Adding Preload to King shocks

Did any one have a problem with the inner silver shock body turning while trying to adjust the blue collar while installed. I stoped when I first saw it happen and am wondering how to beable to adjust them

 

The shock body should not be able to turn, if it is the top cap definitely needs to be tightened correctly before adjusting preload.

 

Is this some thing a dealership or 4x4 shop can do or should I send them back

 

PM sent

 

Raise your truck off the ground then loosen collar then turn with spud wrench or spanner. What's so hard the shops are just trying to make a buck off you because they'll say they took them off but they won't. I adjust mine on the truck ...not hard at allllllll!

 

This happened to me and I wasn't sure how to proceed. Ended up taking to a shop. Is there a way for the shock body to come apart as you keep compressing the spring/forcing the shock body to turn?

 

I have a technical question that I'm hoping some of you more knowledgeable (engineering background) guys might be able to explain for my dumb ass.

If it's common for most of us King guys to be preloading our coils so that we can adequately clear our 33in tires, is it possible to use a 1" longer spring (edit: king makes 16" springs which are 2" longer) of the same 600lb/in spring rate to decrease the amount of preload we're using? I've heard that too much preload negates some of the benefits of the valving kings shocks have when you are set up for full spring travel. I've also heard if you want less preload, go to a 700lb/in coil. So I did some simple math using a spring rate equation: F = -kx. I found how much force was on my coils now by measuring the total spring compression with my 600lb/in springs. I then substituted 700lb/in springs into the equation and found that these stiffer springs would only provide roughly 0.08in less preload. I like my ride now, not too harsh; and for 0.08 less preload, the super stiff 700lbin springs don't seem like a good solution.

I've heard that increasing the length of the spring would not reduce the amount of required preload, but for the life of me I can't wrap my head around why this would be true?

Any insight would be appreciated.

 

-Preload is necessary, not a bad thing.
-Kings come with 14" x 600lb springs. King and Eibach dont make a 15" long spring. You're limited to 14" in length.
-Same spring rate, but different length will require the same amount of preload to get the same height, just less threads showing.
-Yes, too much preload can also be a bad thing. Usually means you need a heavier rate spring.
-14x700lb springs are for super heavy trucks, steel bumper, winch, dual batteries etc...

Lots of good Tech on our site about a lot of this:
https://accutuneoffroad.com/articles/#toyota-tacoma--4runner

 

Oh hell yeah, I got the suspension experts themselves!

So my truck is definitely what you could consider a hefty boy. Steel front bumper, supercharger, IFS & Mid steel skids, and steel rock sliders. I called King and they told me to get 700lb springs, but again, this doesn't really do anything for my preload.

Would a 16" 600lb spring be ridiculous, would this cause coil binding). My understanding of this subject matter is that with a longer spring the preload would come from the spring being longer, and thus more compressed already, rather than the adjuster doing the work.

Could you talk about how you could identify whether a higher spring rate would be necessary? Would it be beneficial to get that extra 2" or so of valving from our shocks?

 

Do you know how much preload you have now on your King Coilovers?
What is your current coilover shock lengths at ride height?
We shoot for 2-2.5" of preload to get the desired lift height.
16" spring simply wont fit and would probably leave you with no adjustability.

We have our own calculator we use to determine spring rates and amount of preload needed. Based on what you described, you will probably benefit from the heavier rate spring. Heavier rate spring will require less preload to get your lift height.

 

Current shock length: about 22"
threads showing: about 1"
I have aftermarket fender flares so ride height from hub to flare won't be comparable to stock trucks.

Edit: you know what. I just sent a PM. Don’t want to clutter this thread more than I already have. Thank you for the information.