just bought a 08 crewcab duramax and the dealer put in a 6 inch fabtech lift along with the dual hoop setup with dirtlogic res. in the front and dirtlogics in the rear and have 35-13.5-20 mickey atz on 20-10 bmp's and this thing is super stiff in front and rear my 06 lbz rode real nice but didnt have the dual res. setup on the front

the front bumpstop ( i think thats what its called yellow rubber color wedge that comes down and touches the top of the bottom control arm ) is touching or just about touching is that normal i would think that should have some room ir you dont have any travel and be bottomed out or close too all the time and the front shock shaft only have about 2-3 max inches showing so i dont have much room there before the shocks are bottomed out also

any ideas on what needs to be done on the front and the rear before my truck breack if half or i blow my back out again ????

NEED HELP

thanks mike

heres pics of what i am talking about , and the front shocks only have 1.5 inches of clearence not 2-3 like i thought ( on the front front shock the front rear has alittle more)

I had this same problem when I first bought my truck with an 8in lift and running 37in tires on 20s. The problem is not the lift or the rubber bump stops nor the dual front shocks its the tires. Yes, its the tires. Think about this, those lowrider cars with their paper thin tires on 20 to 24in wheels, think they ride good? No way, the sidewall of those tires are so small and stiff that you get absolutely no flex in the tires. Hence, the flex gives you a cushion. Well those 35in tires on 20s don't have much of a sidewall either so you have the same problem, no flex no cushion. This problem is even further complicated if your tires are E rated and/or you are running Toyos which are very stiff on the sidewalls. What the local lift shop told me is that running less air pressure in the tires (38-40psi in front and 32-35psi in back) will give the tires a little more cushion and give you a better ride. My truck rides a lot better since I did this. I especially notice this when I am pulling my trailer and I air my tires up to 65psi and then drive the truck with the trailer off. The thing rides like a brick. I have also been told that adding lift springs in back, i.e. Deavers, will help improve the ride of the rear of the truck. I have yet to do that but that is near the top of my list for things to do soon.

I hope this helps a little. If you still want to run 35s and want your truck to ride better you may think about going with 18in rims to give a little more sidewall area and a little more "cushion."

lower control arms can run on the yellow bump stops, they act as a progressive "spring"

the shocks look way to long. you should have way more compression available than 1.5". they look like the wrong parts

lower control arms can run on the yellow bump stops, they act as a progressive "spring"

the shocks look way to long. you should have way more compression available than 1.5". they look like the wrong parts

He is right with 1.5" I bet you can almost rock the truck side to side and bottom them out. Most people like to set the shocks up about mid travel. I would swap them out or if $ is the issue pull them off and put the standared shock that goes with the lift.

I agree the front shocks look too long, and if your running dual front shocks you want the valving to be really soft. If it's not valved properly it's going to ride rough.

nick heres the pics you asked for

Your Control arm angles should not be apposing each other. The upper control arm is facing up and the lower control arm is facing down:(. Keep us posted on what they are thinking happened with this install.


http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=50231&d=1196124094


Here is that truck I was telling you about over the phone:
http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=50242&stc=1&d=1196127476


Nor-Cal Nick

Is that a 6" Fabtech and the Upper control arms from the 8"?

WTF happened to that truck!?

Is that a 6" Fabtech and the Upper control arms from the 8"?

I think you may be right, it sure looks as if they have used the 8" spindle and upper control arm with the 6" subframe? :cookoo: The upper control arms looks exactly like the ones off of my 8" kit other than mine are in the correct position. That is unacceptable work, I think I would be rolling some heads over this one!

I think you may be right, it sure looks as if they have used the 8" spindle and upper control arm with the 6" subframe? :cookoo: The upper control arms looks exactly like the ones off of my 8" kit other than mine are in the correct position. That is unacceptable work, I think I would be rolling some heads over this one!


X2, must be the wrong spindle, looks like you got the 6" subframe and the 8" spindle. but what do i know? If this were the case it would mean that your UCAs (technically it would be the ball joints) are maxed out leaving no allowance for upward travel. So your shocks will be fine since you cant have any upward travel. :D I would suggest bringing it back to the stealership, now before the ball joints go boom. thats just my opinion, leave Nick to the real prognosis

the dealership says thats the right spindal and upper just the wrong shocks maybe , i measured the spindal and it was like 19 3/4 long from the very top to the very bottom and stock is 11 3/4 so thats 8 inches so from what ive been told thats a 8 inch spindal but the dealership says that he as couple there done and are the same length so whats up ????? and the spindal is about 1/8 inch from the back of the tire also maybe the upper is to long and pushing the top of the spindal out

JUST TALKED TO FABTECH AND THEY SAY THE SPINDALS ARE THE SAME 6-8 INCH LIFTS , still working on this with them

JUST TALKED TO FABTECH AND THEY SAY THE SPINDALS ARE THE SAME 6-8 INCH LIFTS , still working on this with them


this is true. i had the 6" on my '02, took it off and installed the 8". the spindles were exactly the same. i actually used the same spindles, and sold the brand new ones to my buddy.

good luck

what make up the difference between 6-8 ? are the upper control arms the same also ,whats different

Wow. Somethin's not right. My first guess would be the dual shocks & the low profile tires.

I would E-mail Fabtech this picture, as they say a picture is worth a 1,000 words.
http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=50231&d=1196124094

i did they say it looks right , can you post a pic of your 8 inch control angles

hey, i just thought of something.

the upper control arm is only to be used with the 8" kit. it cannot and will not work with the 6". that is your problem.

for the 6" lift you HAVE TO USE THE FACTORY CONTROL ARM

when i installed my 8" kit, the onl differences were the control arm, cross members and drop down brackets.

good luck

I haven't heard many good things about Fabtech. I guess this is a good reason for the criticism

Here is a pic of my 8" Fabtech, as you can see the upper and lower arms are in alignment. I have enjoyed my Fabtech lift so far, hopefully everything gets resolved.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d83/PerformanceWest/A-arms006.jpg

I don't think it's a fabtech issue, it's an installer issue. Unless they included UCA's with a kit that didn't need it..

are your upper control arms fabtech? If so... why did you put them on if you werent going to do dual shocks??

I would E-mail Fabtech this picture, as they say a picture is worth a 1,000 words.
http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=50231&d=1196124094
Its not his shocks. If his upper control arm was in the correct angle the shocks would have more travel

this looks like it was definently done incorrectly, and fabtech makes decent suspension kits i have had mine and it works well.

There was the wrong subframe or no subframe installed. If the diff and lower a-arms were lowered the upper and lower a-arms would be in the correct position.

That thing is screwed up

Click here:
Installation Instructions (http://www.fabtechmotorsports.com/pdfs/instructions/FT21008,%2021009,%2021010%20%20Instruction%20Sheet .pdf)


FTS21008 6" Box Kit 1 FTS21009 6" Box Kit 2

6" 2001-2003 GM 4WD K1500HD K2500HD K2500
FTS21008 / FTS21009 / FTS21010
FTS21008BK / FTS21009BK / FTS21010BK
PARTS LIST





------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Click here:

Installation Instructions (http://www.fabtechmotorsports.com/pdfs/instructions/FT21011%20Instruction%20Sheet%20(21011-13).pdf)


FTS21011 FTS21012

8" 2001-03 GM 4WD K2500HD P/U ONLY
FTS21011 / FTS21012 / FTS21013
PARTS LIST



I printed both parts lists from both kits and they both use the same spindles but other than that major similarity the 8" kit drops down further and still uses the 6" spindles but add UCA to help the extra lift.

BUT if you print the parts lists you see that by the looks of what "hd2nv" is having problems with might be that the install opened the 8" lift box FTS21013 witch has the UCA parts in it. Maybe they where used to installing the 8" kit and over looked that he did not need to install them. :confuzeldThis might be where the problems are coming from.

I want members to know that a error like this could happen to anyone even we have done things wrong but thats how we all learn. I would start with taking the UCA's off and then see where we are at.

I really would like to see this member get his truck fixed. "hd2nv" has not said I don't believe but he drove this truck 5 hours home with it like this and that's a long drive back. Maybe someone with a Fabtech 6" could post some pic's so we can look at the difference compared to "hd2nv" truck.


Nor-Cal Nick

well here we go ,fabtech told the shop who did the lift that all is right so tonight i went and took the dual res. shocks off and 3 of the 4 are blownout( leaking fluid ) must be from bottoming out , but anyway i went and put single dirt logic non res. shocks on it in the normal shock position and the thing rides better but the frontend needs to be aligned still its out of wack and still dont understand whats going on with the upper control arm , but its better anyway , i guess 1 step at a time , hope to get to enjoy my new truck yet ,

thanks to all for info. so far , especially nor-cal nick for taking the time for talking me on the phone about this and i didnt even get the lift through him

mike

are your upper control arms fabtech? If so... why did you put them on if you werent going to do dual shocks??
I'm guessing your talking to me, if so the upper arms are part of the 8" kit. That said I do plan on doing the doubles, just saving up.;)

hd2nv, I think I would call Fabtech again and tell them that 3 of the 4 shocks were blown. I just don't see how they could say this is right, I would request to talk to a different person than the one you have been dealing with.

Here are some pics of mine. Not sure if this helps, its from a Cognito kit.

also check ur torrsion bars if there maxwd out ull get a stiff ride too. also those front shocks are kinda close to bottoming out.

also check ur torrsion bars if there maxwd out ull get a stiff ride too. also those front shocks are kinda close to bottoming out.


You don't get a stiff ride from maxing out your torsion bars. The bad ride comes from loosing your down travel after you have over preloaded/cranked your torsion bars. He still has plenty of down travel between his UCA and frame stop. Here is his pic that shows:

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=50228&d=1196124094


BUT ... if that UCA gets re angled like it should be then yes he will start feeling a bad ride from not enough space/down travel till he tops out on his frame stop. Then he will need to unload/de-crank his bars to lower his static hight to allow for more down travel. We will need to see what happens when that UCA gets fixed.



Nor-Cal Nick

like i said...lower the torsion bars..lol i jus ran into that problem when i did the cognito leavel kit. i had the torsions cranked and had a shyty ride..reminded me of my F350 with the 14 inch lift..ok not that bad but close to it. off subject nick can u pm me a price on the 6-8 cognito lift with all the front end upgrades, dual shocks and deaver springs. i need to order them. ill do the the install thanks.

The problem is not the lift or the rubber bump stops nor the dual front shocks its the tires. Yes, its the tires. Think about this, those lowrider cars with their paper thin tires on 20 to 24in wheels, think they ride good? No way, the sidewall of those tires are so small and stiff that you get absolutely no flex in the tires. Hence, the flex gives you a cushion. Well those 35in tires on 20s don't have much of a sidewall either so you have the same problem, no flex no cushion.


The 20" rims are not the problem. Thousands of people have this combination and they ride great, including myself. A 35" tire on a 20" wheel has the same amount of side wall that the factory tire (30" - 31") with a 16" wheel. It's definetly in the suspension components being mismatched. No way should that upper A-arm be at that angle.

Also the dual shocks need to be valved correctly to run in pairs, or they will be very harsh, you may have more than one problem here.

THE PROBLEM IS THE

UPPER CONTROL ARM

YOU CANNOT USE IT WITH A 6" LIFT

YOU CAN ONLY USE IT WITH AN 8" (we are talking about the fabtech)

listen to us, Nick has said the same thing. he even posted links to the parts lists.

stop changing parts!! get the factory uca on there and you will be fine

at also looks like the ball joint may be installed wrong. it should probably be installed from the top of the arm, not the bottom

IIRC this is a new 6" Fabtech kit. Just a thought, but it could be the spindle....

I wouldnt be surprised if they accidentally gave you the old kits spindle. Take a look. Spindle looks very different. You installer probably didn't know that they redesigned this kit recently....