Finished installing TW/Camburg mods

[oneslackr]

Finally finished getting everything installed this past Sunday (minus my diff. drop spacer kit). What a general PITA. I want to thank all of you who had posted their experiences/tips about installing the parts. That info definitely helped. I especially want to thank TMS2U. The write up/pics on your website on the Tacoma install was very helpful.

I got the new coilovers adjusted. On the drives side I set it at exactly 2" of lift. On the passenger side it came out to 2 1/4". That is ok on my truck as the drivers side originally sat a 1/2" higher anyway. Now the driver's side only sits a 1/4" higher (should be ok I only weigh 190 ). I'll probably need to adjust again after they settle a bit.

As for the new Teamwest 10-leaf Deavers. Well, they didn't work as advertised. They were supposed to lift the back about 1.5". Instead I only got 1/4" on the drivers side and 1/8" on the passenger side.

I called Bill yesterday & he said he would get in touch with Deaver to get the problem fixed. He said he should be able to get Deaver to recall the leafs & send out new ones. Then I can swap them & send the other ones back. Not too happy about having to go through the hassle.

This is how the rest of the things went:

1. Removing rear leafs & installing new ones - Fairly easy though it took some time to get the new leafs lined up to get the front & rear bolts back in place.

2. Rear shock removal was a pain! The racheting combo wrenches were great. Even so getting the top nuts off of the stock shocks was a sonofab***ch! The drivers side didn't want to budge. The new 5100s didn't want to line up at the bottom either. Some cussing & a rubber mallet fixed that.

3. Taking old coilovers out was a breeze. Even the bottom bolt wasn't a problem. By turning the wheels it gave enough clearance for the bolt to clear the axle shaft (mine is 4WD) & a slight tap with a mallet & a punch & they were out.

4. Stock UCAs came out easily too. The 2-arm puller popped the UCAs off the stock balljoint with moderate effort & a bit of patience. Not too bad.

The new Camburg UCAs went on fairly easily. I made it a bit easier on myself by sliding the bolt through from the back (just like the stock UCAs had it). The grease that came with the Camburgs was a mess though.

5. Removing the Toyota C clips wasn't bad at all. Two screwdrivers and a pair of extra hands & they came off without much effort (under 5 minutes per side). They were in good shape so I reused them.

Putting them back in wasn't any more difficult. I got one edge/side in place & then held it there with a small pair of locking pliers. Then I just used a small screwdrivers & a mallet to gently tap all the way around until it was completely seated.

6. Pressing out the old balljoints & pressing the new uniball adapters in was a PITA. The old ones came out without too many problems. Putting the new ones back in was a hassle. Especially on the passenger side. It wouldn't go straight for anything. Finally gave up on it going completely straight & we just cranked on it until it was completely pressed in. It doesn't look like it elongated the hole in the spindle, so I think it's fine. I never want to go through that again.

7. TW/Camburg coilovers went in fairly easily after I figured out which holes on the top shock mount lined up with the holes in the truck. The upside down bottle jack trick also worked well to slide in the lower shock mount & slip the bolt in easily.

Adjusting the height/spinning the collars was a bit rough. The new UCAs were in the way and a couple of times my spanner wrench slipped & scratched/chipped the adjusting collar. I wasn't happy about that at all.

I finally got smart & covered up the spanner wrench with duct tape & used my floor jack under the lower control arm to raise everything slightly so the UCA moved out of the way (this also moves the axle shaft out of the way so there is plently of room to get a socket on the lower shock bolt. You don't even need to turn the wheels). Wish I would've done this 1st to avoid chipping up the new Camburgs. Sometimes I just don't think.

I haven't posted any pics yet. I'm waiting to get the rear leaf issue resolved & until I get my new tires/wheels mounted. I'm leaving tomorrow for 2 weeks so it will have to wait until I get back.

I can't comment on how it rides yet. Of course my alignment is out of whack so I'll have to wait until I get that taken care of. I just hope I can make it to the airport tomorrow without any problems.

[oneslackr]

My Deaver/Teamwest leaf spring issue is resolved. The resolution is that I'm going to leave it alone (I really don't want to mess with it anymore). My concern was that I had been told to expect an 1" to 1.5" of lift and I didn't get anything close to that.

I spoke with Bill West & he got in touch with Deaver regarding my concerns. Bill recommended I send some before & after pics to Deaver so they could see what I was talking about. I did that today & then called Deaver to follow up.

Deaver told me that the new 10 leaf pack was only designed to lift the back about 1". They said even though most Tundras get an 1" of lift there are variations in the trucks & for unknown reasons some don't get much lift at all (like me). Deaver told me to keep an eye on the springs & if I had any problems to let them know & they would work with me.

With my coilovers set at 2" in the front the truck sits level, so I'll just live with it. Regardless, I still have progressive rate leafs that are much better than the stock leafs. I just won't be able to lift any higher in the front or I'll be driving with the nose in the air. Besides cranking the coilovers over 2" on a 4WD isn't a good idea.

I still need to install my diff. drop spacer kit, Truspeed unit, & get my new tires. I just got back from my business trip yesterday. Hopefully I can finish everything next week and then post a before & after pic.

[Jordansrealm]

sounds to me like all you wanted was lift not performance. maybe you should have just gone with a 5-6" lift kit type setup and not something designed to give more performance than lift.

good luck

[oneslackr]

Originally Posted by Jordansrealm

sounds to me like all you wanted was lift not performance. maybe you should have just gone with a 5-6" lift kit type setup and not something designed to give more performance than lift.

good luck

Actually, I was just wondering why I didn't get the lift I was told that I would get from the leaf springs. After I talked directly to Deaver I found out that I shouldn't expect any lift from these springs. So that answered that question.

I wanted to get the best performing parts for the money I could afford to spend. I also wanted enough room for a slightly larger tire. That's why I bought what I did.

I didn't want to go with a 5-6" type lift because that really isn't too practical for a daily driver IMO. I always end up hauling something or another in the bed and I wanted to still be able to reach the bed without problems. I also wanted to have the truck set up so I could return it to stock condition fairly easily, if I decide to do so in the future.