Ironman 4x4 Foam Cell Pro

How many threads were showing and what was their reasoning for wanting excess length?

Edit - Just saw your other post and found "Even after Mule tightened them down they were still not even flush with the bottom of the nut." Yea, that is definitely unsafe. https://www.engineersedge.com/hardware/minimum_threads_protruding_beyond_nut_13155.htm

 

did you get those lower rated springs installed?

 

Has anybody gotten the Timbren U-bolt flip kit with the Constant load leaf springs? Is the ubolt kit it comes with long enough?

 

I do but not with the constant. Here is what mine looks like though

 

Looks like there is enough thread leftover to cover any extra thickness on the constant load springs.

 

After months of waiting and pouring over these posts it's finally time for my "she's done!" post

First and foremost: Huge shout out to @GHOST SHIP for doing the install (and cab mount chop) for me. If you are anywhere near SoCal I can't recommend this dude enough. Worth the drive even if you're *not* near SoCal. You can check out his thread (GHOST SHIP: fabrication/installs) and I'll have photos of the CMC up in my build thread shortly.

So here's how she looks once all is said and done:



I went with constant load front and rear. I removed one (third) leaf from the leaf pack. Current weight worth mentioning: Plate steel front bumper & reinforced camper shell. I initially ended up with exactly 4" of lift in the rear and 1.75" in the front. (after driving home ~100 miles with a ton of tools and the old suspension in the rear plus ~20 minutes of light wheeling at Hungry Valley on the way home for funsies )

I wanted to get the front up higher but obviously didn't want to take the shocks off and the compression tool from AutoZone doesn't fit these coils anyhow. I found if you unlink and swing the sway bar all the way forward you can use the

$28 Kei Project Universal Coilover Adjustment Spanner Wrench Set, 4 Pc. Tool Kit for Suspension System and Shock Adjustments, Small, Medium, and Large Spanners

spanner wrenches linked earlier in the thread to make adjustments on the truck.... albeit far from ideal and your mileage may vary. After dousing everything with a liberal coat of silicone spray, I was able to use to use a big persuader bar to get them to budge, and you can see what the spanner wrenches thought of my mechanical advantage. I had to keep stopping every couple turns to hammer the spanner back into shape. This system wouldn't be nearly as bad with a beefier spanner.





But the important part is: It worked!

Once all was said and done I was able to get her level (I guess not level... but sans Taco lean) with a lift of 3" in the front and 4" in the rear -- pretty much exactly what I was after.




Few other things to note: Sergio (@GHOST SHIP) obviously has WAY more experience with stuff than I do. You can see he's installed a ton of lift kits from all the big names, but this was his first time doing an Ironman Kit. Overall he seemed intrigued and impressed by the quality of the components / hardware. One exception was the castle nuts included for the upper control arm ball joints. He used only handtools, but the castellations warped on both nuts when tightening making it difficult/impossible to install the cotter pins. He ended up re-using the Toyota nut on one side, so to future installers I'd recommend just re-using the Toyota castle nuts when you do yours.

Only other thing worth mentioning is that I've got a slight but very noticeable washboard vibe right around 20-25 MPH. Nothing too bad and I can't decide if it's even worth chasing. I might just give the rear springs more time to mellow out and see if it solves itself (or maybe I'll just grow to care less and less about the vibe ). I already did the ECGS bushing before the lift so I know that ain't it.

Anywhoooooo.... overall very happy with how everything turned out. Now time to save up for tires 'cus right now she's looking a little oafish with these tiny shoes on!

 

Looks awesome man! I appreciate the kind words. In regards to the driveline vibe it sounds like a pinion angle issue to me. You can measure the angle at the carrier bearing and the 3rd member to see how far off they are. It gets a little trick because there isn’t a good flat spot on either to get exact measurements so you’ll have to get creative. If the angles are really far off, then leaf pack shims would help and/or solve the issue. A general rule of thumb is 1 degree of shim per inch of lift but knowing what we all know about manufacturing process variances, that is just a ball park number and not to be treated as gospel. Also keep in mind that the springs will settle a bit so that’ll change the amount of measurable lift you have down the line.

 

Great write up! Your truck looks good!

one question, could the vibrations be from the needle bearing? You can check by going into 4x4 while driving and see if the vibes go away.

 

He’s already done the ECGS bushing so my guess is it’s the rear.

 

I need to learn to read the entire posts…

 

And, if you haven't already, for upgraded UCAs if the new Tacos are anything like the 2nd gens at 3" of front lift. And more routine CV joint replacements too.

 

FCP kit includes UCAs w/ 4 degrees of castor correction

 

Not yet. Waiting to get the new bumpers on before going with the lower rate. Bumpers are at the powder coaters. Hopefully will be done soon.

 

That makes sense. Maybe with the bumper it soften out your ride some. Hope it helps!

 

I added a stainless steel washer along with the spacer and I think that helped. It's really pretty minor and I don't feel it unless I'm really paying attention to it.

 

Thanks. I am waiting for the leafs to settle and hoping it goes away. Unfortunately it's all I notice now when I slow down.

I also had a clunk on the driver side front when going over big bumps. I discovered my control arm was hitting the leaf spring with the relocation kit installed. I flipped the control arm mounting bracket so the slotted bolt hole points towards the rear of the truck and it seems to have resolved the issue. Flipping the bracket only moves the control arm forward a fraction of an inch but it appears to have been enough.

 

Aaaand it shipped. I’ll have my stuff next week.

 

Got my wheels in yesterday! Going to be going to the shop Monday for tires and alignment (285/70/17 Ridge Grapplers).

I seem to remember somewhere on here there is some literature from Ironman regarding the alignment with these kits -- anyone happen to have a link to that I can give to the shop?

 

per their instruction sheet from the control arms https://store-pusehjx.mybigcommerce.com/content/UCA001FA Pro-Forge Upper Control Arms IM.pdf

 

Bingo! Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you my google-fu failed me on my search.