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Old 09-13-2016, 10:34 PM   #1
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New Build - Camburg Lift Issues

Hey All,

So I am finally getting around to posting some photos of my in-progress build. I started with a basic 2012 Ford E-150 and have been slowly doing a little at a time over the last few months.

In May, I went south to Aluminess and got some awesome goodies! These guys are just a pleasure to do business with and their stuff is amazing. I couldn't be more happy with their products and their service. I purchased a custom roof rack, rear tire rack, nerf bars and passenger side ladder. As most of you know, the quality is top notch!

For my 2wd lift, I went through Camburg which was not an easy process and I am not convinced that I went the right route. First of all, their customer service from start to finish left a lot to be desired. Just trying to get information prior to ordering the kit was extremely difficult but at the time I only knew about them and Action for a 2wd lift... Had I read some of the excellent posts prior to ordering I believe I would have gone with Weldtec. I had already put a deposit in with Camburg and was on their schedule to install the lift prior to seeing what Jeremy had to offer. I tried to get out of the order but they weren't willing to give me my deposit back so I went ahead and stuck it out.

Anyway, they installed the lift as well as their front Baja bumper and, in my opinion, it looks great! But the ride quality is extremely rough. I ordered the kit with the upgraded Fox 2.0's but it still is a very harsh ride. Since all it is in the back is blocks and Bilsteins, anyone sitting in the back end of the van needs to see a chiropractor after a good ride. Also, I just returned from my first road trip to Tahoe this week in it and on the freeway it almost feels out of control in the front end when we hit any bump or uneven road. I feel like I am going to end up in a ditch if I'm not two-handed holding on for dear life!

So here's my questions for the experts out there:

REAR - Obviously, installing a new rear leaf spring kit like what Weldtec offers will help out the rear end but should I also install the Fox 2.0 shocks back there as well? Is there something else that can or should be done? I would really like it to ride more comfortably not only for me but my passengers. Also, will the ride height be too high with new leaf springs from the 2.5" blocks that are currently installed?

FRONT - Is what I described about the ride "normal" for a lifted van or is there an issue? Would my set-up benefit from the use of a steering stabilizer kit? I've also read on here that the Fox 2.0's from Camburg may not be properly tuned for my van. Is this the case or would the existing ones be fine with the stabilizer? I would love to feel less like I am risking my life at any speed over 60mph on the highway.

Any other input on ride improvement would be greatly appreciated! I'm coming from driving a Toyota Tundra into the van world so I'm still learning the ropes!
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Old 09-13-2016, 11:08 PM   #2
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I don't have any personal experience with a Camburg, but that doesn't sound right to me.

Rear I think you're right... But the front should be better I think. What does Camburg say?
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Old 09-13-2016, 11:20 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by rallypanam View Post
I don't have any personal experience with a Camburg, but that doesn't sound right to me.

Rear I think you're right... But the front should be better I think. What does Camburg say?
To be honest, I haven't spoken to them about it. I'm three and a half hours north of them so I'm not in a position to just swing by and have them check it out. And, in my experience, they won't be too helpful over the phone. I'm not really sure what else they could do as they don't offer any other options for my van.
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Old 09-13-2016, 11:37 PM   #4
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Sweet looking rig! The aluminess looks really good, I need to get me some...

As far as the ride, definitely not normal, at least I don't think so. I haven't heard anything near this coming from anyone with one of their kits.

For the front I have no idea, you could always contact them and let them know your not happy and they may be more inclined to help you out. If you don't want to do that maybe you can talk to Jeremy at Weldtec and he can give you an idea of how to get the suspension tuned in.

For the rear, obviously blocks aren't gonna help you out any, i bet you could use the rear add a leaf kit that Weldtec offers and it will help out. Fox shocks with some dampening would help and I know Weldtec offers those as well.

Hope that helps a little!

I forgot to include the steering stabilizer. While it probably would help, I wouldn't put it on till your happy with the way it feels without it and then experiment with it. Otherwise your just using it to mask the real issues your having.
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Old 09-14-2016, 05:19 AM   #5
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I installed a 2" lift kit from Action and at highs speeds I had some of the same feeling. I added the stabilizer and rear torsion which helped some but the thing that helped the most was tire pressure adjustment. In searching threads here I found lots of people are running lower pressure than recommend by manufactures rating. I tried lowering my pressure while on a trip to 50 lbs front and rear and found that the van seattled down a lot and made running at high much more comfortable. The only down side it the tire pressure light is on all the time and I have not figure out what if anything I may do with that. Hope this information helps.
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Old 09-14-2016, 07:07 AM   #6
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I installed the Camburg kits several years ago and loved it, but the back was wobbly so I went to Deaver for a new set of leafs and added a rear sway bar (I have solar panels a roof lift and kayak) and being a DLS I upgraded the front sway bushings. She drives straight, no vibrations and I get lots of vertical travel, everyone who ride on my van loves how nice it rides.

You probably have something else going on in your front suspension and need to address the rear issue as all they do is add a block to level the vehicle so the back is wobbly as they all are.

I'm in SoCal if you want to ck mine, nice looking van!
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Old 09-14-2016, 10:03 AM   #7
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Where are you located? I'm about 3 1/2 hours North of HB too (Santa Maria.) It sounds like you've come to the same conclusion that myself and several others already had. Camburg's setup is very basic but comes with a premium pricetag. Beyond all doubt, I would have gone with Weldtec if I had it to do over again.

I wouldn't call the ride harsh at all, if anything, I'd say it's too mushy. Shock valving is everything, your Fox's can be sent to Agile Offroad and revalved to a more appropriate setting (Camburg uses class 11 Volkswagen shocks that are valved for a 1500lb buggy) so the van tends to ride like you're driving a waterbed up front. One of these days I'd like to take off a front shock and limit strap and cycle the front suspension to see what it's capable of, I have a strong feeling that there is a fair amount of travel to be gained by relocating the shock mounts and running a longer shock. If you are using the factory (nearly rigid) bumpstop with Camburgs box-tube drop bracket, the suspension comes to an abrupt halt when the bump stop meets the I-beam. I switched the factory bumpstops out for a pair of Energy Suspension (or Daystar? I borrowed them off another one of my vehicles) progressive poly bumpstops (still using the drop bracket) and was pleasantly surprised with how much less noticeable the harshness of bottoming out was. By relocating shock mounts, the bumpstop drop bracket may be able to be removed which would free up another 2"-3" of uptravel so long as the coils don't go into bind.

Being that you have a 150, I think that any harshness in the rear is coming from being too soft and riding on the overload spring (as opposed to my 350 that starts out pleasant, gets a running start, then SLAMS into the overload, making the rearend buck upwards due to too light rebound valving.) A simple improvement is to just flip your overload spring upside down, but keep it in your spring pack. That gives another 2" or so of travel before the primary pack comes in contact with the overload, the tradeoff being that the back end will sit noticeably lower if you tow anything large. If money allows, you'll have no regrets with custom built leaf packs (Weldtec, Agile, Deaver, etc.) so long as you also go with a properly matched shock. Depending on how fast you realistically intend to drive in the dirt, the $130 a piece Fox's could adequately keep up and come built to suit if purchased through Agile or Weldtec.
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Old 09-14-2016, 01:07 PM   #8
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As TheLetterJ said above, I would get the front shocks re-valved. I had the same kit installed with the same shocks and I wasn't really happy with my ride. The shocks just weren't up to the task and I had pretty poor road manners (bumpsteer mainly). I can also say the same about your experience with their "customer service". The guy talked to me like I didn't deserve his time. I ended up getting 4x4 installed and sold the kit to a member on this forum. I strongly suggested that the shocks be re-valed before he installed them and he had his shocks re-valved at Agile Offroad. He seems to be happy with the ride so I'm sure that was the issue with the bumpsteer.

I actually had to take my van back in because one of the balljoints they replaced was defective or something. When I took it down there to be replaced, I told them about the shocks being soft and so they checked the PSI in the reservoir. One was at less than 10psi and they filled it to about 50. I called Fox to see what they should be set at and they told me it should be between 100-150 or something that was much higher than what Camburg filled them to.

Moral of the story...either get your shocks revalved or just buy new shocks from Agile. It should pretty much change the driving dynamics of your van.

For the rear, you can either get a new spring pack from Weldtec or get the reworked load springs from Agile and their valved shocks (Weldtec sells Agile valved Fox shocks).
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Old 09-14-2016, 01:29 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by TheLetterJ View Post
Where are you located? I'm about 3 1/2 hours North of HB too (Santa Maria.) It sounds like you've come to the same conclusion that myself and several others already had. Camburg's setup is very basic but comes with a premium pricetag. Beyond all doubt, I would have gone with Weldtec if I had it to do over again.

I wouldn't call the ride harsh at all, if anything, I'd say it's too mushy. Shock valving is everything, your Fox's can be sent to Agile Offroad and revalved to a more appropriate setting (Camburg uses class 11 Volkswagen shocks that are valved for a 1500lb buggy) so the van tends to ride like you're driving a waterbed up front. One of these days I'd like to take off a front shock and limit strap and cycle the front suspension to see what it's capable of, I have a strong feeling that there is a fair amount of travel to be gained by relocating the shock mounts and running a longer shock. If you are using the factory (nearly rigid) bumpstop with Camburgs box-tube drop bracket, the suspension comes to an abrupt halt when the bump stop meets the I-beam. I switched the factory bumpstops out for a pair of Energy Suspension (or Daystar? I borrowed them off another one of my vehicles) progressive poly bumpstops (still using the drop bracket) and was pleasantly surprised with how much less noticeable the harshness of bottoming out was. By relocating shock mounts, the bumpstop drop bracket may be able to be removed which would free up another 2"-3" of uptravel so long as the coils don't go into bind.

Being that you have a 150, I think that any harshness in the rear is coming from being too soft and riding on the overload spring (as opposed to my 350 that starts out pleasant, gets a running start, then SLAMS into the overload, making the rearend buck upwards due to too light rebound valving.) A simple improvement is to just flip your overload spring upside down, but keep it in your spring pack. That gives another 2" or so of travel before the primary pack comes in contact with the overload, the tradeoff being that the back end will sit noticeably lower if you tow anything large. If money allows, you'll have no regrets with custom built leaf packs (Weldtec, Agile, Deaver, etc.) so long as you also go with a properly matched shock. Depending on how fast you realistically intend to drive in the dirt, the $130 a piece Fox's could adequately keep up and come built to suit if purchased through Agile or Weldtec.
Thanks for your input! I'm in Nipomo so really close to you... I think the best call is going to be to take it down to San Diego and either have Weldtec or Agile see what magic can be done as I am not much of a mechanic.
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Old 09-14-2016, 01:33 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by mikracer View Post

Moral of the story...either get your shocks revalved or just buy new shocks from Agile. It should pretty much change the driving dynamics of your van.

For the rear, you can either get a new spring pack from Weldtec or get the reworked load springs from Agile and their valved shocks (Weldtec sells Agile valved Fox shocks).
Thanks, Mikracer! I'm starting to feel a bit like Tom Hanks in "The Money Pit" but I assume I am preaching to the choir on here...
I will need to get in touch with those guys down there and make a super long weekend out of it when I have more $ to throw into this rig
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