How to Toytec lift install by "SMTRDSPORT"

How-To: Toytec Lift Install[/B][/U]

Read all of these install instructions prior to installing Toytec’s suspension lift. I cannot be held responsible for any damages or personal harm resulting from installing this kit…Hopefully this small article will help you as well as others feel more confident about tackling this lift install... This is only intended as a guide for others, so please treat it as such. I'll be adding more “How-To” article later on in the near future as I make modifications to my truck. My intensions are to create articles that guide one through the entire project turning every nut and bolt, etc... Enjoy this article!


Parts/Tools that you will need:
- Coil Spring Compressor
- Floor Jack
- Large Jack Stands (if you don’t have access to a vehicle lift)
- Ratchets and/or Air Guns
- 22mm Socket
- 21mm Socket
- 19mm Socket
- 17mm Socket
- 14mm Socket
- 12mm Socket
- 19mm Open/Closed End Wrench
- 17mm Open/Closed End Wrench
- 14mm Open/Closed End Wrench
- 12mm Open/Closed End Wrench
- Vise Grips, C Clamps and/or Channel Locks
- Long Pry Bar
- Sawsal and/or hack saw
- Beat Stick aka Hammer or choice

Now we’re ready to begin our lift project…

For starters which should be common sense, though I’ll emphasize on the topic a bit. Park on a level surface, center your steering wheel and if you have to use a jack to lift the truck remember your ebrake and stop blocks for the tires. In this particular install, we used a vehicle hoist to make things easier for us as well as quicker. I’ll explain this install starting with the front suspension and move to the rear suspension so if you’ll be following along using a floor jack, this will make things easier for you as well. Ok, here we go…

STEP #1:
Remove the wheels from the truck. There are (6) 21mm lug nuts holding each wheel on… Remember Lefty Loosy, Righty Tighty.



STEP #2: THE FRONT
Remove the bottom 19mm bolt and nut holding the lower part of the shock/strut to the lower control arm.



STEP #3:
Remove the upper (3) 14mm nuts from shock tower holding the upper part of the shock.



STEP #4:
Remove the (2) 17mm bolts that are located on the bottom of the lower control arm that thread into the bottom of the hub.



STEP #5:
Remove the front skid plate so you’ll have better access to everything as well as the front sway bar. (the original instructions mentioned nothing about the front sway bar, however I found that it was easier to remove the struck/spring assembly after removing the sway bar.) Remove the skid plate using a 12mm socket. There are (4) total bolts that hold this piece together… (2) front bolts located near the front bumper, and (2) lower bolts down near the cross member.

STEP #6:

Remove the Front Sway Bar by removing the (2) 17mm bolts that attached near the shock, and the (4) 14mm bolts that are used for the brackets.




STEP #7:
Using the long pry bar to make things a little easier, remove the entire shock/spring assembly from the truck. (this is where 4 hands are better than 2, so con your best friend(s) into helping you with the project to make things easier)



STEP #8:
NOTE: where the top plate of the shock sits injunction with the shock. You might want to mark this BEFORE you start removing the strut bolts. This will make things easier when you start putting the shock assembly back on the truck. You want to make sure everything lines up the first time to save from using your favorite curse words... haha

Using your spring compressor, compress the spring quite a bit so you can remove the top shock plate and still have room for the additional lift spacer we’re going to use here shortly.



STEP #9:
Remove the top 17mm nut on the shock that holds the shock and spring together. Note the order of the washers and bushings on the shock shaft, both above and below the top plate as you remove it from the actual shock itself.

STEP #10:
This particular kit came with longer plate studs to use if you opted to use the additional upper plate spacer for a larger lift… Of course we wanted to do that so we added the longer studs. To do this, grab your beat stick of choice aka hammer.. (I opted for a small 5lb sledge hammer). Set the top plate on a flat hard surface and pound the OEM studs downward until they are eventually removed… To install the new longer plate studs from the kit, you’ll just reverse this process and pound them in. Try to get them in as far as you can without bending the hell out of the shock plate. If you can’t get the new studs flush with the shock plate don’t worry about it just yet. Once you bolt everything down later on, they’ll tighten up the rest of the way.



STEP #11:
Once the longer studs are in tacked, put on your lift spacer(s). Slide the stock rubber isolator over the small side of the thick spacer. The thicker spacer goes on the bottom side of the shock plate with the smaller side of the spacer facing downward. Making sure you align the 3 machined grooves in the upper spacer with the top plate studs, the thinner spacer goes above the shock plate.




STEP #12:
Re-assemble the washers and bushings in the correct order and bolt the shock plate back to the shock/spring assembly. Once the upper shock bolt is tight, you can remove your spring compressor and that will finish up the spacer install to the front suspension.




STEP #13:
Re-install your two front shock/spring assemblies to the truck. Slide the top of the shock/spring assembly back into place in the tower. Loosely thread the top plate shock tower nuts back on the tope plate studs. Install the lower shock bolt and tighten the nut/bolt. To do all of this, you’ll want to back track through these steps from step #12 down to step #2… Leave out step #5 concerning the skid plate at this point. DO NOT PUT THE SKID PLATE BACK ON YET. We’ll need the skid plate off while we install the frontal differential drop spacers in step #14.

STEP #14:
Remove the stock front (2) 22mm differential bolts.



STEP #15:
Install the 1” spacers between the two front differential supports and front cross member. Fasten the bolts by using the (2) 8” long grade 8 bolts supplied in the kit to 50-70ft-lbs.




STEP #16:
Now you can put your front skid plate back on using the (2) 12mm bolts up top and (2) bolts down below near the cross member. For those of you that do use the front diff. drop spacers, you’ll notice that the lower part of the skid plate doesn’t fit flush with the cross member and you’ll have to add about a ¼” spacer of some sort between the cross member and the skid plate. For my particular truck, I used a thick plastic urethane washer so I wouldn’t have any rattle issues at a later date, however a few steel washers would work just fine as well. There are (2) longer bolts that are supplied for the lower skid plate in the kit so use those rather than the factory ones.

STEP #17:
Tighten and retighten all the nuts and bolts that you’ve tampered with so far to be extra safe. Once this is done, you are now completely done with the front end of the suspension lift and you can move to the back where we’ll concentrate on the Add-A-Leaf part of the lift.

STEP #18: THE REAR
Remove the (2) 12mm bolts that hold the ebrake cable to the truck. There’s (2) single bolts on each side of the truck.




STEP #19:
Place a jack under the rear pumpkin of the truck’s rear end to support the rear end BEFORE you remove the U Bolts from each side of the truck.

STEP #20:
Remove the 17mm bolt/nut from lower part of the rear shock.

STEP #21:
Remove the U bolts.. There are (4) 19mm nuts underneath on each side of the truck. REMEMBER TO HAVE SUPPORT UNDER YOUR REAR END BEFORE YOU DO THIS SO THE REAR END DOESN’T FALL ON THE FLOOR.




STEP #22:
Slowly lower the rear end down keeping an eye on all the brake lines, etc… you’ll need to lower the rear end down roughly 3-5” or so to allow room to install the add-a-leaf.

STEP #23:
Use a pair of channel locks/vise grips/C Clamps, etc.. to hold the leaf pack together. Remove the rubber bump stop from the top of the leaf springs as well as the factory leaf bolt. You’ll need to use a pair of vise grips to hold the lower portion of the leaf bolt from free spinning while you remove the 14mm nut up top.



STEP #24:
Install the add-a-leaf that’s supplied in the lift kit. Note that the longer portion of the leaf spring needs to point towards the rear of the truck. Once you have the add-a-leaf in place, use the longer leaf bolt supplied in the kit to attach the leaf pack together.



STEP #25:
Slowly raise the rear end back up. Re-install the bump stop, U Bolts, ebrake brackets. Note: you’ll have to cut the access threads off the bolt that runs through the middle of the leaf springs. I personally left roughly a 1/8” just to be on the safe side incase the leaf nut were to back off a little…




STEP #26:
Recheck and tighten all the bolts that you’ve tampered with just to be on the safe side.

STEP #27:
Mount your wheels and tires to the truck.



STEP #28:
...say it with me, “and you are done!”



STEP #29: FINAL STEP
There’s nothing really to align in the rear so you’ll just need to get a front end alignment… The front end alignment must be done after or shortly after this lift is installed.

Hope you enjoyed the article!! Comments, additions, etc.. are always welcome

 

Gracias. I knew most of this, but its nice to see it again.

 

Awesome writeup!

 

NIce write up!

 

I have to know where you got that spring compressor! Looks awesome, and thanks for the write up.

 

autozone loans them out

 

Solid Write up- Nice work!!

As a side note- When they align the front end that first time- have them double check the rear. Mine was slightly canted to the right (.4 of a degree). It's not enuf to make a mess of anything- but it's good to know what is going on incase you have any vibe or wear issues.

 

At least near me, they only seem to have the crappy ones with two separate bolts and the hooks... you know, those ones that make you feel like it's going to break at any moment.

 

Toku58, I just wanted to personally thank you for the helpful instructions.

I ordered the Toytec lift kit a couple of months ago with the hope that a couple of my more mechanically-inclined buddies would help me out, but after they managed to bail on me a few times I decided to do it myself. I have never done anything more complex than changing a flat tire, oil change, air filter cleaning, etc. so this was definitely a challenge. It took me about 3 days (4-5 hours each day) to do, but it was a fun experience. Oh, and your instructions and pictures were invaluable.

By the way, this is my first post on here, so HI everyone. I'll try to take some pictures of my truck and post them up when I can.

Cheers!

 

Great write and up alot better than the crappy instructions Toytek throws in the kits

 

Good content, great illustrations. A+

 

wish this was posted before i did mine sweet write up......
only real problems i had were lining the centering bolt through the leaf pack...i found cutting the bolt down like 2" before putting it in worked best
"i think the bolts they gave me were too big or should i say long"

 

I'd like to know that too. I've got 2 single bolt type's that I used when I replaced my front shocks, it'd be nice to have only a single bolt to turn like that double post one you used. The Autozone rental one's are scary.

 

I bough these from my local hardware store:



http://www.princessauto.com/tools/a...l-spring-compressor?keyword=spring+compressor

But they are NOT the right tool for the job. For one thing they started bending and scaring me a little. I managed to get the stock spring off (after 2 hours of wrenching on the stupid things with a breaker bar) but there was no way I could compress the new 885 springs enough to get them back in there.

I took my shocks down to a local shop and go them to change the springs with their massive wall-mounted spring compressor for about $60. Well worth it.

I looked for burlier compressors but I couldn't find anything under about $150 and it wasn't worth it for a one-time job.

If you don't already have a burly spring compressor or you can't borrow one for cheap I would suggest getting this done at a local auto shop. It shouldn't take more than half an hour for them to do it.

 

Hey, which toytec lift is this??

 

^^^ The one that removes all droop from your front suspension.....

Unless your just going for looks save up a few more dollars and do it right. Toytec makes some good kits that DON"T result in a f****d up front suspension.

If this sounds harsh, well here's the story. Helped a friend install this kit. 2 days later helped the same guy take it off, bad ride and no wheel travel were the reasons. He sold it to a pavement pounder who took it off 3 weeks later and went with 5100s adjusted to 2.5". Spacers were turned into the recycle center as scrap aluminum........

 

Awesome write up!! That helped alot.

 

Here's another rookie ( I hate noob or any of that) question. This isn't the Toytec Ultimate lift kit, right? Because this one is adding spacers to the stock suspension? So if I were to go with the Ultimate kit, it comes with the front coilovers assembled, so I wouldn't need to worry about any spring compressors? Am I starting to figure this out?

Also, where are the uca's in all this if you were replacing them while you have it all apart? Is there a write up for that that anybody knows of? I searched the threads but no write ups.

 

GSRON, I would have to disagree with you. I installed the Toytech lift with new stiffer front coils and rear AAL about 3 months ago and I must say I am pretty satisfied with the results.

Now don't get me wrong, the Ultimate Lift Kit with the 5100's is definitely a much nicer kit. It produces a softer ride and more wheel travel, but it also costs about four times as much as the basic kit. ($300 vs. $1100).

The spring kit definitely stiffens up the suspension in both front and rear. The ride is a little rougher specially over speed-bumps and bigger pot-holes, but I actually found that the truck handles a bit better when going around corners and feels a bit more stable at higher speeds. I probably don't need to mention this, but the truck also looks freaking amazing!

Long story short, the Ultimate Kit will give you a more functional, comfortable and better overall lift, at 4x the price. If you can afford it, get the Ultimate kit. If you can't, the spring kit does wonders for the looks of your truck and it makes your truck a bit more capable off-road, although it's not for the serious off-roader. The ride does get stiffer... although I think GSRON is exaggerating a bit when he says it f****d his buddy's front suspension.

 

Do they make a spacer for the upper control arms? They won't stay level when you go up 3", and it seems the tires lean out more and I have more sway on the front end.