in 15,000 miles. Plus you can get a package deal.

 

Can you explain how to check the fins on the CVs or show what to look for? Pictures would be great. Or if this is already available elsewhere, a link would be great. I tried searching with no luck.

 

Get under front of truck. Look at CV boots and you will know if they are touching or not. Very simple.

 

Just take a look at them every once in a while. If you like to wheel, you should be looking at your rig and maintaining it anyways. It's not a big deal honestly.

You sir are correct. It just depends if the OP is looking for the boxed look or the tubular UCA look. They are all overkill for our application in honesty, but Camburg does offer a larger uniball. I heard some people do not get a whole lot of alignment out of them (some don't even get any additional adjustment!) though, that's the thing.

I would actually like to think you are better off GETTING a uniball config, because if you are driving in deep water, the boot for a balljoint setup is not waterproof and you can still seep water into there, which in the longterm could contaminate the grease and cause premature joint failure, with the uniball's they are exposed, so once you are done doing what you need to you could always just wash it all off, clean it then give it a nice spray down of teflon.

As long as the uniball's are made of stainless steel you are golden, the other balls chrome steel are more prone to rust in your area of living. They are stronger then stainless (even then, stainless steel uni-ball's are super overkill for our application anyways), but not as rust proof.

Because those cost big La Feria's $$$$ vs. the competition.

 

When checking CV angles you want to look at the fins on the boot that goes into the front dif because they are more prone to touching than the boot that goes into the spindle.

I have ICON UCA's and havn't had a single sound from the UCA's. Just keep the uniballs clean and lubed. Be carefull with how much lube you use because it attracts dust.