BDS 6" Lift faulty weld/mounting bracket position (check your welds!!!)

The BDS Kits (or at least the one I received) have a design flaw on the front passenger side diff mounting bracket. The bracket is welded too far to the center causing it to bend excessively when torqued to the recommended 96 ft-lbs. Mine was so bad that the weld behind the bracket cracked. Unfortunately I have limited shop time and could not wait for BDS to send me a new part. I already had everything put together and the front end nearly complete so I decided to fix it myself considering its a simple weld.

If you had this kit installed by a shop I highly doubt that they did a thorough inspection of everything. I would check all of these mounting brackets and welds, specifically the passenger front. All of them seemed to bend a bit after being torqued. But the passenger side front cracked half way up the weld. I included pictures of the issue and repair.


The bad weld








The remainder of the mounting brackets look fine. A slight bend to them but no issues with cracked welds.








The fix is done by grinding through the powder coating in to the steel around the cracked weld. I used a skid plate mounting bolt as a ground and made sure to use a welding fire blanket and wrap the diff control box/wiring. I ran a bead down the weld and once cool I coated the area with POR15.

 

Good find!

Checking mine soon Thx OP

 

Wow, yeah I'm surprised! I check everything every few thousands miles and inspect all the mounting bolts on the drop bracket myself. No issues thus far. Glad you caught during install. Reason why I do all my own work

 

I hear ya, being an aviation mechanic in the Air Force I'm very picky and I always do my own car work and check it twice or even three times. If I had a shop do this I dont think it would ever be caught until it was too late. You just cant trust most shops to do a good job these days anyway. I emailed BDS and got no replies so I'm a little pissed about the customer service I'm getting.
For $2300 I expect much better results! But hey at least the rest of the kit went together without a hitch. If this little oversight is the only thing wrong with it then I cant complain too much, still...$2300 right? I guess if I ever do this again to a Tacoma I'll pay the extra grand for the Fabtec kit. I hear the finish is a lot better. The powder coating on this kit is actually quite shitty to be honest with you, at least compared to my ARB bumper. I do plan to paint it with POR15 once the rock chips start peeling it off on the front faces. POR15 forms a nice hard ceramic like layer.

 

I agree on the powder coating. The edges seemed to chip/flake in a few areas in which I hit with some touch up paint nice and heavy to keep it from flaking even more. Mines been on for almost a year I believe and the rest if it is holding up good without any chipping from road debris/etc. I also called BDS with a few simples questions and they never got back to me. But, I am pretty happy with the construction of the lift and all the components. I personally like it way better than the fabtech and pro comp kits especially if you will be taking it off road. I tend to steer others towards the BDS after seeing the other kits in person. You have any pics of your setup with the arb?

 

Not yet. Its still on the lift but I'm hoping to have it done by the end of the weekend. What did you not like about the Fabtech kit? I figured for more money it would be a heck of a lot better no? Good to hear that your kit is holding up great after a year, what kind of off roading do you put it through?

 

I don't like the support arms they use and how exposed the front diff is. And I've heard they really limit the suspension travel and turning radius. I had a fabtech on my titan with the dirt logic shocks/coilovers and wasn't that big of a fan. Its had its far share of wheeling. There's some pics in my build page. Mostly mountains trails and not much crawling or deep Mud

 

Yeah I just saw your build thread. I love it and all the mods you've done. Why are you selling it though? I'm currently making my own build thread so check it out and as soon as the truck is back on the road I'll update with how it looks with the ARB bumper.

 

I appreciate it. Life changes I guess you could say. Lots of money tied up in it so it'll free up funds for me. Its hurts to do especially since I bought it new and have down all the work myself so its very personal. But, we'll see! Things seem to change rapidly