Can it be... lift time???
08-27-2004 | 02:35 AM
#1
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Joined: Mar 2003
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From: Orange County, CA
Can it be... lift time???
Yes, yes... after a long year of being on this forum and watching thread after thread of "I just lifted," it is now finally my turn to give my Tacoma a new look!
...or at least I hope it is!
I'm getting rid of my bald street tires and am putting my BFG muds back on... and I finally have all the parts together necessary to put it all together!
Keep in mind, this is primarily my street queen only to see light offroading when the runner is down.
3" cornbred spacers with OMEs and the Procomp AALs with ES3000s in the back.
The only thing that can stop me now is if Kragen doesn't have a spring compressor for me to borrow :pat:
Looking forward to the coolness that will be my truck
...or at least I hope it is!
I'm getting rid of my bald street tires and am putting my BFG muds back on... and I finally have all the parts together necessary to put it all together!
Keep in mind, this is primarily my street queen only to see light offroading when the runner is down.
3" cornbred spacers with OMEs and the Procomp AALs with ES3000s in the back.
The only thing that can stop me now is if Kragen doesn't have a spring compressor for me to borrow :pat:
Looking forward to the coolness that will be my truck
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08-27-2004 | 11:35 PM
#8
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Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 153
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From: Bend, Oregon. 4mer Teufelhund, now a DoD Contractor
Dude That's gonna be sweet!! before and after pics and side by side pics w/ the runner will be mandatory viewing. Oh and you might wanna get a whiff of morning brew if you seriously belive she'll only see light wheeling when she's done. I'm betting your gonna want to stretch her legs more than just a little. Still i know the fear of takin a beauty like that and givin her a little taste of the rough stuff. I'm sure she'll take most everything you can think of. Enjoy!
08-29-2004 | 12:50 AM
#12
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From: Orange County, CA
LIFTED!
Wow that took a lot longer than I had planned! A lack of a floor jack and the blazing hot sun REALLY set me back today.
I had the driver side front done in about an hour and a half. The passenger side was much shorter - about 45 min.
The first AAL I put it in really set me back probably about 2-3 hours or so... I kept having to go back up the street (only level ground is around the corner) to the garage and getting tools. I also had to figure out certain problems as I got to them - like how to get the new shocks on the mounts when the bushings didn't want to go, how to compress the leafs...
Started a little after noon and because of mutiple breaks (did I mention it was hot?) and to ease my aching arms and shoulders, I finished at a little after 8. My roommate came out to help me do the front and rear of the passenger side
End result?
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoo worth it!!!
I went out for a test drive and found my door window level with an F150 at a red light
The only level ground around here is down the street so by the time I finished and got all my tools packed up and put away the sun had already been down for an hour so I'll have pics up later.
It'll be an awesome drive to church tomorrow
Wow that took a lot longer than I had planned! A lack of a floor jack and the blazing hot sun REALLY set me back today.
I had the driver side front done in about an hour and a half. The passenger side was much shorter - about 45 min.
The first AAL I put it in really set me back probably about 2-3 hours or so... I kept having to go back up the street (only level ground is around the corner) to the garage and getting tools. I also had to figure out certain problems as I got to them - like how to get the new shocks on the mounts when the bushings didn't want to go, how to compress the leafs...
Started a little after noon and because of mutiple breaks (did I mention it was hot?) and to ease my aching arms and shoulders, I finished at a little after 8. My roommate came out to help me do the front and rear of the passenger side
End result?
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoo worth it!!!
I went out for a test drive and found my door window level with an F150 at a red light
The only level ground around here is down the street so by the time I finished and got all my tools packed up and put away the sun had already been down for an hour so I'll have pics up later.
It'll be an awesome drive to church tomorrow
08-29-2004 | 08:00 PM
#18
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Joined: Mar 2003
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From: Orange County, CA
Wow you people are SO demanding!!!
Okay so I took some photos of the install and afterwards (no before... was too preoccupied with what I had to do
). Sorry about the quality of the pics - all taken off a PDA
So here we go:
Cornfed / Cornbred install:
Jacked up and removed tires, not forgetting the jackstands and wheel blocks. I read on TTORA's FAQ that it is difficult to do this with just one side jacked up because the sway bar makes it difficult.
Removed the lower shock mounts - loosening the nut and then, according to the instructions, have a friend lower the A arm so you can tap out the bolt. I used a bottle jack instead.
Removing the upper shock mounts
And out goes the stock coilover
I hated the spring compressor because of how long it took to compress the coils long enough for the shock to have some free play
I had my roommate do the 2nd one
In goes the spacer and the nice new OME shocks
The dust boot didn't want to go in the shock so I assembled without it
Reassemble!
Before:
After:
AAL install:
As before blocked tires and used jack stands when getting the tires off. Unlike the front not a good idea to jack up both sides of the rear - I read that it puts a lot of tension on the leafpacks and makes it 10 times harder than it needs to be.
Jacked up the rear axle to ease tension on the rear shocks and remove the shocks. No pictures of actual removal but here's the rear shock
C-clamped the rear leafs (one worked fine for me although the directions called for 2) and removed the U bolts.
Removed the bump stop and removed the bolt holding the leafs down.
Also I took out the cotter pin and bolt for the e-brake. I also unbolted the BPV because I was going to put an extension on there anyway. TTORA's FAQ mentioned it would be a good idea to watch the brake lines. On the driver side I stretched them pretty good despite removing bolts attaching everything to the axle. No pictures.
Removed the C-clamp slowly and even more slowly lower the jack supporting the rear axle and saw the springs start to separate slowly. I lowered it until
I could remove the helper spring assembly.
No pictures.
A little grease on both ends of the AAL and reassembled the leaf pack remembering that no AAL should go below the helper spring assembly and that all leafs should be assembled "in a progressive pyramid shape"
No pictures.
Jacked up the axle until the [excessively long] bolt was threaded through all the leafs. Then I used a bottle jack to press the springs together. Once all the leafs were closely packed I used the C-clamp - making room for the bumpstop and the U-bolts.
Of course the bolt was too long to leave alone and through some light nudging with my mallet I had managed to mess up some of the threading. So I cut the excess of the bolt off using a Dremel tool with cutting/grinding blades.
I put the bolt on, removed the bottle jack, put the bumpstop and U-bolts back on, tightened, and removed the C-clamp. All done!
Just a side note... my roommate didn't want me working in the garage and the only level ground is 50 yds from the house. I didn't have an extension cord that long and was wondering what to do to power the dremel until I remembered...
The end result?
Well, I'm stumbling out of my truck everytime I get out cause I can't seem to remember that the ground is a little further away than before
I can't compare quality of pics but here's a comparison of my truck before the lift at Hungry Valley last year (Bud on left, me on right - hope you don't mind me stealing the pic Bud!)
This is also before my suspension settled a bit - I lost maybe 1/2 - 1" after this pic.
And my truck as it sits now
Okay so I took some photos of the install and afterwards (no before... was too preoccupied with what I had to do
). Sorry about the quality of the pics - all taken off a PDA So here we go:
Cornfed / Cornbred install:
Jacked up and removed tires, not forgetting the jackstands and wheel blocks. I read on TTORA's FAQ that it is difficult to do this with just one side jacked up because the sway bar makes it difficult.
Removed the lower shock mounts - loosening the nut and then, according to the instructions, have a friend lower the A arm so you can tap out the bolt. I used a bottle jack instead.
Removing the upper shock mounts
And out goes the stock coilover
I hated the spring compressor because of how long it took to compress the coils long enough for the shock to have some free play
I had my roommate do the 2nd one
In goes the spacer and the nice new OME shocks
The dust boot didn't want to go in the shock so I assembled without it
Reassemble!
Before:
After:
AAL install:
As before blocked tires and used jack stands when getting the tires off. Unlike the front not a good idea to jack up both sides of the rear - I read that it puts a lot of tension on the leafpacks and makes it 10 times harder than it needs to be.
Jacked up the rear axle to ease tension on the rear shocks and remove the shocks. No pictures of actual removal but here's the rear shock
C-clamped the rear leafs (one worked fine for me although the directions called for 2) and removed the U bolts.
Removed the bump stop and removed the bolt holding the leafs down.
Also I took out the cotter pin and bolt for the e-brake. I also unbolted the BPV because I was going to put an extension on there anyway. TTORA's FAQ mentioned it would be a good idea to watch the brake lines. On the driver side I stretched them pretty good despite removing bolts attaching everything to the axle. No pictures.
Removed the C-clamp slowly and even more slowly lower the jack supporting the rear axle and saw the springs start to separate slowly. I lowered it until
I could remove the helper spring assembly.
No pictures.
A little grease on both ends of the AAL and reassembled the leaf pack remembering that no AAL should go below the helper spring assembly and that all leafs should be assembled "in a progressive pyramid shape"
No pictures.
Jacked up the axle until the [excessively long] bolt was threaded through all the leafs. Then I used a bottle jack to press the springs together. Once all the leafs were closely packed I used the C-clamp - making room for the bumpstop and the U-bolts.
Of course the bolt was too long to leave alone and through some light nudging with my mallet I had managed to mess up some of the threading. So I cut the excess of the bolt off using a Dremel tool with cutting/grinding blades.
I put the bolt on, removed the bottle jack, put the bumpstop and U-bolts back on, tightened, and removed the C-clamp. All done!
Just a side note... my roommate didn't want me working in the garage and the only level ground is 50 yds from the house. I didn't have an extension cord that long and was wondering what to do to power the dremel until I remembered...
The end result?
Well, I'm stumbling out of my truck everytime I get out cause I can't seem to remember that the ground is a little further away than before
I can't compare quality of pics but here's a comparison of my truck before the lift at Hungry Valley last year (Bud on left, me on right - hope you don't mind me stealing the pic Bud!)
This is also before my suspension settled a bit - I lost maybe 1/2 - 1" after this pic.
And my truck as it sits now
Last edited by Tacoma Dude; 08-29-2004 at 08:17 PM.
08-29-2004 | 08:18 PM
#20
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Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 8,345
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From: Orange County, CA
The ride is pretty nice - the speedbumps and curbs I've hit so far have been a soft hit but the recovery is a bit stiffer.
The AALs and Procomp ES3000s are definitely stiffer in the back. Not that I mind though... I didn't buy a truck because it'd give me a smoother ride
The AALs and Procomp ES3000s are definitely stiffer in the back. Not that I mind though... I didn't buy a truck because it'd give me a smoother ride
