OME's and Billies!!!

Well here you guys go

Pictures cannot even begin to show how much better it looks. If anyone is debating on doing this, just do it. I have fallen in love with my tacoma once again. I will make a build thread outta this thread soon. I took pictures all throughout the process. Very easy.

 

Looks Good! Can't wait for the build thread.

 

lookin good

 

Ok so here we go.

First things first, make sure you have all your parts and pieces ready to rock and roll. I started with the front end because I was having a buddy who runs an alignment shop assemble the new struts.

Get the front end off the ground and put some floor jacks in a safe place on the frame so the front suspension can go to full sag. Make sure your truck is in Park with the Emergency brake set and wheel chocks on the rear end
Next get the tires and wheels off the front so you can get to what you're working with
and here we sit...



Here comes the easy part.
You need to knock loose the sway bar, there is a nut and hardware on both sides that you need to remove to allow the lower A-Arms to sag. Here's a pic.



At this time loosened the lower bolt and nut on the strut bar. I'm using impact through this process so it's so far pretty easy.



Now you need to take loose the three nuts that hold the strut in side the upper strut cup. DO NOT REMOVE THE CENTER NUT! Only remove the three outer most nuts in a circle that hold the strut into the cup. I forgot to take a picture of the top what it looked like but here's one of the upper nuts off and the lower bolt removed.



I was able to pull the strut right out without any issues.
Now you need to do the other side, same process. Once you have everything removed you need to do the next step which in my case was taking the two sets of springs and struts to my buddy so we could switch the top-plates over. I got new billies and OME 881's so I just needed the top plate off the old stuff. I set the billies to .75" with the 881's.



Here's a picture of the new ones assembled



Now you need to go back together the opposite way you came apart. top nuts first, then the lower bolt. I used plenty of never-sieze on my hardware because I plan on having this truck for the rest of its on-road life. You'll also need a bar to help line up the lower a-arm for the lower strut bolt to go back in because of the height/length difference in the stock vs. billi struts. I'm a pretty big guy so I was able to just put a size 15 on it and get a little down travel to slide that bolt in. Here it is in place bolted up tight.




Do the other side now

Tires and wheels back on and torque em properly.
I'll do the rear write up tonight.

 

Looks good, how much lift did you end up with in the front with the Billies at .75 and the 881s?

 

How is the ride with the 881's and where did you purchase the 881's?

 

I need to get the measurements of the after... has to be at least 3" though. The 881's are good, little soft and if I was going to buy new I would go with a stiffer spring because I like the stiff ride of a truck. But I got a smokin' deal on CL on the whole lift set-up...

 

Looks great man. I am gonna go with the ome, and billies. As soon as the 5100's are in stock.

 

5100's are in stock at Downsouth Motorsports. Just ordered my set yesterday. Can't wait to get em. Ops ride looks sweet. I'm going to do a similar setup.

 

Thanks for the heads up, I'll give em a call.

 

how much do the 881's lift the front with the billies set at 0?

 

I order 5100's and 881's for my trk and they claim the 881's will lift it 1.75-2.0 setting shocks to "0", hopeing for a decent ride, also installing AAL from Downsouth 1.5" rear.

 

I have OME Dakar 3" rear leafs and I have a bit of rake sitting on flat ground completely unloaded, they give a little more than 3" but I rock a canopy quite a bit and am always hauling stuff. I dig the look with some rake though. Can't wait to go higher though... it's a fever