legokcen
Member
I have been needing to do something about the rear springs for a while. I've got a '97 Limited with ~170K. I tow a trailer and race car with the truck and even with the load leveling airbags, have had the rear squat a whole lot.
The whole install took less than 2 hours with pneumatic tools. It would have been less if I hadn't transferred the airbags to the new springs. Those were a PITA to remove from the old springs. Also, since the OME's were taller, I had to unbolt a few more things to install them after I removed the stock springs.
The springs a good bit taller. When measured, they were about 2" taller than the stockers.
They are quite a bit firmer also so I had to bring the axle down a bit more by unbolting the panhard bar.
I'm pretty happy with it. It wasn't really a hard install, just had to do things after realizing it wouldn't work like the time I removed the stock springs for the load leveling airbag install. Here are suggestions to knock off about 20-30 minutes:
1. Go ahead and unbolt the rear sway bar and panhard bar after you unbolt and disconnect the bottom bolt of the shocks.
2. If you can get a friend to help, it'll save a little bit of time as I realized a 3rd hand would have been helpful at times when I was trying to get the panhard bar and sway bars rebolted on.
3. While doing #2 (the previous item, not while in the restroom), it'll be most beneficial to have that person on the floor jack helping to align the panhard bar and the sway bar mounts to make the reattachment easier. I had to get up and work the jack 2 or 3 times to get things to align right.
4. Be careful of the brake line that is connected from the frame to the diff. When you unhook the panhard and the sway, the axle will drop a little bit and pull on this line. Be careful not to damage it.
5. I found it also easier to sometimes jack up on the opposite side of the axle to drop down side I was working on a little more. This helped the spring get into place.
If I had to do this over again, I think I could do it in about 1-1.5 hours. I had to go back in the shop a few times for tools and things.
I've got a track event this coming weekend so I'll be towing with it for the first time. I'll take a pic with the trailer hooked and loaded if you all would like.
The final product:
Like a dumba$$, I started to jack the truck up and then thought, "crap, I should have taken a before pic." Sorry.... but, here is a pic of the trailer from about a month ago and you can kind of see how the back end of the truck was.
The rear levels prior to the install were a little off. 35.5 and 36". After the install and a 10 minute drive around, I now have 38 1/8" on each side.
The whole install took less than 2 hours with pneumatic tools. It would have been less if I hadn't transferred the airbags to the new springs. Those were a PITA to remove from the old springs. Also, since the OME's were taller, I had to unbolt a few more things to install them after I removed the stock springs.
The springs a good bit taller. When measured, they were about 2" taller than the stockers.
They are quite a bit firmer also so I had to bring the axle down a bit more by unbolting the panhard bar.
I'm pretty happy with it. It wasn't really a hard install, just had to do things after realizing it wouldn't work like the time I removed the stock springs for the load leveling airbag install. Here are suggestions to knock off about 20-30 minutes:
1. Go ahead and unbolt the rear sway bar and panhard bar after you unbolt and disconnect the bottom bolt of the shocks.
2. If you can get a friend to help, it'll save a little bit of time as I realized a 3rd hand would have been helpful at times when I was trying to get the panhard bar and sway bars rebolted on.
3. While doing #2 (the previous item, not while in the restroom), it'll be most beneficial to have that person on the floor jack helping to align the panhard bar and the sway bar mounts to make the reattachment easier. I had to get up and work the jack 2 or 3 times to get things to align right.
4. Be careful of the brake line that is connected from the frame to the diff. When you unhook the panhard and the sway, the axle will drop a little bit and pull on this line. Be careful not to damage it.
5. I found it also easier to sometimes jack up on the opposite side of the axle to drop down side I was working on a little more. This helped the spring get into place.
If I had to do this over again, I think I could do it in about 1-1.5 hours. I had to go back in the shop a few times for tools and things.
I've got a track event this coming weekend so I'll be towing with it for the first time. I'll take a pic with the trailer hooked and loaded if you all would like.
The final product:
Like a dumba$$, I started to jack the truck up and then thought, "crap, I should have taken a before pic." Sorry.... but, here is a pic of the trailer from about a month ago and you can kind of see how the back end of the truck was.
The rear levels prior to the install were a little off. 35.5 and 36". After the install and a 10 minute drive around, I now have 38 1/8" on each side.
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Just cause I installed some FZJ80 coils and they are about 5-6" longer! Lots of fun to squeeze those puppies in.
