Finally Ready to Lift!

don't forget pics when its done!

 

Very sorry it was my parts holding things up on your end Matt. The bracket was the least I could do. I'm the same as every person on any forum as far as the excitement of looking forward to getting parts I spent my hard earned $ on and completely understand the frustration of having to wait. My normal turn around time is usually 2-3 weeks max.

I knew this move would really set me back, but thought I could get caught up quicker.

As far as calipers and wheels rubbing them, it's ok to shave (grind) a bit off calipers if only a tiny bit needs to be removed. I heard about this long ago and had to do it to my Chevy Dana 60 front calipers to clear some 16" wheels I wanted to use. It becomes pretty obvious how much you can and can't remove when you're actually there doing the install.

Really looking forward to seeing your truck Matt, super good move on going with a spindle and not trying to shove a huge Fabtech coil in there, your ride would end up being crap and you'd lose all your dropout. Not to mention the night mare of fighting them in. AAL's would make for a stiff rear ride too, especially with a gas charged shock that springs out when pushed in. The only good thing about them (besides some lift) is the extra weight carrying capacity, the ride always suffers.

 

Ok slight change of plans. With "The Beast", as the weather channel is calling it, coming through I decided to throw on my new tires to get some decent traction before the lift. They don't rub at all in turns, but I can definitely hear them hit the inner fenders on the top when I back out of the driveway and bounce down the curb. i definitely have some work to do balancing them, these tires have been a bitch compared to any other ones I've done. I thought I had it then when I hit about 55 mph all hell broke loose and everything was bouncing like crazy. Anyway here's what it looks like as it sits... (actually not quite it has about a foot thick white blanket on it right now, but you get the idea).



I am very happy so far. I love being able to see the tires sticking out that inch or so in my mirrors. Also as you can see i'm being at the front of the "white letter out" fad so I'm not a follower later on. The lift should get put on now probably thursday and friday as I'm doing it at school and school was cancelled today and it is for tomorrow.

 

Very nice. Its cool, I roll white letters out myself.

 

IM OLD SKOOL WHITE LETTERS OUT
i have the same truck as yours and depending on how your truck looks when its done i may copy your setup, hope thats ok pretty cool you got a shop class at school, i went to a little ass high school where the only elective classes were sports if you dont mind me asking, where di you buy the spindles by themselves an how much money will you have into your setup when its all said and done?

 

I got the spindles off Performancelifts.com . They were $389 with free shipping. The shackles are $104 I believe, the rims were $200 and the tires were about $300 I think (wholesale, I mounted and balanced them myself). So right at about $1000 for everything.

I am finally starting tomorrow. We had 3 snow days last week and the days I have been there we have had to finish up a few other cars currently in the garage so that they can sit outside. I had to shovel out the garage to get them out, my truck was the only thing that could get in or out. We had a nice plow ridge right over our door (we have 3 Porsches inside now, 2 944s and a Cayman ) Anyway I can finally start tomorrow. I'll do the rear tomorrow probably and the front the next day then align it. I'll take lots of progress pictures.

 

OK everybody. I hit a snag today.
I looked and looked at other 5 lug builds when I was planning mine. I could've sworn I saw a guy that used stock TRD shocks on his rear with a 1.5" AAL. Those were I believe 14" long fully decompressed (from a pair on here I almost bought). Mine when I measured were longer than that so I figured they would work. So today I get the old shackle off and get one bolt through the new one, and naturally it doesn't fit. There was a kid hanging off the leaf spring then I looked up at the shock... fully decompressed with probably another 2" needed to clear the shackle

I called PerformanceLifts.com (very helpful actually, their live help is fantastic) who I ordered the spindles from to see what shock part #s they include in their kits. He gave me a rancho part # and I went to O'reilly (who of course can only tell me none of the shocks they carry listed for my truck will accomodate lift) I told him to give me all the shocks they have that would cross reference that part #. So now I end up with some KYB shocks... they had to order them from their KC warehouse and won't be ready till 9 tomorrow morning (my class is over at 9:15) It's not my first choice but I really can't wait for a custom ordered one to ship in. I'm now gonna do my spindles tomorrow and hopefully shackles the next day and will be without my truck for the night at least.

So... you may now all point and laugh at the dipshit who thought his stock shocks would work with a lift

 

hey man everyone over looks things.... cant wait for the finished product

 

neslerrah, the 2nd gen guy, used the trd bilsteins on his rears. i recently acquired a set for mine that i think i am going to put on. that means i need to sell the fat bob's that came with my lift.

point being, i think you may have been looking for http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-builds/52882-neslerrah-5-lug-build.html

yes i am ignoring the fact that you have a 1st gen.

 

any news? super anxious to see what it looks like

 

BUMP FOR MOTIVATION!!!!!

 

Ok everyone. I finally got my time slot in the shop and some real progress. We've had to get a friend of mine's car put together to the point of being mobile as he's been waiting for a part and just sitting at a standstill for several weeks. I then naturally received the wrong shocks from O'Reilly and just ordered Doetsche Tech ones to make damn sure they fit this time (they also make a kit for my truck so I figured some shocks they had must work)

I started off one day with the rear... got my Beefed shackles put in and my CORRECT shocks and my BPV bracket (Thanks Brian)



These things really live up to their name. They are BEEFY (I'm holding the factory ones beside them.



BPV relocation



My truck kinda looks like it's mooning everyone now.

The install took about 1.5 hours (would've been much easier if I had every tool in a spot where I knew what it was) and it was pretty straightforward. I just needed help from a friend to hang off the leaf again to get the shackle on (and didn't consider lowering the screw jack I had supporting the rear end, doh!) Just took lots of WD-40 to fight that wonderful Toyota rust.

 

DAY 2

Started in on the front spindles. They seem pretty daunting at first and not as straightforward as the shackles but not too bad at all. The first one took forever just to figure everything out (the instructions suck for these, I think they are made for 95.5-00 and some minor changes were made in 01 or something) and finding a damn socket in our shop takes about 6 hours. I'm also working on a lift meant for alignments and not for under car work, so getting in and out of it is kinda an acrobatic procedure that involves lots of hitting your head. After I got the first one off and all the tools I needed out the second one popped off in a jiffy. I got hung up trying to get the ABS sensors out and called it a day (hooray rust!). I should finish up tomorrow hopefully.

How she sits now (stranded, gotta ride with daddy to school tomorrow )



For anyone that's interested, the stock spindle

 

It's never easy, LOL! But it's going to look great when it's done. Gook luck with the rest, looking forward to pics!

 

Im actually excited to see it lifted. I've decided to wait on tires and wheel due to gas prices killing me as it is, i dont need any worse mileage...

 

DAY 3

Done!

Spent about another 3 hours today on it. Everything went pretty well. The seized ABS sensors finally gave up and I wish I could say I got them out. I sheared both of them in half so I'm rolling without ABS right now. Other than that everything went smoothly. Putting the calpiers back on was probably the hardest part and I ended up getting one on with the brake line twisted so I had to do it all again (that's always kinda depressing)

Anyway the interesting part... pictures!

Old vs. new (notice the damn ABS sensor wire still in the old one )



Before Lift



After Lift



This was one of the most drastic changes... front track width
Before (not a great pic, but what I had)



After



From the back



I definitely enjoyed the process and learned a lot. I'm trying not to drive it much before I get in to align it. I also need to order 2 new ABS sensors. Spring break is next week so I wont have it in the shop again till 2 weeks from yesterday. I also have front shocks to put on at some point and need some work on balancing the tires. Of course it'll never be done but that's it for a little while... at least for suspension

 

Congrats!
She looks great!

 

DEWD! looks totally sweet!!! i hate that feeling when you get something buttoned up and you got to tear it apart agian lol. great job man when i get my gmc finished i am totally using your set up

 

I cleaned her up and took a few more pictures today



New stickers!



My personal favorite sticker... God only knows what law suit this was the result of

 

Looking good!!!