Over the past few months I've been slowly gathering parts to redo my rear suspension. Now that I'm living on my own and have to spend my money on boring stuff like rent I can't really afford to go all-out quite yet to match the front long travel, so I tried doing everything on a pretty tight budget. That being said, for a pretty low budget I'm very happy with how everything came together. My rear end was long overdue for a refresh, as I've been running a Rough Country lift in the rear for the last ~4 years now... It's done its job and I definitely got my moneys worth, but it was in much need of an upgrade.
Parts list:
Eimkeith PCK - bought off Vilmont Market for $50 shipped
LC80 7.5-wrap coils (double purple/blue/white) - $60 shipped
ICON 2.0"x10.5" shocks - bought off my neighbor for $100
Toytec extended rear brake line - included with PCK
Custom shock towers - $100 to have them cut, welded up by yours truly
Rear dif breather - $30, still need to install
2nd gen 4runner sway bar end links - $30 on eBay (probably temporary)
What kind of started everything was my neighbor stopping by while I was doing my rear axle seal. He's got a 1st gen Tundra, and mentioned how he had some ICONs he used to use that were made for a 2nd gen Tundra, but he took them out because they were too big and were bottoming out all the time. I scored them off him for $100 including a jug of shock oil, and he told me they were rebuilt ~1,000 miles ago. I couldn't really pass up the deal, so I told myself I had to make these work, and in turn I'd fix up the rest of my suspension at the same time.
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You can see how beat up one of my old shocks were. The other one was even worse, as on that side the upper shock nut came off at the dunes, which caused my shock to be wedged against my upper link. It was sitting at a weird angle, so when the suspension would compress it would hit my sway bar and lower link, which dented the shit out of it... It also bent my upper link when the nut came off, so that will need to be replaced soon too.
Since the shocks were originally made for a tundra, the eyelet bushing had a 1/2" opening. 3rd gens use a 3/4" opening, so I ordered some
hourglass bushings from Energy suspension (part #BDVQ9.8108G if anyone is interested). They don't have an internal sleeve, but I figured the main point of them is to prevent metal-on-metal contact and they were all I could find that had the right dimensions. They ended up fitting perfectly on the shock stud, so I can't really complain as of right now.
I was hoping the new shocks would fit with no issues, but that was really wishful thinking. My old shocks had ~8" of travel, and the new ones have 10.5". I threw them in using the stock mounting points, but just at ride height they were fully compressed, so there was no chance that was going to work. I debated giving these back to my neighbor and buying some slightly shorter LC shocks that could use the stock location, but in the end I decided a set of (almost) new ICONs were going to ride much better than some cheaper LC shocks, and the LC shocks would have still ended up costing more. I decided it was time to do an outboard shock mount, but had to design something custom up since these aren't a "standard" shock (eyelet on each end). What I came up with was this:
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All welded up:
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Pretty proud of how these turned out, as they were my first welding project in the last ~1.5 years.
Next up were the springs. I did some research on it, and it sounded like LC springs were one of the better options for me, as they're cheap, flex really well, and would hopefully provide just a bit more lift than what I previously had. I don't carry much weight in the back (no bumper, spare tire, etc) so I decided the 7.5 wraps should be perfect. I found a set of double purple/blue/white springs on iH8mud for a grand total of $60 shipped, so I couldn't pass that up as other people were wanting $150+(!!!).
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They were a little rusty, and I had some extra paint laying around so I decided to match them to my wheels. I'm kind of addicted to this color, but still trying to not go overboard with it. It ended up being a complete PITA to paint these, as I had the bright idea to take them down to completely bare metal before painting them. I went through 2 cans of paint stripper, and spent probably 5-6hrs hitting them with a wire wheel just trying to get the previous coating off. If I were to redo this, I'd just scuff them up with sandpaper and paint over it, since they'll probably get dinged up either way and they don't really need a great finish. It was also a pretty big gamble, as I didn't test fit these first so I was
really hoping I liked how they sat. Either way, I'm happy with how they turned out, just in hindsight I wouldn't have spent so much time on it:
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I was planning on ordering a PCK in addition, since I was sick of feeling my rear end swinging out from under me all the time, and managed to get lucky and found someone post a set on Vilmont Market for almost 1/2 off. Everything kind of came together at a perfect time, and he also included an extended rear brake line which saved me another $30.
Lastly, I ordered a set of 2nd gen 4runner rear sway bar end links, as mine were shot and I found a good deal on eBay. They're 2" longer than stock, so I was thinking these should match nicely with the additional ~2" of downtravel I should be getting with the new shocks. I didn't take many pictures of these, as they were a direct bolt on install and have been covered to death on here. They're really thin and will probably break with any real wheeling, but I figured they're a good hold over until I buy or make some nicer adjustable ones (one project at a time lol).
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I took a picture of everything (besides the PCK and sway bar links) before throwing it all together. I painted the shock towers with a few coats of self etching primer beforehand, then wire wheeled the paint off in the areas I'll be welding it. I was thinking this would prevent any rust in the areas I can't paint once they're installed, but only time will tell.
After a ton of back and forth checking clearances and travel, I found a spot I was mostly happy with. A major oversight I had is that (like every other outboard shock mount) I was going to need spacers to keep the wheel from rubbing at full bump. This made it difficult to check clearances since I couldn't really stuff it up without contacting, but the soonest I could get a set of spacers would be another ~2 weeks, and I already had everything torn apart and ready to weld up. I checked everything as best as I could and welded the shock towers in. I guess we'll see how it goes once the spacers come in and I can really check it all
ray:.
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I can't take any pictures of it flexed out until the spacers come in, but once I get those ordered and installed I'll post some pics of it all flexed out. Next up I'm going to be making some lower links, which I already have the materials for. I just need to get around to cutting and welding them up. Overall it rides so much better than before, and I have a much more solid setup without it costing an arm and a leg. I still have a few more things to finish up on (rear links, diff breather, and extended brake lines mainly) but I'm stoked on how it all came out, and I finally feel comfortable to drive this thing further than a ~1 mile radius from my house.
One thing I've noticed is that the back end feels a little loose compared to before, which is kind of strange as I was expecting the opposite. The shocks are valved for a Tundra, which is much heavier than our trucks so I was expecting a bit of a stiff ride. I was thinking that maybe it's due to the longer end links? Does anyone know if getting some shorter end links (like the front links from a 3rd gen 4runner) would tighten things up? It's not undriveable at all, and I may just need to get used to it, but if anyone has some advice to tighten things up a bit I'd appreciate it!
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