BTF Fabrication Explorer Lift Coil Spacer discussions

[Mr. Truckles]

Definitely going to need some spacers. I just installed my treadwright 265/75-16s and they rub quite a bit in the front, probably because my wheels have a bit of a negative offset and the tires have very square shoulder lugs.

I looked around on the thread and maybe I just missed it, but does anyone know the smallest size brandon can make? I really only need maybe an inch and a half of lift. Thanks guys

 

[DanielJ]

Definitely going to need some spacers. I just installed my treadwright 265/75-16s and they rub quite a bit in the front, probably because my wheels have a bit of a negative offset and the tires have very square shoulder lugs.

I looked around on the thread and maybe I just missed it, but does anyone know the smallest size brandon can make? I really only need maybe an inch and a half of lift. Thanks guys

He will make them to achieve whatever size lift you want up to 3 inches. If you only want a inch and a half im sure he can make them that size. (atleast how he explained it to me when i bought mine), but Id ask him. i have his number written down but dont think he'd like it plastered on the internet. im sure someone has his email around here that could give it to you so you can ask him.

 

[Ronin8002]

Definitely going to need some spacers. I just installed my treadwright 265/75-16s and they rub quite a bit in the front, probably because my wheels have a bit of a negative offset and the tires have very square shoulder lugs.

I looked around on the thread and maybe I just missed it, but does anyone know the smallest size brandon can make? I really only need maybe an inch and a half of lift. Thanks guys

If you want just a 1.5" lift, try a set of 1" - 1.25" spacers. Maybe just in the front, that would level it out.

(909) 702-7462 (right off his website).

 

[Mr. Truckles]

That sounds perfect, As long as I can fully articulate without rubbing but not not put too much strain on the ball joints and CVs it'll be just fine. I'm probably going to grab some floor jacks and a measuring tape and do a little math. It's definitely gonna be in the 1-1.5 spacer size range i think. I called Brandon yesterday and left a message but it was probably too early because of our 3hr time difference.

Also Ronin, not to be off topic but I know at one point you had a set of guard dogs m/ts, did you also notice that the Treadwrights seem to be a bit larger than the specified size?

 

[Ronin8002]

That sounds perfect, As long as I can fully articulate without rubbing but not not put too much strain on the ball joints and CVs it'll be just fine. I'm probably going to grab some floor jacks and a measuring tape and do a little math. It's definitely gonna be in the 1-1.5 spacer size range i think. I called Brandon yesterday and left a message but it was probably too early because of our 3hr time difference.

Also Ronin, not to be off topic but I know at one point you had a set of guard dogs m/ts, did you also notice that the Treadwrights seem to be a bit larger than the specified size?

Yeah definitely stay in the 1"-1.25" range...much beyond that you're going to find that the spindles will likely start hitting the coil springs and limiting your strut travel.

The Treadwright guard dogs do run a bit bigger than other tires of the same size...i.e, I found that their 265/75/16, (generally about a 31.5" tire) measured out to be a good 32". I don't know if it's just the guard dogs that are like this or if their other models are the same way, but you can verify it by looking at the information listed on their site under the tire model and size you're looking to buy.

 

[Mr. Truckles]

Yeah, I want to keep everything as functional as possible and after measuring I agree, a 1.25 would be perfect like you said. I definitely wouldn't want any contact between parts. I did see on the treadwright site where they state the overall diameter of the tires and the Warden A/ts I bought are 32" but i didn't account for the very square profile they have, If they tapered on the sides like a typical tire they wouldn't rub quite so bad.

Probably a good thing for everyone to take note of when selecting 32s for a stock 3rd gen.

 

[Mr Dubya]

Hi Folks,

I've been rummaging through the forums extensively for a few years, and finally think it's time to get involved. My 03 Limited was in an accident last May and I tinkered away with fixing it over the summer. Now that all the body work is back to where it should be and mechanically sound, I'm taking the opportunity to lift it first with 2.25/1.75 BTF coil spacers and soon enough with the 883 ranger lift. Right now I'm tackling the spacers and taking my time. I'm at the fronts, but running in to an issue that I'm unsure how to address.

I would like to invest in some BTF UCAs later on, but from what I see they aren't absolutely crucial if I only plan on doing light driving. I don't plan on taking it off the pavement any time soon or running it hard.

That being said, I know the top of the knuckle hits the coils when max droop is hit, and the limiting straps solve that issue (a later investment). But my knuckle doesn't separate at all from the coil when I put on the wheel and apply load. I'll attach two pictures of each side, loaded and unloaded.

I really want to get these spacers in and done with so I can focus on school and work when the cold weather hits.

I think I'm having this problem for a few theories:

1) My strut (aftermarket) is too stiff, and is not compressing enough when I apply load. Thus, the control arms don't raise and lift the knuckle away from the coil. (I had to go so far as use a come-along to compress it enough to get the upper ball-joint in to the knuckle)

2) My strut has too many turns in the coil (compare mine to your stock), and the knuckle is hitting my coil in a place where it wouldn't on a stock coil. (so the load isn't transferred through the coil, but rather gets diverted in to the knuckle)

3) I truly do need the BTF UCAs (although I've seen it done without?)

4) I've erred in my installation

Has anyone else run in to this problem? Or might have a theory of their own as to why this is happening? I've even removed the UCA shims and pulled them forward to give more reach, to no avail. My next step in the upcoming week is to put a friend's stock strut in and compare one side to the other.

Any thoughts from you guys are totally appreciated. I'm dying to get this thing back on the road and become active on the forums.


-Dubya

 

[DanielJ]

I did for like a whole 5 minutes and saw the pictures of a person here on the forum who ran stock control arms and they tore apart. i didnt find it safe and wouldnt put my wife and daughter inside something that dangerous. So i invested in the UCA's. Made very well and gave me plenty of clearance. You can still see where the knuckle and coils rubbed but i have plenty of clearance now. Some pictures of the one are on the first page in this forum. Made my decision based off this:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=340473

 

[Mr Dubya]

I definitely would like to get those new UCAs later on, but from my understanding they aren't absolutely necessary unless you plan on really stressing the joints and strut off the road. I saw the picture of the ball joint ripped out too, but again, didn't they say that they rode it hard? The BTF spacer installation thread itself shows an OEM UCA being used with the front 2.25" spacers with no issue.

 

[DanielJ]

Yeah, i mean its all a chance game really. You cant really determine or make a call saying it will or wont. I just for the saftey of my family when they ride with me bought them. Im sure you could go a while on them without issues. As long as your easy on them. The roads in arkansas are horrible, pot holes and gaps everywhere. Im surprised i havent destroyed my rims just driving on the street. But just depends on what you do in the mean time and how stressed and used your ball joints already are.

 

[Mr Dubya]

I definitely agree with the new UCAs making for a long-term safer install. But my current problem is that the knuckles still hit the coils when the suspension is loaded, and my understanding is that this shouldn't be happening. I can't even push on the front and bounce the truck because the knuckle won't let the coil flex.

 

[DanielJ]

No, thats not usual. Mine didnt have that trouble. You can do limiter straps to help? Or if you have to go back to stock shocks with spacers until you can afford the UCA's and when you get those swap the spacers to the new shocks, and install the new UCA's. I wouldnt drive on it if you cant even add compression to the shocks and clear the coils. That could be bad if you hit a hard bump or something.

 

[Mr Dubya]

Problem is that I only have one good stock strut since the accident. I'm just trying to solve whether its the fault of the new struts being so stiff they won't compress or another factor. When you first installed your spacers prior to the BTF UCAs, how did you get the stock UCA balljoints through the knuckle? I was forced to compress the strut with a come-along which is overkill. But once the control arm and knuckle were bolted and the come-along is released the strut expands back fully, binding the knuckle to the coil. Did you just compress the strut with a jack to get the upper ball joint in? Jacking it up for me didn't even budge it. Lifted the whole front end.

 

[rangermidtn]

What kind of struts are those? They look like the have a spacer underneath the coil. If that is a spacer, than that I think is the problem. I'll take a pic of mine and show you what I mean here soon.

 

[rangermidtn]

Here's a pic of mine, see the difference in the space of the coils, plus look at the bottom, no spacer between the coil and lip of the strut.

 

[Ronin8002]

All that is is a spring seat. The overall height of the spring and strut is the same. My Monroe reflex were like that

 

[rangermidtn]

All that is is a spring seat. The overall height of the spring and strut is the same. My Monroe reflex were like that

I got you, but is coils are still really in a bind, I would hate to be driving mine like that. I see that your coils have 9 turns, while my stock ones only have 7.

 

[Ronin8002]

Double post

 

[Mr Dubya]

Yeah the spring seat doesn't change the overall height compared to stock. I've suspected those few extra turns are making the difference. I'm going to have to do a stock strut comparison then. If the coil contact disappears its safe to say I'll have to look in to some different struts. Maybe I can give the company some hell and squeeze out a return.

 

[Ronin8002]

Yeah the spring seat doesn't change the overall height compared to stock. I've suspected those few extra turns are making the difference. I'm going to have to do a stock strut comparison then. If the coil contact disappears its safe to say I'll have to look in to some different struts. Maybe I can give the company some hell and squeeze out a return.

The number of active coils in a spring will affect its stiffness. Yours looks to have 9 whereas rangermidtn's look to have 8. Dubya, those extra coils seem to be just in the right place to snag on the spindle...so I can see why you are having that problem.

In my opinion a 2.25" spacer is really pushing the limits even with BTF arms. I helped another member install 2.25" spacers today in the front, with BTF arms, and there just isn't much downtravel at all with that height spacer (due to the spindle hitting the coil, even with the BTF arms). Not to mention we almost pulled apart one of his CV joints trying to get the strut reinstalled. I would suggest running a much smaller set of spacers. Somewhere in the realm of 1.25-1.75 in the front and 1-1.5 in the rear. I know it doesn't sound like much but these struts only have a full travel of like 4 inches from fully extended to fully compressed. They get compressed about halfway when you put the weight of the truck on them, so you've got about 2 inches of compression and 2 inches of droop....at least when stock. You lose some of that two inches of droop when you install spacers over about an inch in height due to the suspension parts hitting each other. Some compromise is good I think....so consider the sizes I suggested. Even then, I would suggest running some limiting straps to avoid having stuff rubbing together.

While you might see some folks run spacers with the OEM UCAs, those OEM ball joints are living on borrowed time. They were never meant to run full time at that angle, so they wear out and come apart eventually...causing the spindle (and wheel) to just flop around whichever way it wants. It doesn't take much imagination to see why that would be a big problem if it happened at highway speeds with a lot of other cars around.

That is why the BTF arms are pretty much a requirement with a spacer lift, in my opinion. A uniball joint will never come apart like the OEM ball joints will. The slight extra length of the BTF arms will help you get your alignment back into specs also.

So basically:

-Buy and install BTF arms
-Use limiting straps to avoid spindle to spring contact
-Consider smaller spacers

and

-maybe look into getting struts with fewer active coils on the spring.