How did the install go? Is it up and running?

The install is complete. I finished it last (Sunday) night. I can't say it went as smooth as I would have liked, but it's done. I wanted to do the install on Saturday, but other things came up that I had to attend to. So, I got up feeling froggy on Sunday morning and decided to tear into it.

Getting the struts out was a piece of cake. I removed the two bolts that secure the lower control arm to the steering knuckle and my son lifted the steering knuckle away while I pushed down on the lower control arm and the struts came right out. The first problem I ran into was when I was disassembling the right front strut. The tab on top of the strut twisted off when I tried to loosen the nut securing the top spring mount to the strut. That left me with no way to loosen the nut. Dead in the water. I took my drill and chained drilled the nut on two opposing sides and then used a chisel to cut off the nut. Sounded simple, but it took well over two hours to disassemble the right front strut. The left side came apart easy.

The second problem is of my own making. For some reason, I got really confused when I clocked the springs on the struts. The lower coil termination is supposed to be at the rear and one of the three studs at the top has to point inboard. Three times I had to re-compress the springs using a POS spring compressor I got from Checker to re-clock the springs. Yea, I got it wrong twice before I finally got it figured out. Maybe someone could explain why its so important to have the springs clocked in such a fashion. The struts were as easy to install into the truck as they were coming out.

With the front done, I started on the rear. It wasn't long before I ran into my third show stopper. The bolts that secure the rear sway bar ends to a linkage coming off of the frame where really corroded. To make things worse, some brain-damaged engineer thought it would be a good idea to use an allen wrench in the end of the bolt to hold the bolt while either loosening or tightening the nut. After loosening the nut a few turns the allen wrench starts to strip out inside the bolt. It took me awhile, but I was able to re-tighten the nut and disassemble the linkage instead. I will needed to replace these links because as I was messing with the one on the right, grease started oozing from a boot on the linkage. I'm sure the boot is torn.

The nuts that secure the top of the rear shock to the frame were also heavily corroded and were a total PITA to get off, but once the shocks were off, the rest of the install was a walk in the park.

For anyone looking to do this install in the future, take the front struts to someplace to have them assembled. That was my original plan, but nothing was open on Sunday, so I tore into it myself. I won't do that again. The spring compressors you get from Checker, Autozone, etc. are a real PITA to use and my lack of power tools (hi-speed grinder and impact wrench) made the job that much more difficult.

I only had time to drive the truck around the block last night. The ride is a lot more stiff and the front end doesn't dive when I hit the brakes. One problem I see is that my steering wheel is not straight. It is turned slightly to the left when going straight. I occasionally thought my steering wheel was off a little to the left before and I had the front end aligned last May, but the shop said it was dead on and blamed it on road crown. Is there anything that I could have done in my install that would cause this? How long should I let the suspension settle before I align the front end? Does anybody know of any good alignment shops in the north end of the valley?

Thanks for the great write-up Ernie. I'm sorry you had such a hard time getting the install done. I bet next time you do this (meaning when you install mine) it will go really fast. Hahaha. Just kidding. Let us know what you think of the ride and such as time progresses. I was thinking in a year or so about going to coilovers, but I still can't figure out what makes the most sense for me or which is better for what. I do mostly road driving as I use it as my commuter too, but I enjoy going offroad. So I am going to have to speak with the experts (meaning you guys!).

I'm sure others will have a more accurate answer than me, but I've always driven around for 50 or so miles after doing suspension work before having an alignment done. That is assuming that I didn't feel something was seriously wrong and I'd be doing damage to the suspension or tires by driving on it before the alignment. I think the guys blaming it on road crown were full of hooey. If that were the case then it would have been different on different roads as they aren't all crowned at the same angle. I had a friend whose mom had that situation and it turns out that they had done something to her car and messed up the steering wheel! The guys had pulled it for some lame reason without telling her (attempting to align the vehicle by pulling the steering wheel and moving it over I believe), but they still put it back on wrong. As a matter of fact they put it back on upside down. That was a funny argument we all had with the Nissan dealership in Orem. I am not saying that is what happened to yours of course. Your misalignment just made me think of that story. I drive on crowned roads everyday in my FJ and the steering wheel doesn't go to one side at all. Maybe mine is aligned so wrong that it works out perfect.

Good question on a shop in the north that will do it right. It makes me think that perhaps the boss should add a section here about Utah Cruisers approved shops, or shops where we've had good experiences and can actually find a specific mechanic that knows that he or she is talking about. Like we know our pal at Cruiseroutfitters does good work and such, but beyond him I don't really know anybody around here that specializes in this stuff. It seems like down here in Orem we're pretty much stuck with do it yourself or hope you can find a motorhead at a shop that knows what he's talking about and has dealt with Toyota trucks over the years. Moose knows a few good people I believe through Wasatch Cruisers. Maybe he'll chime in again.

I got the alignment done today. I probably put 50 miles on it since the lift was installed. The camber was visually out as the top of the front tires pointed out and the tires would occassionally squeal when I turned a corner. The shop was able to get all of the measurements into spec except caster and SAI. He said its impossible to get the caster into spec with the lift installed. There are many posts on the blue room that said the same thing. He said SAI was related to caster and since caster was out SAI would be also. He went on to say that caster and SAI would not cause tire wear but that high speed handling would be a bit on the twitchy side. I haven't had it above 50 MPH yet, so I couldn't say if it's noticable.

The truck drives fine. The ride is a little more harsh, as to be expected, but the front end doesn't dive when the brakes are applied hard. I haven't had it off road yet and I'm not sure what my weekend plans are just yet. I'm definately gonna re-check the torque on all of the important bolts and apply some torque stripe to make future inspection a snap before I do any off roading.

I'll try to snap a few pics and post a few before and after shots at some point this week.

Here are a few before and after pics of the install.









I know the pics are not the greatest, but I think the results speak for themselves. I took it for some very mild off-roading yesterday. I'm not sure it matters, but I figure it's a good idea to let the suspension settle in before I do anything to serious. I rechecked the torque on the bolts today. The lower ball joint bolts were rock solid. The lower shock mounts on the front and back were no longer torqued to specs. The front was about 80 - 90 foot pounds and the rear was about 50. The front is supposed to be 118 and the rear 72. I re-torqued them, but no one carries torque seal. In fact, no body even heard of it before. I'll check the specialty hardware store in Roy that Bob mentioned to me on Monday.

Now that the suspension is all done, the only thing left is to install the front LCA skids I got from Brad a while back... I'm giving them a few coats of Rustoleum black and will probably throw them on this afternoon or tomorrow. I know they don't require paint since they are aluminum, but they will fit right in with the rest of the stuff under my truck.