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Carli Pintop install DIY

gimmie11s said:
It brings me joy to see how dirty this truck is... demonstrates she's no mall crawler.
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I had to sweep out the garage this morning before I started. So much dirt and mud fell off the truck the last few days from doing the suspension.
 
Brewbud said:
My Carli Dominator kit has limit straps on the front. I believe the in back the control arms will bind first. I sent a message to Carli to find out.
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Just remembered the limiting straps are if you get the radius arm option. They aren't part of any of the base kits.
 
You can’t pull the springs out front or back unless you pull the shocks out first. I’m pretty sure the shocks are what limits the travel.

With the shocks out I think maybe the driveshafts limit the travel.

So got the front springs and shocks out. If you have a power wagon like me make sure you disconnect your front sway bar before you start working.

Passenger side has 2 brake line brackets and one plastic harness tab you’ll want to disconnect.

A plastic tab over the diff for a harness you’ll want to detach.

Driver side has two brake line brackets.

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I’ve been side tracked with cleaning up some little things. I readjusted the rear sway bar links as I didn’t like the spec recommended in the instructions. Added some more protection to the parking brake line where it contacts the gas tank skid plate. Would only be an issue with the power wagon.

If there was one thing I would like to see improvements on with the kit it would be the brackets for the parking brake line.

Got the driver side done minus the bump stop mount. I will probably end up just having this spot welded in.

In the pic below I used the oil filter strap to hold the shock housing while tightening the top nut. Also, I used the small jack to raise the axle while I guided the shock into the bottom mount.

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Below is how I oriented the bottom shock and it’s crush sleeve with the longer end towards the rear of the truck. If it was the other way it appears the blue anodized section would rub the shock mount on the axle.

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Info from Carli, the Kings have a top-out protection built-in and they have been using them that way for many years with no problems for MANY years… Never had an issue topping out on their snap rings. They do offer a limit kit for the rear if you feel you need one. You can also add limit straps to the front if your kit doesn't have one. I did that with my last truck.

As far as the Dominator front travel, you have to allow for some lateral movement of the front axle with fixed mounting locations and the bigger shocks need a bit more lateral clearance. I believe it also has something to do with what is available from King.
 
OK. I was wondering why they all used the front spring, but had different travel levels.

Good to know about the Kings. When I rebuilt mine, there were no bumps in them to slow down the toping out.
 
Brewbud said:
Info from Carli, the Kings have a top-out protection built-in and they have been using them that way for many years with no problems for MANY years… Never had an issue topping out on their snap rings. They do offer a limit kit for the rear if you feel you need one. You can also add limit straps to the front if your kit doesn't have one. I did that with my last truck.

As far as the Dominator front travel, you have to allow for some lateral movement of the front axle with fixed mounting locations and the bigger shocks need a bit more lateral clearance. I believe it also has something to do with what is available from King.
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Awesome info! I wonder what OEM uses because from doing this suspension it does appear that it uses the shocks as well.

So I got the front trackbar in. To line it up make sure you have the truck on ground. Oh, also you have to install a new steering stabilizer bracket. My bracket was a little small to fit the stabilizer in. The only way I could get it to fit was to spread open the bracket. Luckily I have a vice grip spreader. Imagine vice grips that, instead of gripping, work in the opposite direction. I bought them for some random project years ago and they have sat ever since lol.

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I did go over to a buddies and had him spot weld the front bump stop brackets instead of drilling through the OEM bracket, support plate, and frame.

So now onto the radius arm drop brackets. Without a strong impact gun there was no way I was going to be able to break these bolts loose on my back under the truck. So I called the original shop that couldn't do my full kit until January. Luckily, they could fit the drop brackets in this Thursday. So I'm paying to get them done haha. They've done more Carli kits than anyone in Arizona and CJC recommended them so I'm also asking them to give my truck and install a once over.

We may actually just weld the back part of the bracket in instead of drilling the frame for the new bolt since my rock sliders may interfere with that. We will see.

I've been driving the truck the last few days and other than the steering wheel being off-center (still drives straight) it feels great. The alignment is scheduled for Friday morning.

If anyone wants to tackle this install on their own and has any questions let me know.
 
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Glad its all working out.

You could have used this opportunity to go buy a heavier duty impact wrench. ;) Just saying.

I've never seen one of those spreader vice grips, but I like it. Might have to find a project that I need them for just so I have a excuse to buy them. :cool: Just don't let the "Boss" in on my plan. :rolleyes:

She still says I dropped my Harley on purpose just so I could buy the new levers and switch's I wanted for the handlebars. :eek:

Can't wait for your report back on how she handles off road.

Also how much actual lift did it give you?
 
Crusty old shellback said:
Glad its all working out.

You could have used this opportunity to go buy a heavier duty impact wrench. ;) Just saying.

I've never seen one of those spreader vice grips, but I like it. Might have to find a project that I need them for just so I have a excuse to buy them. :cool: Just don't let the "Boss" in on my plan. :rolleyes:

She still says I dropped my Harley on purpose just so I could buy the new levers and switch's I wanted for the handlebars. :eek:

Can't wait for your report back on how she handles off road.

Also how much actual lift did it give you?
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I know! I was really tempted to buy the high-end Dewalt impact gun (all my tools are already part of the dewalt battery eco-system). At $250 I think it's worth it and would have broken those bolts loose no problem. If I remember right it has 1100 pounds of breaking force. I'm sure I'll end up getting it sooner or later. It's one of those tools I've put off for years. Working on cars it was never needed. Working on an HD truck though is a different story.

I didn't measure the before and after height. It definitely raised the rear and front though. If I didn't drive around with 1000+lb of payload 24/7 my truck would sit even higher. My truck already sat level with all that payload on the truck and it still sits level. (edit: after stepping back and looking at the truck it actually sags in the back a little).

I don't like how the reservoir lines push up against the fender liners. Mine are usually very dirty and have mud/rocks stuck to them. I might wrap the lines in something so they don't get rubbed through.

Bad pic, but I just pressured washed it and the undercarriage. I'll get better ones when I'm out and about. Going to try and hit some high-speed stuff and maybe grab some video this weekend. I think I'm going to leave the stickers off the reservoirs.
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I believe the Milwaukee has the highest torque rating on any of the battery impacts.
Blew a tire bead off a trailer rim one day when the kids aired down too much to get out of the dunes. Big gooseneck trailer used to haul front end loaders and all. Cousin called his shop to ask what they used to put the lug nuts on as we broke a couple of breaker bars trying to loosen them. They said the big air wrench in the shop.

We got a hotel room for the night and called AAA the next day. Guy shows up with the Milwaukee battery impact. We kind of laughed and said we got to see this. Sure enough, took them right off with no problems. :eek:

I actually took the king shock labels off my kings when I rebuilt them. ;)
 
Crusty old shellback said:
I believe the Milwaukee has the highest torque rating on any of the battery impacts.
Blew a tire bead off a trailer rim one day when the kids aired down too much to get out of the dunes. Big gooseneck trailer used to haul front end loaders and all. Cousin called his shop to ask what they used to put the lug nuts on as we broke a couple of breaker bars trying to loosen them. They said the big air wrench in the shop.

We got a hotel room for the night and called AAA the next day. Guy shows up with the Milwaukee battery impact. We kind of laughed and said we got to see this. Sure enough, took them right off with no problems. :eek:

I actually took the king shock labels off my kings when I rebuilt them. ;)
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I got a Milwaukee impact last Christmas, the thing is crazy strong and I love it. I'd love to have air in the garage for other things and prob would have just purchased a HF earthquake or something but I don't have the space in the current setup. I've been super impressed by the Milwaukee stuff.

I'm also with you on the no labels. I've got finned shocks and I don't think I'll put the plates on them, even though they do look nice.
 
AnthonyD1978 said:
I don't like how the reservoir lines push up against the fender liners. Mine are usually very dirty and have mud/rocks stuck to them. I might wrap the lines in something so they don't get rubbed through.
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Curious, is that how Carli recommends routing the resevoir line or from King? On mine the instructions from King had me wrap the line around the shock which im not a fan of.
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Fishnerd said:
Curious, is that how Carli recommends routing the resevoir line or from King? On mine the instructions from King had me wrap the line around the shock which im not a fan of.
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Carli did my install and they routed them like @AnthonyD1978 did. Your Kings have the hose coming off the side of the resi instead of the end though.
 
Catch a resi hose with a tire and you’ll KO a fitting. Done that before after being nonchalant about hose routing.
 
Just an FYI for people.

So with my OEM suspension and the max payload I was running daily, my truck sat level. With the Carli springs, it sits about 1.5-2" lower in the back than front. I thought with the extra payload the Carli springs give in the back for a Power Wagon it would still sit level. I was wrong.

So I went ahead and ordered the Carli +2" rear springs. Hopefully, the wait isn't as long as the pintop kit haha.
 
I should also mention that if you have rock sliders you will have to drop them to make room to drill the frame for the radius arm drop brackets. Even then, the sliders could interfere with the bracket hardware clearance for the rear hole. I had the shop do a plug weld for the rear holes on the bracket instead of dealing with all that.
 
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