Suspension Install

I'm a little late posting this, but I finally got everything installed (suspension).
What I installed:
Front:
-IVD, Tubular, Delta Joint UCA's
-Fox 3.0" extended travel, adjustable coil-overs
Rear:
-Archive Garage Hammer hangars + cross member/tube
-Old Man Emu, Dakar, heavy pack leaf springs
-Fox 2.5", remote reservoir shocks
Wheels & Tires:
-Method NV 305 17x8.5
-Nitto Ridge Grappler 295/70r17

The front was pretty simple and straight forward, I just had to get creative when it came to removing the long bolt that secures the factory UCA's. Other than that it was very simple.

The rear was much more involved. The right tools, and knowledge ahead of time can save a ton of time and effort. Grinding down and drilling out the facotry rivets to remove the factory shackle hangars was a pain, and by far the most time consuming portion of the install. Once the factory shackle hangars are removed everything else is a breeze.

I forgot to take pics of the front install, but here are some pics of the rear:

 

Looks great OP

 

Great choice with the ridge grapplers, any idea what you got height wise out of front/rear??

 

It looks great brotha!

 

Awesomeness!

 

Quick tip to try for next time. When I removed a lot of factory rivets holding on suspension mounts on my old Chevy project I found a nice sharp chisel and a big hammer was the best way to remove rivet heads quickly and cleanly. Sounds like it'd be a pain, but it worked for me. Minimal grinding and definitely no drilling.

 

I got about 2-1/2” in the rear, and adjusted the front to get 3”.

I had to lower the front a little because I overextended my adjustable coil overs and I didn’t have any down travel In the front. It doesn’t sit quite as level now, but still looks amazing and rides so much better.

 

Thanks for the tip. If there is a next time I will certainly keep that in mind as that process was by far the most difficult and tile consuming part.

 

A little rake looks good imho. Did you end up doing extended brake lines too?

 

Did you lower it to 3” or did you lower it below 3”? When I measured my down travel pre-lift I had 3” unless my memory fails me. I have a similar step up as you, but I left my front as it came from King at about 2”.

 

No, I measured and they weren’t necessary. I don’t run my truck very hard, or do any rock crawling. While there is a possibility of them being tight at full droop, It is very rare I’m in that situation.
Additionally, if I am in that situation I will be going very slow and when I checked the lines at full droop they were tight, but not going to break/tear, or come off.

 

Right on, I was curious with that much rear lift. I'm right in the same boat as you, not many rocks around here in Florida

 

Yea, not many around those parts as I recall. I’m up in WA state now, but I mostly stay on forestry access roads and a few easy trails.

 

I lowered it below 3". From the factory it was barely more than stock height, which caused way too much rake once I installed my rear suspension. So, I adjusted it to ride level, but that is when I over extended it (possibly a little more than 3") so I lowered it below 3" which solved my lack of don travel and rough rude in the front. Although, the 10-ply Nitto's don't help much with a rougher ride.

 

I didn't realize it would lift the rear that much when I put the OME Dakar leaf pack in. Plus, the Archive Garage HH's add an additional 1" of lift. So, my only solution is to get a new rear leaf pack, or find an extra 600 lbs to haul around and get 12 mpg everywhere I go until I can afford to re-gear with Nitro 5.29's. Reason being is the OME Dakar leaf pack is super stiff, which is amazing when the truck is loaded down, but 99% of the time I don't have anything in the bed and the ride is stiffer than I would like.

 

You got way more than 3” of lift. What does your CV’s look like?

 

Here are some more recent pics since I lowered the front. I don't have a good pic of my CV's, but my hub to fender spacing is less than 24", so I'm good.

 

3rd gen’s should actually be limited to 2” lift (23”).

 

I received that figure from Filthy Motorsports, and I trust their pedigree of experience and knowledge. Not disagreeing with you, just providing my source as I am certainly no expert.

 

3rd gen’s came 1” higher from the factory than the 2nd gen’s, nothing changed in the suspension geometry besides the longer strut. If you care to look, Bilstein backs this reasoning being that 5100’s & 6112’s both max lift is 2” and says do not use the highest settings on the lighter truck configurations.