Brakes Weird After A Lift?

Picked up my truck today from the shop that lifted it a little. I got there just as they were closing up, left and got down the road a ways and when I went to hit my brakes the pedal went damn far down. I was driving barefoot, and I could just fit my foot under the pedal at a full stop.

I check my fluids ever 2 weeks and last I checked my brake fluid was perfect. It was about 1/2" low when I got home and checked it.

Brakes were perfect before dropping the truck off, what could the shop have done to fuck with them?

 

How much is a little lift?
And what parts where installed with the lift?

 

Potential they disconnected the lines to do the work and then they didn’t bleed them?

 

It sounds like they damaged a brake line and it’s leaking. Call the shop.

 

I wanted 2" front and 1" rear. 6112 Bilsteins with new springs in the front, and 5100's in the back. Owner said this would be a perfect lift, and wouldn't put any additional wear on UCA's and CV joints.

Then he called earlier today and gave me some shit about I should only lift it 1.5" in the front and not add a 1" block to the rear. I measured it before I left from the hub to the wheels wells all the way around. Damn lift is less than an inch.

Owner wouldn't come out of his office when I was there, shop manager finally walked outside with me, and said a 2" lift would compromise the front end components, and I'd need a differential kit of some kind. Total bull shit from everything I've read on here the past couple weeks. Then when I told him it barley looked lifted he got a measuring tape and was measuring from the ground up to the fender wells. When I dropped it off I had 33 PSI in each tire, when I was on my way home they were at 36 and 37 PSI.

 

I would guess while pulling the front apart to install the shocks they damaged a brake line.
The rear can be lifted without touching the lines but the front you need to remove the spindle from the UCA and maybe the spindle was left hanging without support thus stretching the front lines and damaging them.

Depending on your truck you might not be able to get 2" depending on what springs you installed. Like if you have a bumper, skids, and sliders you will lose at least 0.5" from the weight.

 

I've checked and can't see any fluid leaking anywhere. My truck is stock except for the lift.

 

Did they adjust the rear drums at all?

 

Take it to a different shop.

 

No clue. I can't see a reason they would.

 

I'm guessing that they disconnected a brake line or two while doing the lift, and then didn't bleed the brakes after reconnecting the lines. Bleed the brakes and see if that helps.

 

That's what I'm thinking too. I added some brake fluid to the fill mark and drove it to Wendy's yesterday. Checked the fluid and it was above the line line when I got home. Removed the excess, but haven't drove it since.

 

1. Always Measure from the center of the hub on each wheel to the fender, not from the ground.

2. You can do a 2" lift, but yes it will put more wear and tear on the cv boots. Just budget in for future upkeep. (CVJ Axles in Denver is your best bet for an OEM axle with a high angle inner boot)

3. Their is no reason to disconnect a brake line for the install. They should be disconnecting the brake line brackets in front at 2-3 locations on each side if they install the front shocks by disconnecting the UCA from the spindle. They might have damaged something by not doing so. But I would bleed the brakes as a starting point.

4. At 2", this would bring the center of hub to fender to about 23" Might want upper control arms for it with additional caster, but it can be subjective if you get a wandering effect even after a new alignment.

Stock is about 21" front and 22" rear with no extra weight on a 3rd gen. Grab the 6112 paperwork and check which clip settings that they placed it at.

6112 - Part# 47-309975

4x4 V6 Double Cab and Long Bed Lift Options = 0, .4”, .7” 1” 1.4”, 1.7”, and 2”

 

Make sure the parts on your invoice are on the truck. The whole mid stream changing it up sounds suspect.

 

Last time I had the dealership do a oil change, they said it was time for a brake fluid flush. I'm going to take it up there today, and have it flushed. If there is air in the lines, which is the way it feels...that will cure that problem.

I'm also going to ask them to check to make sure all the lines are in perfect shape.

If they find anything wrong, I'll have them document it to take back to the shop that did my lift.

 

This is what they put on it. I'm taking it back down next Wednesday to do what they were supposed to have done in the first place. Claims they will adjust the front 6112's up, and add the 1" rear block that they said they would do in the first place.

 

Just got back from the dealership having my brakes looked at. After a couple hours the dude came out and said the lines had a lot of air in them. They bleed it out with whatever they use, and took it for a test drive. He said sometimes the pedal would be fine and other times it would almost go to the floor.

He said they were going to bleed them the old fashion way in the morning, and gave me a 2025 Rav4 to drive home.

I've done a lot of brake jobs and replaced broken brake lines in the past. Do these new brakes have other shit on them that can go bad?

I told him about the shop, and he said they didn't see any damage to any of the lines.

 

I'm not aware of any special trick. I use a power bleeder and force fluid through the system.

 

Is the the adjustment snap ring on 6112's?

 

Those are the different grooves for the snap ring. Allows you to choose which lift height you want.

The dealer probably used techstream to pulse the abs module and get the air out of the system.