Eibach Leveling Kit

[ylwjacket]

Well, some of you may have seen my "difficulties" thread in the initial install, where I pulled out a cv axle. I pulled the axle out, fixed the cv, and put the axle back in.

Well, after going through that, the whole thing is finally installed. The most significant PITA in that was that, for some reason, I didn't expect the new rear shocks to be so much longer than the stock. So, I had to figure out a way to compress them and get them in, but got it done.

So, now it's on to what to do about tires. The OEM Hankooks only have 19k miles, so I am hesitant to throw them out, but I will probably go ahead and do it at the end of next week. I am leaning towards the Cooper AT3 XLT's.

So, here's a before pic and after pic, with stock tires. Probably doesn't look a whole lot better without new tires on, but you can tell there's more room for tires in the wheel wells now.

Before:

After:

I haven't driven it much yet, but the initial feel is that body roll is gone, and it seems solid. It was a little odd the first time driving it, because with rake gone, I felt like I couldn't see over the hood.

I realigned the headlights, mostly, last night. They will probably need a tad more tweaking.

So, this was a bit of an ordeal, but, so far, I'm happy with the results.

I need to get an alignment by Friday, as I am taking a trip on Monday in it. Just have to decide on leaving the stock tires or grabbing new ones. I may wait a week or two on those, but I might do it right away so I only align once.

Anyways, thanks for the encouragement in the other thread when I was struggling with this install a bit.

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[RangerPNW]

New tires won't impact alignment, so there's no rush there. I think the next question really is how big do you want to go on tires? You can do a step up to about a 32" without any modifications or need for new wheels. Bigger than that and you're looking at new wheels or wheel spacers, and modifying crash bars.

Also i feel your pain on pulling the CV apart, I did that installing my Fox 2.0 fronts, and after a bit of cussing and panic, and with some help from the old man, got it back together.

 

[AzScorpion]

Glad it finally worked out for you and now you can enjoy the new suspension. I just went with 32's so no additional mods were needed (UCA's/crash bars) and for me it was the perfect size. Plus any heavier and you're cutting more into your mpg if that's even something you're concerned about? My Nitto Ridge Grapplers are on their way out already and I'll be replacing them in a few months. Most likely with Toyo OC AT3's but I'm still looking at a few others.

 

[ylwjacket]

Yeah, i've pretty much decided 265/70/18 willbe what i get to avoid any further mods.

 

[Bob902]

Glad it’s finally finished. I know you will enjoy the Eibachs.

 

[Joeiconic]

I agree it hurts to take off perfectly good tires, but at the rate I drive, it would probably take me 4 years to wear out the Hankooks. I decided life’s too short and pulled them off around 5000 miles and put on Cooper AT3 4s. I didn’t need LT weight tires, but admit the AT3 XLT’s do look better.

 

[Hickesy]

I agree it hurts to take off perfectly good tires, but at the rate I drive, it would probably take me 4 years to wear out the Hankooks. I decided life’s too short and pulled them off around 5000 miles and put on Cooper AT3 4s. I didn’t need LT weight tires, but admit the AT3 XLT’s do look better.

The Cooper AT3 4s are top of my list after summer with the Hankooks. How do you find them? My reason for choosing them is wet weather performance (Pacific Northwest) any insights you can share?

 

[Joeiconic]

The Cooper AT3 4s are top of my list after summer with the Hankooks. How do you find them? My reason for choosing them is wet weather performance (Pacific Northwest) any insights you can share?

It rains here in GA all the time these days and the Coopers are great in the wet in my experience.

 

[ylwjacket]

It rains here in GA all the time these days and the Coopers are great in the wet in my experience.

that's my issue with the Hankooks. They seem pretty slippery in the rain. So - the AT3 4S handle it well?

 

[ylwjacket]

Hadn't really looked much at the AT3 4S, but it's about $50/tire cheaper than the XLT, which brings the price for 5 back a little closer to earth.

Seems to get good reviews.

 

[Joeiconic]

I’m not a spirited driver and I’m not throwing the truck into curves on wet roads, etc., but in my experience they handle wet roads fine.

 

[ylwjacket]

Well, after all that, here it is.

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