Shock Installation Question

I installed 5100s with OME 885 springs and have a couple questions regarding that.

First, are the lower shock eyes and bushings supposed to be square to the mounts on the lower control arms? Both were slightly twisted and getting them into the mounts was a bit challenging. Even after bolting everything up they are still not squared up. is this a problem? Also, tonight I noticed that when going over a speed bump there was a harsh creak from the front end, almost like metal on metal. It sounds a little like when you hit a bump at full lock when the steering stops rub. I have no idea where that could come from, but wondering if it is the shock eye rubbing under articulation?

 

The eyelets are fine. Check to see if the uca is hitting anything. If you added a lot of lift things can get a bit too close, that's why aftermarket UCAs are recommended often

 

did you mess with the cam tabs at all with the lift or get alignment after install? i had a terrible creaking noise and turned out the shop didn’t tighten my cam tabs all the way. i believe they should be 100 ft. lbs. the shock end could be rubbing but hard to tell in the pics. stock lower control arms have a lot of deflection so it might be rubbing under certain circumstances.

 

Did you torque everything to spec while on Jack stands or the lift or did you torque everything while on the gound?

 

Thanks for the feedback.
2” lift so the stock UCAs should be ok, and I’ve been looking to ensure they are clearing. I need to keep an eye on that to be sure.

Everything was torqued while on jacks/stands. I plan to go through everything again now that it’s got a week of driving on it.

I got new tires and alignment a couple days after installing the lift. I was wondering if something on the lower arms was loose or otherwise amiss following that. The shop I use is good, so I’d be surprised if they screwed up something, but everyone makes mistakes, so I’ll give it a look.

As an aside I’ve got the dreaded post-lift growl, apparently coming from the driver’s side differential bearing.

 

you should torque everything on the ground at ride height cause all the rubber bushings are fused to the control arms and shocks.

 

Loosen everything at ride height and retorque. You have your bushings in a bind now.

 

I have a similar metal on metal pop in my front as well. Curious to see what you find out. (and this has carried over between 2 sets of 5100s, new top hats, new top had bushings, new spring isolators, and different UCA's).

Part of me thinks is the big aluminum piece under the bumper cover, or body mounts.

 

I did what several suggested; backed off all fasteners and retorqued everything with the truck's suspension loaded. It seems to have stopped making any noises, though I need to deliberately hit a few sharp bumps to see if I can recreate any of those noises.

 

Thats the thing, i know all my bonded rubber bushings (LCA to frame and lower shock mounts) have all been torqued at ride height. UCA is an aftermarket SPC unit with free floating xaxis joints.

 

Circling back on this old thread as I discovered something new which I think is responsible for the noise. While rotating my tires I noticed that the upper control arm is rubbing the coil when the spring is close to, or tops out (full sag when jacked up). It isn't doing this on the passenger side. When I installed the 5100s I put a 1/2" polymer shim on top of the coilover to level out the taco lean. That's the only difference between the two. Any thoughts on correcting this? I'm thinking I may get the 1/4" spacer and swap it out to see if that fixes things. It's only a 2.5" lift with the 885s and "shouldn't" require different UCAs.