DIY Advice - Suspension

[cuzo4x4]

I have researched and serched on a hole lot off difrent views on this topic,

due to amount off options, i am looking at a 2" lift suspension kit preassemble, big question is how hard is this type of kit to install for you average home garage guy and what kind of tricks are in it, I have changed many shocks and worked on my race quadbike so I have some knowledge but working on a car for the first time is were I start to shutter at the thought of doing it myself, but there is a masive saving to made,

any feed back or pitfalls would great.

[Swinny]

mate if your not confedent enough dont try it your self have a mate around or someone with a basic understanding of forbys? but if your keen to do it your self there is no harm in trying you do save a bucket load of $$$..

[outbackjoe]

I put my 2 inch lift in myself. In terms of average home garage guy, I'm very average. Somewhat below average actually.

It was difficult for me. The spring compressors I had were not good enough for the large 4WD coils. Was a pain in the butt getting the struts in and aligning them to fit the bolts through. Took a fair bit of levering, hammering, swearing. Same story for the rear, the brake line prevented the axle from being lowered enough to fit the leaves comfortably. More hammering and swearing to get them in place. Then when I got one side in and tightened it up, it pulled the axle out of alignment. Ended up winching it to get it to align with the location stud on the other leaf spring. I had constant load leaves which made it even worse.

Took me a couple of days to do. Be prepared for some frustration. Mind you I'm sure it would be easier for those with better skills and tools. If I can do it anyone can!

[helmut79]

I have researched and serched on a hole lot off difrent views on this topic,

due to amount off options, i am looking at a 2" lift suspension kit preassemble, big question is how hard is this type of kit to install for you average home garage guy and what kind of tricks are in it, I have changed many shocks and worked on my race quadbike so I have some knowledge but working on a car for the first time is were I start to shutter at the thought of doing it myself, but there is a masive saving to made,

any feed back or pitfalls would great.

Mate give brendo @ Ultimate a call or PM you will be surprised at the cost. He can also provide a complete front strut assembly so you just pull one out and put the other in.

[whitelux29]

I just finished putting my monster rides kit in the front and medium duty rox (ride pro) leafs in the rear with 2 mates, we are all mechanical minded (all tradies) it's not too hard as outbackjoe said good spring compressors are a must!
The hardest bit for me was to get the steering arm out as it was in there pretty good on the drivers site that took
a lot of swearing and hammering!

[packeteer]

yeah, give Brenden @ Ultimate a call. He looks after forum members!

[cuzo4x4]

Thanks for the advice appreciate it. B...R...E...N...D...E...N I feal for the agravation when I put the lowering kit in the quad for flat track, its a nightmere to lighnup the shocky and its only 250k in total, alot of swearing happens.

[WinM70]

If you're not quite sure mate don't go it alone, there is too much shit that can go wrong. I did my own at my father in law's workshop. Having the gear to do it is half the battle.
I broke a snap-on spring compressor and shit went everywhere, definitely a sphincter clenching moment followed by an eery silence as I looked myself over to make sure I wasn't missing anything.
Definitely seek help mate if you're not 100%




Lee.

[lais817]

Mate, if you can get the struts put together for you by a suspension workshop etc, it shouldn't be that bad. My father in law and I got mine in over the course of a day with the Rekon struts and Dobinsons 2" leaves. The back is an absolute breeze, and you shouldn't have the brake line issue such as Outback Joe as you'll need to get longer brake lines as well to account for the extra travel. Hardest part for us was getting the struts in the front, but if you can borrow a trolley jack and some jack stands it's not too hard.

What we did was loosen the nuts on the lower control arm and let it hang down (you'll need a wheel alignment anyway so it won't matter), get the top of the struts loosely secured with the three nuts, then strap the strut to the chassis with a tie down strap, align the bottom of the strut in the little seat on the lower arm and slowly jack it up with the trolley jack. You may need to line up the bottom hole with a screwdriver or something to slip the bolt through but other than that it's not TOO hard. Just remember to retighten the lower control arm nuts when're you're done!

Give us a yell if you want any other info, I'm no expert but I'm happy to help where I can

Ash

[stevehastings]

first timer me aswell, took me half an hour each side at the back,(after on the jacks) leafs and shocks greassable shakals and pins, front came as one unit tough dog struts and springs 2 inch lift all round.

Front took about 5 hours to fit slow I know. but theres this one tapered bolt that you have to hit hard and fast to get it out, I had to do it myself as the garages up in Barossa Velley would not fit itas it was not brought from them, O well saved me some more money any way.

Good luck and put up some pics

[pisso01]

You shouldn't be using normal spring compressors for the coils in our cars. Ive been told by a couple people in the know that the springs are too stiff and could break the spring compressors which would potentially be deadly. Get pre-assembled struts or take the struts and springs to a suspension place. I think they use a special machine or something which does it. Ive had spring compressors go on light weight springs and it was scary.

Cheers,

Chris.

[outbackjoe]

You shouldn't be using normal spring compressors for the coils in our cars. Ive been told by a couple people in the know that the springs are too stiff and could break the spring compressors which would potentially be deadly. Get pre-assembled struts or take the struts and springs to a suspension place. I think they use a special machine or something which does it. Ive had spring compressors go on light weight springs and it was scary.

Cheers,

Chris.

Agreed. When I did it the spring compressors were bowing significantly under the force, didn't look good. And the hooks were not big enough to slip over the coils properly and looked like they could have slipped off at any moment.

[WinM70]

We ended up making a jig for the press and pressed them onto the struts. A valuable lesson learned




Lee.

[bill_i_am]

You don't need spring compressors for Rekon Struts..... Just wind them all the way out, add your spring and wind them in. Brilliant!

[lais817]

You don't need spring compressors for Rekon Struts..... Just wind them all the way out, add your aping and wind them in. Brilliant!

x2

[ultimate]

You shouldn't be using normal spring compressors for the coils in our cars. Ive been told by a couple people in the know that the springs are too stiff and could break the spring compressors which would potentially be deadly. Get pre-assembled struts or take the struts and springs to a suspension place. I think they use a special machine or something which does it. Ive had spring compressors go on light weight springs and it was scary.

Well said. Unfortunately we know of too many horror stories involving spring compressors.

It's important to note that 4WD coils do require speciality tools. Raised and heavy duty coils themselves are even a lot stronger than the original vehicle coils. I often hear of people pushing their compressors to the limits with the original coils and not being able to compress the aftermarket replacements. You simply need the best equipment to do these safely. We have three different spring compressors depending on the shape and rating of the coil. It is a job which is best left to the professionals. Not only is it a safety concern, you do also need to ensure that everything is lined up/assembled properly or else you will destroy the bushes and top hat. If these components wear on the Hilux, you will damage the piston shaft and subsequently the shock.

DIY does save a bit of money, but it can be a bit risky depending on the vehicle and your experience with four wheel drives. If you are contemplating a DIY, I would definitely look at pre-assembled struts (a lot safer) and doing the installation on a Saturday morning. That way if something does go wrong; a lot of shops are still open and can help you out. You also need to ensure the components are fitted correctly (e.g. bushes are greased in the right places and nothing is tightened up in the air) or else they will squeak and wear out prematurely.

After the lift kit is fitted, you need to get a wheel alignment, adjust the headlights and re-tighten everything at 1,000km.

[cuzo4x4]

Great advice guys, going to leave it up to the profesionals risk factor is to high, and if I dont get it finished over a week end i,ll be stuffed on Monday for work.

[Elrico]

Hey mate, i just installed a set of bilstein 5100 shocks and EFS 40mm springs. Pretty much got both coilovers out in 1 hr 30 mins and all we had was the toughdog youtube video. We took a few pictures of what we were disassembling. Went something like this.

1) Wheel off.
2) Disconnect Tie Rod Ball Joint (circlip inside nut to remove first)
3) Disconnect Sway bar Link arm
4) Disconnect upper ball joint but dont take the nut fully off (circlip inside nut to remove first)
5) Disconnect sway bar D shackles
6) Disconnect 3 top strut tower nuts
7) Disconnect Main Locating bolt on bottom of shock
8) Push lower control arm down enough for the Coilover to pull out (little force required)

This point i go a suspension shop to assemble my coils and shocks. Im not going to deal with the force required to spring compress these heavy duty springs, not for $40 a coilover to assemble. The 2 items came separate and so you have to have the original top hat of the old coilover as you are only supplied with the bottom hat of the new coilover. This means you have too take your old suspension out, before getting it assembled, to reuse the top hat.

9) Push Lower control arm down enough for the new coilover to go in (little force required)
10) Redo everything in reverse.

Now, we had no clue what to do, as i said. We watched the toughdog video, got out the socket set and pressed forward. If the springs were already assembled, id say 2 1/2 - 3 hours to do the fronts (take out and put in). Reassembling everything was so quick it wasnt even funny.

If i can get them off my I Phone, i may be able to imageshack them and put it in this thread if anyone is interested. Is anyone interested? Otherwise i wont bother

All in all, great success and i have learnt so much from this. I didnt know what a tie rod, upper/lower control arm, ball joint or swaybar link arm was prior too this. It has also helped My friend and I understand how to replace his much needed tie rod bearing in the process. If you can do it, do it yourself. You learn so much more!

Thanks guys,

Eric

EDIT: The suspension shop (westralia Springs in welshpool) lad said that if you use a white marker, mark the alignment nut and then crack it (so you may realign it later obviously ), this will help push the lower control arm down and make getting the old/new coilover in/out. Food for thought, as we didnt need to do this.

NINJA EDIT: I save $170 doing this, as i didnt pay for labour to install it. Worth it, maybe not for the effort involved, but the knowledge is invaluable personally. Plus $170 gets me an EGT gauge installed

[10 luxxxx]

I'm with Elrico on this one have a go yourself watch the you tube vid it's to easy

[cuzo4x4]

Hmmm, Now you got me thinking again, Must admit evething I have learnt pulling the quad bike down including engine and putting it back has all been self tought, through manuals or vidio or furum help, and now when we out ridding in the bush if we have break down, I know enough to limp it home, so your right doing it your self has its benifits. Hands on is defenantly the only way to learn.