SOS need help with Shock installation

My short shock install day has turned into a shock install night. I managed to get the front driver side shock out but when I wiggled in the new one it won’t go into the area on the LCA where it is supposed to bolt in. I tried taking the UCA off the spindle to get more mobility and it just will not separate. I already gave up on installing new UCAs today because I don’t have channel locks big enough to bend the metal. Just need help getting these shocks on the truck so I can get it out of the garage.

 

That just takes some muscle. A friend helped me do mine. But if you put a ratchet strap around the lower control arm and up to the upper arm as you tighten it it may pull the arms towards each other forcing the bottom of the shock to slide into his home. But to do that you are gonna want to tighten the top of the shock mount in place.

 

Is the lower shock eyelet not lining up with the mount on the LCA?

 

Someone who’s done the task will be of much more help than me.

Bending the metal to get it in doesn’t sound right.

I’ve done shocks but never on a Tacoma. I remember getting the bottom in first then using a jack to lift and get the top in. Some going top first, then jack to get the bottom in.

 

It’ll line up, it’s just that the shock is wedged in between the sway bar and the spindle so I can’t move it into the channel with the eyelet.

 

Bending metal was for the UCAs, not the shocks. We gave up on getting those in today.

 

Try taking the sway bar bushings off, pull the sway bar out, then try again

 

You need to get the studs on the tophat into the holes in the coil bucket. Until those are seated you'll never get the bottom shock mount to line up on the LCA.

 

Reconnect the upper control arm to the spindle. Support the truck with jackstands then put you jack under the lower control arm and disconnect the ball joint and sway bar links. Then you can lower the arm and put the coil over into place and start your bolts. Then use the jack to push the lca back up and bolt the lower ball joint back in.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC33zcI9mXY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5E6u7dC7EHg

 

These videos are so useful, thank you so much.

 

Does your lower control arm swing freely down when you loosen the cam bolts? If not your cam bolts may be seized and while it might not prevent you from getting in stock shocks it may be an issue if you are upgrading them. Its also an epic pain the the ass to deal with seized cam bolts, involves saw out LCA and replacing either the bushing or the entire LCA. But for you getting the studs into the top of the shock mount is step one. You may then need to muscle in the bottom of the shock into the lower control arm and them close the gap either with a jack under the LCA or a ratchet strap from the lower control arm to upper control arm to force it all back together to get bolts to line up.

 

Thats what I was thinking when I saw his pics. I think he didnt loosen the cam bolts. If you see the pics it looks like he didnt remove the front skid plate which you have to do to loosen the cam bolts.

 

Tossed my sway bar out when I put in Icon UCA’s and coil overs. Made it much easier also

 

Whack the UCA hard with a hammer and it will separate. Get a jack under the whole assembly and use that to manipulate it.

 

Id do this:
- disconnect UCA ball joint from spindle
- ratchet strap spindle to something, being careful of brake/abs lines
- disconnect sway bar on both sides, and strap that up
- disconnect tie rod from spindle - youre going to need an alignment afterwards anyways
- use body weight to push down on LCA/spindle
- wiggle the shock into position on the top, and attach one nut. That will hold it for you.
- then push down on the LCA until you can get the lower shock mount into its groove, and then put the bolt through.
-- take a beer break--
- then go back to top of shock and hand thread nuts on until they are snug
- hand thread on lower shock nut
- reattach tie rod, UCA ball joint, and sway bar, and then torque everything down.

Torque specs are here:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-torque-spec-guide.318116/

 

There is a flat spot on the spindle just for this.

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I8JAA-6_WCU

This video is all you need. The only thing you need to be careful of is making sure the spindle is supported underneath so it doesn’t stretch the brake lines and hoses when you separate the UCA as the guy said above. You don’t need to touch the tie rods and at all and there’s plenty of room.

 

I definitely did not, the video I was following didn’t do it that way and somehow I missed that method when doing my research. If anyone is interested I did finally finish cleanup at 12:30 meaning this was a 9 and a half hour job

Well it’ll be faster next time, after I watched that video I was able to do my other front shock in less than 30 minutes.

 

Persistence pays off - way to go OP. If you had to redo it, I'd bet you could do both sides in 2 hours.