3rd Gen Owners with King Coilovers

Im not a tech or nothing, but I would think by breaking the connection in the resi line could cause a possible loss in pressure? Anyone with shock experience feel free to correct me. The "T-handle" one that I got is made to help assist especially with the resi ones as you can get the little end of it in and it has a slanted handle to help torque them down with getting around the resi lines. I simply just get my wheels off the ground for full droop, loosen the set screw at the top and then crank them down. I do put some electrical tape to cover the threads at the top so I can have a place marker to see what I started with and then adjust them until I get the desired thread amount.

Also, if you know of anyone who has a spare punch or spanner wrench, you can use those together to get a better pull on the coils. This is what I did before I got my t handle. The t handle makes the on the fly job much easier though.

 

I appreciate your advice.

 

Another tip here...when adjusting kings, my drivers coil always has two threads more than the passenger's side to help with the taco lean.

 

So i know this is about Kings, i too have them, but quick question about your UCA's. Do they creak or make any noise? What type of lubricant did you use? And what type of grease on the zerks. After about 200 miles mine are super noisy.

 

So is it safe to add lubricating oil to them? my kings have only been on for 2 weeks, and i tried cranking them up a bit, the passenger side wasnt too hard except for the fact that i ran out of room and couldnt reach the next hole. As far as the driver side, it kept bending the tip of the punch-looking tool. I stopped before it bent it too much and possibly broke. i kept straightening it out. The truck was up on stands and full droop. I even used a dead blow hammer to hit the punch hoping an "impact-style" approach would get it moving, but nope. The only thing i was thinking is that maybe because it was really stuck on there. But being as these are my first coilovers, just wasnt sure if i could spray them with any tuype of penetrating oil

 

Shouldn't be anything wrong with penetrating oil as I did that with my old set of coils. I think when you eventually get them adjusted, to try to clean them up if you want, but I don't think it would hurt with that stuff on there as it becomes a liquid film anyway. That is interesting about your drivers side. I will say this, your drivers side likely had two more threads than your passenger side had to help with the lean. I would still think you wouldn't have the resistance that you experienced, but ideally when cranking them up the drivers side should have a little more preload from the start compared to the passengers side. Do you have any buddies who have an extra punch or a spanner wrench you can borrow? Sometimes these coils can get "stuck" at spots and need extra leverage to free it. If not, you could try going to home depot and buying a punch of similar diameter as your king one and getting a second one that way.

 

I recommend using a dry lube. Many will use the triflow lube.
https://camburg.com/shop/suspension/tri-flow-heim-uniball-lube/

I went to home depot and got WD-40s offering.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/WD-40-SPECIALIST-10-oz-Dry-Lube-300059/204960991

I might pick up some of the triflow lube though to see how that works out.

 

Just installed Kings. Front feels amazing – nice improvement. The rear feels a little harsh, I think it is the leaf springs and not the shocks. It feels like the spring rate is too stiff. I know it is a truck, but I would like to hear if anyone has replaced the stock leafs for a smoother ride?

Can anyone recommend a tool to adjust the preload? The punch tool King supplies only works until the hose or frame bracket gets in the way. I really do not want to
have to take the shocks off to adjust the preload.

 

The punch isn't the easiest to use, but it should work especially if you just got them on. As for the rear, you could look to upgrade your spring pack depending on the height you are going for. I think your leaf pack only has 4 leafs? You could shoot for one that has 7-8 leafs that I think will be much more fluid. You will likely need some longer shocks if you do this though.

 

It is not an issue with the force to turn the punch, it is the punch clearance. Once the set screw is facing outward, there is no hole for the punch to keep cranking on the spring collar; the hose and frame bracket gets in the way.

Any recommendation on a leaf pack that would retain stock height but give a smoother ride?

 

I was able to wedge against the coilover bucket and turn with the punch just barely in the hole once it got to that tricky position...worked on both sides.

As for the rear I've tried a single add a leaf and a 10 leaf deaver pack. The stock leafs to me offered the most comfortable ride. The add a leaf was way too stiff and gave over 2" lift. The deavers were better, lots of flex but still stiffer for every day driving and 1.5-2" lift. I also got some weird vibrations and the brake shudder when I had the deavers/add a leaf on. As far as I know all the aftermarket leaf packs offer lift. Maybe a company like AllPro would make you a custom stock height softer pack. Or you could valve the rear shocks softer. I run my kings on the softest settings for everyday driving, and I don't find the rear too stiff at all.

 

The UCA's make some noise, and according to Total Chaos they are supposed to. Mine are not super loud though, I cant hear them unless the windows are down and the suspension travels a fair amount. The sound is hard to explain... like rubber on rubber. I guess u could say its a creak. I assume its from the bushings rubbing on the washers or frame maybe. I have been using this synthetic lube:

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/VCA985

Total Chaos recommends Super Lube, but I didn't want to have to order it online as no where around me had it in stock. Either way its a NLGI grade 2 lithium EP, synthetic grease. Been using it for about 15,000 miles, little noise so I assume its working well. I don't use any lube on the uni-ball but as suggested people use the Teflon dry lube. Just remember to loosen the UCA bolts and let the grease purge out the washers every time you grease.

 

Hey coot but that dry lube, that's for the uniball am I right? Is that ok to use in the bushings as well? I haven't had someone with me to drive my truck so I can pinpoint the noise, but I'm almost positive it's the bushings. I used the superlube as suggested by total chaos. I just don't know if it's that, or the grease from the zerks.

the one place I didn't use any superlube was between the bushings and washers, didn't know I was supposed to. But yeah it sounds like rubber on rubber! So I'm not sure if it is from the lube or the grease lol

 

There is a tool by king "t handle" that guys in here have said is supposed to help adjust the coils much easier, and helps reach those places where the punch cannot, I just don't feel like spending $50 on it honestly. But if I have to I will. I too feel it's something that should've been included with the coilovers for the price we paid.

thanks for clearing this up for me, and I will def be using some penetrating oil to help loosen them up. Mine have the same amount of threads showing (7). And driver side is about 1/4" lower than passenger side. But I'm def going to go get a punch from HD before buying the t handle. Hopefully the punch they have is harder material than the one provided and won't bend

 

So is it just me or does it look like it might be cross threaded? If so this may be why the driver side was so hard for me to turn. It's actually turning now. I sprayed it with some WD-40, and I'm using a hammer to hit the punch tool to slowly turn it.

 

Man I'm freaking out now. I called D S M to see if they could've came cross threaded and he said no, and that maybe if they were trying to be adjusted while on the vehicle. After getting very little rotation, im trying to button it up, and the driver side won't even close all the way. Here is the driver side vs the passenger side.
FML.

 

Ivan I would be very shocked if they were cross threaded. Those threads are pretty thick and deep, I think if they were cross threaded they wouldnt be able to move almost at all. I have the T-handle and I keep it in my truck for quick adjustments as the torque on it really kicks ass. I know its 50 though so I dont always advise it since not many want to spend that sort of coin on one. Also just looking at your bottom picture of the two, is it just me or does the collar look much tighter when your other photo is farther away on top and has a bigger gap than the close up one? Might be worth it to see if you can slightly pry open the collar more if that is the most that it can go? It might take brute force, but I think you are fine man. That collar def looks tight though.

 

I've got an extra bottle of triflow if you want it

 

you aren't supposed to necessarily put grease between the bushings and washers. You loosen the UCA bolt so that the bushings don't bulge when you put them under pressure from the grease gun. Loosening the bolt gives the grease somewhere to escape. And yes dry Teflon lube for the uniball only. Superlube for the bushings.

To me something looks wrong with your clamping set collar. That seems like a lot of clamp throw if its in its natural position. To me it looks like its being forced apart. Maybe you could check your passenger side and see how far the split is when the clamp is loosened. I think I'd send that picture to King or DSM.

 

Well the last 2 pics I sent, the collar that is open more is the driver side collar tightened. The second picture is the passenger side collar tightened which looks normal.
I think it's cross threaded honestly, and I think that's also why that driver side collar won't close as much and has that gap.
Tonight is my last night of my set, so tomorrow I'm going to pull it off the truck and try to fix the collar on the thread. Im going to try and seat it correctly. But if i can't do anything, I'm going to contact dsm. They swapped my coils from 600 to 650 lbs. so I'm thinking maybe it happened on them. Because I didn't touch them until now.