bikeguy18974

When i did my lower control arm bushings I used the bottle jack that cam stock with my 86runner. Put it in between the two bushings (inside the arms)with the right sized socket crank it up and out it pops. Flip jack over and do the other side. I left the metal bushing shells in place as my poly replacements required me to reuse that. I don't think i could've gotten them out anyway. No bubba required.

colsoncj

On mine I needed to take out the entire bushing, including the outer shell, so I guess it depends on the replacement bushing.

deathrunner

I went to put poly's on when I had the stock arms and I was told that I would have to melt the bushing out of the shell. The sheel is needed for most poly's.

alanbobalan

ahhhhhh! i just wrote like the longest reply and i lost it. damn computer. ok...... back to the beginning...................

list of things to do/get to put on lift kit-

-REPLACE TIE ROD ENDS:

is this really necessary if i'm going to be doing a SAS in the future? yes, it could very well be a REALLY long time before this happens, but it will happen. also, is there any way to "rebuild" or "refurbish" the tie rod ends? i might opt for that over replacing them if it will save me some money.

-SWAY BAR DISCONNECTS:

sounds like a good plan, where might i find a set of these and roughly how much would they cost?

-REPLACE BALL JOINTS:

also sounds like a good plan. i might just buy a whole new set of lower ball joints. my truck has taken some pretty hard hits in the past. might as well just replace them while i'm in there. as mentioned, there are fairly new uppers on the spindle adapters and i'll just leave those there, they probably still have lots of life left.

-REAR LEAF SPRING AND SHACKLE BUSHINGS:

might as well. can't cost for than a few bucks a piece.

-LOWER CONTROL ARM BUSHINGS:

i'm confused. bubba? machine shop? how about some step by step intructions?


-ANY OTHER FRONT END BUSHINGS:

i.e. sway bar bushings, etc...

ok, so this is it so far. i need a solid list. you guys have been a big help so far. christmas is over so i want get this kit on asap! i also need to see if i can get a hold of some step by step installation instructions for the kit. as of right now, i would have no idea what i'm doing. if i had some instructions, i'm pretty sure i could do it and i would learn alot about my rig and my IFS suspension in the process. thank you guys so much!

oh yeah, and seth... mormonpalooza was some all day festival my band played at a long long time ago. my drummer was a mormon guy and he got us on the bill. yeah, the whole show totally blowed. as a matter of fact, i think that was the last show we played. that band fell apart. my drummer got married and moved away for college, my lead guitar player could never practice, and my bass player just didn't care. so yeah. now i'm playing solo! but i'm still dying to get a new band together. it's just not the same without a full on band backing you up. anyway, hit me up if you ever wanna jam! oh yeah, and those tunes are waaaaaayyy old and that website hasn't been updated in ages. just thought i'd let ya know. take it easy!

deathrunner

Alan-

I know your pain I was in a band with some mormons in high school. They all went on there missions and I was left to rock alone.

I wouldn't worry about tie rod ends if they look okay. But if they look worn or feel sloppy, change em' it's a safety issue.

As far as lower control arm bushings. They're a pain in the butt. If you're going SA in the future, I'd leave em.

Sway bar bushings might come with disconnects.

Email trailmaster and they can probably mail or email some instructions to you.

Happy Holidays -Seth

Do a search on this forum for sway bar disconnects and you'll find em. I think Roger Brown might sell some. He seems to have everything.

alanbobalan

hey seth-

yeah so i'm left with no band now. i'm playing a show solo in fullerton on january 20th. if you happen to be around the area or if you feel like taking a mini road trip you should come out! i need all the support i can get. i'm already scared no one is going to show up and it's all on me since i'll be up there all by myself with no band..... and the fact that it's at a coffee shop.... and there's no other bands playing so it's all on my shoulders! eeeek! and i've barely promoted it at all so far... i need to get in gear!

anyway, i think my tie rod ends are okay. my steering feels fine, i can't say it feels sloppy at all and there's no extra play that i can feel. but is there anything i can do to service them? it's probably no big deal, but might as well since i'll be down there and i don't think i've touched them since i've owned my truck.

okay, it's official. i'll just take your word for it and leave the lower control arm bushings alone. scratch that off the list! muah hahaa

sway bar bushings should be no prob if they don't come with the disconnects. my brother bought some for his 85 pickup at autozone or something. no biggie.

if roger brown sells disconnects, i think i'd buy them from him. he seems to make good products and has lots of good feedback all over this forum. i'll check that out.

one more thing i noticed today... my upper bump stops are shot to the death. the actual rubber bumpstops are cracking and need obvious replacement, but the real problem lies in the metal bracket that's welded to the frame. it's broken and bent! i can't find any other way to explain it except that it's broken! i'll take a picture and show you. i'm thinking i should replace that bracket as well as the rubber bumpstop. i don't konw how long it's been like that, i don't usually drive my truck that hard but i have taken some really hard hits in the past on accident because of some rock/rut/bump i didn't see. i think i might have jumped it once a really long time ago. anyway, would i need to go to the dealership to get a replacement part like this? or can i find a bracket like that at an auto parts store? i'll take a picture so you'll know exactly what i'm talking about.

as far as brake lines go, i saw today that there is some extra slack on the metal hose above the bracket. is there anyway i could just lower that braket down and make use of the extra slack on the metal hose versus extending the rubber brakelines? that way, the brake hose/lines would still all be the stock length which would keep brake feel at a comfortable/safer level. and that means i don't have to buy extended brake lines

ok that should just about do it. the only other things on my list were the lower ball joint spacers, the rear leaf spring and shackle bushings. both of which shouldn't be a problem.

if there's anything else that crosses your mind let me know! this is my first time touching my front end so i want to make sure i do it right!

deathrunner

Good luck on the show.

I think you mean lower ball joints, don't know why you'd wanna space em.

I don't know about the brake lines. I would replace em. I doubt you have 4 inches of slack.

As far as the bumpstops go.......DAMN you've been beating that thing. I know exactly what you're talking about. One of the welders at protrux did the same thing to his jumping it and slamming it down. THe only way I know of to do that is by launching it. What happens is that when there is suddenly no ground beneath the weighted tire, the torsions slam the a arm into the bumpstop, pushing the bracket down. If you're going to drive like that stock bumpstop brackets are not the way. And since it's banged might as well upgrade. Protrux welded ultra strong bumpstop brackets on mine.

You need to make sure you have the proper angle to ensure that you're cv's don't go into an unsafe area and cause breakage. You could really hurt your axles if the wheels turn with force when the hubs are engaged and the suspension is at it's full travel.

Add that to the front of your list, in my opinion.

alanbobalan

haha yes, seth. just the lower ball joints no spacers

i jumped it really hard like once (a long time ago while my torsions were cranked... yeah pretty stupid i know hahaa) and i think one other time i overshot a hill climb with too much speed and my front end got some air.

there was also one time i was pooping around at this local spot around town and i thought i knew where all the big ruts and potholes were... but turns out that night a bulldozer dug a pretty good size ditch right in the middle of the trail and i never saw it coming. i hit that ditch so hard. i was only going maybe 10 mph or so, but i hit it hard enough that my motor was sitting a little lopsided a vibrating really weird. then a week later it just kinda.......... fixed itself.

there's no telling when i did that to my bumpstop. it hasn't taken any serious beatings in a long time and i don't plan on it taking anymore... well, purposefully at least.

are you talking about proper cv angle? how might i go about ensuring i have the proper cv angle? sorry, i'm still learning

deathrunner

Damn.....All I can say is damn....

Seriously, you should check your engine mounts. Sounds like you probably snapped one of those guys. Problems never "fix" themselves.

Yes, you have to adjust the bumpstops so that the cv is limited before it becomes damaged. You need to "cycle" the travel of the suspension. As you move the suspension through it's range, you need to spin the wheel (Better yet. have the wheel off and spin the hub), You will feel resistance when spinning the hub when it is in a bad spot. You simply mark distance where ever the good spot begins to feel resistance.

You can set the for maximum cv travel. but the tight angles will cause boot wear. I would set the travel up to the point just before the boot ribs rub on each other. Low profile bumpstops like the ones I gave you are good in the fact that they allow more travel....yet they are harder than the stock bumps when hit hard.

I would use the low profile stops if you plan to wheel slowly with the need for suspension travel. And I would use the stock stops for quicker wheelin. The extra padding helps with the suspension bottomed out. Not a major deal, just a couple things I observed.

In short...you're going to need eto weld on stronger bumpstops, as well as the lower Bumpstop extensions. You had a welder buddy, right? Shouldn't be too much work.

alanbobalan

my engine mounts should be fine... i think. i really can't explain what happened. after a week or so the vibrating went away and the engine was sitting perfectly upright. i even had it looked at by a mechanic a couple days after the beating and he said it was fine. then a couple weeks later i had to get a new clutch and obviously they had to take the whole engine out and put it back in again after the clutch was installed. once again, no problems were reported so i'm pretty sure everything is fine. that and the fact that my little 22-re is still running like a champ. i really don't know what happened to be honest... all i know is it's running good now so i'm not really concerned about that anymore haha.

oh okay, when you were talking about proper cv angles you were talking about adjusting the bumpstops. for some reason i thought you were talking about ensuring i have proper cv angles when i put on the lift kit. i was confused.

as of lately, my truck has taken no hard hits and i do not intend to. it's going to be a 4 wheel trail rider for the most part. maybe i'll pick up some speed here and there in open areas, but i'll be staying within the limits of what my truck can handle. so with that said, i'll probably stick with the lower profile bumpstops you gave me. as far as those upper bumpstops goes, i might as well upgrade to stronger ones since they're already broken. or if there is a significant difference in price between upgraded ones and a stock unit, then i'll go with whatever is cheaper. you mentioned that protrux welded stronger bumpstop brackets on your rig. did they just replace the bracket and you still used a stock rubber bumpstop or did they replace everything and roughly how much did the units cost? where might i find stronger bumpstops? at any local offroad shop? thanks seth!


ps. the new picture is niiiicee! i'm diggin it!

deathrunner

WHen they change your clutch, they don't need to yank out the motor. They simply throw it on the lift. Remove the driveshafts and crossmemeber and lower the tranny out. But if you feel comfortable with your motor mounts....the Toyota gods may rest.

As far as the upper bumpstop bracket, I think they might have made it. It's really simple, just two piece of metal. As for the actual bump stop. I use stock ones all around now.

With your lift kit I used the lowers that you have and the stock upper.

Hope it isn't raining to hard your way. It's pretty wet down here. It might be muddin time.

elripster

When you get the lift kit installed and aligned, I'd weld the drop brackets to the center cross members to make the kit more like a Superlift. You don't have to do this, but it will keep the stuff from shifting around thus less trips to the alignment shop.

If you can't get the tie rods separated, just get new ones, they are cheap.

If your ball joints are original, put new ones in now while it's apart. You can mod the kits for lots of travel but with old ball joints that have operated in a narrow range for a long time, the likelyhood of rapid wear is high. With new ones, well I have had mine for years with no issue pushing 12+" of travel on my trailmaster kit.

Frank

deathrunner

How the heck do you manage to get 12+ out of a bracket kit???

I was only able to get like 8" maximum, more like 7"

I want soem flex shots. Maybe I was doing something wrong.

alanbobalan

seth- the protrux site is down and i can't seem to find an upgraded bumpstop bracket anywhere else. if i can't find one before i get ready to put on the lift, i might just go down to the junkyard and pick up a used one or get one from the dealer if they aren't too expensive.

frank-

welding the drop brackets to the center crossmember sounds like a good idea. except i'm planning for a SAS in the future. i don't know if i want to weld on too much stuff because it's all gunna get ripped off later on.

if tie rod ends are cheap, then i might throw some new ones on. like i said, i'm doing a SAS and the tie rods i have now seem to be ok, my steering doesn't feel sloppy at all and there's no extra play in the steering wheel. i guess it is just going to come down to how much those new tie rod ends will cost.

and HOW DID you get 12+" of travel out of your trailmaster kit? please tell me so maybe i can get that much too i agree with seth, i want some flex shots!!

one last thing frank, you wouldn't happen to have installation instructions for this kit or know where i could find some would you. that's like the next thing i need before i go about buying all these new parts for my front end. thanks!

deathrunner

Nice muddin pic.

Protrux's site is www.protrux.net

You would have to call them about the bumpstop brackets. Mine was a custom deal. They aren't on the site.

Email trailmaster for instructions.