Hand tools needed for suspension install - 1st gen?

Front end complete - 1 hour. Either these bolts and nuts are in great shape or that PB Blaster stuff is awesome. There was very little visible rust on any bolts/nuts.

Now to tackle the rear...

 

borked a bolt on the rear shackle putting it back in. Had to run to Home Depot. 3/4 done...

Anyone know a trick for installing the trapezoidal bushings in the OME shocks?

 

Front end was super easy since the struts were pre-built. I just jacked it up, put it on stands, popped the wheel off and then just loosened the top three nuts (14mm), but left them in place. Then I pulled the bottom bolt (19mm) and removed the nuts at the top and it just came out.

Still some cross-hatching on the disks, the previous owner had a brake job done just prior to selling it (along with a ton of other major service). Aside from the suspension being worn out, the truck is great and I'm happy with it... though a little more now

OME vs Stock:


Installing the front was nearly as easy as removal: I had to pull the swaybar endlink off to create more downtravel, but the OME went right in. I loosely put the top nutz on and I had to use a little leverage to get the lower bolt in, but it went smooth. About an hour for the whole front end.

Time for the rear...
Bye-bye bandaid:

The nice thing about this was it really enforced how bad the axle wrap was on the worn out stock leafs and how unsafe it was to drive in windy conditions as my truck was all over the road. That went away when I threw these on a month ago, but began to break down and it was noisy as well.

I had a few issues with the rear end. I boogered up the rear shackle bolts when I hammered them out. I picked up replacements at Home Depot, but wasn't happy with a full threaded bolt in there, so today, I thought I'd grind a shoulder on the end and take off the boogered threads. It worked great:


PB Blaster is great stuff, but I'm not sure I needed it much. Check out the condition of these bolts:



Stock vs Wheeler 5 leaf pack (passenger side - the drivers side was more dramatic but I forgot to take a pic):


Looks empty without the leaf pack and a tire:


Here's the after pics:




Before the suspension, the front was 20-7/8" (measured center wheelcap to outer lip on the wheel flare). After it's 23-1/2", so an initial lift of 2-5/8" before settling.


The rear was 21-1/2" with the bandaid/worn out springs. After it's 23-1/4", so 1-3/4", but a near level look with the front being slightly higher. I'm anticipating it will settle pretty level.

The last issue is the freaking bushings on the OME rear shocks. I couldn't get them in the eyes, so I'll pay the alignment shop (local Big-O) to install them when I get the alignment later this week, so I'm still rolling on the rear stockers.

 

Thanks. It was fun to do. I didn't manage my time great though. Meant to start Sat AM around 8 and didn't start until after 11... which led to rushing the rear and frustrations due to plans with the GF at 4 - local art n wine festival. Had fun and had to get a good nights sleep as I ran a 5k this AM with her (did way better than I thought) and finished up the rear after I got back.

Great weekend all in all.

 

Before:

After:

 

mice job dude

 

nice*

 

looks great, now you need some bigger tires. Don't tell your gf I said that

 

Hahaha. Thanks. I will be keeping the stock size to keep the mileage reasonable.

The Rugged Fails that are on there have less than 5k miles, so I have at least another 20k or so before I pick new tires up. I don't even have that in the foreseeable budget as they should last 1 - 3 more years.