Lifted LC Making Terrible Susp. Noises?

[WeGo250]

Dang, I've felt your pain. suspension issues can be really hard to pinpoint.
Had this happen to me on my tacoma, Installed Fox 2.0's and started hearing a deep, quick "Thunk" going over pot holes and random imperfections in the road. I could pin point where the noise was coming from (front right in my application) but thats about it. Ended up swapping back to stock and the issue went away. Warranty claim to Fox and it was fixed in about a week.

I have ordered the Dr KDSS Shorty and King end links, not installed yet, to see if they make a difference. I did though put in another request ticket with ARB, this time a warranty ticket to send the kit back. I'm somewhat shocked at the level of their customer service though, or the lack there of...... Responses are about a week apart and the last one I got was telling me the kit is RH LH specific as the lines for the reservoirs won;t go in the wring way. I went back through and checked the history of the ticket and nowhere in it did I state that I had the BP-51 kit......... ARB's response is answering questions about the wrong product.... ugh.....

 

[biltor]

Just verifying my setup for what it is worth.
I installed the full MT-64 kit over the weekend, with the Dobinson’s diff drop and the Dr.KDSS kit.

No issues whatsoever, but one word of warning- when installing the Dr. KDSS kit, I’d highly suggest installing the bar bolt through the spring side of the bracket (threads and nut on rear end of the truck) the directions say otherwise, but I’m sure the bolt thread end will come extremely close (if not slightly rub) to the spring on compression. The kit did completely level the bar (0 degrees on the dot on the top hole). Rear end seems less unsettled on rough bumps-though that may be the MT-64 kit working too.

I also put Dobinson’s rear end links in and the relo bracket that came with the OME kit. Sway bar ends look good now, not sky high.

I’ll keep looking to see if I can find any watch out areas.

If you need me to measure or take pictures of anything, just let me know.

 

[Bad1975]

Word of caution on that specific Dr. KDSS bracket it will very likely contact the crossmember at compression. Not the bracket itself as the pan hard end where the bushing is will contact first.

@biltor What’s the clearance to it from the cross member? Less than 3-1/2”?

Would be nice to get your measurement and @t3lcfe measurement as I believe he has the shorty single hole bracket?

 

[biltor]

I’ll get it tomorrow when I get home from work.

 

[t3lcfe]

Word of caution on that specific Dr. KDSS bracket it will very likely contact the crossmember at compression. Not the bracket itself as the pan hard end where the bushing is will contact first.

@biltor What’s the clearance to it from the cross member? Less than 3-1/2”?

Would be nice to get your measurement and @t3lcfe measurement as I believe he has the shorty single hole bracket?

Short KDSS bracket

 

[t3lcfe]

Man…what the noise!

 

[biltor]

Word of caution on that specific Dr. KDSS bracket it will very likely contact the crossmember at compression. Not the bracket itself as the pan hard end where the bushing is will contact first.

@biltor What’s the clearance to it from the cross member? Less than 3-1/2”?

Would be nice to get your measurement and @t3lcfe measurement as I believe he has the shorty single hole bracket?

Top of bracket where the trackbar bolts in, to the bottom of crossmember, is 4 11/16”

 

[Bad1975]

So it’s 3-11/16” since the trackbar sits 1” higher than hole center on the bracket on the round bushing area?

If so you will contact the crossmember at full compression also a good chance the trackbar will contact the spare tire retainer too.

How much rear lift do you have?

 

[biltor]

I rechecked as I didn’t notice an inch of difference when I installed it. The bushing area of the trackbar sites sits 1/4” above the bracket. So 4 7/16” top of trackbar bushing housing to bottom of the cross member.

There’s a chance it would contact the spare tire retainer as you said, but there’s definitely enough material there to do some minor clearance work and eliminate that potential issue. I did notice that when installing. The OP should take a look at that just to verify his trackbar isn’t rubbing his spare. I included a pic of mine, it’s close but no evidence of rubbing.

The rear springs from OME’s MT-64 kit is 2” (I got the 0/0 kit -might go to the next step up depending on if my wife hijacks this truck from me. She really likes it.)

Also, for me right now anyway, there’s not going to be much more than highway/city streets for the foreseeable future, so I doubt I’ll approach anywhere close to a full cycle of the suspension.

 

[WeGo250]

Short KDSS bracketView attachment 50691

I installed the shorty.

 

[WeGo250]

Thanks everyone for chiming in, really appreciate it!

Last Thursday I had it in the service dept at my local dealer and the put chassis ears microphone set up on it and the front left strut is done. There's less noise coming from the strut itself, but the microphone on the frame above the strut top picks up a massive clunking, which they suggestively diagnosed as the spherical bearing in the strut top.

Working with ARB, they have no feedback on the MT kits yet, nor does MULE in Issaquah, but ARB sent me the upgraded BP kit which I received yesterday and will be installing soon.

Will also make sure to get the KDSS bracket installed "bolt backwards"

 

[jbtaco2002]

upgraded to BP-51's?! free from ARB due to the defective from MT-64? if so, WOW!

 

[biltor]

Thanks everyone for chiming in, really appreciate it!

Last Thursday I had it in the service dept at my local dealer and the put chassis ears microphone set up on it and the front left strut is done. There's less noise coming from the strut itself, but the microphone on the frame above the strut top picks up a massive clunking, which they suggestively diagnosed as the spherical bearing in the strut top.

Working with ARB, they have no feedback on the MT kits yet, nor does MULE in Issaquah, but ARB sent me the upgraded BP kit which I received yesterday and will be installing soon.

Will also make sure to get the KDSS bracket installed "bolt backwards"

Man, at least they are trying to make up for the hassle! Good for you!

 

[Bad1975]

@LSLC250 Good to hear, sorry got busy and didn't contact you. If you still need some assistance after the BP51 install send me a text.

 

[WeGo250]

@LSLC250 Good to hear, sorry got busy and didn't contact you. If you still need some assistance after the BP51 install send me a text.

Hey no worries! BP51's went in with King end links, dealer aligned it, it's perfect.

Also to note the Dr KDSS shorty bracket will clear everything just fine with the nominal instructed install; no way for the nut to contact anything back there. Also, and I didn't look too close, but I'm not sure how one would go about getting the bolt in from the backside with the shorty as the hole is a bit lower and the lower spring mount plate cannot be removed and as such is in the way.

 

[t3lcfe]

Hey no worries! BP51's went in with King end links, dealer aligned it, it's perfect.

Also to note the Dr KDSS shorty bracket will clear everything just fine with the nominal instructed install; no way for the nut to contact anything back there. Also, and I didn't look too close, but I'm not sure how one would go about getting the bolt in from the backside with the shorty as the hole is a bit lower and the lower spring mount plate cannot be removed and as such is in the way.

This is old photo of mine (shorty Dr KDSS)

 

[biltor]

View attachment 51546
This is old photo of mine (shorty Dr KDSS)

You know, I didn’t even bother to look at the bottom hole clearance on mine. Lol. I was looking at the top and with a little messing around you can do it I think.

Just curious, how is the angle on the track bar? Mine is dead flat using the angle finder.

 

[Bad1975]

Do all you guys have a stock track bar installed with the KDSS bracket? Maybe it's my Dobinsons adjustable that makes the top of the bar so high compared to yours as mine measures 1" higher from center of bolt to the top of the bushing area on the axle side.

Could someone measure from center of their bolt to top off track bar bushing area if not too much trouble? Would prefer a flat track bar but not if there is potential for crossmember contact.

 

[biltor]

Do all you guys have a stock track bar installed with the KDSS bracket? Maybe it's my Dobinsons adjustable that makes the top of the bar so high compared to yours as mine measures 1" higher from center of bolt to the top of the bushing area on the axle side.

Could someone measure from center of their bolt to top off track bar bushing area if not too much trouble? Would prefer a flat track bar but not if there is potential for crossmember contact.

I can tomorrow, my LC is soaked from the drive home in the rain.

 

[LCOceans]

I just got my 500 re-torque from installer. I was getting a knocking noise in the rear when I drove over small bumps. Everything is now solid - no noise at all. No KDSS on mine. Just the Dobinsons panhard rod.