Rusm's Truck Build-A-Thon

[RusM]

Hello, my name is Rus and I have a Toyota problem. :elkgrin: So you may have read one of my threads on here or other message boards asking people about suspension, I may have even asked you some questions. Thank you for any help or feedback you gave me! After much deliberation and talking to lots of people on the interwebs and in the real world I decided to lift my truck. Furthermore, I decided against going with the high dollar coilover/custom rear shock and went with a budget Old Man Emu 882/5mm trim packer/90004/FZJ-80 fronts in the rear/60027. I purchased all the OME stuff from Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters and the '80 springs from a guy off mud. I was a little bit concerned at first as I could have gotten the stuff a little cheaper elsewhere, yet in the end the customer service and individual attention and tech advice I got from Kurt would have been a bargain at twice the price. Originally I was planning to do this the night before a wheeling trip, I am really glad I didn't!
First step: collect underwear.



Step Two: .... .........

Something that may be apparent to everyone else yet took me two hours to figure out. You must press down on the upper control arm to get the lower shock mounting bolt out.
:Wow1:

---------- Post added at 07:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:49 PM ----------

So once I figured out the pressing down on the upper control arm part I had the stock coilovers out and discovered that the stud was corroded to nothing and I couldn't get a grip on anything. It squirted out of the vice even!

So once I figured out that the top plates weren't going to come off in a conventional manner, out came the sawzall!

Problem solved!

When I put the 882's on the Autozone spring compressors they started to become angry way before they were anywhere close to where they needed to be to get the top plates on. So I made a few phone calls and found a local shop just down the road that said they could get to them sometime this morning. I jammed down there and got there just as most of the guys were starting work. I talked to a couple of guys that were standing around and they weren't too sure if they could even compress the springs. The manager came in the shop and took over, he had the springs together in about twenty minutes, even with getting a piece of plywood to put between himself and the huge spring compressor! Best $28.95 I have ever spent!

[RusM]

I read on one write up about using the jack to compress the upper control arm. It worked really great!


The lower shock mount didn't quite line up, but a big wrench and the 3/8" extension from my toolbox fixed it up.


This pic turned out kind of blurry, but you can see the new lower shock mount bolt, nut, and washer. It was a bear to get it all lined up, and resulted in a few smashed fingers.


All done!

Forgot to take before measurements, but after ended up at 39" ground to middle of fender on both sides.

Step Three: Profit!


Didn't take as many pics as I was starting to get pressed for time and wanted to get done before dark.

This little guy really helped a couple of times.

A couple of things, the rear shocks are a ***** to access! I think I still need to try and get a torque on the upper shock nut as I really wasn't able to get any loc-tite on bolt. To get the stock shocks off I used a set of pipe wrenches on the body of the shock and got a wrench on the top. I had to use the autozone spring compressors on the '80 springs to get them in, it worked out really well. Surprisingly the rear was much easier on my truck than the front. It looks like the rear brake line is long enough and would not break as it is, but I am going to add another stock line to it to be sure. I am also probably going to get the panhard bar mount on the axle extended.


Whoa! Gained 4.5" in the back! Maybe a little more in the front, need to get that winch on to get it settled down a little.

So far, the ride is awesome! I took it for a test run and saw what looked like a small bump into a dirt road. I smashed it at about 20mph and the truck soaked it up like a champ, coming back through the other way I saw that the bump was way deeper than I had originally thought it was!
Going in to get an alignment tomorrow and after that I will take it out for a forest road test run. :victory:

[Kracken]

Lookin' Good

Custom stainless brake lines are relatively cheap. There are a few places around the Seattle area that can put them together. I think it cost me about 50 bucks to have one that was 32" long, including ends, made for me (about a $1.56 per inch).

[Toyotamike]

Now for meatier tires to go with the bumper and lift

[ChrisCo]

Did you really cut the strut with the springs un-bound in strut compressors? How far did it fly when the shock finally let loose, and are your ears still ringing from the bang it made?

[Gabriul]

shouldn't have made a big bang. the shaft shouldn't have a hole through it to allow for compressed gasses to go anywhere

However....Holy crap Rus, your way more brave than I am with a sazall and compressed springs.

[RusM]

Not brave, just crazy!
If you look at the first picture you can see the spring compressors on the coilovers. I cut the shaft of the shock when the springs were compressed enough that there was play between the top plate and the spring. It was definitely time for new suspension though, I could easily compress all of the shocks by hand and two of them were leaking oil.

[Eric]

Looking good! But as said you are very brave to have faith in spring compresors.

[Gabriul]

Originally Posted by RusM

Not brave, just crazy!
If you look at the first picture you can see the spring compressors on the coilovers. I cut the shaft of the shock when the springs were compressed enough that there was play between the top plate and the spring. It was definitely time for new suspension though, I could easily compress all of the shocks by hand and two of them were leaking oil.

aaaah good good!! Not stupid then!

[jbstrd]

Looks good!!! How are the CV angles in the front. Maybe gets some weight in the rear to settle it a little. Get some new meats and you are set.