How many miles on your front hubs/unit bearings? Also, what tire size are you running? I read through one of your other threads, but didn't see the tire size. The larger tires seem to wear the bearings really fast for me. I don't get more than a year or two out of them and they are shot. I've had them do everything from wobble, squeal, abs sensors act up, or vibrate. Each one that goes out seems to have a different symptom.

Also, with having the rear end go out suddenly on you I would double check the u-joints in the rear drive shaft. I've had one of those vibrate on acceleration/deceleration when it went bad.

Just having the front higher than the rear shouldn't cause the vibration unless a driveline angle was altered in getting those heights like you have them. You said that you just took out the rear block. What is your rear setup now? Is the factory block still there? Do you have an add-a-leaf from the lift still in?

 

I had the same problem with wheel bearings until i fixed my camber and caster, im going on about 4.5 years on these bearings since i realized i needed to pull camber in a bit (.5 degree more than spec) and i had to get my caster in the 2.5 range i think it was... Been awhile but will be doing it again as soon as i get ahold of my rare parts tie rods and have time to get them on.... Want a set of cognito upper control arms too, but have other more pressing issues at moment....

 

Tire size is 285/70/17 so 32.7in. only put about 5k miles on the truck since ive had it and have no service records from previous owner so the wheel bearings could be stock. the reason I don't think its wheel bearings is because it makes absolutely no noise. everytime I've had a wheel bearing go out on other vehicles it usually makes a good bit of noise. But you never know.

I thought it would be the drive shaft or U joints to but after pushing in the clutch putting the trans in neutral and removing pretty much all load from the drive shaft during the vibrations with no change I kinda ruled that out.

My rear suspension set up is stock leafs stock hangers and stock shackle with an AAL no block what so ever and bilstien 5100s. parked next to a stock 4x4 1500 with similar tires my rear looks about 1 or 2 inches higher still. Later down the road it will get a deaver 6in pack and go spring under with kartek hanger and camburg shackle but that stuffs expensive and will probably be a year or so.

Ive had my alignment done 3 times in the last 6ish months (firestone hates me with my lifetime alignment) I honestly never really pay attention to the exact camber caster and tow specs as long as they are green and the truck doesnt pull ether way on the highway I'm happy.

I would really like a set of those cognito upper control arms to! But more important things first like getting my coilovers setup right.

 

Had similar problems when I tried to lower my truck ended up putting the rear blocks back in for close to a year because the ride was so bad and nobody could give me an answer why. I was running bilstien 5100 shocks all around and was into Discount tire more frequently than I would of liked. After balancing them I would still have the vibrations like your describing. Ended up finding a different shop, and I could drive right from Discount tire after having them balanced and they would be off by 1-3.

Recently lowered it again found out that I was close to bottoming out on the front shocks after cranking down the torsion keys, and the bump stops were sitting on the frame. Changed the front shocks to the bilstien 4600 since they can accommodate a lower ride height and still have play depending on how low the front sits. Trimmed the bumpstops in the front and found a performance shop that can actually balance 22 inch wheels and do an alignment, and the vibration is gone. It still rides like a truck so you feel the road but the vibration in the seats is gone. Try checking how much play the shocks have, and if your sitting on the bumpstops. My bumpstops are sitting 1inch above at ride height.

Hope this helps.

 

Wenthe to a reputable shop today for a front end inspection and they said everything is nice and tight and looks good. But that if I bring it in sat when they have more time they will put it on a lift a run it up to where I feel the vibrations and check everything for vibrations.

Really good customer service looked at my truck for almost an hour and didn't charge a dime or try to rip me off by suggesting to replace somthing.

 

My shocks have plenty of up and down travel that was one of the first things I checked when I bought it and the shocks on it were to short that's one reason I lowered it. I still have a good amount of room before It would be resting on the bump stops thanks for the tip tho!!

 

I've been considering the rear deaver leaves too, but I'm just not convinced they will make enough difference in the ride to justify the cost. I have some pretty good squeaking in my suspension that comes and goes. I tried the dealer for new bushings for the leaves, but they told me they no longer sell just the bushings and I'd have to buy new leaves. The deavers aren't much more over what the dealer wants for a set of the factory leaves. I get feed up with the squeaking to a point where I'm ready to buy them and then a few days later I notice its not squeaking anymore so I let it go.


I had a bad experience with the aftermarket upper control arms and don't think I would recommend them to anyone. I didn't have Cognito's, but mine where very similar. They were made by CST Suspension and had the mounting points for the dual shocks. My problem was with the bushings in the arms. They were polyurethane and wouldn't last more than a year. Then they would start squeaking horribly. CST would only sell me a complete set of all 8 bushings for something like $150. I tried to measure them and match them to something made by Energy Suspension or Prothane, but couldn't ever find the right size. I bought the first set from CST and since I had a whole set went ahead and replaced them all. A few thousand miles later the squeaking was back. I tried replacing them once more, but when they went bad again, I pulled the arms off and went back to the factory style arms with the rubber bushings. The aftermarket arms look cool, but they don't do anything else for you.

 

Oh, and keep us updated on the coilover swap. I've talked with Atomic and that too, but I'm still not sure if I want to go through all the trouble to get them set up right.

 

I ha d the cognito upper arms on my 05 3500 drw and never had a problem with them, but i greased the hell out of them inside and out when i installed them and again when i changed the oil everytime after that.....

 

The deavers are sweet! had a set on my old ranger front end felt awful but the rear was smooth as glass! And had a crazy amount of flex which is why I would only run them spring under im sure with spring over the axle wrap would be pretty bad. But I would only sped the money on them If your were shot or you do alot of off roading.

I'm not really in need of upper control arms but whenever I have money laying around for no reason or my uppers are shot ill probably get some. I had poly bushings front and rear on a honda I used to own and it is essential to grease the crap out of them. I used some high temp graphite lube and it lasted 2 years until I sold it never had a peep! But I know alot of people that have had problems with them before.

I got my atomic brackets yesterday they look great! Way beefier then I thought! Also got all the little extra things I need just waiting on FOA now.

So another little mini rant. Went yesterday to have a resonator welded in front of my current magnaflow and they said can't do anything without adding cats. So I went to a sketchier shop today for the same thing and I specifically said weld it in front of my current muffler right after the Y pipe. Well I didnt check it until I got home because I was in a bit of a rush and the idiots cut of my expensive magnaflow and welded the resonator in place! Uhhggg It is a little quieter but I want more quietness! And I want my expensive muffler back grrr!!! Gotta call them first thing in the morning.