foxtrotuniform

Editor's note: Thanks to new member FoxtrotUniform for putting such a great writeup together. As he noted at the end of his writeup, he built up his truck's suspension by searching existing Yotatech threads on suspension lifts. Imagine that! This thread is a good example of how you can customize your own suspension easily by just doing your own homework.

Great job, Foxtrot!
*************************************

I finally got a chance to take some pictures today, and I thought I'd get around to this post (which I've been meaning to make for quite some time).

The basic idea of this post is to give someone who is considering a mild lift and larger tires an idea what it involves and what to expect. All the work that has been done on my truck was done by myself or with a little help from a friend. I am by no means a mechanic, but I do have experience working on small engines, ATV's and am fairly mechanically inclined.

Essentially, if you grew up in the country (southern especially), we're on the same page. Heh...

Okay, so down to business. I've installed a fairly simple setup. The usual Old Man Emu (OME) Springs in the front and rear and the Nitro Charger shocks that come with the package deal. The front differential has been lowered 1 inch with a 4crawler kit. I also installed a 2" body lift from 4crawler. My tires are 305/70/16 Goodyear Wrangler MT/R's mounted on the stock rims.

The damage for all of the above, including shipping, taxes and everything else breaks down as follows:

-OME Shocks and Springs from "4x4 Connection" --$671.46
-4 Crawler 2" Body lift kit (including 1" diff drop) --$159.50
-305/70/16 Goodyear Wrangler MT/R (mounted, balanced w/allignment) --$1253.93

That totals $2084.89.

Take that for what it's worth. You may be able to find cheaper deals if your frugal or buy cheaper tires, but I wouldn't start this project without at least 2K in the bank. Just to have a little buffer in case something breaks or goes wrong. It would suck to be flat broke, and not be able to buy, say, a rear brake line, if you managed to destroy yours installing the lift.

Having that said, we're all adults, and I'll refrain from any additional responsibility preaching.

Now, to the installation.

I am in the Air Force, and have access to a wonderful thing called the "Auto Hobby Shop." It is essentially a full sized garage with lifts, air tools, floor jacks, tranny jacks, stocked tool boxes...well you get the picture. There are also techs there to give you advice if you get screwed up, but I never had to ask them anything. *brushes chip off shoulder*

So if you are doing your install in the driveway or your garage at home, keep in mind that your install times will be significantly longer (unless you have a dream garage) and may involve several drives to the hardware store for tools or parts. Frame lifts make EVERYTHING eaiser/faster/more fun.

Suspension Lift:
This was a pretty straight foreward project, with a couple of hangups. The rear install involves removing the stock springs and shocks and replacing them with the OME parts. A few install notes:
Rear:
--Getting the stock shocks off the rig is a major pain in the rear. The top bolt that holds them to the frame is almost inaccessable. With a ratchet, you can only get about 1/8th of a turn per stroke. To hold the shock body, I had to use a mega pipe wrench, and smash the shock shroud in order to get it to bite. About 45 minutes and 8 bloody knuckles later, I had them off. (And this was working at eye level standing up!) BTW, the stock shocks were trashed. I suggest PB Blaster on the top bolt for a few days before starting. Even though it will be difficult to spray in there (laying on back in driveway) it will be worth it.
--Disconnecting the torson bar (cross bar that connects from frame to rear axle) allows some more flex to get the stock springs out and new springs in. But, and pay attention here ***Pay close attention to the rear break line!*** It connects from the differential to the body, and once the torson bar is disconnected, it is possible to overstretch it, and rip it. I didn't, but came close by not paying attention.
--The stock springs come right out with the torson bar disconnected. A crowbar and some finesse will get the longer tougher OME springs in (no coil compressors necessary).
--The Nitro Charger Shocks are easy to install as you already figured the best way to get at the top bolt when you took the old ones off.
--Make sure the new springs are seated properly in the rubber bushings. There is one way where they fit (the end of the spring sits in a indentation in the rubber)

Front:

--Getting the front struts off is easy, take out the bottom bolt, unseat the shock, then unbolt the mounting bolts on the top (not the center strut bolt).
--I suggest taking the struts and parts to a professional garage, and having them disassemble and reassemble them. It would be cheap, and quick. I used a professional hydraulic strut press. It would have been a huge pain in the rear if I used coil compressors. If you must use them, check out some other threads for instructions.
--Getting the front struts back in was difficult for me. They are longer now, and don't want to fit right. I had a buddy stand on the upper A arm, while 2 of us pried with crowbars and pounded until we got the lower bolts back in. There's probably an eaiser way (disassembling the lower A arm or disconnecting the anti-sway bar) but I didn't know about it. Just cussed for awhile and got it back together.
--Using this lift throws your front camber out of wack. It is even visible to the naked eye. Negative camber by a not insignificant ammount. A computer allignment at Goodyear fixed this.

And the suspension install was finished! Total time in the shop rolling to rolling: 6 Hours.

Body Lift:
People have different opinions on this, but I wanted the rig to sit higher, and have more room for tires, so I put it on. In my opinion, it was the best of all the mods. If you are just looking for a more aggressive stance, and want to clear...say 32inch tires with plenty of space, I recommend it. I'm sure I'll be rawhided by the anti-bodylift-nazi's, but in my OPINION, it was a great bang for the buck kit, with an easy install, and very noticible results in terms of stance and ride height. Eventually I will fabricate some new fenderwells out of plastic, or I may buy some aftermarket ones.

Install Notes:
--PB Blaster all of the bolts for 2 days prior to install. It's easy, and can be done wearing your nicest clothes without fear of getting dirty. Trust me.
--Use an impact wrench (if avaliable) to remove the nuts off of the bottom of the bolts.
--Only lift one side at a time, leaving the opposite side body mount bolts loosened, but still intact.
--Disassemble the steering rag joint prior to lifting the body.
--When lifting the Driver Side, only lift high enough to install the body lift pucks. If you lift too high, you will disconnect, and possibly break, the wires for the electric fuel pump.
--Read this thread for details: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...y+lift+caution
--Remember to remove the radiator lower shroud before starting. I'm a friggin idiot, and I got the fan to remove it for me upon turning the key.
--It takes a helper to get the bumper to align properly using the lift bracket. It will allign, it just takes one person holding up the bumper while the other tightens the bolts.

Total install time: 1 Hour 45 Minutes. Cruiser.

Tires:
Front:
--I was conserned about clearing the upper A arms, and as it sits, the clearance is within a quarter of an inch. At full droop, the tires rub the upper A arms a little. At full lock, the tires rub very slightly on the frame rails. I've stuffed them in the wheel wells, and looked all over but have not found any other rub points.
--I am considering 1inch wheel spacers to get the tire away from the A arm, but am not sure about that yet.
--One night while jumping a curb, (quartering up onto it) I heard a differerent rub in the wheelwell somewhere, but I can't for the life of me locate where it was. But after a day of running trails today (alebit sissy Florida trails) I couldn't recreate the rub. I'll keep trying, but my major concerns about tires clearance were unfounded. You can wait for the hour in the tire place without fretting like I did if you are mounting these tires.

Differential Drop:
--Simple simple simple.
--Remove skid plate, remove differential mounting bolts, replace with those included in the kit, replace skid plate using supplied spacers and bolts.
--This kit helps reduce the CV angles that were increased by the suspension. And at about $30 with a super easy install, it is good insurance.

Final thoughts:
While compared to most of the folks on this board, these modifications are rather minor, I believe they are the most researched by people interested in dressing up their rig, and making it a little more off road capable. They are all straight forward installations that even a relative beginner like me was able to complete with some help from equally beginner friends.

Don't expect miracles. Those lifted full size trucks that you're looking up at now? You'll still be looking up at them after the lift and tires. However if it's any consolation, girls wearing skirts will complain that it's difficult to get in and out of without showing their naughty bits to everyone in eyesight. Indeed, you'll have to jump a little to get in the driver's seat. And you will sit higher than most lifted Jeep Cherokees.

Off road capabilities...well do you want honesty? Bone stock a 4x4 runner is a hell of a vehicle. I took mine down some hellatious trails when I lived in East Tennessee. Stuff Toyota never had in mind. Stuff that makes you look with shame upon all of the clean runners at the mall. Stuff that makes girl passengers scream, and guy passengers puke. And that's stock.

With the mods? Well, it's probably a little more capable. The mud terrain tires make the biggest difference, but a stock runner with 31" swampers would probably still make it farther down the trail than me. (At least in my type of trail conditions.) Because as they say, there are Swampers, then all other tires.

One noticable difference is that it runs much smoother on high speed gravel and dirt roads. No bottoming out any more, and I cary tons of weight back in the rear. If you spend lots of time on the gravel, I'd recommend the suspension even if you kept everything else stock.

Another noticable difference is a crummy ride on the interstate. As with any real off road vehicle, road noise increases with the tires. The higher center of gravity tends to make it a little less stable; It definately takes a little more steering to keep it in the lane at interstate speeds.

But I'm a guy. I don't care about stuff like that. Looking at the beefy thing in the parking lot gives me more enjoyment than any smooth ride ever did. If you care about smooth ride...well, I probably wouldn't do any of these mods.

Finally, use this site to your advantage. There is tons of good info on here, and I never would have done any of these mods if I haden't discovered good ole yotatech.com.

Any questions any has, I'll answer as best as I can!

Now...