Pics of my Old Man EMU (OME) lift and Total Chaos UCA intstall.

First, thanks to Chris 4x4 and others who have posted helpful threads, I took the laptop to the garage and consulted it with questions. These pics should be in the order I dis-assembled everything.

Up on jack stands with wheels removed and ready to begin.


Removing the brake line bracket.


Removing the old upper control arm nut.


Removing the upper control arm bolt.


Bending the fender on the opposite side out towards the wheel well in order to tap the control arm bolt up and out through the engine compartment.


Removing the three nuts on top of the old strut, leaving the center nut in place.


Removing the lower shock mount bolt.


Dropping the sway bar, I had to do this in order to get the strut out (it wedged between the sway bar and drive axle) if you have a pre-runner or any 2x4 you shouldn't have to do this step.


Tear down complete, at this point I took the new OME stuff along with the old struts to my local, trusted mechanic. He used a spring compressor to dis-assemble the old stuts so we could reuse the top bushings and plate on the new stuff. Here is a pic of the new OME 885 spring mounted to the OME N140s shock. I am pointing a screwdriver at the added 5mm trim packer (this just on driver's side) used to correct the infamous taco lean from the weight of the fuel tank and driver.


New strut installed along with the assembled total chaos upper control arm. I have heard both ways on here but chose to put the upper control arm bolt in from the back/bottom (opposite of how it used to be) since I was working alone and didn't have someone to lean over the hood and shove it in while I held the assembly in place. OH yeah, and on the driver's side it is a real bitch to get it past the fuel lines!!


Truck before lift with stock rubber.


Picture below is the truck pulled straight out of the garage after the lift. It also has newly installed Micky Thompson Baha ATZ 4ribs in a 285/70/17. I do have the TSB done but have not installed the rear add-a-leaf and OME shocks that are sitting in the garage. Now I need to get it aligned.

 

wow! looks awesome man. good work!

 

Sweeetttt! Looks like a little yellow spray paint action on the garage floor

Did you take before and after measurements?

 

Looks good!! Is it a 3" lift up front?

 

The front don't look 3in?

 

Thanks guys! The yellow spray paint action was from an old trailer building project last year. I will have to find my old measurements and check it now to give you accurate numbers. It certainly feels like 3" when getting in the truck now!

 

Nice job

 

I kinda agree with you but the bigger tires might shorten the gap between the rubber and fender.

 

Maybe because of the increase in tire size. It fills up the wheel well more.

 

Perfect.

 

A few more pics, maybe these will seem taller, it's weird how it looks way bigger in person but not so much in the photo, of course my camera and picture taking skills are crappy....

 

Hey so did you measure it? It still seems a little low in the front.

 

I did, it is right at 39 inches from ground to bottom lip of fender running center line through the wheel. I can't find my old measurements, (I took them a while ago) Maybe someone with a stocker can tell me normal height for a 4x4?

 

That sounds right

 

looks good man, nice pics and explantion of things!

 

looks good man, good pics

 

Thanks! and for the PM help!

 

Did you have to get wheel spacers for your tires? Last night I saw a tacoma with ATZ's at a dealer and that sealed the deal for me, they look WAY bigger and better in person than on the internet.