Lower Strut Bolt and King Shocks... HELP **RESOLVED**

The other day my truck started creaking terribly. I finally narrowed it down to the lower shock bolt front, driver's side. The stock bolt has a double stepped shoulder that doesn't go all the way through the bracket. This means that the King aluminum spacers sit oddly on the bolt shank. The back spacer sits partially on the thick part of the shoulder and partially on the thin part, causing the spacer to distort and wear unevenly. The other spacer sits partially on threads which cut into it. Is this normal? Has anyone else experienced this?

 

I found an older thread on another forum talking about the same thing with no resolution:

 

Normal Toyota parts. I bet that the bearing is what is making the noise not the bolt to misalignment spacer interaction.

I have replacement parts if needed.

https://www.303shockservices.com/product-page/2-5-coilover-lower-mount-replacement-bearing-kit

TW10 for 10% off.

 

Yeah just sounds like you need to replace the spherical bearings, normal performance coilover maintenance. I have to do mine around 25k miles give or take. Usually if you see more dirt/trails you might have to do them sooner.

 

It was the galling from the spacer to the shoulder that was making the noise. I greased them and put them back in while I try to find a better bolt or other solution. I talked to King, Filthy Motorsports and Wheeler's and until a few minutes ago, nobody thought there was anything wrong which I find astounding. The facts are irrefutable. The spacers both have the same ID even though they sit on a bolt, in positions, with different ODs. Also the shoulder is so short that one spacer is sitting on threads. This is NOT ok. King got back to me after I suggested that this issue get escalated and this is what they said: "Yes, apparently the new trucks have a step down now, we don't have a fix for that yet, but I'm sure you could use the old style bolt that they used to have before but for the time being we don't have a fix yet."

They want me to check back at the end of next week to see if they have a fix.

Strange thing is... My truck is a 2013 and that's the OEM bolt that it came with.


All that being said, I may take you up on that bearing kit.

 

@El Taco Sucio wondering if you found a solution. I am experiencing the same issue. Thanx

 

I ended up buying new bolts that have a longer shoulder and then replaced the spherical bearings and spacers. King support didn't really know what they were talking about claiming that I had some newer style bolts and that I should try to get the older style without the stepdown which, as far as I can tell, don't exist.. They also said that since they never see any issues they weren't going to make any changes to their kit.

Here is the link to the bolts and nuts that I bought:

BFD14x1.5x80YLW
https://belmetric.com/m14x1-5-fine-din-6921-flange-bolt-class-10-9-wrench-18mm/?sku=BFD14X1.5X80YLW

NFFH14x1.5YLW
https://belmetric.com/class-10-din-6923-fine-steel-smooth-flange-nut/?sku=NFFH14X1.5YLW

 

@El Taco Sucio right on! I appreciate your help. Just ordered the bolts and nuts and will give them a go. Thanks

 

Sub'd. Definitely need to get rid of that stupid shoulder when I put in new lower bearings. If I could just find a JIS spec fine thread bolt to maintain the 19mm hex that would be mint

 

Changed out the bolt and nuts with no resolution. My squeaking issue was due to the bearings and couplers. Once I changed those out. Creaking went away.

 

I wore completely thru a set of mis alignments and half chewed thru a factory bolt, just switched to grade 8 9/16 bolts/misalignments

 

@El Taco Sucio thanks for the bolts/nuts recommendation and @TMFF for the bearings and bearing reducers.

My bearings were making quite a bit a noise after only 15,000 miles of use. My OE bolts chewed through the bearings/reducers and my passenger side bearing was completely blown out with lots of slop, so hopefully the replacement bolts and bearings hold up better.

So far all of the creaks and squeaks I was experiencing have been fixed.

 

Crazy that Kings says this isn't an issue...

 

I ran across some pics of the bolts side by side that I took. The drive is smaller but the flange is the same:

 

Well, it's not an issue for King, it's just an issue for us. Lol.

I did not take any photos of my parts before I tossed them, but my bearings, bolts, and reducers/spacers had very similar wear marks to your photos. My passenger side bearing had more wear and could freely rotate like a ball (side to side and front to back).

I was expecting the replacement process to be more of a PIA than it actually was. So thanks again for everyone on this thread and 303 Shocks for the correct parts that were shipped very quickly.

 

A recall on this issue would be bad for kings wallet lol. And I second 303 shocks. Great service!

 

Damn! Fast shipping and great parts. Thanks, man!

 

Thanks for posting these. I just picked up a set.

 

Im working on sourcing a bolt that meets the JIS standards to keep the 19mm socket wd. Probably will requires some cutting and tapping but thats fine for me and my OCD

 

Would anyone have interest in a set of two if I can source them? So far Im only finding something close at a bulk supplier (they're a bit long and will need to be cut down to 80mm). Ive reached out to them to see if they will even consider selling to me, but if I can get away with 10 or 20 and a few folks here are interested that may be worth while.