wjwerdna

so I finally got around to finishing my truck, its been sitting half finished for a week or so...

Heres what I did,

REAR:
Iinstalled a custom Steel/black HDPE spacer in the rear coils totalling 3 inches of material, along with a chunk of the stock rubber cone. This gave me about 3.5 in of lift from center of wheel to bottom of fender.

FRONT:
After trying to install a 1in spacer in the strut, and a 3/4 HDPE spacer above the strut, I had too much trouble getting it back in, and the balljoint/upperarm of steering knuckle was IN the coil, so i took it all apart again and went back to stock top-plate and just a custom 1in spacer above the coil. With the previous spacer in strut and on top, it was 2 inches of added material, and it gave me about 4 in of lift????? With just the 1 in spacer on top of the strut, I am still getting 3 in of lift, but without the clearance issues.

I also added new rear bumpstop spacers with the daystar bumps, took about 20 min to install

Front 29mm diff drop, about 1.14in took about 15 min to install after skids were off

I drove it around for about 20 min or so, everything seemed fine. I packed up, checked all the bolts again to make sure they were tight, and proceeded on my 100 mile drive back home (avg 65-70mph, highway). Heres the issue, for the first 80 miles or so, steering seemed to be perfectly normal, no issues of any type. But towards the end, it would seem to grab and jerk a little either way over bumps, requiring more corrections than ever before. THis all felt as if something were loose, or if a wheel was completely not on straight.... which they were of course. I got out in the blowing snow, pulled out my tools, and checked every connection, all were good. Also, driving this morning over new snow and slippery conditions, it doesnt seem to stay going straight as easily as it used to. On the snow it feels as if the fronts are slipping more, and dont really drive perfectly as before....

so.

is this just an alignment issue??? or does it sound like something else, it has 79000 miles on it and i dont have history of work done before 68000

last thing, i had to break one of the rear lugs off cuz it was stuck, can this be fixed with rental tools? does anyone have the numbers for lugs for stock "6spoke" 994runner wheels and for a new stud

any and all info, input, advice, would be greatly appreciated, thanks

wjwerdna

wjwerdna

anyone??? please...

Localmotion

after the lift you should get an alignment.

wjwerdna

ok, I'm still planning on that this week since I just finished last night, if it sounds like just that, well, I hope is... Thanks for the input Matt

snap-on

Im fairly shure youll have to pull the axle and have it pressed off the bearing/backing plate as there isnt enough room between the back of the flange and the backing plate to get a new stud in (you could probibly get the old one out as it is broke off)

but im not shure and never tried to do it with the axle still on the truck.

Localmotion

if your stud broke off, just buy a new one and pound it in. thats what I did.

I also did this for our Honda Accord, the only thing different is that I had to grind down the little groove at the top of the stud, under the head, to put it in w/o a press.

wjwerdna

ok, i think that when i rotate the axle to the right spot, there is enough room around brake hardware for manueverability of a new stud... any specific part numbers or is this something that any autozone/advance auto would carry? +what about new lug since it needs to be replaced too? anything special about it?

wjwerdna

I guess I will check everything once again up front, get it aligned, and hope the handling is back to normal....

on my 4runner, the tie rods are attached beneath the knuckle tab, has anyone tried relocating this to above this tab to reduce the angle??? It looks like it would relieve stress on the joint, but not sure what else would be involved. and last question for now, for everyone that has done this or read about it, is a one inch spacer resulting in 3 in of lift an expected result, or did i change something else by accident ? thanks guys for the input so far

Localmotion

Im sure a 1" spacer is NOT supposed to yield 3" of lift. mabye something during the install went wrong? Are u sure the spacer was 1"?

I would get a new wheel stud from the dealer, they are only like $5.

take pics of the setup and we can give you better/more accurate info.

wjwerdna

there is the clearest pic of the final driverside strut in the car, it is a material adding to between 1 and 1.125 in my attempt to also level side to side, its hard to see since material is black HDPE... but you should know what was added if you have one I will try to get some more pics fromdiff angles after work today

wjwerdna

PS: pic with wheel off and hanging free with no jack or support under knuckle, sway bar and all other hardware attached, ready to lift car up with jack to get wheel on

wjwerdna

heres some pics of the inner workings of how i lifted it

wjwerdna

Before after and misc shots

Localmotion

I cant remember whether or not installing a spacer inside v. outside the coil makes a difference.

I dont understand how 1" spacers gave u 3"?

wjwerdna

i dont either, i had initially added the spacer outside, along with a custom welded top plate that added 1 inch inside the strut also. This made it almost impossible to get the strut back in and put the upper knuckle, where the balljoint is, BETWEEN the coils. This gave about 4.5 in of lift... way too much. Its getting aligned at a chrysler dealership wednesday, anything special i need to tell them about aligning it since its lifted, or anything i need to look out for to make sure I can tell they do it right. Or what they are likely to say if they say there is an issue, or they dont know what to do?

MTL_4runner

If the spacer is installed inside it will add more lift because it precompresses the spring and basically makes it stiffer (therby giving you lift). When you install the outside it should theoretically give you the same amount of lift as the height of the spacer (ie 1" spacer = about 1" lift). I am not sure why you acutally got 3" from an outside 1" spacer.

Did you get exactly 3" or a little less? ......best to use level ground as a reference.

You will probably need to remove the axle to press a new stud in there. Do a search I am sure that has been done before and should give you an idea of how others have done it.

Anytime you do a lift you need to get an alignment, I am sure that was your steering issue.

wjwerdna

well, it isnt at the end of the pivot, it is in the middle of the lever (the lower arm) therfore acting as a lever, I just assumed i would get only 1.5-1.75 in of lift from a 1 inch spacer.... yes, it was on level ground, measured from center of wheel to bottom of fender... absolutely positive on measurements, it was about 3.375 in of lift +/- .125in .... used this method so air pressure would make no differance... that measuremnt was taken right after i was done, so it is likely that it has settled some or seated more, but could not be more than .25 at most, as rear is still same, and vehicle is still level

aowRS

This is wrong. The front end uses A-arms that travel in arcs as your suspension cycles. Adding a 1" spacer in the front will not yield 1" of lift - think of the A-arms as levers....

The rear is a different story. Essentially the rear of the truck sits on a set of coils. Add 2" worth of lift under or above the coil, and you'll gain 2" of lift. There does come a point where the rear axle starts migrating forward because of the rear axle arms, but not until you add outrageous amounts of lift.

As for the truck driving differently - you've totally changed the front camber - at a minimum. You need to get it properly aligned.

Andreas

wjwerdna

yup, explained well.... aligned tomorrow, i just hope they know what to do