Ball joint spacers

[poor-mans-720]

thats all powder though!! my 720 would that up, and shit out a snowcone!! :)

stuff i got stuck in was like concrete... had to bring out a pry bar just to break the frozen stuff stuck in my control arms. It was also like 45-50 degrees out side so it was melted and compacted tight. Was super hard crap. I wish we got snow over here like that... I drove up, down, around, thru, and everywhich direction when we had that snow storm in Jan. blasting thru powder... pulled fullsize trucks (2wd) out of the ditch, two jeeps. Women drivers... and countless cars all over the place. I even pulled a tow truck, he parked and came back to his truck and by then it was so covered in snow he couldnt get it out. instead of digging him out, i snatched that big ass chevy right up out of the ditch.

Powder is so much more fun then ice. I wish it would snow again... yall still have any snow on your side the mountain???

[Mr.Dean_Yates]

*wishing i lived some where that had decent amount of snow fall*

[Mr.Dean_Yates]

totally jelly

[Skulptr]

Sorry but thats not powder. We get that really wet heavy shit, merits in the sun then freezes on the sub zero temps at night. We don't face any left, but we're I'm massive flood controls. All our rivers are over flood stage, I'm going to go to my favorite wheel spot, cause its going to be seriously washed out.

 

 

and that snow, was untouched for 2 weeks. If you look in one of them, theres a pair of snow mobiles in t he background. They are stuck and I had to go pull them out lol and they were right over where the mud pit usually is

[poopypants720]

Sorry but thats not powder. We get that really wet heavy shit, merits in the sun then freezes on the sub zero temps at night. We don't face any left, but we're I'm massive flood controls. All our rivers are over flood stage, I'm going to go to my favorite wheel spot, cause its going to be seriously washed out.

 

 

and that snow, was untouched for 2 weeks. If you look in one of them, theres a pair of snow mobiles in t he background. They are stuck and I had to go pull them out lol and they were right over where the mud pit usually is

 

Lol... You typing from a phone bro? Swype always messes me up too but it makes it interesting trying to decipher what was supposed to be said.

[poor-mans-720]

Bah-haha... I am posting from my phone too, but got a keyboard. So less guessing.

but, yea.. I think I reread that post four times. Using different words that would fit there...

merits?? Haha...

[Skulptr]

yeah was using swype, always screws up unless i clear the memory on it

 

merits = melts

 

face = have

 

i'm = in

[Mr.Dean_Yates]

lol i use a computer because phones just upset me hahahaha

[poopypants720]

Just got my spacers today... Had a few hiccups along the way and wound up with some major toe in that I have to correct tomorrow, I'll post more info with some pictures tomorrow, too tired right now..

[poor-mans-720]

yea, toe was something i dealt with. Mine was out before, and now just a little in after the spacers. so it wasnt that bad of a change for me. I am curious to see what it did for you.

the toe is easy to change, too... takes two 12MM wrenches and about 10 mins. I think i read somewhere you want 0-1/4" toe in. helps keep the steering stable in a straight line.

[poopypants720]

what is it you adjust? My haynes is useless...just says take it to a professional for an alignment...

[Skulptr]

i moved my post

 

i am very dissapointed in what these spacers did to me.. plus you only sent me 4 bolts lol they actually showed up yesterday and i didnt even know it

 

 

 

 

before:

 

 

 

 

 

after

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and what i ended up with :confused:

 

 

 

 

after removing all the shims from my uca's and fixing the uca bolt on the passenger side that was about to fall out

 

 

 

 

 

 

i gained almost an inch, and now i can go over a speed bump without jarring my spine

[Skulptr]

i need to get new ball joints too, i just didnt feel up to pounding them out of the hub last night. and my tie rods, and idler arm, and lower ball joints.... :/ not llooking forward to it. but i did find something cool, my sway bar has an entire set of red polyurethane bushings :huh:

[poopypants720]

yea, toe was something i dealt with. Mine was out before, and now just a little in after the spacers. so it wasnt that bad of a change for me. I am curious to see what it did for you.

the toe is easy to change, too... takes two 12MM wrenches and about 10 mins. I think i read somewhere you want 0-1/4" toe in. helps keep the steering stable in a straight line.

I can't seem to figure this out... What are you adjusting?

 

Only thing hooked to steering that I can figure would effect toe and has 12mm bolts/nuts is the side rods/tie rods... And I'm not going through the hell of trying to remove separate those lil ball joints to screw the tips out more unless I absolutely have to... Is there a way to do it with it still on the truck?

[poor-mans-720]

yea, just loosen the 12mm bolts on the tie rid, and then spin that little piece. the end pieces an opposite threaded of each other, so when you spin that, it makes them both go the respective direction, in or out. then tighten 12mm bolts back up... takes 2 minutes...

[poor-mans-720]

the second pic down shows the later model tie rod ends. loosen lock nuts on end of turnbuckle, turn the turnbuckle, tighten lock nuts.

[poopypants720]

I don't think mine will turn for jack... I'll try it again... Gotta break out some pb blaster.

[poor-mans-720]

make sure that those 12mm bolts are loose. I turned mine by hand, and didnt do anything other then loosen the bolts.

Lock some vice-grips on the center part. should help get some grip on em. try and jack up the wheel too, might help take some pressure off the tie rod.

[poopypants720]

Ok... Got the one side loose no problem, while the other side took a 2 foot pipe wrench to start turning it...

 

 

So all in all I'm pretty straight now, had to crank the torsion bars though in order to fix the camber... So now I'm still sitting on a stiff ride.... I've still got plenty of threads on my bolts right now but Id like to re index the torsion bars but if I do that will I still be just as stiff cranked all the way? Or does it unload some of the spring and make it softer again?

 

So as for my adventure yesterday night...

 

First thing..., short on bolts... So I make a trip out and grab 4 grade 10.9 bolts that are a lil longer...

Here's the extra bolts, spacers n working fuel.

 

 

Then I get on to breaking my ancient ball joint loose....

Turns out this piece of crap had studs right in it and was fixed to the a arm by nuts... Opposite of what I needed... Thing is they were trashed anyways so I needed to get them replaced anyhow...

 

 

Well now this was the fun part... Get the ball joints after making a trip to the local autozone, life time warranty ball joints, 33 bucks... Score right? Wrong...

 

Turns out the bulge on the back was way huge... So big not only did it not fit into the spacers but it wouldn't even fit in the friggin a arm either... Of course I didn't realize this till already getting the ball joint mounted on my spindle and the castle nut fixed in place, cotter pin and all... Turns out all I was paying for was the warranty cause the ball joints themselves were crap and they used the same part number on that brand for both 2 and 4wd... Prob why it didn't fit.

 

So back to the parts spot...wait no, closed, you get to drive 20 minutes into town to get your parts replaced at a shop that stats open to a reasonable time... But it was a lose, win situation... Paid 40 bucks less for another pair that fits tight and looks to be higher quality anyways.

 

 

 

Finally get home and get them on (pictures taken this morning/afternoon)

 

They look great in place...but now my camber and toe were way off...

 

 

So after cranking the torsion bars all the way again and fiiiinally getting the side rods broken loose and adjusted... Here's what I'm left with...

 

 

So all in all I'm very happy with the lift it provided but it is still at the cost of ride quality cause my torsion bars are cranked to compensate for camber... Now I have to decide on what to do about that... Re index and back off the bump stops a lil?

[poor-mans-720]

yea, most defiantly reindex and back off the bump stops a little. the reason for the poor ride quality is the control arm bashing against your control bump stops. kinda a jarring feeling to em...

I took my bumpstops off, gave me a little more room to work with. I dont know if its good or not, but, hey I have the bars cranked and not the harsh ride against the bumpstops.

I had no idea that the control arms would be such a huge PITA for yall...

I think if a angle was machined on them it would help, just dont know which direction to go with that...

[poopypants720]

yea, most defiantly reindex and back off the bump stops a little. the reason for the poor ride quality is the control arm bashing against your control bump stops. kinda a jarring feeling to em...

I took my bumpstops off, gave me a little more room to work with. I dont know if its good or not, but, hey I have the bars cranked and not the harsh ride against the bumpstops.

I had no idea that the control arms would be such a huge PITA for yall...

I think if a angle was machined on them it would help, just dont know which direction to go with that...

meh...

 

I like the level surface...you see any other spacers for other trucks alike and the are all even... Better to just correct the alignment and take full advantage of the extra tall spacers....

 

I noticed another thing thats ALMOST a problem.... My right (passenger) cv joint axle is less then a mm away from rubbing on the frame... Had I removed my bump stops as well it would prob make contact... The stops are keeping it just barely off... Makes me think thats why the biggest they are professionally produced in is am inch...

[Skulptr]

I didn't even get to play with it. I went out to play and my tranny literally exploded within the first 100 yards. I was in 2 wheel goimg down hill too. Im farking pissed beyond belief. I just dropped 1k on my car for tires, I cant afford this.

[poopypants720]

Dang man... That blows! Wonder how that happened... Was it just on the road?

[Skulptr]

no i was heading down hill on a washed out mountain road, got into the first rut, went to spin the tires and spit up some mud, and all i heard, was like grinding gears, but 50x louder, and then everything siezed up. the engine wont stay running if i let out on the clutch pedal. and if i rev up and slowly let out on the clutch, it really starts pissing gear oil

[poopypants720]

Dang man ... I'm sorry to hear that... I'm guessing you hadn't even the chance to hop out and lock it up for 4wd? I love resting on the transmission/transfer case in 4 low going down hills, always have so much more control...

 

No chance of finding a cheap donor trashy round there? I used to have a spare tabby and transfer case that would reside in my truck bed most the time til I had to move and pack everything I owned into the back of my truck and needed the room..left it at ex's families property and they probably scrapped em... Wish I would have figured something else now...