Suspension/fabrication shops in N. Cal

[JKreiss]

Anybody know of any good shops around the Vacaville/Fairfield area. I'm wanting to have the Carli starter sys/ball joints/Thuren steering kit along with a whole list of other related mods done to finally be able to tackle I-80:-laf. I'm only familiar with the run of the mill tire shops around here and honestly don't want them touching my truck. Any help would be great.



Joe

 

[JKreiss]

how bout within 50 miles

 

[Bob4x4]

I know of a few guys that have made the drive down to orange county from up there to have it done

 

[seafish]

I would call Eric at Left Coast Diesel, or PM him (Erik@LCD) he is a member here at TDR. He and his partners run an excellent Diesel repair shop in Dublin. If he can't do what you want, I'll bet he knows someone who can.

 

[JKreiss]

C. Fish thanks a lot, i remember now reading on here about LCD's shop. I'll give them a call. If not then it looks like i'll head down south and have Carli do it. After all it'll be their ball joints and system anyway

 

[AMcCormick]

Check out "Nor Cal Prerunners" they have a full shop in Martinez I think, maybe Brentwood. No experience with them just came across the website.

 

[JKreiss]

Thanks for the tip Andy, the link to Extreme Motorsports in Brentwood looks like they can do what i'm looking for. I won't be back in the states for another couple weeks though so i won't be able to check anything out for sure. Looks promising though. I noticed in you sig you've got the freespin kit on your truck. Mines at the shop for a bad hub right now. I'm 90% sure i'm going to have the kit installed when i get back. Any advice, regrets or better yet praises of the kit. Thanks again

 

[AMcCormick]

That was something I did shortly after I got the truck so I dont have any data on mpg improvements. Right now I'm averaging mixed driving 17-19mpg. Freeway probably 19-21. I did new ball joints as well. I noticed a big difference in the way truck drove, much more precise steering. How much of this is the ball joints vs the hubs? It made sense to me to not have the whole front end spinning. The down side is that this mod is not cheap. Not terribly difficult to install but time consuming. I would not have done this if one of the front axle u-joints had not gone bad. With the "Dynaloc" hubs they stick out from the wheel mounting surface 5" 1/4". Just enough to stay barely inside the 35"s on stock wheels.

 

[JKreiss]

Yeah i've been thinking about it a lot and reading all the posts i can about it. This is the second time it's been in for front drive line components in 6 months. I've done axle u-joints, and now the driver side hub. For what it's going to cost for the repair just to put the OEM stuff back on i thought what the heck. I'm going to have this truck until the cows come home so i don't mind spending the money now. As far as ball joints go i'm sure they make a lot of difference but the dynatrac kit has to help smooth it out a lot too. I'm trying to convince myself to get the Carli ball joints. I've got the moogs in a box right now but i'm hesitant. From what i've read the Carli's seem to be the ultimate. The shop that's doing the axles said they can put the new joints in, it's just a matter of which ones now

 

[Bob4x4]

When it comes to Ball joints I say do it once and be done... ... ... . I have seen the abuse they survive first hand :-laf

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Bob

 

[JKreiss]

Yeah you're right Bob, i'm a full supporter of "right the first time". The proof is in the picture and there's no doubt they're tough. Since they're baja proven they should stand up to some of our roads and freeways up here:-laf I think i'll wait till after the dynatrac kit is installed. I'm going to have to have a different shop install the Thuren steering kit so i'll have them do the ball joints while the knuckles are off. Plus that'll give me a chance to drive with the oem joints, dynatrac, then with the Carli's.

 

[JKreiss]

A quick update on the supension. I had the Carli Starter System installed along with the Thuren track bar and Thuren steering installed. I had it done at Extreme Motorsports.

Extreme Motorsports - trucks, suvs, lift kits, wheels, tires, motorcycle parts, accessories

The staff is top notch and very proffesional with the upmost integrity. The shop was clean and so was the work. Price was great as was customer service. I couldn't be happier, the truck finally drives better than when it was new.

 

[firemansdiesel]

For future reference... . Norcal Trucks in Livermore is a Carli distributor/installer. I made all my many trips down to Orange County at Carli Shop for my truck. Nothing like a road trip!:-laf