I'm thinking something similar to this, but maybe 4x4 or 6x6 to get less flex out of the wood. Say, 6x6 across frame where engine weight would do the trick, then 6x6 across several rafters to distribute the force, and a floor-to-ceiling pole jack in between to compress...?

totally possible I just don't have any laying around.

sure but really torquing the upper is really the only thing left to do, of course alignment but that is a given.

and his name is bubba, unfortunaly I don't have any bubba in my phone.

dude everybody knows they had help from aliens. I learned this on the internet so it must be true.

yea it's not even close, I have an engine hoist and I can pickup any part of the frame and the coil-overs just laugh in your face.

I have done this several times with a fully assembled truck and yes I agree it has never caused me much issue. sure I have had to use a dead blow to kind of help things line up but... the pre-load is set to compensate for the full weight of the front end so... I have too somehow make up missing weight.

Think about it this way when you install a coil-over you droop the lower arm and then put the top into place, then bolt up to the lower arm. you can then jack up the lower a little until the upper ball joint just slips on.

in this case there is no ufda to compensate for the pre-load on the spring.

I was able to compress the spring with a little help from my coil spring compressors and some spacers. however at full droop I hit the spring and the UCA guessing I will have to undo it and spin the coilover to the next position to clear that at full droop. sigh.



I also ravaged the spring but at this point it felt kind of good to hurt it.

[QUOTE=sleepydad;3330297] however at full droop I hit the spring and the UCA guessing I will have to undo it and spin the coilover to the next position to clear that at full droop. sigh.

My Tundra springs 5100 Billy's would do same thing hitting coil when on stands. Rotating did not help, limit straps did.

If you can't get the coilover in there with the pivots and ball joints all in place (pivots loose), your coilover is too long. Get some aftermarket upper arms on there for increased down travel, otherwise you will be stressing that top ball joint every time you top out your suspension travel.

There should be no forcing of things or pry bars, other than to hold the actual weight of components. (ok, I have used a pry bar to droop the suspension to overcome the bushing preload, but that was re-installing the same parts that were on the truck before the work...)

-Charlie

100% agree I hate when I have to pound something into place.

so I drank a beer last night and did a little thinking while giving the project the Sara Sanders stink eye.

this morning I got up early and decided to re-do everything one more time.

the coil over measured 20 1/4" from the top plate to the center of the lower bolt dom mount.

the truck in full droop without a coil over in it gave me 20 1/8" from the bottom inside of the shock tower to the center of the lower arm.

so the coil over is really about 1/8" longer than the available space. I guess in suspension terms it's horse shoes and hand grenades town.

I think maybe I just did not have everything lined up and all the parts are new so they are not worn in? I think you have a point on that one. I still had to use the small ratchet strap to get enough thread on the lower ball joint to get the nut rolling but once I did it seems ok now. was able to estimate the correct position and now it's ok for stock arms 3" front lift.

Am I spying a 1/2" top plate spacer on there?!? If that should (somewhat obviously) be your problem. Without an aftermarket upper arm, you can only fit a 3/8" spacer up there without causing the problems you are seeing... At least, that's what I found when I did my suspension last year.

-Charlie

yes the top plate spacer came with it so I figured it was supposed to go on it, I could leave it off. the instructions said nothing about that, hmm. I'm using all spare parts for this build so these are off my other truck, stock.

not planning on swapping in custom aftermarket uppers, but that does make sense. hmmm dam it.

I think that Eibach setup is a 1.5" lift without any extra spacers, which is probably reasonable for what you are looking for. The 1/2" spacer bumps that up around 2.5" lift. You'll find out when the frame is back under a body/engine...

-Charlie