No more spacers for me.

[dirtdigger19]

Now i know how Macknos felt.

Last night i was coming home from work and right when i got off the freeway my driver side dipped down and i started to lose control of my truck and felt like i was gonna roll it. Finally got to a safe stop and got out to find my ball joint completely ripped out of the control arm. I was only running the 2.25 spacers in front. It was enough stress to rip it out though. Triple A came and put me on a flat bed and took me home. Got new ball joints today and upper control arm and installed them so i am back to stock for now till i figure out what im going to do, didnt have my camera with me so no pics. I will never run spacers again unless i get uppers made from BTF. The angle and stress they put on these trucks is way to scary for me. A cool lift is not worth my life. As for now i think i might just do a body lift and call it quits untill i get custom control arms.


On a side question now tha tmy spacers are off it seems like my truck it angles down inthe f ront even more than stock...any ideas???

 

[Cozmik]

Glad to hear you're ok and were able to stop safely. As for the spacers, I fear that more and more posts are going to be popping up with guys blowing ball joints with spacer lifts on our trucks. I pulled mine out a few months after I put it in.

Unless the lift comes with new upper control arms I feel its not a safe option for us. But then comes the problem of cost. It would no longer be a $200ish lift, it would be closer to $1000, and most guys wouldn't want to foot that bill.

As a side note when I pulled my lift off not only were my arms/ball joints at a severe angle with the rubber boots torn, my rear axel shafts were all scored from rubbing in the frame loops. Not cool.

For the over exaggerated rake, no idea. Mine went back to stock with no issues at all.

Brandon- if you read this you may want to consider looking into a spacer and arm combo. If it was affordable for the guys yet still profitable for you it could be a serious win/win. Just a thought.

 

[-Strike-]

How long were you running the lift before this happened? Original ball joints? I thought we figured out 2.25 was the limit without putting too much stress on the upper ball joints.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Wow- glad you're ok dd!!! That could have been a LOT worse.

Your'e right- the looks are not worth your life if that solution apparently isn't the best idea as parts start to wear down.

...and $1,000 is less than a wicked medical bill... Be safe!

 

[swetrid]

I have see this problem on the 2004 up F150, we have to replace upper control arms and outer tie rod ends on all the trucks that customers add leveling/spacer kits. May look good but not very reliable.

 

[Hartman]

2.25" spacer?

 

[Brandon@BTF-fab]

Hey guys... I was just told about this thread so I need to address this, I'm not quite sure what to say at this point.
I'm really sorry this happened. After seeing people run 2.5" spacers with what seemed like no issues, I figured limiting them to 2.25" was a good enough compromise between lift and balljoint angle. So far, this is the only issue I've heard of, and I've tried to be honest w/ people by saying that this will add stress to balljoints, etc.

Limit straps would probably be a really good idea on trucks using these lifts.

I can and will make upper control arms to use in conjunction with the spacers, I just need a guinea pig truck.
Dirtdigger: if I can borrow your truck for a few days, I will make you uppers at zero profit, just material cost.

I am bummed out now, I hadn't read or heard of people having problems w/ RB's spacers, which were taller than these ones, so I assumed they were perfectly fine at 2.25"

edit: also, if ANYONE local to me has the spacers on, or even a stock 3rd gen, and can loan me their truck for a day, I'd really appreciate the chance to look at it closely, cycle the suspension, etc. to check things, and come up with what changes / height restrictions need to be made.

 

[Hartman]

Oh I didn't realize we were talking about a lift spacer.

I have noticed in pictures that the ball joint is an quite an extreme angle...the suspension seems pretty much maxed out.

 

[armysoldier30263]

that sucks dd but glad to hear that you are ok. were the ball joints original? and without having the balljoints at such an extreme angle what is the suggested lift size?

 

[Cozmik]

Hey guys... I was just told about this thread so I need to address this, I'm not quite sure what to say at this point.
I'm really sorry this happened. After seeing people run 2.5" spacers with what seemed like no issues, I figured limiting them to 2.25" was a good enough compromise between lift and balljoint angle. So far, this is the only issue I've heard of, and I've tried to be honest w/ people by saying that this will add stress to balljoints, etc.

Limit straps would probably be a really good idea on trucks using these lifts.

I can and will make upper control arms to use in conjunction with the spacers, I just need a guinea pig truck.
Dirtdigger: if I can borrow your truck for a few days, I will make you uppers at zero profit, just material cost.

I am bummed out now, I hadn't read or heard of people having problems w/ RB's spacers, which were taller than these ones, so I assumed they were perfectly fine at 2.25"

edit: also, if ANYONE local to me has the spacers on, or even a stock 3rd gen, and can loan me their truck for a day, I'd really appreciate the chance to look at it closely, cycle the suspension, etc. to check things, and come up with what changes / height restrictions need to be made.

Hey Brandon. Don't be bummed man, people want a product, you made it as safe as you could based on the info you had to work with. As for RB, he had issues with his as well. He started at 3" and started making them smaller from there until he too hit 2.25" as the max right before he bailed on the whole project. And he had ball joint failures with his at all sizes as well, just as you are starting to see.

I only ran a 2.25" front and 2" rear, and not for that long either. I need new ball joints and new rear drive shafts from all the rubbing in the frame loops. Live and learn right?

If you have upper control arms to go with the front and stick to the 2.25" /1.75" spacer combo I think you'll be ok. Good luck with it and hopefully you come up with something that works. We know the demand is there.

 

[BrianDye]

Oh I didn't realize we were talking about a lift spacer.

Wow I feel dumb, me neither, I thought wheel spacers . It kinda made my jaw drop when I read a 2.5" wheel spacer I was like damn! (I only thought they went up to like 2" and thats still overkill)

 

[NHarris]

This is making me re-think about a lift.
dirtdigger19....
glad to hear you made it out ok! I'm glad I read this, and glad you posted it. Can you post up a few pics? (to show the front's angle)

 

[dirtdigger19]

Sorry it took awhile for me to repost...First off Brandon im not trying to bash your product or tell anyone to not get them, I just wont run them anymore without upper control arms made. I will be getting a set of the Uppers made cause they help with the stress and look bada**. Brandon does great work and for a price you cant beat. Also i would be willing to let you use my truck to get them going i just need a little time to get the money right now. Sorry i didnt get any pics guys i didnt have my camera at the time and dint even think to take pics of the damage i just needed to get my truck rolling again. As of now i will be riding stock untill i get t arms made. Thanks for all who posted back.

 

[dirtdigger19]

Oh and for the two that asked yes i was running the 2.25 spacer in the front only.

 

[Tarpman]

I've been wondering could we put steel rings at the bottom of the front coils on top of the spring seats, just enough to level it. Maybe 1.25". They would have to be cut and bent like the seat, but that doesn't seem to hard. Then put a body lift to get the 3" of lift

 

[-Strike-]

Well, I'm not going to rush out and remove my lift or anything, I will keep an eye on the suspension for now, and note for any excessive wear. Yeah, when the truck was in the air, the control arms are pretty much maxed, but when it was dropped back down on the floor, it didn't appear too bad.

I'm running a brand new control arm on the drivers side, and factory on the passenger side, so who know how long they may last. I don't do any off roading or pull any extreme maneuvers, the roads around here aren't in that bad of shape, so we'll see. Now a days with the non-greasable parts they tend to put out, I'd imagine these are all prone to eventual failure, regardless of a lift or not. This could have been just the straw that broke the camels back in this case.

My truck only has about 70,000 miles on it, so parts are going to be prone to failure soon enough, wether that being from lifting, or just age and normal wear, I won't know. Nothing is really built to last anymore. Not trying to beat around the bush or anything, I know extreme A Arm angles will cause more stress on the upper ball joint, that's a givin.

It'll be interesting to see what Brandon can come up with if someone is willing to lend him their truck for a day or so to develop some new A Arms, limiting straps or what ever else may be nessicary to help take the stress off the ball joints. As for the wear on the rear axels. I have no idea how to get around that right away, I'll keep an eye on that for now, as I said, I don't do any off roading or anything that would max out the rear suspension causing this type of wear, unless it just happens with 1.75" rear.

Anyways, enough of a rant. Let's see if we can get some parts developed. I for one will probably be interested in new A Arms. I'd lend my truck, but I'm about 2600 miles away from Brandon. Hah.

-Edit-

I'll see if I can get a few pictures later today when I get the truck back from replacing the wheel bearing and the alignment, showing the angles of the A Arms, and maybe the rear axels and such when it's on the ground.

 

[kylecolb]

This is making me re-think about a lift.
dirtdigger19....
glad to hear you made it out ok! I'm glad I read this, and glad you posted it. Can you post up a few pics? (to show the front's angle)

same here, scary stuff. I am looking more into a body lift at this time since I do not do a whole lot of offroading, but am not planning on doin a lift until my warranty is up in a year and a half. Maybe by that time everything will be good and set on the spacers and arms.

glad you are ok though dirtdigger!

 

[xplorerguru]

i had 2/1.75 and they put an extreme angle on the ball joints. so i went with a different set from RB and got 1.5/1.5. This was perfect no were near the angle as my first set. no problems at all until i started grinding out the sand dunes and noticed i had more wheel travel with my stock suspension.

I say we need new uppers with longer coil overs.... just a thought

 

[Brandon@BTF-fab]

I say we need new uppers with longer coil overs.... just a thought

a true adjustable coilover with a bracket could be made very easily, allowing you to adjust from 0-2.5" lift or so. if that is something you guys are interested in, let me know, and I can work up prices (it won't be nearly as inexpensive as a simple spacer though)

 

[-Strike-]

Well I decided to take a bunch of pictures for you guys of various suspension components to get an idea of what kind of angles and such we're dealing with, got some of the A Arm/Ball joint, front and rear CVs, tie rod end/lower ball joint, rear axles through the frame and such.

Personally to me I see no issues with the rear, and the front ball joint, yeah, I can see maybe if we're nailing large pot holes or doing extreme off roading, and have already worn out stock parts, then maybe. But to me, it doesn't look too harsh..I don't think it'll lead to an instant failure. I'll let you guys have a look and be the judge. New upper arms will definitely correct this angle, but I don't think its that nasty.

The ball joint with the black boot is a replacement A Arm, and the other is original to the truck. I see lots of clearance with the rear axles and everything else looks fine. I did notice however that these tires are awefully close to the hub assembly, hah.

Control Arm;

Ball Joint photos;

Front CV;

Rear CV;

Front Lower Joint and Tie Rod End;

Rear Axle through frame;