2024 RCSB build

[MGF150]

I was able to get the interior 95% finished last night. Both 10 way seats installed and working. The console is installed and working. I need to put the bolt covers back on and a few other odds and ends. I took it for a test drive and the interior is really quiet, it makes me want to do the roof with sound deadening material now.
I still have the same damn shaking and vibration in the rear. I will mess with it a little more this weekend.
I also have a seatbelt and airbag light from removing the jump seat. I will either change the truck setting with Forescan or remote the sensor from the jump seat.

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[timnohio]

Looking good!
I still haven't gotten mine on the interstate yet to check to see if there's a vibration at 70mph after torquing lug nuts and lowering kit installed (lug nuts was very loose)

 

[MGF150]

More tell and no show, I spent Saturday working on the rear suspension to get rid of the vibrations and shakes. I finally have it very close. With the steel leaf springs and the Ridetech bracket with the icon facing the front of the truck with no shims, I have no shaking from 0 to 100. It still has a very slight vibration every now and then, but it is defiantly livable. Ridetech was nice enough to send me new u bolts this morning on the house, since I had worn out the originals taking them on and off.
I also learned that the sensor on the passenger seat for occupancy must come from the 2024 model truck to function correctly.
I had used the sensor in the seat I bought for the passenger side and was causing an error code. I removed the seat bottom again, changed the sensor and pad with my 2024 model and the light went away.

 

[timnohio]

Good news!
I tested mine yesterday. 70 mph it starts to have a vibration. Not as bad as before. But I need new tpms senors anyway so I'll have them road force balance my wheels while they're at it. Hopefully that fixes my vibration if not I'm going to mess with my u-bolts as well. I want to loosen the u-bolts and retourqe while the wheels are on the ground to eliminate the possibility of the rear end not at correct angle when we torqued them the first time. I requested the alignment shop to do that but...I checked the torque on the shackles and they were very loose still.

 

[JCsTruck]

I wonder how many other people have issues with vibrations after installing a lowering kit. I wonder what causes that. Very nice build you did. I wouldnt have the guts now in my old age to take a brand new 2024 truck apart like that and I kind of like the bench seat anyway. ?

 

[MGF150]

I wonder how many other people have issues with vibrations after installing a lowering kit. I wonder what causes that. Very nice build you did. I wouldnt have the guts now in my old age to take a brand new 2024 truck apart like that and I kind of like the bench seat anyway. ?

Thanks for the compliments. To answer your question, they vibrate probably more than people talk about it. Most people that drive lowered trucks are kids and they don't notice.
The spring hangers in these trucks and the four door trucks as well, can be as much as an 1/8 of an inch off from the factory. With these tolerances, it is very hard to get the optimum pinion angle. I think the problem gets amplified when lowered or lifted. When my truck gets picked up on a lift the right side hangs down further than the left. It did this with the composite springs as well as the steel although, the steel springs are a little better. When measure on a concrete floor, the truck is a 1/4 lower on the right rear with a full tank of fuel. I added some shim plates to the left spring to level the truck out. There are plenty of threads discussing vibrations on these trucks that are stock.
I am close enough that most people don't notice the vibration but I do.
As far as guts, at some point, I will have the back of the frame cut off and have the truck four linked to get rid of the problem completely. I bought it as a toy so, why not!

 

[JCsTruck]

@MGF150 thank you for answering my questions. If it’s the pinion angle that’s causing the vibrations then those vibrations must be high frequency vibrations and related to the driveshaft.
My truck has 211,000 miles on it now and at about 200,000 miles I had the axle rebuilt with all new bearings and new ring and pinion gears. I still can’t believe what a difference that made because I have absolutely no vibrations anymore whereas before I had all kinds of very small and annoying noises and vibrations. I have the Ford 8.8 inch axle and I’m not actually all that impressed with it. I only have the 3.7 V6 engine, which I would guess doesn’t put as much stress on the drivetrain as say the 5.0 L V8 or one of the turbo sixes.. I also drive this thing mostly highway. I’ve had to replace the front wheel bearings once on one side and twice on the other side and the entire front suspension has been replaced.
I always changed the axle fluid at about every 60,000 miles but looking back on it now I think it should be done every 30,000 miles and even sooner if you tow or use it in harsh conditions. After an hour of highway driving without towing anything and just me in the vehicle the outside casing of the axle can reach as much as 180°F but it’s typically less than that. I can only imagine a bigger engine and towing something would send that number north of 250° easily. That would just cause the axle fluid to breakdown at a rapid pace and once the pinion bearings start to loosen up, you will get small and annoying and weird high frequency vibrations that sometimes don’t make sense and are hard to diagnose. Of course the telltale sign that your axel needs work will be light howling noises, especially between 50 and 70 miles an hour at light to moderate loads.

 

[Doc Boston]

So thankful to see this thread - I too have a 2024 RCSB XL - same color with factory 103A. For the power driver side seat, it looks like you bought a 10-way XLT seat. I just wanted to double check - everything to power the seat was already there? Is it part of an existing harness that just worked with the connectors under the seat? I'm starting to shop for a seat from a wrecked 2024 XLT, and will likely just swap the seat cushions so they match the interior until I someday get Lariat color matched Katzkin seat covers. I appreciate you posting - it's been very helpful.

 

[MGF150]

So thankful to see this thread - I too have a 2024 RCSB XL - same color with factory 103A. For the power driver side seat, it looks like you bought a 10-way XLT seat. I just wanted to double check - everything to power the seat was already there? Is it part of an existing harness that just worked with the connectors under the seat? I'm starting to shop for a seat from a wrecked 2024 XLT, and will likely just swap the seat cushions so they match the interior until I someday get Lariat color matched Katzkin seat covers. I appreciate you posting - it's been very helpful.

Yes, the connection is plug and play for the driver seat. Unplug the original and plug in the new one. I jumped the power and ground from the driver side to the passenger side so the passenger seat would work as well. I bought mine as a pair. The passenger seat is not plug and play.
Before I got crazy and changed the covers, I pulled the driver seat out and plugged in the junk yard seat just to make sure it worked. The key does not need to be on to test the seat.

 

[Doc Boston]

Yes, the connection is plug and play for the driver seat. Unplug the original and plug in the new one. I jumped the power and ground from the driver side to the passenger side so the passenger seat would work as well. I bought mine as a pair. The passenger seat is not plug and play.
Before I got crazy and changed the covers, I pulled the driver seat out and plugged in the junk yard seat just to make sure it worked. The key does not need to be on to test the seat.

I just did the vinyl to carpet swap this morning on my 24 XL and I see what you mean by everything being pre-wired in the harness on the driver side. A seat swap should be pretty straight forward once I find one. Thanks again.

 

[timnohio]

I just did the vinyl to carpet swap this morning on my 24 XL and I see what you mean by everything being pre-wired in the harness on the driver side. A seat swap should be pretty straight forward once I find one. Thanks again.

What is the part# to the carpet you used?

 

[Doc Boston]

What is the part# to the carpet you used?

ML3Z1513000AA - Carpet
ML3Z1513086BA - Floor mats

Some things to note -

There are three plastic plugs for your current vinyl floor - one under each seat and one behind the brake pedal. The plugs under the seats come out with a trim tool, and the one behind the brake pedal unscrews. If you buy the above, you re-use those plugs, and don't need anything else. The door sill trim pulls up easily. No need to pull any of the other trim including the vent trim below the center stack. The carpet will slide under each of those edges easily. Total install time for me was two hours using one socket, one small flathead screw driver and a trim tool. Have a flashlight handy.

You will want the matching floor mats, because the carpet has the snap-in buttons on the driver side carpet to hold the floor mat in place. It's effectively a matched set.

Remember to disconnect your battery before you start, because your seats have airbags. When you unplug the large harness connector under each seat, you'll also need to pull down on a small harness connector about 8 inches further down the wiring harness that secures the wiring to the bottom of the seat. It's just a christmas tree connector where you can gently pull downward on the harness and it slowly releases downward.

Best of luck.

 

[timnohio]

ML3Z1513000AA - Carpet
ML3Z1513086BA - Floor mats

Some things to note -

There are three plastic plugs for your current vinyl floor - one under each seat and one behind the brake pedal. The plugs under the seats come out with a trim tool, and the one behind the brake pedal unscrews. If you buy the above, you re-use those plugs, and don't need anything else. The door sill trim pulls up easily. No need to pull any of the other trim including the vent trim below the center stack. The carpet will slide under each of those edges easily. Total install time for me was two hours using one socket, one small flathead screw driver and a trim tool. Have a flashlight handy.

You will want the matching floor mats, because the carpet has the snap-in buttons on the driver side carpet to hold the floor mat in place. It's effectively a matched set.

Remember to disconnect your battery before you start, because your seats have airbags. When you unplug the large harness connector under each seat, you'll also need to pull down on a small harness connector about 8 inches further down the wiring harness that secures the wiring to the bottom of the seat. It's just a christmas tree connector where you can gently pull downward on the harness and it slowly releases downward.

Best of luck.

Thank you!

 

[Speedtek]

Great build.

Did the steel springs change the ride at all. I know you have been concerned about vibrations, but I'm wondering, now that this truck is a sport not truck and not a work truck. A lighter spring would probably make a huge difference. I made a few phone calls yesterday and it appears there is a 1500lb spring pack directly from ford. Is that the set you went with?

Thanks

 

[MGF150]

Great build.

Did the steel springs change the ride at all. I know you have been concerned about vibrations, but I'm wondering, now that this truck is a sport not truck and not a work truck. A lighter spring would probably make a huge difference. I made a few phone calls yesterday and it appears there is a 1500lb spring pack directly from ford. Is that the set you went with?

Thanks

I did go with the basic spring pack from Ford. You are correct on the ride, it's rougher with the steel springs. It been so damn hot here in Texas I have not worked on the truck lately.
My list is to tear it back down again, remove the overload leaf from the springs since I have air bags anyway, reset the pinion angle again, add spacers under the drivers side springs to level the truck side to side and install new U bolts.
Hopefully I can get that done in the next few weeks.
I don't think that lighter spring pack has over loads by the drawing, it looks like just 2 springs and would probably be perfect.

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