Caliper rub after leveling kit. Expert help needed.

Just joined the forum and have heard all good things. I'll start by saying I have searched around the threads to try and find a similar problem to my own but have had no luck. This worries me. If anyone knows of a link please share. Well here goes...

In the spring of this past year I purchased an immaculate tacoma from a dealer in oregon.

After purchase I drove the truck to a Les Schwabe. I had a set of steel Daytona rims ordered in MEDIUM offset to fit. Once installed (by dealer) I drove the truck back to north dakota (My current residence) and had not a single problem. I noticed my leaf springs and shocks had seen better days so I had a factory leaf pack shipped to me by Wheelers. I installed the pack myself but after installation (even with the weight of my 500lbs camper) the truck sat something like this.

The rear end sat a whopping 2 inches higher than previously. So my initial thought was a 2 inch leveling kit install at the same time as the shocks. Right?

I took her down to the local off road shop and they had ordered me a 2'' kit and all new heavy duty Ranchos. Heres where it all hits the fan. When the truck gets back to me its making all sorts of insane noises it never made before. Too many to even start to mention. So I dropped the truck back off the next day and said something had to have been done incorrectly. Miraculously I get a call back from the mechanic 3 hours later saying his work is "All good" and that my front calipers were rubbing on my rims. I asked him why that would be since that had never been a problem before he touched my truck and his response was that it had been rubbing when it came in. WRONG. I had driven the truck over 3 thousand miles since Schwabe had done the rim install without even a squeak or hint of grinding. He continued to deny that his work could be wrong and offered me a deal on wheel spacers. I politely declined and before seeking help elsewhere I took the front wheels to see if there was any flaws in his work that I could identify. This guy had put WASHERS on my lugs between my axle and rim! I removed them and took the truck to another shop. Here is the truck after the kit.



The problem here is that there are very few shops in town that are versed in these types of trucks and I was turned away at most establishments. Even the Goodyear shop that did my alignment said they could't find the problem (after selling me new ball joints and ti rods of course.)

Now I asked about a new set of upper control arms with more adjustment but the alignment shop said the truck had no difficulty being aligned and didn't need more adjustment. I just don't understand how going up 2 inches would being anything like a brake caliper any closer to my rim. The rubbing is so bad I can not drive the truck currently so at this point I'm ready to buy new wheels with a larger offset but still don't understand why this is even necessary when everything used to work just fine.

Anything helps, thanks for letting me vent. Cheers.

 

Did you forget to put a wheel spacer back in?

 

No the truck didn't come with one. I even checked my Schwabe receipt and there was no charge or mention of a spacer being added. Unless it was taken out and lost by the first mechanic but not to my knowledge.

 

Sexy truck btw

 

Something doesn't add up.

Are the wheels in fact hitting the caliper? If so, you should have marks on both. And you ought to be able to get it to do that by just jacking up the front end and spinning the wheels. If that's the case, then the only thing I can think of is that the wheels were originally installed with some washers in between the hub and the rim, and the suspension mechanic accidentally put fewer back on when he reinstalled.

Or, there's some other cause of the noise.

 

The wheels are hitting the caliper yes. The drivers side more so than the passenger. There are clear wear marks on the inside of the rim and face of both calipers. I wish it wasn't true but the noise is definitely coming from the caliper rub.

 

Either that or it HAD wheel spacers and he removed them to try to sell them back to you or someone else. Nothing that was performed should have brought the wheel closer to the caliper.

 

This could be true...

 

What would be you're next move. ordering all new rims with the correct offset or trusting a 1/4'' spacer with the setup i already have?

 

I personally dislike spacers, but it's probably your best bet in this situation. Ordering new wheels and having your tires dismounted and mounted on the new wheels is going to be costly. I'm guessing a 1/2" spacer is all you would need. Possibly closer to 1/4".

The guy who caused this disaster deserves a swift kick in the nuts.

 

Thats what I'm sayin. I hear the horror stories about spacers but 90% of the driving done on this thing is highway.

 

I'm sure you'll be fine with them especially considering it almost definitely already had them BEFORE that asshole removed them. The fact that he put washers in to try to mask it says something.