When to torque front struts

I installed 3rd gen struts on my 2011 Tacoma. I realized after the fact that I torqued the upper and lower nuts while the car was in the air. I’m learning now that ideally this is done on the ground to not cause excessive tension on bushings and other parts. Truck seems super stiff up front, could that be why?

And also if I were to fix it then what’s the move? Lift the truck, loosen, lower it then retighten?

 

Torque on mounting bolts has nothing to do with stiffness of Stock struts. If its stiff its cuz they are new.

 

No.

The goal is to torque bolts that rotate within bushings with the component in compression, not in droop.

So the top of the shock doesn't matter, but the bottom does. And the LCA bolts if you had them loose/out for the install, etc etc.

Simple way is a drive on ramp that lets you get to everything while in compression. Loosen, retorque.

If a driveway job, lift, jack stands, then loosen. Then put the jack under the LCA and lift till the truck starts to move. That should be enough compression to torque properly.

 

Thank you for the reply. I took apart the upper control arm. I’m assuming that should be redone?

 

Yes. Any 'joint' that has a bolt through a bushing that rotates.

 

Last question. What is the potential failure or damage that can be caused since I torqued it at droop if it’s not repaired?

 

Depends on how bound the bushings are.

It's worth doing right to me.