ravencr

Yeah, I figured I could get a good coat of paint on, and sand the edges off where it's going to be welded only.

Did you get 1/4" or 1/2" longer bolts for the spacers? Did you reuse the rubber part too, and if so, did you place it in between the revtek and cornfed spacer or somewhere else?

Chris

Mark in Az

Used 1/2" longer bolts with my homemade 1/4" thick spacer. No rubbers.

ravencr

I'm wondering what I should do with the rubber part, because obviously it's going to reduce the lift slightly without them. Anyone else know where they should be located or used in conjunction with the cornfed and revtek spacers?

Chris

Mark in Az

ravencr

Here's some pics of the way I chose to mount the limiting straps to the frame welded mount and the bottom. I went with what Steve and Downey recommend on the bottom, and I made the top up myself, because I wasn't sure what they did at the frame mount location. I thought it turned out very well. The top mount will allow the limiting strap to rotate if needed, and the bottom requires a 12mmx30mm bolt, which is longer than stock to allow for the limiting strap and two flat washers that keep the limiting strap away from the shock. Here's the pics:





I recieved my shocks today, so tomorrow, I'll have the rest of the spacer and shock install tomorrow. I'm hoping that I can get with my buddy for the welding of the limiting strap tabs and panhard drop bracket maybe tomorrow night or the next.

Stay tuned!

Chris

ravencr

Today I began the suspension install kind of late, but got all the spacers and shocks installed but the driver's side front. Here's the details of how I did it with some pics:

Rear Suspension

1) Disconnected the rear swaybar end links - I had the lars installed on the rear, so my removal will be slightly different than most, but it's self explanatory how to do it.
2) Removed the bolt on the panhard bar on the driver's side
3) Disconnected the e-brake bracket, and installed the new e-brake bracket
4) Disconnected the bottom bolts on the rear shocks
5) Jacked up the rear end
6) Remove the springs and conical bump stops
7) Leaving the conical bump stop in, I placed the Cornfed rear spacer on top of it
8) To reinstall the spring assembly, have someone push down on the axle while you slide it back into place.
9) Next removing the top bolt on the shock was a little more of a pain in the butt. I put a socket on the top bolt and a strap wrench on teh body of the shock, and with a couple of turns of the strap wrench the bolt just broke right off, which was fine since I was using new shocks.
10) Repeat these steps for the other side
11) Lower the frame down enough to be able to slide the rear shocks over the bottom shaft, and bolt them back up.
12) Reinstall the panhard bar bolt
13) Using the Lars discos, I lengthened them about 2" just to make sure they didn't hit the traction bar when fully stuffed. Ideally, I would have lengthened them 2.5", but it looked really close, so I brought them back up a tad.

The rear was done! On to the fronts, where the fun really began.

Front Suspension

1) Loosen the bolts on the tire, but do not remove while the truck is still sitting on the ground.
2) Jack the truck up
3) Remove the tires, in my case one side at a time
4) Unbolt the top three bolts
5) Unbolt the bottom bolt
6) Pull the shock assembly out
7) Using spring compressors, compress the spring some to remove some of the pressure off the center bolt


8) Remove the center bolt buy using an open end wrench for the main nut and a cresent wrench to hold the end of the bolt, and remove the nut.


9) Remove the old shock, and replace it with the new OME shock or shock of choice. NOTE The OME shocks do not work well with the cornfed spacers, because the plastic shock boot cover is about the same size as the lip on the cornfed spacer, which won't allow it to go into the spacer where it is if the stock shock is used.


So, after thinking a tad on what would be the best route, I cut the plastic boot cover's top off, but about a 1/4". Then slid it back onto the metal cup that comes with the OME shocks, which would fit in the hole of the spacer. I then used a zip tie to help make sure the plastic boot cover stays on, which I don't know if it will or not. Only time will tell!



So, if someone says they are using spacers with OME shocks, tell them they don't fit flawlessly or without modification.
10) Next reinstall the top nut that holds the whole spring/shock assembly together.

11) Compress the spring enough that you can easily fit it back into the a-arms, because this can be a pain in the butt. Make sure to place the Revtek spacer on top before placing it back in.
12) Using a jack to push down on the top a-arm stuffed in the wheel well, I was able to get the shock back in place pretty easily.

13) Using the 10mm longer bolts I bought, I screwed them in through the top into the cornfed spacer.
14) Then reinstall the lower shock bolt
15) Reinstall the tire
16) Lower the truck back down

I just have to say that with the lift just done on the one side, it looks way better. I can't wait to finish the diff drop and driver's side front assembly tomorrow, and take a bunch of pictures for everyone to see the difference.

Stay Tuned!

Chris

ravencr

The lift is almost complete. I've just got the limiting straps and panhard drop bracket to weld on, and I'll be finished with it. Here's a bunch of pics of the final product:










I thought it would be cool to compare what my stock 1998 looks like in comparison to my 1997 that has a 1" body lift and 2"/2.5" suspension lift. I have to say that the ride is much better than stock with the new shocks. The bumps that I would normally feel in the road are almost non-existent. I'm very impressed! I can't wait to go off-roading this Saturday.

Chris

ravencr

Here's some flex shots:















I can't wait to get this thing out on the trail and test it out in real life with the new lift.

By the way, I'm working on a way to disconnect (actually let it move more) the rear swaybar, because I noticed yesterdya, I couldn't get it to completely stuff the rear wheel.

Chris

ravencr

A quick update after my wife's been driving the 4runner around lately. I'm actually going to put the addco swaybars back on front and rear this time, just like I had them before. The reason for this is simply because with the added height with the lift, the body roll and brake dive is too much for comfort with my wife driving this thing. Especially when she's used to driving pretty fast and aggressive in her SC400.

So, I'm going to be running the Lars discos in the front with the front addco, and I'm going to be running the addco rear swaybar with custom rear swaybar discos (No details yet, but it's going to be sweet!) I'm actually working with someon on this forum that has a similar design to what I was wanting to do. It will actually allow the rear axle to flex completely without any opposing pressure caused by the swaybar.

See, the stock swaybar may not limit your travel, and if it does, it's eventually going to bend like Steve in now on his third one. On the other hand, if this swaybar disco works out, there will be no negative or opposing force on the axle, which is great while off-roading. We want that rear axle to move as freely as possible, so we can achiev max articulation easily.

More to come soon!

Chris

ravencr

For those interested in a clean writeup of the 1" Roger Brown Body Lift install with lots of pics and explanations, go to www.toyota-4runners.com/body-lift.html

Chris

P.S. I'm working on transfering over the thread details in a nice clean fashion that's easy to read and understand. Most of the links don't work on the site yet.