SkidPalace
Member
How'd the install go Matt?
I wish I could have been there.
I wish I could have been there.
Nelsonmd's Build Thread
- Thread starter Nelsonmd
- Start date
Nelsonmd
New member
It didn't go well. The 3 nuts on the top hat are so rusted that I can't get them off. I am now looking for new top hats and studs so I can just cut the old ones off and not worry about destroying the studs.
Ended up not really doing anything, but did put my front sway bar back on later that day. That made a huge difference. It handles much better now.
If anyone has a line on some cheap top hats, I would like to know, like anyone who just lifted have their old struts assemblies left over and want to give them to me
Ended up not really doing anything, but did put my front sway bar back on later that day. That made a huge difference. It handles much better now.
If anyone has a line on some cheap top hats, I would like to know, like anyone who just lifted have their old struts assemblies left over and want to give them to me
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fightman80
New member
TRY THIS BEFORE BUYING NEW TOP HATS:
Heat up the 3 nuts with a propane torch (1 at a time)
touch the end of the studs near the nuts with a wax candle.
The wax will work it's way through the threads kinda like PB Blaster, and help you loosen them off!
I did this with the top nut on my strut, and it came off like butter! Also did it while trying to take off an end link on my rear stabilizer bar......Before using the wax, the bolts looked like they were gonna strip or even snap.
Hope this helps.
Heat up the 3 nuts with a propane torch (1 at a time)
touch the end of the studs near the nuts with a wax candle.
The wax will work it's way through the threads kinda like PB Blaster, and help you loosen them off!
I did this with the top nut on my strut, and it came off like butter! Also did it while trying to take off an end link on my rear stabilizer bar......Before using the wax, the bolts looked like they were gonna strip or even snap.
Hope this helps.
t4r4life
Elite Member
nice heard of the heating trick but the wax thats just genius
Nelsonmd
New member
Hmmm, that is an interesting method. I might have to try that. I have to be careful though, cause if I start, I have to finish the project as I can't be without my DD.
I will have to just grab the nuts with vise grips though. They are rounded beyond recognition. I should just grab some replacement nuts from the dealer, then just attack them one at a time and replace the nut once I get the rusted one off.
fightman80
New member
Good thinking on the new nuts....and doing them one at a time. Let us know how it goes, should you choose to try this method. I know it worked wonders for me!
cj80cruiser
Senior Member
I was just checking to see if you posted about the lift. I'm hoping its gona work out great for you.
You know, that was one of the reasons I ordered the 1" daystar lift with new studs, not just for the lift but for the new studs since mine were all rusted up too.
Nelsonmd
New member
Not yet. Brutus is sending me his top hats, so once they come in, I will give it another try.
I hope it works out too. I am really curious to see how the new suspension affects the ride. My ride feels pretty crappy right now, especially when going over bumps on the highway.
I did get a new gas tank skid in as well as a new spare tire winch, so now I just need a spare tire.
Nelsonmd
New member
Lift Installed!
Well, I wasn't expecting to get this done this weekend, but a buddy came over friday night wanting to get started on it, so we went at it, and ended up getting it done friday night after about 4 hours.
I didn't get any pics during install because my camera was dead and I couldn't find the charger. Just found it at work today, so I will get some pics of it tonight and post them. EDIT: Here is a before and after. not the same position, but close.
The install went pretty smooth. Ended up just cutting the old top hat mounting studs off. Had to use a dremel on the back ones with an absurdly small cutting wheel. That took a awhile.
I assembled the shocks in the vehicle like some guys posted here, and I didn't really like it. I had to crank the UCA pretty far down, didn't feel great about that since it probably wasn't good for the UBJ's. I ended up still needing to compress the coil to get it in, so I put the top end in, put the bottom end in the cup on the jack, and jacked it up. This worked, but just barely, and we ended up scratching some paint off the coils.
The rears were more annoying than I expected. I had to compress the bushings in order to get threads exposed to put the top nut on, so I had to drop the vehicle to flat ground in order to compress the shock enough to get the nut on. Other than that it went smoothly.
This thing drive SO much better now. I used to cringe going over bumps or potholes, but no more. I didn't realize how bad my old ones were until now.
Quick question though, what is it that limits the droop in the front A arms and knuckle? So what is stressed when you put the jack in there and crank it down? I feel like I would have had to crank it further than I did to get even an assembled 3" lift in.
Well, I wasn't expecting to get this done this weekend, but a buddy came over friday night wanting to get started on it, so we went at it, and ended up getting it done friday night after about 4 hours.
I didn't get any pics during install because my camera was dead and I couldn't find the charger. Just found it at work today, so I will get some pics of it tonight and post them. EDIT: Here is a before and after. not the same position, but close.
The install went pretty smooth. Ended up just cutting the old top hat mounting studs off. Had to use a dremel on the back ones with an absurdly small cutting wheel. That took a awhile.
I assembled the shocks in the vehicle like some guys posted here, and I didn't really like it. I had to crank the UCA pretty far down, didn't feel great about that since it probably wasn't good for the UBJ's. I ended up still needing to compress the coil to get it in, so I put the top end in, put the bottom end in the cup on the jack, and jacked it up. This worked, but just barely, and we ended up scratching some paint off the coils.
The rears were more annoying than I expected. I had to compress the bushings in order to get threads exposed to put the top nut on, so I had to drop the vehicle to flat ground in order to compress the shock enough to get the nut on. Other than that it went smoothly.
This thing drive SO much better now. I used to cringe going over bumps or potholes, but no more. I didn't realize how bad my old ones were until now.
Quick question though, what is it that limits the droop in the front A arms and knuckle? So what is stressed when you put the jack in there and crank it down? I feel like I would have had to crank it further than I did to get even an assembled 3" lift in.
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Nelsonmd
New member
Another busy weekend...
So my plan this weekend was to remove the parking brake hadrware that was seized up, clean it, paint it, and put i back on, but ended up doing alot more.
When I went to take the pass side brake hardware off, I pulled the drum off and... OIL! definitely gear oil. I figure it is a blown axle seal. Fortunately I have 2 axle seals that I bought a while back thinking I needed to replace them, but never actually used them. So I went to Harbor freight and got a seal puller and a race and seal driver set and got to work. I pulled the half-axle, and when I looked in at the old seal, I saw this circular spring just sitting there...
It was just sitting around the axle shaft on the inside of the axle seal (at least that where I found it.
Anyone know what this is?
I looked in all the schematics I can find for the axle and diff, and can't see it as a part, and I don't see anywhere it would go. I looked on my old diff, and don't see a spring like this anywhere. Here is a close up
Anyway, I took it out, and am just keeping it until I figure out where it goes.
The axle seal was a pain to get in. I had to pound it a hundred times to get it seated all the way around. I kept getting one side in, and the other side would be out, so had to pull it out, and try again. Eventually I got it though. I stupidly didn't measure the depth before taking the old one out, so I went with the 1 17/32nds that BigFishAllDay posted in his axle seal thread; I hope that was right. Put it all back together and everything seems fine now. I will check it tonight for leakage. Bleeding the brakes was a pain, I think I got air in the MC, so I put a speed bleeder on and started cranking the pedal fast until fluid was coming out; it seems to have worked. I really need to do the tundra brake upgrade because I can't get the bleeder valves on the fronts to loosen due to rust, so I can't bleed them; I am sure there's air in them.
Anyway, back to the parking brake hardware... I realized that the driver side bellcrank had lost it's boot, which is why it had seized. I will be ordering a new one today. I had to use a press to press the pivot pin out, and found that the indentation for the c-clip completely filled with rust, or metal of some sort. It wasn't like that before I pressed it out, so something dramatic happened when I pressed it out. I'll snap a pic of that tonight. Confused the hell out of me when I first saw it.
Anyway, I started painting stuff with what I had lying around (red caliper paint, and black epoxy paint). The bellcranks are red, drums are red, also cleaned my old rear sway bar and painted it black. Pics to come when I assemble them again. For now, I have the parking brake cable zip-tied to the brake line and axle just to keep it out of the way.
Also helped a buddy fix his front brakes on his 83 Honda CB 550, and got another friend's 82 CB 750 running after the long winter. All in all, a busy weekend, but pretty productive.
So my plan this weekend was to remove the parking brake hadrware that was seized up, clean it, paint it, and put i back on, but ended up doing alot more.
When I went to take the pass side brake hardware off, I pulled the drum off and... OIL! definitely gear oil. I figure it is a blown axle seal. Fortunately I have 2 axle seals that I bought a while back thinking I needed to replace them, but never actually used them. So I went to Harbor freight and got a seal puller and a race and seal driver set and got to work. I pulled the half-axle, and when I looked in at the old seal, I saw this circular spring just sitting there...
It was just sitting around the axle shaft on the inside of the axle seal (at least that where I found it.
Anyone know what this is?
I looked in all the schematics I can find for the axle and diff, and can't see it as a part, and I don't see anywhere it would go. I looked on my old diff, and don't see a spring like this anywhere. Here is a close up
Anyway, I took it out, and am just keeping it until I figure out where it goes.
The axle seal was a pain to get in. I had to pound it a hundred times to get it seated all the way around. I kept getting one side in, and the other side would be out, so had to pull it out, and try again. Eventually I got it though. I stupidly didn't measure the depth before taking the old one out, so I went with the 1 17/32nds that BigFishAllDay posted in his axle seal thread; I hope that was right. Put it all back together and everything seems fine now. I will check it tonight for leakage. Bleeding the brakes was a pain, I think I got air in the MC, so I put a speed bleeder on and started cranking the pedal fast until fluid was coming out; it seems to have worked. I really need to do the tundra brake upgrade because I can't get the bleeder valves on the fronts to loosen due to rust, so I can't bleed them; I am sure there's air in them.
Anyway, back to the parking brake hardware... I realized that the driver side bellcrank had lost it's boot, which is why it had seized. I will be ordering a new one today. I had to use a press to press the pivot pin out, and found that the indentation for the c-clip completely filled with rust, or metal of some sort. It wasn't like that before I pressed it out, so something dramatic happened when I pressed it out. I'll snap a pic of that tonight. Confused the hell out of me when I first saw it.
Anyway, I started painting stuff with what I had lying around (red caliper paint, and black epoxy paint). The bellcranks are red, drums are red, also cleaned my old rear sway bar and painted it black. Pics to come when I assemble them again. For now, I have the parking brake cable zip-tied to the brake line and axle just to keep it out of the way.
Also helped a buddy fix his front brakes on his 83 Honda CB 550, and got another friend's 82 CB 750 running after the long winter. All in all, a busy weekend, but pretty productive.
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BigFishAllDay
New member
Nelsonmd,
First, congrats on the lift, the truck is coming along nicely....
Second, that spring is actually part of the rear axle seal, you probably dislodged it from the seal when you were removing the seal from the axle housing.
Next time you've got one of the Toyota seals in your hand, flip it over so that you're looking at the cupped side (it's shaped like a U, you want to be looking down into the U). You want to be looking at it from this side:
Take a peek just under the lip of the black plastic section there, and you'll see that there's a little spring that keeps tension on the plastic to provide a tight seal. You mentioned you have two rear axle seals, so take a look at the other one if you haven't installed it yet. PS... Glad the writeup helped you.
First, congrats on the lift, the truck is coming along nicely....
Second, that spring is actually part of the rear axle seal, you probably dislodged it from the seal when you were removing the seal from the axle housing.
Next time you've got one of the Toyota seals in your hand, flip it over so that you're looking at the cupped side (it's shaped like a U, you want to be looking down into the U). You want to be looking at it from this side:
Take a peek just under the lip of the black plastic section there, and you'll see that there's a little spring that keeps tension on the plastic to provide a tight seal. You mentioned you have two rear axle seals, so take a look at the other one if you haven't installed it yet. PS... Glad the writeup helped you.
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Nelsonmd
New member
Ah, well that explains it. Thanks for that tidbit. Not worried now. I can't really remember if I saw the spring before I took any hammer swings, or after, but I think I must have tapped it at least once, and that is how the spring got the kink in it.
Anyway, I wanted to post the height differences I got with this lift.
Before:
Driver Pass
Front: 18 3/4 18 7/8
Rear: 19 3/4 20 1/2
After:
Driver Pass
Front: 21 1/8 21 1/8
Rear: 22 5/16 22 1/16
Difference:
Driver Pass
Front: 2 3/8 2 1/4
Rear: 2 9/16 1 9/16
So about 2-2.5in all around. I am wondering if I flubbed the before/rear/pass measurement, cause that seems pretty off. It certainly wasn't super accurate measuring from the hub center to the fender.
I just ordered some rear parking brake parts as well as new LBJ's, and outer TRE's. For some reason, the inner TRE price at toyota of dallas came up as $120, when they are $67 at Napa. I am betting that the dealer listing is for the pair, but I e-mailed them about it and they said it was $120 for just 1. So I guess I will get that part from Napa. For the outer TRE's and LBJ's, the OEM's were a few dollar cheaper than the NAPA ones.
SCRunner12
New member
Hey do you have any more pictures of your 4runner with the lift from the side? That is the same amount of lift I'm going to go for and tire selection. Nice work on everything.
Nelsonmd
New member
I added a good side picture to the first post in this thread, but it is with my summer tires, so they are smaller. Unfortunately I didn't get any other photos with the lift and duratracs on, sorry. I will put them back on if I go wheeling, and I will take pics then, but who knows when that will be. I think it is a perfect combo.
SCRunner12
New member
Thanks, I didn't see the first post. Yeah it looks good and that is what I will go with till I can really get serious offroad. I like what you've done with it. I plan on going 881 (possible top spacer) and 906's.
How is the ride with the Procomps? OME shocks are way too expensive.
How is the ride with the Procomps? OME shocks are way too expensive.
Nelsonmd
New member
Well, I don't really have anything to compare it to, but the rear is pretty stiff. I'm not sure if it is the coils or the shocks. I run it empty, so I don't really know what it feels like with weight, i'm sure it's better. I had new stock rear shocks, and they (along with my stock coils that were probably pretty saggy) were at least as rough as the new ones are. I very well may have been bottoming out back there, which could have been contributing (I only had about 1-1.5 inches of travel before hitting the cone stops).
Nelsonmd
New member
Satoshi
Found a great deal on a grill, so got an emblem and did the satoshi grill mod.
I just painted it black because that is what I have. I might try painting the 2 little panels under the lights black to see if that looks better (and since one is rusted anyway). If I still don't like it, then I will pick up some automotive touch-up and color match it.
The Toyota Emblem is a little bit crooked because I found that the spacing on the mesh was such that the bolts holding the emblem on had to be on different rows. I might end up putting the old grill back on until I can find a mesh that I like better (I used the gutter mesh from home depot, not that impressed with it).
BTW, does anyone know what size/thread of bolt the emblem uses? I sat in home depot trying to match it up forever. I think I ended up with M5-0.8, but it still gets stiff the further in I thread it, and it feels a bit loose.
Found a great deal on a grill, so got an emblem and did the satoshi grill mod.
I just painted it black because that is what I have. I might try painting the 2 little panels under the lights black to see if that looks better (and since one is rusted anyway). If I still don't like it, then I will pick up some automotive touch-up and color match it.
The Toyota Emblem is a little bit crooked because I found that the spacing on the mesh was such that the bolts holding the emblem on had to be on different rows. I might end up putting the old grill back on until I can find a mesh that I like better (I used the gutter mesh from home depot, not that impressed with it).
BTW, does anyone know what size/thread of bolt the emblem uses? I sat in home depot trying to match it up forever. I think I ended up with M5-0.8, but it still gets stiff the further in I thread it, and it feels a bit loose.
