Archive Hanger Install Assistance/Motivation

another thing to note.. i have stock + 4" brake lines and they are also maxxed out at full droop. Shoulda gotten +5 or +6

 

Forgot to mention copious amounts of beer while drilling rivets helped ease the pain/frustration.

It was funny though I had my laptop in the garage and was half assedly responding to work emails while drilling, grinding, and hammering. I didn't think about it until after the fact when my girlfriend said "hey it's a bitch but technically you're getting paid to do it right now" so I guess I can't complain.

 

A woman that can justify mods on your truck... that's a keeper.

 

Day 6-9 of The Rivet Reckoning: done!

Test drove for about 10 minutes. Didn't go any faster than 30. Took some curves and speedbumps. It feels stiffer...but in a somewhat good way. Hard to explain and I don't know if part of it is placebo effect and having not driven it since Sunday vs actual feeling. Is this what everyone else felt/is feeling?

Torqued a few ft lbs afterwards then cleaned the garage. Now I can get back to making my table.

Lessons learned:

• Park the truck somewhere it can be left alone for a few days since it takes that long for someone of my caliber to finish. Thankfully I did this on day one so didn't have to leave my garage door open for 5 days.
• The spare tire is annoying. Fully removing it would be better but I left it dangling and shoved it out of the way when I needed to.
• Have the right sockets and wrenches for the job. I thought I had what I needed but it was closer to had 95%. Had to make a few trips to Lowes. Good excuse to get more tools.
• Having a jack and jack stands that reach upwards of 24" would've been helpful but I made it work with what I had.
• Creeper!
• The Torque Spec thread was awesome when it came to tighten everything back down.
• Be ready for a forearm workout.

Thanks for the motivation I needed to finish this. Everything hurts and I'm still finding metal shavings in my hair but it feels great to have it done.

 

What do you think about using a plasma cutter to take off the rivets? can the heat damage the frame?

 

It will work, but could potentially make drilling the holes out to 1/2” more difficult, since the heat basically hardens the material. That was my experience when I tried a plasma once. I have a plasma and still prefer to grind/air chisel the rivets off.

 

Thanks man! I was looking for a shortcut hahaha but I guess I’ll will have to go through the same method as you all have.
Good thing is I still have time to prepare mentally for this task

 

I've been putting this off for months because I know it's going to be the biggest PITA yet. My last excuse was, I'm gonna wait till spring so it's warmer in the garage lol!!! Sounds like patience and PPE are key here.

 

Just grind off the rivet heads and get one of these and hammer the rest of the rivet out, may not have to drill them which is a bitch.

 

Also recommend sacrificing an arm and a leg preemptively.

 

I said screw it and paid to have them done! I did my bump stop mounts it was a pain in the ass!



SHMELLFAB PRODUCTS

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...acks-hi-lift-mounts-cb-antenna-mounts.374697/

 

Psyching myself up for hanger removal in 2 weeks - 63s with bamf relocation and I think I finally sliced out some time -Going back through prior threads to refresh and this is the part that worries me the most … grind heads, punch and drill, BFH and some patience …

 

It’s honestly not that bad with the right tools. I can remove a hanger in about 20 min now? This video outlines my tips and tricks

https://youtu.be/Rc7Fl549_E0

 

This method is for small aluminum rivets found in air craft (hence the spar lamination illustration)… won’t work that well for steel rivets. Best and easiest way to remove them is with a air hammer and sharp chisel. Make an x on the rivet head and hit it front he side and it will knock off the head, then push the shank out

 

You can do it! If you haven't seen it already, I've got some lessons learned a few posts up. Not on there but perhaps the most important: have an ample supply of your favorite beer.

 

Just grind the rivets flush with the frame, weld a bead around the rivet on the cut side, then grind flush again if you're doing 63s. Also, I'd definitely reccomend going with a taller tower. Tried the bamf towers with short body 14s on a buddies truck, and even with the lowest I could put the axle mount, I still had to limit uptravel a good 3 inches since the axle has so much travel at the shock during flex. A good alternative is the Barnes 4wd "frenched" towers with some slight tower adjustments if you dont wanna cut out your bed.

 

Thanks - I was thinking I could just grind the heads and remove the hangers without removing the rivets since the new hanger and shackles will be further back. Great. I do have the the 14" BSB and figured the relocation towers might be the limiting factor. I want to keep the axle tabs as high as possible to avoid the rocks. I'll check out the barnes towers but likely to stick with this since they're staring at me in the garage and they're ready to go. This should put me miles ahead of where I sit today (AAL and 5100 in the rear) pumped to have the down travel to keep those tires on the ground.

 

beer. check. hopefully I report back in about 2 weeks with some pics and don't need to put a call out for help in the process. but at least I know the call for help will be answered since this forum is always be online

 

There are four rivets per hanger and the bottom two rivets also hold your spare tire cross member in place. So for those two, I would weld the cut rivet into place as Kevin suggested, or knock the rivets out and through bolt it. I'm only mentioning it so you don't just grind the rivets down and leave it be.

 

I just watched your video and had made a note to either remove or weld the bottom hanger bolts in my cheat sheet / checklist notes. Thanks!