Wisconsin Tacomas and bad financial advice

I agree.

 

Fair? No way, that's like free if you ask me!
Garages mark stuff up a ton more than that. Some people are so freakin cheap. It blows the mind.

 

They don't want to because it's money out of their pocket. My local guy explained to me that I can buy the same part as him at NAPA, but he gets a shop rate and charges me retail. Then, if it's the wrong part, he loses time while he has to have the correct part delivered, screwing up his schedule. Now he has customers upset that he isn't getting to their vehicles in a timely fashion.

This came up when, like you, I bought parts intending to do the job myself and found that I couldn't. I told him to charge me a little extra shop rate to cover the loss in parts $, and it wouldn't happen again.

 

@LarryDangerfield , looks like Yokohama is updating the Geolandar AT-G015. Exciting week for tire needs.


https://www.yokohamatire.com/newsro...duces-the-new-all-terrain-geolandar-a-t4-tire

 

I've been busy today! The air compressor was installed and wired by midnight and went to sleep. At 6:30am I woke up and started the bumper and winch install and now I can't figure out how to wire it to my auxbeam to turn it on and off....

I'm just waiting on parts to plumb the air compressor and next week she gets taller

 

I suppose, liability as well?
Who'd want to be responsible for putting on a part that you really are unsure if it's actually ok?

The tire shop was sketchy about changing my tires with the wheel spacers on.
I just told them flat out I won't hold them responsible for anything that may occur.

 

A lot of customers don’t understand that part selection is an actual service a good mechanic provides. The mechanic will get the blame if a crappy part fails early. I think it’s totally understandable why mechanics would be hesitant on allowing customer parts.

 

Well, I didn't get stickers today...


...what I got was another project.

 

Not sure what the process is installing those.
1) Jack up vehicle. Support with jack stands.
2) Support the axle, then adjust to find the sweet spot to take the stress off of the spring pins/bolts and U-bolts.
3) Unbolt and hammer-out the U-bolts.
4) Remove or hammer-out the spring pins/bolts.

Or do you leave the tires on the ground and find the sweet spot by jacking the truck up and down? I've never done leafs before. At first glance it seems pretty straight forward. Add in the stuff you don't want to move and what it weighs ( the axle comes to mind ), there's more going on than meets the eye.

 

Never did leafs before. I'm assuming set the truck on stands. Take tires off. Put jack under diff. Remove u-bolts on one side, set bump stop aside. Unbolt/cut/hammer the sh$t out of the bolts on old leafs. Lower axle a bit to give leafs room. Remove old leafs. Install new leafs. Install new axle shims. Jack axle back up. Install u-bolts/bump stops. Repeat on other side. Remount tires. Set truck back on ground.

What could possibly go wrong?

Somewhere along the way, I will need to determine if/how much I have to shim the carrier bearing.

 

There's a bracket that hold the brake line to the leaf pack and front shackle mount that will need to be removed so the brake line doesn't stretch.
Depending on the new leaf pack, you may or may not be able to put the leaf pack bracket back.

With the aal I had to zip tie it...
Still holding.

 

1° of shim/ 1" of lift is a good place to start.

 

I would hope not. The specs call for 2" of lift with a load capacity of 440#. I already have an add-a-leaf, which is giving me about 1/4" or so above the flat stock pack, but without my camping gear, I'm hitting the bump stops on all but the smallest of bumps.

Dean @rubbersidedown says his settled in nicely and with my cap and battery in the back, I would expect I should gain about an inch? Plus, the spring rate should be more progressive.

Dan @Taco-Grinder, I guess I'll be making arrangements to get your packs back one day.

Pat @pearing, they aren't Alcans, but I couldn't pass up the price. Being a poor, retired trucker, I have to pay more attention to my budget.

 

Those are nice springs though. I know @rubbersidedown likes his.

it’s actually pretty straightforward you just need to be aware of the loads you are playing with.
I jacked mine up high enough to let the back axle full droop and support with jack stands at the frame. If the new springs have greater arch you may wait Jack the truck up higher so you are not fighting the springs later.

Support the axel on another set of jack stands. A little bit lower is fine. You can use the jack to raise or lower each side as needed. Watch the brake lines.

undo the u bolts and free the axle then work on the shackle bolts and the front bolts.

put in the new springs on in the reverse order. Using a ratchet extension can help getting things aligned so you can ouch the bolts into the bushings. Mount up the axel loosely and push it full forward. A ratchet strap on each side pulling forward helps. This keeps it square to the frame.

I’m a big fan of getting everything bolted in place loosely and tightening and torque once everything has found its home once the truck is back on the ground especially bushing bolts. I usually jounce the suspension first.

it’s actually not too bad. Worst part for me it the getting down and back up. I’ve seen some pretty scary videos where people didn’t stop to think things through and dropped axels or had the truck move on the jack stands.

 

With leafs, do one side at a time

OR

Unbolt the shocks.

See how one shock mounts to the rear of the axle, and the other to the front? That'll twist the axle the second you get both leaf springs off.

In other news...

 

I get where you're coming from. How much constant weight did you (or the others in the Ironman thread) have on the springs? With none of my camping crap, I'm probably 300# over stock...every day.

There are guys that say Alcans aren't what they were 3 years ago. Others say OME flatten out too soon. Blah, blah, blah, blah.

I'm here, don't have much choice, did a bunch of homework. The chips will fall where they fall at this point.