The TM kit works off of the principle of a fulcrum point/radius. Basically, imagine a golf club. When the play swings, the distance his/her hands travel in one stroke is a fraction of the distance the head of the club will travel in the same swing.
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06 Dakota 4x4 ST
-Mopar Tow-Package, and tow hooks
-Mopar Skid plates
-265/75/16 Goodyear Wrangler Advantage A/Ts, TM leveling kit
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Its a given that ANY displacement of the strut can cause balljoint wear. The upper control arm is too short for even a 2" lift, and the ball joint maxes to the side because the arm must swing down and in 2" beyond where its supposed to stop due to the displacement.
Just look at the DIY sticky on how to install a leveling kit. See the full droop picture? That upper ball joint looks like sh*t.
Any leveling kit on any truck that has a double wishbone suspension will suffer this fate.
The Trailmaster kit is now installed inside the strut so this wont happen, because the strut still only travels its normal maximum length, except the TM kit STEALS some uptravel, so you really don't gain any articulation, your truck just sits in a higher spot of the trucks strut travel (does that make sence?)
With an over the strut kit like mine, the strut travels its full length, but now the strut has been mounted 2" lower on the perch. The result is a 2" over extension, and Dodge, Ford, and Chevy leave no room for that extra 2", so the upper control arm touches the coil spring and the balljoint maxes out. (at full articulation) and yes the cvs simply wont last as long either, because they also become overextended.
It's not the end of the world but this is why people say that leveling kits wear out front end components faster.
the .75" trailmaster spacer would have given you 1.5" of lift.
Vehicle: '06 Dak Laramie QC 4x4 4.7HO 2" level and 1.5" rear block. 265/65/17 Hankook Dynapro AT/M
Location: Arizona
Posts: 157
Well I have the over the strut kit on my 4x4 truck and I will tell you that after driving it for a week I am still a little nervous. After putting on the spacer and letting the truck articulate fully, the upper A-arm is about 1/8" inch away from that coil spring. Also the angle of the axle (i think the CV joints) is pretty drastic. So much so that there was even a little binding when I tried to turn the tires with a jack underneath the frame.
Somebody truly needs to make an A-arm kit for this thing. I would probably buy it no matter the price haha!
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If it aint broke...take it apart anyways to see how it works! - '06 Dak Laramie QC 4x4 4.7HO - 2" leveling w/ 1.5" blocks - 3.91 lmtd slip - 180 t-stat - 265/65/17 Hankook AT/M
**1986 Seaswirl Topaz 20' w/ Chevy 305**
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I was reading this thread and have a question about the TM kit, I'm looking to get one,
so the daystar kit which mounts over the shock can overextend it.
So whats the down side to the TM kit which installs inside. I'll trying to wrap my head around this
Thanks for the help guys!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MonkeyWrench4000
Its a given that ANY displacement of the strut can cause balljoint wear. The upper control arm is too short for even a 2" lift, and the ball joint maxes to the side because the arm must swing down and in 2" beyond where its supposed to stop due to the displacement.
Just look at the DIY sticky on how to install a leveling kit. See the full droop picture? That upper ball joint looks like sh*t.
Any leveling kit on any truck that has a double wishbone suspension will suffer this fate.
The Trailmaster kit is now installed inside the strut so this wont happen, because the strut still only travels its normal maximum length, except the TM kit STEALS some uptravel, so you really don't gain any articulation, your truck just sits in a higher spot of the trucks strut travel (does that make sence?)
With an over the strut kit like mine, the strut travels its full length, but now the strut has been mounted 2" lower on the perch. The result is a 2" over extension, and Dodge, Ford, and Chevy leave no room for that extra 2", so the upper control arm touches the coil spring and the balljoint maxes out. (at full articulation) and yes the cvs simply wont last as long either, because they also become overextended.
It's not the end of the world but this is why people say that leveling kits wear out front end components faster.
the .75" trailmaster spacer would have given you 1.5" of lift.
I cant really explain it any better then what I explained above, but I'll try!
Say your struts sit in a static position (in the driveway parked) at "0" and full articulation is +5 (wheels off the ground), and full compression is -5. (wheels compressed into the wheel wells). With an over the strut kit, like a daystar, the strut is mounted to the frame mount lower then it normally would be, because the spacer gets installed between the mount and the strut. Thats fine and great, but no other front end components move at all, so now when the strut fully extends with the kit on, you get your +5, PLUS this fake +2, so +7. The suspension isnt designed to go to +7, so the upper control arm is maxed out, and swings into the coil spring, and its balljoint becomes the suspension limiter, stopping the suspension from further articulation. On top of that, the cv joint angles are bad, over angled, and the tie rods are also pretty much maxed downward.
The trailmaster kit works differently...
It installs inside the strut, putting more pre-load ont he spring, and causing the strut to "grow longer" So now when the strut extends, it still stops at +5, like it would normally, because with this method, you simply used up some articulation, because when you installed the spacer, it caused the strut to expand to the +2 or +3 position, because of the preload of the spring. So the new static position is +2 or +3, and it still stops extending at +5. This meas at full extension, the suspension is at the same spot it would be with NO kit installed. Thats a BIG advantage in terms of wear and tear.
With that being said, the only downs of the TM kit are, it has the strut sitting slightly extended which COULD decrease its service life, and since the kit lifts the truck, the trucks normal riding height, no matter what style kit, still sits with control arms slightly angled, and ball joints slightly angled.
Its my opinion that the trailmaster kit is a much better idea for your front end, but I wouldn't say it was as reliable as running a stock front end.
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