Well i installed an Eibach set of hangers, and bilstein shocks and it looks sweet just sitting there the problem is when i start moving.

Syptoms:
1. Gentle or hard launch i feel like the truck has to ramp up the rpms before it starts to move, like it is twisting the leafs the rolling.
2. 20-30 mph the whole truck shakes pretty bad, feels like im crusing on a gravel road
3. Coasting right after any use of the gas at around 45 i hear a grinding noise, similar to dragging a suspension or frame part (i know thats isnt what is actually happening)


Ive heard about pinion shims for the leafs, and know nothing about them Or what size angle i would need.

The other thing after reading some threads (trying to learn a little before i post and sound like an airhead) I read that the leafs have a line pin or something like that, that keeps them stacked in the correct orrientation.

Well once i reconnected the leaf springs to the new hanger, i noticed that the lowest leaf spring had kicked out a little and was not in line with the others. So i loosened the U bolts, and tapped on it with a sledge hammer until it straighted out. Was that bad???
Also read that using wd40 between the leafs can help too.
I dont know if it just needs time to settle, or if i should put alot of weight in it or try to order some shims, or what, any help would be most greatly appreciated.
Or if someone has some shims lying around that they could send my way...
Thanks,
-Patrick

 

No Bed


New Hanger


And if you look in the bottom right hand corner, you can see the kicking out of the lower leaf


everything back together

 

Best thin I can tell you is take it to an alignement shop and have them check it out. They can tell you what is needed to fix what is wrongt and why it is that way. You will need an alignment one way or another, anyway.

Scotty08

 

Your driveline angle is probably a little messed up (the angle between the driveshaft and the rear diff). You need to find out what shim(s) to put on the leaf springs to get the axle at the proper angle again.

As for the leaf spring kicking out a little, that can happen, that isnt your problem.

 

Yea i havent aligned since i did the front end lowering, and i know i need to, but i didnt even consider them being able to do something with the rear angle. Thanks that makes me feel alot better about it I will have to go tomorrow i will update when something has been done.

-Patrick

 

Well i drove all over town from shop to shop to find someone that could tell me what size shims i needed, after the goodyear alignment shop said they dont do that.
I took it to a place and the guy walked out in the parking lot, and was like whoa you need the 6* then he went in found some that he pulled off a different vechicle, and charged me 10 bucks for them.

But back to goodyear, I went there they checked everything and said i need a camber kit for the front, which is what i expected, they want 80 bucks for it, which i think is fair, but this is where it gets good. To replace two bolts on each side of the vechicle, on the upper control arm mount, they want, 175-200 bucks in labor cost. So they ordered the kit for me and i will gladly put them in my self. Then they are going to charge me 80 bucks to get it all aligned, and that comes with a year warranty on the vechicle, so ill be set

Anyone know if i can get a camber kit for cheaper then 80? I am going to put the shims in tomorrow hopefully, which should take care of my poor ride as described before, but i still need to get aligned before i drive it around too much.
-Patrick

 

I've read that every inch that you lower a vehicle = 1 degree of a shim that you need to re-align the driveshaft angle. Sounds right to me guess that's why when I got the 3/4 drop from belltech they sent me a 4 degree shim.

 

yea i put in the 6* shims today and drove to go get gas, it rides smoothly, and is much quieter.
Now just if i could afford the camber kit and alignment, ill be set.
-Patrick

 

my reg cab is 2 or 2.5" lower in front and on the rear i had a 3" jlp drop shackle with stock leafs and everything was fine. Last tuesday i replaced my stock leaf springs with 03 SVT lightning Leaf springs and used the shims that came with them but i dont know what degree they are. anyway i now have svt leafs (03-04) with 3" jlp shackle and well the svt leafs dropped it about an inch or so more than when i had stock leafs and i have no problems whatsoever with the driveline

ive also heard that extended cab or bigger have a great chance of having this sort of problem when lowering.

 

i'm 3" in the front lowered and 4" in the back i need the cam bolts also you can get them at a local parts store just tell them you need camber bolts to correct the alighnment and they will help you out ( advanced auto , autozone) they run about 40 bucks here . i know b/c i got mine from autozone here with tax it was like 46.00 something i put my own in and brought it to the shop for them to get strait .