installing lower shock bolt with lifted coilover

[afg10000]

Don't know if this is old news but I've never seen this method discussed for getting the lower eye bolt back in place after assembling a longer coilover.
I've seen using the bottle jack between the wheel well and UCA, Long pry bars wedged in the LCA, etc. What I did was disconnect sway bar links (remove coilover and re-assemble), remove the 4 LBJ assembly bolts behind hub, underneath. That pretty much seperated the UCA and spindle from the LCA. At that point it was minimal effort (even for my skinny ass) to pry the LCA lower shock bracket into place and slide the eye bolt in. At that point, we slid the floor jack under the LCA, close to the LBJ assembly and jacked that up. Then, I just pushed down on the UCA (all of my 140 lbs) whilst my buddy lined the LBJ brackets back up and got the screws back in (with a little locktite). It was fast, painless and required minimal effort. Was curious if anyone has other methods for this?

 

[02_SE_Runner]

I think all of us did the hard way with a bottle jack and a pry bar... lol That's how you earn your stripes haha.

 

[Kanger328]

Now I know. Gonna use this method when I get my lift in a month or so. Thanks!

 

[chuck norris]

The resistance you deal with is from forcing the bushings so far out of their pivot zone (which can tear them, ask me how I know)...

I'd say the *best* way is to loosen the LCA and UCA bolts, then both arms will just droop down to accommodate the new strut/coilover. Then torque the bolts back down when the vehicle is sitting at ride height.

 

[afg10000]

That definitely makes sense but I will ask how you know (assuming you had a learning experience). Also, Do you have to remove the steering rack to get a torque wrench on the rear LCA bolt?

 

[chuck norris]

That definitely makes sense but I will ask how you know (assuming you had a learning experience). Also, Do you have to remove the steering rack to get a torque wrench on the rear LCA bolt?

When I did suspension on my 4runner, I loosened my UCA bolts and the bushings are still good. I decided to skip on loosening the LCA bolts because they are hard to access and instead pried/jacked the arm down just enough to get the bolt in... and tore two of the LCA bushings in the process. Now I have to tear everything back down and replace the bushings in a couple weeks.

And I would just unbolt the steering rack and move it out of the way to torque the LCA bolts. I'm pretty sure there is enough play.