Suspension Installation Help?

I am planning to do my suspension upgrades this Saturday 3/16 in Anaheim and wanted to know if anyone was willing to lend a helping hand? I have heard of TW helping other people out in the past and figure I would give it a shot. I'm pretty sure I have all the tools i need for the job.

The parts list:
Front Bilstein 5100's (spring already assembled with 1/4" spacer on drivers side)
LR SPC UCA's
Rear 5100's
Headstrong Offroad Progressive AAL
and some Bora spacers to clear the UCA's because i don't think I have the correct backspacing

I think that I would be able to do it myself but it never hurts to have someone who has already worked on a similar project... Thanks in advance

 

Might want to add where your located. It would help so people know who are near you that can assist.

 

NVM.....just saw Anaheim. don't mind me!

 

no worries haha

 

Wish I could.... hope you can find a extra hand

 

It may be too late to order and ship b4 Sat but if you can find a dealer with these in stock it's definitely worth the $26 bucks to save yourself the hassle of getting the original ones out.

When they build the trucks the suspension is assembled with these bolts oriented with the head forward and then they lower the body on the frame. You have to go through a bunch of hammer banging and fuckery to make enough room to get them out. I got the new bolts so I just removed the nuts then cut the heads off with an angle grinder and removed them from the rear. Install the new ones from the rear to front and reuse the original nuts.

 

Yeah Ive read up quite a bit on the issue, I dont have an angle grinder though or else that definitely would have been an option. I thought about just buying one but I didnt want to spend the extra money on one right now...

 

Damn, I forgot to atach the item. Glad you figured it out and didn't think I was a nutjob

 

You dont need to cut the bolt. Just bend the sheet metal with some channel locks and your golden. For the spindle bolt, just back out the nut a little and hammer the spindle until it uca disconnects from the spindle.

Here are some links that should help you

1. https://youtu.be/bbsTJgb6S_c
2. https://youtu.be/Eq9nv_3vU4Y

 

Torque spec sheet

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-torque-spec-guide.318116/page-14#post-20032421

 

@ttran076 thanks for the resources! I have the torque spec printed out for good measure already

 

Sweet

 

No need to cut the bolts. I just picked up the biggest pliers and bent the sheet metal. I don’t remember what size the pliers were but it’ll need to be big to have leverage when bending.

 

yes. channel locks or similar. I did mine this way. Super easy. no worries. I'd be focused on that leaf pack. Do one side at a time. if you drop all the ubolts the axle will want to rotate and move around on you.

 

Is there anything else about the leaf pack that i should be worried about?

 

Front:
If you bend the sheet metal, just be mindful of the ABS cable behind it. It definitely helps to pop out the grommets. I'm sure you also know to secure that spindle once it is free from the UCA. The passenger side is a bit more of a pain to get the UCA bolt through with just bending the sheet metal forward. It will help to have a helping hand to slightly bend the through bolt away from the sheet metal as you punch the through bolt from the other side. The more you get that through bolt past the sheet, the easier itll slide out.

Rear: Be mindful of your hard brake lines when you lower that axle. It does help to complete one side. If you can, support that rear axle with a rolling jack to help center the leaf spring center pins. Finally, hand-tighten the leaf springs bolts; set your rig on its weight; help settle the spring by jumping on your bumper a few times; torque them bolts to spec.

Have fun!

 

exactly what the previous comments said.

take your time.

double check torque specs. on everything. check again in 100 miles. put a white line (metal sharpie) on the nuts/surface to see easily if they have moved.

 

I saw something about that bracket in the AAL install instructions but it says it varies from truck to truck. I measured the rear facing end to the center bolt and it didn't look like I would hit anything but everything was still installed on the truck so the measurements could not be accurate. I would need to buy an angle grinder if I run into that problem which unfortunately I don't have already... basically just really hoping on not having to deal with it

 

buy the angle grinder, leave it in the box. you have it if you need it, otherwise return it.