good shop

[samsung]

anybody here in houston texas know of a good shop to install OME complete lift kit?

[samsung]

Nobody can chime in.

[tex]

You can probably do it yourself. I did mine with the help of a friend. Did the front 1 day and the rear the next.
When I did the front I took the front stock struts and the OME to a shop so they could assemble them. You will reuse your stock top plates. I think toytec had a really good write up. I found it using google.
I had never done anything like this and it was much easier than I thought. Just make sure you have the time set aside and take your time.

[samsung]

Originally Posted by tex

You can probably do it yourself. I did mine with the help of a friend. Did the front 1 day and the rear the next.
When I did the front I took the front stock struts and the OME to a shop so they could assemble them. You will reuse your stock top plates. I think toytec had a really good write up. I found it using google.
I had never done anything like this and it was much easier than I thought. Just make sure you have the time set aside and take your time.

after doing a lot of research here, there is a few good threads that i can follow. i'm also replacing my uca's and by reading the threads in here, i have to either bend the inner fender or cut the bolts to get them out. can you tell me which shop you took it to get the coil and struts assembled?
appreciate your help.

[bakerla]

dont cut the bolts, bend the inner fender. it's best to have a set of extra hands when doing the ucas. what side of houston are located?

[tex]

Originally Posted by samsung

after doing a lot of research here, there is a few good threads that i can follow. i'm also replacing my uca's and by reading the threads in here, i have to either bend the inner fender or cut the bolts to get them out. can you tell me which shop you took it to get the coil and struts assembled?
appreciate your help.

I dont know the name of the shop I took the struts to. It is a little hole in the wall my buddy works at. It only took about 15 minutes to do. Also I am a little far from you being in Arlington.
Most locally owned shops would probably assemble the struts for about $50 giver or take. Just stop by one while you are out and ask them if they can do it.

It sounds like Bakerla might be able to help. He is a good guy and can at least give you info if nothing else.

[samsung]

Originally Posted by tex

I dont know the name of the shop I took the struts to. It is a little hole in the wall my buddy works at. It only took about 15 minutes to do. Also I am a little far from you being in Arlington.
Most locally owned shops would probably assemble the struts for about $50 giver or take. Just stop by one while you are out and ask them if they can do it.

It sounds like Bakerla might be able to help. He is a good guy and can at least give you info if nothing else.

thanks for your input. i'll probably hit bakerla for some help since he's not too far from me.

[samsung]

Originally Posted by bakerla

dont cut the bolts, bend the inner fender. it's best to have a set of extra hands when doing the ucas. what side of houston are located?

i'm in the sugar land area. you wanna help me put those in?

[bakerla]

Originally Posted by samsung

i'm in the sugar land area. you wanna help me put those in?

i can help out if you're off on fridays, or a morning during the week. i dont have an 8-5 job. do you have rear leafs to replace too?

you could find a firestone or ntb to do the spring compression and swap shocks. either check with the manager and promise them an alignment since you'll need one anyway or go straight to a tech in the back shop.

[samsung]

Originally Posted by bakerla

i can help out if you're off on fridays, or a morning during the week. i dont have an 8-5 job. do you have rear leafs to replace too?

you could find a firestone or ntb to do the spring compression and swap shocks. either check with the manager and promise them an alignment since you'll need one anyway or go straight to a tech in the back shop.

thanks for the offer. i don't have my lift yet but i will be ordering them from wheelers here pretty soon. and yes i will be having the dakar leaf spring that comes with the kit. do you know if the truck will sit leveled or will the rear be a littler higher? how long do you think it will take to do the lift?

[tex]

I did 885 springs and the back sits higher. I will be ordering the 1/2" top plate spacer to make it sit a little more level. The back will still be a little higher. Get a quote from trdparts4u.com. They were great to deal with.
You will need 4 new bushings for the rear mounts on the leafs. Put some antisieze on them and use 2x4 blocks to hammer them in.
This is the only pic I have after the lift on level ground.


This is before.

[samsung]

Originally Posted by tex

I did 885 springs and the back sits higher. I will be ordering the 1/2" top plate spacer to make it sit a little more level. The back will still be a little higher. Get a quote from trdparts4u.com. They were great to deal with.
You will need 4 new bushings for the rear mounts on the leafs. Put some antisieze on them and use 2x4 blocks to hammer them in.
This is the only pic I have after the lift on level ground.


This is before.

good looking truck maan. i'm going with 886's since i have an ARB and winch combo. with your lift did you have any problem with the brake hoses? i've heard sometimes those hoses are pretty tight in there.

[bakerla]

Originally Posted by samsung

thanks for the offer. i don't have my lift yet but i will be ordering them from wheelers here pretty soon. and yes i will be having the dakar leaf spring that comes with the kit. do you know if the truck will sit leveled or will the rear be a littler higher? how long do you think it will take to do the lift?

we did a buddy of mines setup just as you are doing in a full day w/ 3 people. these rear leafs were a bugger to get hung, but as tex said, 2x4s and leverage saved the day.

once you get your lift, you should do a wrench meet at your place and have folks over to help and work on their trucks.

[tex]

I have not done anything to my brake lines. I need to but when I had the rear sagged all the way while putting the leafs on they were fine. It was about to the max but ok. I just took it out last weekend for the first time with lift and no issues.
Use jack stands on the frame and a floor jack to raise and lower the rear axle. Do one side at a time. I used a ratchet strap to help at 1 point to get the springs in place.
Since you are doing 886 springs just do the 1/4" spacer for the driver side. It goes on the bottom of the coil spring.
Barb and Jacque at TRDparts4u both have the 886 springs with the ARB and it sita great in the front. Also leave your swaybar off with the new lift. The turning difference was barley noticeable.

Stock brake lines with flex. No issues from this but I will get longer lines soon

[samsung]

Originally Posted by bakerla

we did a buddy of mines setup just as you are doing in a full day w/ 3 people. these rear leafs were a bugger to get hung, but as tex said, 2x4s and leverage saved the day.

once you get your lift, you should do a wrench meet at your place and have folks over to help and work on their trucks.

that sounds good maan. i will be hitting you up here in a couple of weeks and get this done.

[samsung]

Originally Posted by tex

I have not done anything to my brake lines. I need to but when I had the rear sagged all the way while putting the leafs on they were fine. It was about to the max but ok. I just took it out last weekend for the first time with lift and no issues.
Use jack stands on the frame and a floor jack to raise and lower the rear axle. Do one side at a time. I used a ratchet strap to help at 1 point to get the springs in place.
Since you are doing 886 springs just do the 1/4" spacer for the driver side. It goes on the bottom of the coil spring.
Barb and Jacque at TRDparts4u both have the 886 springs with the ARB and it sita great in the front. Also leave your swaybar off with the new lift. The turning difference was barley noticeable.

Stock brake lines with flex. No issues from this but I will get longer lines soon

very good information, gives me a lot more confidence in doing it myself. now looking at your rear bumper, i want one too, well maybe after my lift. lol

[tex]

I am telling you it really is not that hard. You can do it if you have confidence and follow the directions online.
The bumper was added due to the stock suffering damage as well as the lower part of the rear fender.