White SR5

Only had time to do rear OME's today. Nose down! Here's a pic:



Zach

runnerboy97

Is it just me or does the roof of the 4runner look as high as the garage door. Make sure you can get out before you finish the install. My friend had this problem after he out a 4 inch lift on his blazer. I didnt have that problem seeing as how we have 2 -12' doors and 2 18' doors.

HBoss

That's without any lift in the front whatsoever? It's not as "nose-down" as I thought it would be...

White SR5

Ha! Well that picture is just bad. I can still make it out with 2 inches to spare. I checked that before I pulled out. It would have been be a great surprise though...

Zach

White SR5

Yah sorry it's a bad picture. Nothing on the fronts but stockness there. I'll take another one outside tomorrow. I'm plannig on doing the fronts this weekend.

Zach

jroc

Who did you get your OME's from? Thinking about a spring/shock swap on the LC.

White SR5

From Mike (thanks Mike!) at XtremeOff-Road. If that was a question about the LC, the answer is no -- that's my mother's and she doesn't let me fool with it, not even gas!

Zach

jroc

See I can see stuff that isn't even in the picture....... I had no idea your mom has a LC.

No I'm talking about my LC and thinking about putting a set of OME's on it. Just wanted to know where you picked your's up so I can get a price.

loosehead

Did you get 890's or 891's?
Comfort or HD shocks?
How is the ride?

Sorry for all the Q's, inquiring minds want to know...
Thanks.

rimpainter.com

Zach-

You PM'd me but your mailbox was full. Just letting you know why I didnt respond.

-CD

keisur

Which OME's did you get? the 890's or the 891's?

White SR5

For the rear, I have OME891 coils and N86 shocks. As for the ride, I can't say I've noticed anything yet other than I'm pointed downwards because I haven't done the front. I'll be doing OME881's with OME packers and N91S shocks for the front this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes.

Zach

White SR5

Well here's the update. This weekend I attempted to do the front OME shocks and springs but the spring compressors I rented were too big. If I had it compressed, the spring compressor stuck out too much and wouldn't allow me to install the coil. If it was not compressed, the shock would be too long to fit in both the top and bottom mounting positions. I got so pissed and so frustrated... took it to a very reputable (cheap too) Goodyear service center today and am going to have them do it. The rears were cake. I bet if I did them again it would take me less than an hour. The fronts were too trying on my patience though. Here's another better pic of the nose-down attitude I still have as of now:



Zach

NCSU-4runner

yea when i installed my downey rears it was a quick simple switcheroo, no spring compressors required. and now that i know what im doing i too could prob put new rear springs in my car in about an hour. i have torsion bar fronts, but i imagine not having an solid axle to droop makes it tough to get them suckers in.

keisur

Maybe I am misunderstanding this but you should only need the spring compressors to build the shock assembly outside the car and then remove the compressors and then install the assembly in the front end. You would use the tire change jack upside down pressed against the upper wheel well and the top of the upper control arm where the ball joint is and expand the jack so the lower control arm moves down and then you should have enough room to just slide the newly rebuilt assembly in and fasten all the bolts without needing the compressor. I know there's a how-to site somewhere that has a pic of the jack being used to install the SAW's, at this point it would be the exact same since they are both basically just a shock assembly. if it's not too late, I'd try it again yourself.

White SR5

The a-arm was as far down as it could go because the axle was on the garage floor. I tried the method with the bottle jack, and actually ended up bending the wheel-well body metal way out of shape, but with OME 881's and N91S shocks the fully extended top mount on the shock did not even go past the top of the mounted spring. I had the spring sitting on the holder as low as possible too. I also tried putting the spring in first, shock second, and then tried to push on the shock to get the spring to compress and get the lower shock mount aligned. That attemt fell about two inhes short. I tried to compress the spring those 2 inches, but like I said the spring compressor was too big when it was on the spring to allow it go up into the mounting position. I'm trying to describe it for you to visualize, should have taken some pics... I was able to put the oiginal Toyota shock back though, so your method will work for those, just not the longer OME springs. It's at the shop though now and I'll pick it up at 5:00 today so at least it will be done. If I had the right tools I could have done it, but I just got so frustrated trying to do it.

Zach

TDiddy

I'm still confused as to how you were doing the fronts....but oh well, it doesn't matter now since its at the shop. At least it will be done. Take some more 'after' pics when you get it back!

keisur

I would have to say that should be about impossible if you jacked it up and supported it high enough to get the wheel off. that would mead the a-arm would have to droop almost 16" to hit the garage floor. I don't think it arm is even that long and rotates on that radius. hmmm I'm really confused, maybe you did the right thing letting a shop handle it for you.

White SR5

Well I jacked it up to get the wheel off, but my jack stands were lower -- about 4 inches lower than was needed to get the wheel off. Once I got the wheel off I dropped it those 4 inches so it could be supported by the jack stand. I had the jack extended about a foot though when the brake disc was on the ground. Maybe I should have just piled up a bunch of bricks... Anyways I got it back and am quite satisfied. I talked to the mechanic and asked if he had anything to say. "Only a few choice words I wouldn't use in front of a customer." was his reply. He said it took a while to figure it out (maybe he tried my way) but he ended up having to take off the lower a-arm completely. So far here's what I've concluded. Immediately I noticed stiffness in the front. I could feel the road a lot more than before. When I pulled over the curb to my driveway though, the shocks did their job. It was a little softer than the Toyota shocks on the bump. Now I'm not sure if this next part is just my head or if it's true, but the steering seemed a touch stiffer to me too. We had a BAD thunderstorm come over right when I was driving home and I was going 40 on the interstate (same as everyone else) so I can't say anythnig about high speeds, but there's one thing I'm really proud of now -- I am no longer taller than the 4Runner! The roof rack puts it right up to 6 feet, and I'm 5'11" and a half. It's still nasty today so no pics yet but I'll post 3 pics of each completion as soon as I can.

Zach

keisur

glad it all worked out for ya. lower control arm removal? wow! that's a first. It's too bad you didn't know they had to do that because then you could have had them replace the stock rubber bushing with polyurethane ones since they had them out anyway.