Carrier bearing lowered truck
 

I have a 2010 SCrew short box 2wd. It has the 2 piece drive shaft. I lowered the truck with djm control arms 3 inch and crown suspension 6inch flip kit. I am attempting to Raise the carrier bearing so I used the belltech online instructions. I drilled the holes but how do you bolt it down I have about 1 inch of clearance between the cab and the crossmember. Am I missing something.

can you post a link to the instructions? i can't seem to locate them.

I raised my carrier bearing the same way, but I've got a rcswb and had room to install bolts from the top of the cross member. Is there anyway to install the bolts from the bottom and just put a washer and lock nut on top of the cross member?

I will get some pics today for you had the same issue. Actually instead of taking pics I’ll do a little video and see if I can walk you through it and help you out.

Hope this will help.

Thanks for the video. What degree shims. I’m actually going to use a c Notch from airbagit with drop shackles and belltech struts with lowering springs to ultimately achieve a 6/8 drop. I have a combination of parts from all different companies

I only had to use a 2° shim on mine but I only went for 4” drop in the rear here’s the link to figure out how to get your angle of your drive line. It’s how I figured out what degree shims I needed

http://www.wolferacecraft.com/pinionangle.aspx

wow six inches in the front...it will be interesting to see what mods you do to make wheel clearance. Some details on that would be nice.

I used the djm 3 inch drop arms in the front and have another 4 inches before the tire hits the fender. That’s why I want to use the lowering springs to stiffen the ride alittle so the truck doesn’t bounce too much. I will use the belltech struts at 1 inch drop. The have a 4.6 so the spring may give me a 2 inch drop.

i have the djm 3'' arms also with shortened stock springs on stock struts. I had the belltech struts but they started leaking oil a couple of times so i gave up on them. my fender is pretty much level with the top of the tire and i had to remove the fender liners and reroute some of the wiring harnesses to keep them from rubbing. i also beat down some of the fender/body seams as well. i was getting still a lot of tire rubbing but i reinstalled my stock sway bar after also flipping it upside down and that eliminated (because is stiffened the ride) the great majority of clearance issues. i also installed some home made splash shields in certain areas to keep the tires from throwing crap all up under the hood.

oh btw tire size is 275/55/20

also this is the best set up to date among many that I've had on the front. including belltech struts and lowering springs, drop spring perches and what not.

in the near future i plan to tear it down one more time and install Monroe sensatrac struts as they are an upgrade over the stockers

I have the 18’s on the truck now. I will try this setup and see what happens. I am also going to add a homemade air bag setup for the rear for towing.

You don’t think 18s will look kind of small on your truck?

They are the factory xlt rims. In the future I will go bigger probably a 20-22 incher but I want to drop it first then take it from there. I want to get the suspension and the air bag setup dialed in first.

I have slam air bags on the back of mine also.

be aware, with the djm 3" arms and then dropping it more beyond that with whatever method, you will encounter interference with your steering linkage and the control arms. the dust covers on the steering rack on my truck are torn where they contact the arms when the suspension is compressed downward. I was unaware this could be a problem. the last time i took everything apart (to replace control arms bushings..another long story) i took a die grinder and smoothed the edge of the arms where the boots make contact to keep any more damage from occurring, but too little too late. the positive side though is that they're just dust covers, it's on the bottom of them, and no contact has been made with the steering control rods themselves.

i tried sealing the tears with self adhesive waterproof tape but it didn't hold up. also i'm not sure how long you've had the djm arms on your truck, but pay attention to the bushings. mine were over tightened and starting oozing so to speak so i replaced them.

also, if you're going lower than 3" you're probably going to need to slot the holes for the control arms perches to be able to restore enough camber, which also creates problems with keeping the front end in alignment, from a standpoint of keeping the bolts tight enough without damaging the poly bushings. slotting the holes will probably remove the little detent for the camber washers to rest in that helps keep the bolts where you want them, which is what lead me to having mine tack welded in place after alignment. this was done actually on the advice of the djm tech i spoke to about keeping the front end in alignment. I personally skipped the camber bolt kit and went for the tack weld option.

here's a random thought...i had the belltech lowering springs and struts in the front, and it was a pretty harsh ride. in addition, the struts would sometimes bottom out which is what probably led to two of them failing.....another long story...

all in all, i love the way the truck looks, drives and handles, however it has been a lot of work keeping it this low and maintaining everything sufficiently. If i were to do it again, i would probably stop at a 3" drop in the front and try to be happy with it. the next truck i buy...i'm leaving it alone...maybe......

now, out to the garage to figure out what's rattling in the front end when i turn to the right

I want to use the belltech struts with lowering springs, because if you take out all the spacers of the belltech struts you have to modify the bolt holes. thats why i want to use the combo of springs and struts so the spring will essentially lower the truck and the belltech strut will be close to stock height minus 1 ring. im hoping that will prolong the struts life.

well that's a combo i didn't try....djm arms, belltech struts and springs...

it may give you the the front end travel required to keep from bottoming the struts, but i still think you will have quite a lot of negative camber without slotting the holes. the ride will be fairly stiff however as i tried the belltech springs as mentioned. with the stiffer springs though you may be able to avoid moving around the wiring harnesses and modifying stuff in the wheel well to keep the tires from rubbing, so they may be a bonus in that regard.

just keep an eye on your steering boots

i thought with the djm arms they maintained the same steering/alignment geometry all that changed was that the strut sat 3 inches lower

you know i believe you're right, at least as far as the lower control arms are concerned. i slotted the holes when i was running the stock control arms and assumed it was still needed with the djm arms also. i didn't think that though.

if you're going a full six inches though, using drop springs and struts, you could possibly need to slot the holes, i'm not sure.

i'm going to post a couple of pics showing my ride height, plus the clearance issue with the steering control rods and boots. any method, i think, that moves the rest of the suspension lower, besides the lower arms, will cause a reduction in clearance with you steering components....this much i'm sure about. pics in a few minutes.

i forgot to mention i don't run any spring isolators also

here ya go
 

pics

My 2010 is very different from the 2011-2014 when I installed the djm arms I never had to cut my tie rod ends.

tie rod ends haven't been cut...what i'm saying is the clearance between the steering rod coming from the rack, not the tie rod end, and the control arms itself diminishes as the front goes lower. the dust boot rubs on the arms.

Got the carrier bearing done Thanks for the video JStevens311. The tie rods have about a 4 inches of gap before they hit the control arms. My steering rack looks different than yours. Without the alignment the truck rides smooth for an xlt pick up.

that's a win for sure. glad to hear it has worked out so well.

Jersey250 glad to hear that worked for you man.

can you message me on FB please
Bronson Sherrill I have some questions

Ive got a 2013 Screw Im gunna be installing the Belltech 979SP kit on This weekend. I am using the lowest setting on the adjustable strut. so that means 3 in front and 5 in rear with flip kit and slammed bags. Will I have any problems with the front riding like ****?? I bought my kit through Summit. so they usually warranty anything without quiestions asked. Please help. Thanks!

yes the holes will need to be slotted with the factory arms and belltech struts and lowering spring.

i'm not really sure. i never ran the belltech struts with stock springs....or i mean with stock springs that weren't shortened. most of the time i ran them with belltech lowering springs. it didn't ride bad, the shocks just bottomed out too often. probably what caused them to leak.

so the belltech lowering spring that comes with the 979SP kit and adjustable sturt will bottom out in the front and cause it to leak?

i haven't looked at the kit you're talking about. I did mine in bits and pieces and wound up at one point with the 3" drop springs and belltech struts. in fact i think i even shortened the drop springs by about 1/4 coil or so. if the springs and struts you are considering are part of a kit, then i doubt you would have a bottoming problem. belltech couldn't sell them like that.

it's hard to give you a firm answer as I've had many different set ups on my truck and it's hard to remember exactly what i had and when.

if you haven't lowered your truck yet i would consider the maxtrac kit with drop spindles and lowering springs. that's what i would do if i were going to do it all over again....but that kit isn't cheap.

Ehhhh the box is 92lbs and id have to pay shipping back on that!! lol Ive looked at some pictures of truck with the same drop im doing. They look perfect. I'm not messing with control arms other then slotting the lower control arm mounting brackets. once it gets aligned I might tack weld the bolts so they don't move. other then that at the carrier bearing bracket removal and 2 holes drilled it sounds straight foward. just hope I dont run into any problems. I just hope the strut will work out. because I dont hve anyone that does lowering stuff anywhere around here. EVERYONE LIFTS trucks not lowers them. Im having to pay Ford $130 just to change out my spring and strut. Also I couldnt find anyone to install this kit that I would trust to cut my bracket, drill 2 new holes and slot the other holes and know its done right. so my buddy and I are doing it this weekend. I dont wanna go crazy low I just want my wheel setup to fill the wheel well with a tad gap. that looks the best.

Also I am stuck on weather the springs that came with the kit go on strut or the rear.

they go on the strut

if you have air tools and a compressor you can rent a strut spring compressor and install the springs on the struts yourself and save a few dollars.

Its to dangerous man or I would. I dont wanna take a chance