Bilstein 5100 / Eibach Gallery

I think that is the route I plan on going. Probably do bilstein 5100 front and rear with 881's and deavers AAL.

 

Good ole bilstein 5100s/ eibach coils with some 33x12.50r18 atturo trail blade m/ts and 18x9 mayhem warriors

 

Boy she's sittin even taller! Really happy with the results as far as ride quality and height goes. I thought I was gonna lose height comparing my old spacer setup, but actually gained a lot.. And not anywhere close to being as stiff as I expected. Then again, I haven't had better. But it's pretty dang smooth! Not much down travel at all up front and certainly limited in the rear using factory shock locations with the dakars and 5100s. I expected her to be topping out more on my drive home. Which was a mix of rough dirt roads, washed out creek, and a rutted up asphalt road. With a steep dip in one part too that she never liked dipping fast through before but was like butter this time. Only topped out once in the front going over a cattle guard with a bit of a drop to the ground after it, and it wasn't that bad. My rear prior to this would do that and was teeth-chattering, pucker-your-butthole harsh!

...But more than happy with the height which is what I was going for. Don't do a ton of wheeling but I'm betting she's much more capable/smoother than she was before. Hopin she'll sit better with a plate bumper soon tho..
Will post better side pics later..

 

Snapped a quick pic while i'm waiting on the alignment. They're busy as hell and will take a few hours. ugh. Had to leave it there...

At a slight incline in the rear in this pic. Definitely higher in the rear with the dakars tho.. But should settle a bit from what I hear. It's pretty close tho! And wouldn't mind the little bit of rake if it doesn't. Will have to take some measurements. Really happy so far with this setup. Can't wait to take it off road and see how it handles. way smoother than before. My old shocks were toast. Also, ordered up my relentless stealth bumper last night.

 

Welp, got to drive it a lil around town after work today, and I'd like to revise my opinion on the eibachs...

They are in fact pretty darn stiff. It drives fairly good, but any kinda drop, and you're gonna feel it. I went over my first speed bump, and SLAM. Lol. Still gotta mall crawl those bumps... Oh well. Really looking forward to my plate bumper now. I hope that will be enough. The dakars seem pretty nice. No vibes so far. A lil stiff but nothing like the front. I may end up swapping to ome coils down the road if these eibachs don't soften up with the bumper. Feels, wrong, with the front being way stiffer than the rear. But at least it's an upgrade from my spacers and shot ranches. Ha.. Alignment went ok, except they couldn't get the camber on driver side better than 1° which is what it was at prior (and only .2° off in relation to passenger side which is .8°) Not sure what's up with that, not being able to be corrected and wouldn't really affect it much to worry about they said. But wanted to be sure.. Probly gonna stop in on Monday and talk to them. I assume it's because it's completely maxed out with those coils, especially on the driver side with the 1/4 top plate spacer as well. Think it's still pulling to the right a tad. Was in a hurry to get to work on time when I picked it up so I just took the keys and ran.

Here's my printout. Also, isn't the caster supposed to be set higher with aftermarket uca's? Seems like I remember reading somewhere to shoot for a higher caster. I really don't know, is why I ask. Ha. But not sure if you're supposed to clarify specific wanted settings, or to just shoot for factory specs.. I just take it in and trust they know what to set it at..

 

Bumper will help a bit but not much. You'd need a front diff, full skids, winch then it'll feel a little better. Go ahead and swap out could when you can

 

I think I stated those Eibachs are damn stiff! They don't get any softer either

 

Yep pretty well known with them being a 620# coil spring. I have them too and they ride stiff even with weight up front.

 

The camber they left it at is no good and will cause unusual tire wear. Camber should be much closer to 0* (+/- 0.1* is ok) not 1.0*. In fact, it looks like all they did was adjust the toe based on what the spec sheet is showing. Your tech was just being lazy. They should be able to get more caster out of your setup but it doesn't really matter ATM. With the top of your damaged spindle moving around, both caster and camber will be changing as you drive and cycle the suspension.

FWIW, the camburg arms alone add 2* positive caster. Even with a lot of lift, you should still be able to easily see 2.5* of caster when all of the components are in good shape.

 

Hm. Well I think I'm gonna take it somewhere else. Have them correct it, even if it costs me another $80. Then take the sheet in to big o and raise hell and demand a refund. Because they have done this crap before. I almost always have to take it back. They are always super busy, and I do suspect that they were just half assing it and only did the tie. Makes sense now.. It's only place in town that I am willing to take it to and didnt wanna drive far to another shop with how bad the alignment was off initially after lift. Gonna go tomorrow and take care of it.

Also, regarding the spindle, I'm not sure it's actually affecting anything. There's very little play. And with it on the ground and pressure's on it, it doesn't budge. I don't think it'll affect alignment. Unless it gets worse. I gotta find time to disassemble it and see. Hopefully it's just the slug. So bummed about that. And I doubt I can get just a slug. I emailed camburg. Awaiting their response. Probly call tomorrow if I don't hear from them first thing.

 

I think you are underestimating the forces and energies at work. The spindle is moving when the suspension cycles. When it does, it is changing both caster and camber. That little bit of movement isn't so little in terms of alignment settings.

 

You should be able to get just get a slug. I know with TC you can

 

Thanks guys I appreciate all the feedback. So I'm gonna take it back to big o today. And tell them they need to redo it. So should I tell them any specific settings? 2.5° with caster? And of course to actually adjust the camber this time as well. It's covered for three months anyways so might as well. Then get it checked again one last time once I get that spindle or slug replaced.

 

Try Firestone, for the price of 2 alignments you can get lifetime alignments for free as long as you own the truck

 

I certainly will be driving there right after, if they try telling me I'm wrong and they did it right. Then I'll come back with the printout and show them. That way they can't try to deny my refund when I demand That. Ha. Because I'd bet they wouldn't honor it if repairs were made elsewhere after the fact. That shop is a joke. Certainly not going back after this tho.

 

0* toe
0* camber
+2.5* caster

 

Ok figured this out. Camburg replied back and said it's time to replace that bottom slug adapter. For some reason I couldn't find it on their site but sent me a link. $50. Should get a second one for other side too. Ouch. Not too bad tho. Just surprised it's worn out already after a few years. Makes sense with how bad my suspension was shot before tho, and driving on crappy roads every day. And occasional offroading.

 

So I know I keep taking this thread kinda off-topic, but... I just dropped in and talked to him. He tried telling me there was nothing he could do because I hadn't stated the numbers I wanted beforehand. And would have to charge me for another alignment. Then said that the camber was in the green on one side and was good. I told him it wasn't and it was tracking dirt on only 3/4 of the passenger side tire up front (the side that was "in the green"). Didn't even say anything about the driver side in red.. He then said he could throw it on the rack again and "try" to adjust the camber and caster, but wasn't sure if they could be adjusted on the truck! Ha! Another guy whom I've dealt with before whom seems like the only cool guy here, stepped in and said it ALL should be able to be adjusted properly, certainly the camber is adjustable. That everything can be adjusted, as Toyota's are the worst to align, he joked. Ha. I told him it looks like they didn't adjust anything but toe when they did it Saturday, and asked if they even acounted for the aftermarket ucas. He said they always shoot for factory specs unless otherwise stated. I told him I had just assumed you guys inspected it and saw it was set up with the off road package, as well as aftermarket control arms, and would adjust accordingly. But apparently not. So he asked for the numbers I wanted, after I already showed him what I wrote down on the sheet, which was zero for toe and camber, and 2.5° for caster.

I mean, it makes sense. That they go for factory specs. And it's kinda my fault for being a noob. Ha. Oh well. Lesson learned and now I know. I tried asking about this in the past but didn't really get the answers I was looking for. Plus it seemed to drive fine. Still not coming back here tho.

But I still don't know much about how caster works. I understand how it changes the angle, but how does that affect handling?? I told him 2.5° so I hope that's right! Ha.

 

Ok so here's the new printout.
Looks like everything was corrected. He said they couldn't get the caster any higher. Definitely drives a lot better now. Instantly could tell the difference.

He gave me two printouts tho. Little confused with that one. One at 5:07pm, and one at 5:37 pm. But the first one doesn't make any sense at all. The camber looks corrected, but the toe is out of whack. It looks like this is after he adjusted only the camber?



Second printout. This must be what it was at initially, then corrected.
Caster isn't matched on both sides. Should that matter all that much?

 

What does the slug adapter look like? Do you have a picture?