Take it to a shop? Or do it myself?

Yeah, yeah I know. "Everything goes in the 2nd Gen forum hurr hurr". But I'm trying to get opinions from regular owners, not the guys in the suspension section.

Anyway.

I have all of the suspension parts need: coilovers, UCAs, leafs, bushings, ubolt kits, shocks, diff drop, etc to do a full suspension install. And the local 4x4 shop wants almost $900 just to install it. With $120 of that being the alignment. $500 or so I could handle, even if they charged the extra for the alignment. But since it's so expensive, I'm hesitating.

At $900 I'm considering doing it myself. The coilovers are assembled, I have the time, and I can buy a lot of tools for $900... But I'd hate to fuck it up and have no one to blame.

I'm also considering just bringing it to a regular mechanic. Maybe he won't charge as much. No idea though.

So, opinions?

Here's the quote.

 

In my honest opinion it totally depends on how confident you are in your ability to install it correctly. I don't trust myself with things like suspension because I know very little about it and don't have time to read up on it forever before install. I had mine done at a shop and they were great. It was about the same cost but I also convinced them to give me free alignment anytime I need it after. They agreed.

Some places you can bargain a bit. If 900 is a huge hit all at once, see if you can pay it over time.

I'll install aftermarket bumpers, lights, interior parts. I don't mess with the suspension. But that's just me. If you decide to do it, read up on how to do it a ton before even touching the truck with a wrench.

Hope this kind of helped!

 

I am in a similar situation.
I want to pit Bilstein 5100 on my Tac.
The only place i can get those are on the net,or travel one hour away tom a place that they will order for me and install it.
This will come to close a thousand installed with the enligment.
Here in town,no one will order it.
And they are not interested in installing it,except one,but he did told me that he usually does nt do,probably since they don t make there cut on the shocks.
So my problem is more,should i have a place an hour and a half away install those,but what if i do have a small problem,i don t want to start going down there...
Though they are selling me the shocks..
In a way,if they install them,it should be find,and mostly it will be well done since they do that all the time.
Cheers
Charly

 

I'm kind of the same way. I'm handy with a wrench and can read instructions but something like this I'm wary of.

Has anyone else done it by themselves without any previous experience? I will have the time and space, but I'll have to buy the tools and learn from others on the forum.

 

I had never installed a lift before I did mine and it came out fine. Take your time doing it and ask any questions you have on here. Read the install threads on here and have a go at it. Besides learning something you're going to be very familiar with the suspension of the truck afterwards. There's no way in hell I would have paid anyone $900 to install mine. WTF? I wouldn't pay $120 for an alignment either. Mine was $80.

Also check before you decide to start and make sure you have all the tools you're going to need. Buy a torque wrench and look up all the torque specs beforehand so you don't waste time at every bolt you get to having to look them up.

What kit are you installing?

 

Wait I just realized. Your install alone is 900? That's not the price for the kit and the install? Find another shop. That hurts.

 

My install was free cause I did it myself. The shop the OP asked wants $900 just to install the kit.

 

I know I was just quoting your post because it is what made me realize that haha sorry!

 

Correct. I have all the parts. The install (labor) from the shop is $750 and the alignment is $120. All said it's about $900 out the door. There are literally no other 4x4 shops in the Louisville, KY area. Plenty of mechanics, but no 4x4 shops.

And yeah, the big price tag is why I'm asking you fine folks.

 

The rear and diff drop will all be from Ironman 4x4, and the front is LR UCAs and rebuilt Camburg adjustable coilovers.

 

Dang I don't know then. I'm lucky that in my area there are quite a few shops. I hope you get it worked out! Sorry I can't be of more help!

 

I was in your same boat, OP. I had never worked on any suspension components of any car. TW has all of the write-ups you need to get that stuff done, and if you have the coilovers already assembled then I say go for it. The leafs in the back aren't a big deal, and no scary springs to worry about killing you. I believe a diff drop is pretty easy to do (although I've heard its unnecessary in some situations), but UCA swaps can be a pain. If you're doing a 3" or less lift, maybe get a quote for the UCA install and alignment right after? Good luck.

 

I say do what you can your self and post on your local area here on tacomaworld and ask for a bit of help. Most of these guys are awesome and just love to hang out and work on trucks.

 

Do it yourself.

Take your time, check and recheck, it's not hard.

I am the kind of guy who doesn't like to pay someone for something I belive I can do myself. That's just me though. You may be different. If you have all the parts, do it. If you get into a bind there is always TW. Maybe try to find another member in your area who has some know how. I think the majority of us will work for beer.

I have done a few lifts in my driveway, it is really not bad.

 

I'm not sure what your mechanic's hourly rate is, but assuming it's somewhere near $100/hour that's around 9-10 hours of work. Doesn't seem completely unreasonable for this amount of work. If you have never done this type of work I would probably plan for 3x that amount of time, if not more. My Icon AALs took me over a half a day recently because I didn't realize I needed a grinder, so I had to go borrow one from a friend. All the stuff you don't realize you need until you're in there really starts to add up. I did a whole bunch of suspension work on my BMW last year, shocks, struts, all new bushings. That took me 3 very full days with only a couple tool runs, and I'm very competent with this stuff. Part of that time was with a helper, but honestly a helper usually only helps you consume more beer while working.

 

That gives me confidence. I've been riding around on a spacer lift and never had the vibes, but I bought the diff drop kit just in case. I still haven't decided if I want it on or not. Will I need a special wrench to adjust the coilovers?

 

Best advice, do it yourself and feel the gratification and gain the knowledge. It's the UCA that's a bit of a pain, besides that it's not bad. A simple suspension job can translate into other mechanical skills used for other practices in life.

 

I attached the relevant portion of the quote to the original post. But here it is as well.

 

You can do it. I did and I had never done any suspension work before. I was a great learning experience and I had a ball. Read read read. Make yourself a list of step-by-step set of instructions to follow. The only scary part is compressing the coils, but you're not going to have to worry with that. Grab a buddy. Buy a few beers, and make an afternoon of it. You'll know your truck much better at the end. Then save that $900 or buy your next mod. $120 seems outrageous for an alignment btw. I got lifetime alignment for $185. Good luck!

 

This.