Hi

Months a go, with like 5000Miles, I went to a Work Shop to check some leveling options and they had their own "home made" spacers, ofcourse, nothing fancy, I think they just put 2 of those cylinders(spacers) on top of the Coil.

They put them on and I liked it very much.(you can see the photo)

Now, after like 8 months and now with 20000Miles, some noises started to come up progressively during the last months, the noises are on the front.
This noises are clunk!! clunk! every time the truck has some lightly shake to the left and right.
I also feel the staring wheel gets stiff when turning and some bumps are on the way.

I took the truck to the work shop and they find out(so far) thet some lower screws that connect the stabilizer bar woth the "A" bar had their joints gum all flufy(bland, soft), they even pulled the bar with the hand just to check and the noise was there.
they told me those screws needed to be replaced.. etc etc, well ok.

So I ask the forum:
Is that normal?
Would a Leveling Kit like the AutoSpring do the trick without getting those noises or wearing the rubbers?
I mean, what extra accesories could a leveling kit have besides the spacers themself that make the leveling the right way(I haven't seen a leveling kit)
If that so, I supose replacing the screws and gettin a leveling kit solve the problem?



thank you

Giorgio

 

can you get some pictures of the stabilizer bar with the loose bushings? i will post a pic of my 2.5" autospring kit here in a second-

just a first set of suggestions, for the clunking, have you made sure that the bolts on top of the coil are very tight- if they are a little loose, it would leave some "play" for the coil to clunk around on bumps- another clunk could be the upper control arm hitting the coil- are there marks on the coil where the control arm could be rubbing?


is this the stabilizer bar you are talking about?

 

Are you talking about the sway bar end links? If so they are cheap and easy to replace.

You should check your upper ball joints though. They will clunk with side to side motion. Mine were with about 20000 miles on them with a leveling kit. I put a lift on and replaced them and the clunk is gone. I don't care what anybody says a leveling kit will destroy your upper ball joints. Myself and a few others have had this happen. I think more people also have loose joints and just don't get them checked.

 

good call on the ball joint check- i have mine checked every 3k miles- and so far (21k miles) they are as tight as new, and still adequately lubricated with my 2.5" original design AutoSpring.
there are a handful of people who have had problems, but there are just as many, if not more, who have no problems- there is no doubt that the leveling kits effect the ball joint wear, but there is no definitive answer as to when they will go out, what size makes them go out-and under what driving conditions- as some have lost theirs with normal street driving, and others heavy use on and off-road...

 

1) These are all fluffy, bland(not hard)

2) If you pull down this bar hard enough, a clunk! is heard, which it seems to be the screw [3] hitting the axle(or whatever its name is)

3) The workShop guys told me to buy this screw... but no Parts Store have it, they tell me to go directly with the dealer.
But that's not what I'm worried about, I'm concerned about if that's normal.., that is, have to replace that screw every X miles?
If so, again, is ok, but I just want to know if the leveling kit(mine is "home made") is the key here..., if that noise is normal and any leveling kit will do the same or if that noise is NOT normal and the right leveling kit will solve it.
Etc.

- So you recommend to tight the bolts at the top? ok.
- BTW, the guy at the work shop checked and they pull a piece of rubber from top of the.. the.. coil? the part at the top where the bolts are. see picture:





It also seems to rub the coil..., but I don't think the clunk! comes from there, as the truck's shake doesn't need to be to strong to hear it, but then again, what do I know:




You can see the spacer here, does it seems normal size to you?:



Any toughts?


Thank you

Giorgio

 

giorgio- i will check my front sway bar this evening when i get home from studio and will report back with what mine is like-

 

If you do need "sway bar end links" (that's what those screws are called) they are cheap. Very easy to replace also.

Your spacer looks like a normal size. Also the coil rubbing the control arm can make a clunk over larger bumps. Maybe you never noticed it before because of the plastic coating? Now that it wore off you can hear the clunk? Just a thought!

 

Hey BalogUK, how do you check to make sure your balljoints are still good? Just by visual inspection or some other method.

Thanks,
jrbhc8

 

when they have the truck up on the lift- generally if you can push and pull the tire laterally with ease (actually any major movement, vertical/horizontal), your ball joint is screwed... if the boot is torn, might as well order some new uca's as the joint is contaminated and is rubbing away-
hence powerages suggestion that he could have ruined his balljoints since he is clunking on left/right weight transfers

 

Thanks, that makes more sense now. I'll have to check on my next oil change. Also powerage how much does a set of the new uca's cost? I've seen it on here somewhere before but can't find it at the moment.

Thanks,

jrbhc8

 

The rubbing on the spring has been resloved with the newer generation leveling kits. They are offset to move the spring out of the way.

Maybe the ones you got are not offset like this. I cant speak from experience yet, but when I ordered my Autosprings, this was one of the considerations I looked for.

 

the uca's are around $70/side plus install

 

Ya and they are a pia to install because you have to remove the strut assembly. Not that it is hard just time consuming.