Hey guys. I finally have pics of my lift that I installed about 4 weeks ago. Here's what I used: 3" rear Downey spring kit, 2.5" Cornfed front spacers, stock 4x4 front springs with all new Bilsteins. Got a Buy-3-Get-One-Free deal on the 32" Deulers, and put them on Mickey Thompson Classic II's.

Unfortunately I don't have any pics of the install itself. We started at about 7:00am on a Saturday and finished at 5pm the same day. It went really well, and we hit only a few bumps. The first one came when we were trying to get the upper shock mount bolt removed to do the rear. Man that is a bitch and a half!

The next hurdle came when we were assembling the front coil packs. I had bought a spring compressor for this task specifically, but unfortunately, it didn't fit the smaller front springs. It fit the rear springs fine, but only one hook on the top and bottom halves would fit the front spring. Like the genius that I am, I started compressing them anyway. You can probably guess what happened when I got far enough: PTWAAANG!!! Basically, one whole side came uncompressed and the spring resembled a U. Luckily I had it in a vise, and only got the crap scared out of me.

So, I wasn't going to get much futther without help. Lucky for me, I live only a couple minutes from Cornfed himself. He was cool enough to help me in my time of need! Only took him about 10 minutes with an impact to assemble the coil packs.

After that, everything else went smooth. Check out my pics:

























I still have a couple of things to put on such as a diff. drop, Panhard bracket and probably the limiting straps.

Any comments are welcome!

 

Looks great!



Brian

 

Looks mighty fine. Nice, clean rig. Nobody will mistake that ride for a grocery-getter!

Good job!

 

Looks killer. I like the bilstein set up.

 

that look sweet. But you know what you gotta do next right?

You gotta take those running boards off. It'll make it look even sweeter.

 

Are those 32x11.50? Looks nice!

 

NICE!!!

 

VA,

Wow, excellent work! I must agree that the running boards have gotsa go! Maybe a phone call to one of the slider dealers would be appropriate.

Bob

 

am i missing something?

edit: saw 2wd in your sig, you dont have to worry about dropping the front dif since you dont have one. have fun, it looks great

 

Somebody's got a truck with an attitude now! Looking good!

 

Wow, your truck looks great! I plan to do the similar setup with lift and wheels (tire brand will be different though - BFGs). If you don't mind me asking, what backspacing did you get on the Classics? I've got limited flares, so I want to bump the tires out a bit.

I was planning on installing the lift myself, but stories like yours make me very hesitant. You're lucky that spring didn't do more damage!!

 

Thanks for the replies, guys. I've been considering taking the running boards off, but I'll need something to put in their place. I can get in and out fine, but the girlfriend has trouble even using the running boards.

The Deulers are 32x11.50, and the BS on the Classic II's are 3 5/16. I'm happy with how the tire/wheels ended up. Sticks out a tad but not too much.

I am experiencing a little power loss, but nothing extreme. It's hard to get aboit 80 mph and I can't get off the line as quickly. I hope my upcoming deckplate/Amsoil mod will help.

its2slo - well, I know that I don't have a front differential, but I figured I could still use the drop kit. Any way to decrease the CV angle? Or do I need to worry about it?

Thanks again guys, keep the replies coming please!

 

My girlfriend has the same problem, im thinking Ramp Mod

 

man, that runner is looking really nice

 

hmmm... correct me if im wrong guys...but since its only 2wd you dont have cv angles...so you dont have to worry about the diff drop or busting the CVs.

 

yep no CV's so no need for diff drop
look at the 4th pic -- no axle shaft
i agree with the runnin boards and you are suppose to help her into your truck anyway

 

OK i ment 9th pic

 

Tell your GF to wear skirts so she can hike it up to get in, That's my favorie thing about my runner. Do you ever have a hard time putting it in 4 wheel drive?
Buy the diff drop and if it doesn't work, send it to me and I'll see if it will fit mine

 

You truck looks really good, do you like the ride, better than stock?

 

Thanks for the clarification on the CV issue :pat:

The ride is a bit stiffer than stock, but I like it. Sometimes if I go over bumps in the highway, I'll experience some drift or skipping (don't know how else to explain it) to the left or right, but nothing extreme. The Deulers work really nice, not loud at all - if I were buying the parts again I would go with the same setup... aside from going the SAW route

BTW, thanks to Mike at XtremeOffroad for getting me the parts. We had some communication issues and some shipping/availability problems with Downey, but it all turned out OK.