I finished this all last week, just didn't have any time to post anything.
I had been back and forth about lifting my wife's '14 Magnetic Grey LE and used the fact that she had one tire going extremely bald as the excuse to bite the bullet and just get this over with.
This is what i started with..... I ordered this thing a couple weeks before the 2014 models started getting delivered to the dealerships in TX and left the next day on a 1500+ mile road trip to Big Bend National Park, been in love ever since.
I ordered the complete King Kit from ToyTec as i was going to do the Total Chaos UCAs as well and it was easier to go with a package. Ordered at 3pm Friday and it showed up at my door 11am Tuesday, i had called earlier in the day as the website said they were waiting on delivery but they had everything in stock
A couple weeks back i ordered some FN FxPro wheels. I had been all over their website and through the forums. I sent them an email and sent a text to the # i found on this forum and got responses from both fairly quickly. FN gave me tons of info and was easy to deal with. They even sent me pics of Magnetic Grey LEs with and without lifts with multiple wheel colors to help make the choice. the wheels were on back order but a couple weeks later they called to tell me they were about to ship and informed me i needed to be there to sign..... and i was and got these:
local Discount tire was nice enough to switch out my TPMS and wrap my new wheels in some new rubber. Nitto Ridge Grappler 285/70/17. (Thats a Dick Cepek Extreme country 33x10.50x15 for my Scout II for size comparison)
And just to show the size and tread difference to the stock LE:
All in all the Lift install took me about 12hrs, the majority of that time i was working by myself, had a buddy show up around 11pm and we worked together for the last 3hrs or so. I had planned on taking lots of pictures and detailing everything i did but that lasted through the disassembly of the first side of the rear end..... removing the XREAS was a dirty PITA and I just marched on from there, not really taking many pics, plus most of it has been seen on here before so i will just give some before and after shots....
rear..... angle isn't quite right:
Front:
The reason things took so long was the hour i had in removing the XREAS and cleaning up all the oil that sprayed everywhere when i loosened the banjo bolts (i was prepared for this but that crap got EVERYWHERE) as well as 3hrs or so i spent fighting the front coil-overs, just simply trying to adjust for more lift. TO anyone that was able to do this alone, my hats off to you. trying to do it while installed on the truck didn't work for me because of the where the holes onthe collar lined up. either the hose was in the way or the top CO mount. i just couldn't get the tool in there. I had to wait for my buddy to come by so we could wrestle it with a vise. That worked on the PS and we were cranking away when the threaded barrel (center of the CO) started to move. luckily it just barely moved so I just tightened the collar and went back the other way to torque it back in. No fluid loss, no problem. At this point i think i was at 9 turns of the collar, i was trying to get 2" (10turns) to get the truck to sit level but I didn't want to mess anything up and if i hadn't already mentioned this is currently our only mode of transportation and my wife expected to use the car the next day (I did have a plan B, i'm not a complete moron)
At this point i figured i would get the DS coil adjusted to match the first and start getting this thing thrown back together....... well, 3 turns into that collar and it locked up, and i mean tight! As in i bent the tool that was supplied to make the adjustments.........
it was going on 1am and we made the decision that we would take the PS coil back down to meet the DS and start the re-install, if i had to end up getting replacements, it wasn't going to happen for a couple of days so as long as i didn't lose fluid, we should be good to go. not to mention i am a dumba$$ and only pulled the truck in the garage far enough to make sure the lip to the drive way wasn't an issue not enough to close the door.
Re-assembly of the front end went like a charm, the Total Chaos UCAs went together like a champ (I did have to chase the thread on one of the Zerk fittings but no big deal) got it all re-assembled and back on the ground with the new tires on at a little after 2am and then showered and off to bed. When i woke up the wife had been out taking pictures for a couple of hours. She's happy with the results and so am I. We have put about 450 miles on the new set up and the ride is pretty amazing. i personally think the ride is better than the XREAS. not sure if its the Kings, the 17s with taller sidewalls or a combination but it's like silk. Not to mention i get compliments everywhere i go.
So when i got the rear done i did in fact drop her back on the stock tires for a measurement and i went from DS 36-15/16" and PS 37" floor to fender to DS 39-1/2" and PS 39-5/8". The suspension getting me about 2.5" in the rear, add the new tires and I am up just a hair over 3" in the rear.
I was tired on the front and the stock tires did not go back on but i went from a stock floor to fender height of DS 34-1/8" and PS 34-1/2" to new tires floor to fender DS 36-7/8 and PS 37-1/16" so a little over 2.5"..... I know i can adjust out the front even, more on that to come. I also have not put the Diff drop in yet, waiting for tomorrow when i take the tires back off and re-torque everything.
I had been back and forth about lifting my wife's '14 Magnetic Grey LE and used the fact that she had one tire going extremely bald as the excuse to bite the bullet and just get this over with.
This is what i started with..... I ordered this thing a couple weeks before the 2014 models started getting delivered to the dealerships in TX and left the next day on a 1500+ mile road trip to Big Bend National Park, been in love ever since.
I ordered the complete King Kit from ToyTec as i was going to do the Total Chaos UCAs as well and it was easier to go with a package. Ordered at 3pm Friday and it showed up at my door 11am Tuesday, i had called earlier in the day as the website said they were waiting on delivery but they had everything in stock
A couple weeks back i ordered some FN FxPro wheels. I had been all over their website and through the forums. I sent them an email and sent a text to the # i found on this forum and got responses from both fairly quickly. FN gave me tons of info and was easy to deal with. They even sent me pics of Magnetic Grey LEs with and without lifts with multiple wheel colors to help make the choice. the wheels were on back order but a couple weeks later they called to tell me they were about to ship and informed me i needed to be there to sign..... and i was and got these:
local Discount tire was nice enough to switch out my TPMS and wrap my new wheels in some new rubber. Nitto Ridge Grappler 285/70/17. (Thats a Dick Cepek Extreme country 33x10.50x15 for my Scout II for size comparison)
And just to show the size and tread difference to the stock LE:
All in all the Lift install took me about 12hrs, the majority of that time i was working by myself, had a buddy show up around 11pm and we worked together for the last 3hrs or so. I had planned on taking lots of pictures and detailing everything i did but that lasted through the disassembly of the first side of the rear end..... removing the XREAS was a dirty PITA and I just marched on from there, not really taking many pics, plus most of it has been seen on here before so i will just give some before and after shots....
rear..... angle isn't quite right:
Front:
The reason things took so long was the hour i had in removing the XREAS and cleaning up all the oil that sprayed everywhere when i loosened the banjo bolts (i was prepared for this but that crap got EVERYWHERE) as well as 3hrs or so i spent fighting the front coil-overs, just simply trying to adjust for more lift. TO anyone that was able to do this alone, my hats off to you. trying to do it while installed on the truck didn't work for me because of the where the holes onthe collar lined up. either the hose was in the way or the top CO mount. i just couldn't get the tool in there. I had to wait for my buddy to come by so we could wrestle it with a vise. That worked on the PS and we were cranking away when the threaded barrel (center of the CO) started to move. luckily it just barely moved so I just tightened the collar and went back the other way to torque it back in. No fluid loss, no problem. At this point i think i was at 9 turns of the collar, i was trying to get 2" (10turns) to get the truck to sit level but I didn't want to mess anything up and if i hadn't already mentioned this is currently our only mode of transportation and my wife expected to use the car the next day (I did have a plan B, i'm not a complete moron)
At this point i figured i would get the DS coil adjusted to match the first and start getting this thing thrown back together....... well, 3 turns into that collar and it locked up, and i mean tight! As in i bent the tool that was supplied to make the adjustments.........
it was going on 1am and we made the decision that we would take the PS coil back down to meet the DS and start the re-install, if i had to end up getting replacements, it wasn't going to happen for a couple of days so as long as i didn't lose fluid, we should be good to go. not to mention i am a dumba$$ and only pulled the truck in the garage far enough to make sure the lip to the drive way wasn't an issue not enough to close the door.
Re-assembly of the front end went like a charm, the Total Chaos UCAs went together like a champ (I did have to chase the thread on one of the Zerk fittings but no big deal) got it all re-assembled and back on the ground with the new tires on at a little after 2am and then showered and off to bed. When i woke up the wife had been out taking pictures for a couple of hours. She's happy with the results and so am I. We have put about 450 miles on the new set up and the ride is pretty amazing. i personally think the ride is better than the XREAS. not sure if its the Kings, the 17s with taller sidewalls or a combination but it's like silk. Not to mention i get compliments everywhere i go.
So when i got the rear done i did in fact drop her back on the stock tires for a measurement and i went from DS 36-15/16" and PS 37" floor to fender to DS 39-1/2" and PS 39-5/8". The suspension getting me about 2.5" in the rear, add the new tires and I am up just a hair over 3" in the rear.
I was tired on the front and the stock tires did not go back on but i went from a stock floor to fender height of DS 34-1/8" and PS 34-1/2" to new tires floor to fender DS 36-7/8 and PS 37-1/16" so a little over 2.5"..... I know i can adjust out the front even, more on that to come. I also have not put the Diff drop in yet, waiting for tomorrow when i take the tires back off and re-torque everything.
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