Andrew H - My Build

Measurements @ 1/2 tank of fuel with 5100s at 1.75" and rear spring TSB:

FL - 37" FR - 37.5"

RL - 37.5" RR - 38.25"

Left side will probably be close to a full inch with a full tank of gasoline. I'll be putting on the 1/4" spacer plate on to correct the lean.

Pics and after-lift measurements will be posted on Monday.

 

Installed the 885s, 1.5" aal, and the 1/4" spacer this morning.

I only drive around 30mph and there weren't any vibrations. I am getting it aligned tomorrow morning so I will take it for a real test drive afterwards.

I will post pics and updated measurements tomorrow.

I used this alternate method of assemling and disassemling the shocks and coils. Worked great. Will post the how-to later.

 

New measurements are:

FL - 38" FR - 38 3/8"

RL - 39 1/2" RR - 40 1/8"

Still have a little lean on the drivers side even with the 1/4" driver side spacer.

Truck looks great. I think the 885s and 1.5" aal (or 2" aal without the TSB) is a perfect combo to give these trucks a nice aggressive stance.

So far no vibes up to 55 mph. Will see how it does on the interstate Thursday morning.

I'm curious to see how much it settles up front and the rear. If the front settles a bit then I may order the top plate spacers for them.

 

The coil compressor I rented from Autozone felt really sketchy so we tried another way. Call me ignorant or a moron for doing it this way but it felt a lot more safer and went a lot smoother this way. See below for video made by fellow member "db".

We used a 3.5 ton floor jack to do this. I wouldn't feel comfortable doing it with anything but heavy-duty floor jack. I also don't know how well this would work with a spacer lift; I don't know if I'd be comfortable trying this way with a spacer lift.

We loosened the two cam bolts on the LCA, then removed the two bolts going into the knuckle. This causes the LCA to lower so we swung the loose LCA back up to its "normal" position and rested it on top of the floor jack which was raised, then we carefully removed the top middle nut of the shock.

We slowly and carefully lowered the floor jack which disassembled the shock assembly. Unbolted the lower shock and we were done. We didn't even need to unscrew the outer three nuts on the top plate of the shock.

When assembling the new coils we just bolted the lower shock into the LCA, lined the shock stem up with the hole in the top plate, jacked it up carefully and slowly, then put the two bolts back into the knuckle so that the pressure was there and on the floor jack (we didn't want the pressure to be solely on the nut on the stem of the shock, also if you can't get the two bolts into the knuckle, try pulling down on the UCA to get it to line up better), then screwed the top nut back on last.

I will do a write-up on this sometime in the future with pictures. Maybe even a video of it; so you can either see something go horribly wrong or go incredibly fast and easy.

Whichever way you choose to do it has its dangers. Keep that in mind and do only what you are comfortable with.

 

Loaded the dog up for a camping trip this weekend.

 

Why did you have to loosen the 2 cam bolts? I imagine once you remove to 2 bolts going to the knuckle the LCA would lower when you lower the floor jack. After all, it pivots up and down on those 2 cam bolts when the suspension goes up and down.

 

I don't think the LCA would swing down far enough for you to slide the coil and shock out once the lower shock bolt was removed. Not sure though. Going to put a lift on a buddies Tundra this afternoon so I'll try it without loosening the cam bolts.

On another note I tinkered around with the suspension on my truck on Sunday. This way proved again to be a lot smoother than using a rented spring compressor.

 

New measurements:

FL - 39" FR - 39"

RL - 39.5" RR - 39.5"

 

Just ordered a set of front Super Bump Stops from Wheelers to soften up the ride a little bit.

 

i knoooooooooow. i am worthless when it comes to pics.

 

Who is the sly dog that stuck two new TW stickers in the windowsill of my truck outside of my station?!?!?

 

Hey man, I've been subscribed to your thread for awhile now. Great work!!

I just traded my red 08 TRD SPT DBL for a black 2011 TRD SPT DBL. I had the same wicked flow exhaust you had. I was thinking about getting the same one for my new one and then read you switched to a Flowmaster... how come?

Thanks!!
Trav

 

Thanks man! I switched because the WF 13" mellowed out a little bit and I wanted something a little bit more aggressive. I would rate the super 44 as a muffler that is the next step-up in sound from the 13".

 

Check out this video made by "db" showing how to use the above method for taking apart the front suspension. The only thing I would recommend to do differently is attach the two knuckle bolts first when reassembling everything. That way, most of the pressure will be on those two bolts as opposed to the middle stem and nut holding the pressure and tension; if that makes any sense. Also, try to find a floor jack big enough so that you don't need to crib it up with wood. Either way, this video showed how easy it was. Great job DB!

<iframe width="425" height="349" src="

 

^^ that vid explains it way better man. seems pretty easy too

 

it certainly is.

 

Ive used that method on 2nd gen Camaros before, and it works fine. Its acutally a lot safer on this truck cause the Camaro doesnt have anything (the shock holds it) to keep the coil from flying out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1akqSJE0ss&feature=mh_lolz&list=FLsFPevZxvAZ4IpCpZFd0WwA