Hey guys.
My X is in the dealership shop. I bought her on the 22nd. Found she had a tire rub issue on the right front, which a little inspection showed was that the first owner had a little bumper crunch that pushed the thing in about 1/2 inch on the passenger side. I'm ashamed to say at my age with all teh rigs I have bought, that I didn't really give my X a thorough going over. But hey it was love at first sight.
Anyway, the tire (a LT 275 70R -16) rubbed the plastic when at a tight left turn (Like in a parking lot).
But Here's the real question. Trucks not here so I can't take a picture yet, but... its got a lift courtesy of the first owner. Thing is I'd kinda like to know what kind and what hieght. The shackles on the back of the leaf springs are a lighter blue that will go well I think with the Bilstiens when I get the cash to upgrade. So what do I measure to figure out what I got, is it as simple as meauring the shackle length?
They look to be (the blue metal part) about 3+ inches. I got to say they make the girl stand taller and look beefier.
Anyway, I realy like this forum, and thanks in advance.
:talk2much:

my guess is that they did the PML bought calmini shackles and cranked the torsion bars it gives you 1.5" lift.... the factory shocks work on it with this lift.....so if you go factory size bil's you should be alright.... but like i said thats just my guess and until we see some pics and you describe some of the susp. components we will be able to better assist you.... oh and welcome to the club......:wink-big:

Look at the upper control arms too. If they are blue, then you have the 3" lift. If not, you can still use the same shocks. I would say go with SLR for the shocks, but they went belly up. Try www.truckspring.com

Thanks guys, I get the rig back tomorrow, I'll see if I can get a picture or two.

:love-eyes2-big:Got my girl back from the dealership today, Yahoo!
Well if I'm obsessed with a truck I'm not going to call it a he. I even named her Izzy (long story).


Anyway, I measured the shackles, they are 6 inches bolt to bolt. Also they are stamped calmini (hope I didn't totally blow the spelling). Went to the front end, saw nothing new-ish or blue-ish. While the back end seemed a bit high, it didn't seem terribly mismatched from the front, but now that I look at it there is some difference.
The dealership sold me the X with 275/70R16. They looked cool with a more agressive tread than the stock skins, but I noticed that the leading edge of each outside tread bar looked chewed up (leading edge on right, trailing edge on left). Thought it was from history of tire rub in teh right front tire then rotating the wear and tear arround the rig.
Dealer put on new tires for free, and they ride great. Though they are 265/70R16. I had a lot (bucket loads) of float that I chalked up to bad old shocks, but some was fixed by the tires.
Next... get Izzy to a real garage and have the bils installed and the torsion bars checked/adjusted.

Thanks guys.

sounds like just the pml.... now when you get the mechanic to look at it ask him if the ball joints are oem the reason i ask is if im not mistaken the oem were pressed in and when you get new uca's they come with ball joints that are held on by bolts..... gooe luck.... post some pics when you get a chance.... also take some of the front end and the rear.....

O.K. Educate me. Whats PML and UCA?

PML::: is Poor Man Lift its where you buy the calmini shackles and crank the torsion bars to match....
UCA::: upper control arm where the ball joint connects to the spindle

sorry the text is small but i tried..... lol

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h255/jsongrl/jason/FRONTDESCRIPTIONS.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h255/jsongrl/jason/FRONTDESC.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h255/jsongrl/jason/ZIPPER.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h255/jsongrl/jason/REAR.jpg

alright the last pic i should have used another color.... the top one says calmini shackles the the next one down says new aal's (3 pack), then the last one says rear sway bar mount..... hope this helps you.....

Next... get Izzy to a real garage and have the bils installed and the torsion bars checked/adjusted.

You are talking about your own garage right? If you speak of bringing it to a mechanic, I would advise against it.

Anyway, I measured the shackles, they are 6 inches bolt to bolt. Also they are stamped calmini (hope I didn't totally blow the spelling). Went to the front end, saw nothing new-ish or blue-ish. While the back end seemed a bit high, it didn't seem terribly mismatched from the front, but now that I look at it there is some difference.


The rake (front is lower than the back) is normal.

Installing shocks is pretty easy and there is nothing to really check on the torsion bars. You're just setting yourself up to get raped if you take it to a shop for that.

Installing shocks is pretty easy and there is nothing to really check on the torsion bars. Your just setting yourself up to get raped if you take it to a shop for that.

x2-x10 on that

same here.... thats also the reason i labled the compnents so that when we mention somthing you can look at it and you know what we are talking about.... when i did my lift it took us all in all 2 days but without the goofing around proab about 8 or 9 hrs... ricers 2nd lift and my first.... lol if you have anymore ?'s feel free to ask away......

Why not a real garage (I'm not yet equipped for much work here). I must admit the rear shocks look easy (I've done them before on an old ford years ago), and thanks to json 3904, the front doesn't look so intimidating with the front wheel off. Still why not hire a mechanic.

Why not a real garage (I'm not yet equipped for much work here). I must admit the rear shocks look easy (I've done them before on an old ford years ago), and thanks to json 3904, the front doesn't look so intimidating with the front wheel off. Still why not hire a mechanic.

I guess it depends on how much you value your time and how much you value the the satisfaction of doing your own work. By doing the easy stuff yourself now makes the harder stuff easier later on down the track. The bill the shop gives you when they're finished will have more than $100 (my rough calculation of $50/hr. It will likely be more) for labor and if they bought and provided the shocks it will have their markup on it too.

Another benefit is that after knowing the suspension intimitely, later on when something just doesn't feel right, you will know what you're looking at and how it should look.

AGREED, DO IT YOURSELF
its not hard at all
you just need a jack, breaker bar(1/2" drive), 14mm socket, 19mm socket, 17mm socket, rachet(3/8" or 1/2" drive)

a mechanic will way overcharge you for a tbar crank, and theres a 90% chance they will do it wrong


ps, its a way cool feeling not only being part of a diagram, but being labeled too!!!
json makes me famous
2 jack stands

Lol. Exactly. Do not hire a mechanic! As easy as it is, you will kick yourself for not doing it.

Mechanics are usually a jack of all trades and a master of none. That said, they may have messed with T-bars once or thrice, but nobody knows an X like an X owner. Not to mention, I have a write up, walking you through baby step style.

As far as the rear shocks, crank up the rear end by putting the jack on the spare tire, not the pumpkin. crank until the tires start to come off of the ground, and then back down so they both barely touch the ground. You have to find the right value between the up and down tension to make removal as simple as possible.

i have had my front end looked at by many "garages" ( before i joined this site and met ricer) when the torsion bars needed to be reindexed pass side was about 1 inch lower than drivers side..... even after i did my lift i was driving around town trying to find a place to align it and everyone but 1 place said that wasnt the right lift for the X... i laughed and walked out..... i hope you do it yourself and dont waste your money......

THANK YOU!!!!!

Yup! I went to get mine aligned by a shop that I trusted right after I lifted it which is standard protocol. So when I get it back, it is lowered so that there was a huge rake. I asked for my money back and lifted it again when I got back to my place.......arghhhhhh

now i kinda understand the front suspension after looking at these pics... maybe i can save up and start working on the front end

dustin and jason together working on an x wearing rubber gloves and his hand just so happens to get caught in his zipper... hmmmmmm, it kinda makes you wonder "where they really working on their X??"

hahah jk :)

dustin and jason together working on an x wearing rubber gloves and his hand just so happens to get caught in his zipper... hmmmmmm, it kinda makes you wonder "where they really working on their X??"

hahah jk :)

:laugh-big::laugh-big::laugh-big::laugh-big: