Question on changing out King Front Springs

stephan07

New member
Upgraded the Suspension on my 4Runner but have since added Skids, Rock Sliders, winch, slimline bumper and larger battery. I already upgraded the rears to OME 898 in anticipation of a rear bumper. They are stiff! Even with rear drawers, fridge, Solar generator system and gear. I'm sure they will settle with the rear bumper, but I may even order up the OME 889, but I do have a set of Toytec RCC2.0 on hand I may put in till I get the rear bumper.. I've got more rake than I want and get major nosedive on braking and lift on mild takeoff. Sloshy and I had to dial in a lot of preload to gbet the front to sit close to where I want. I'm going to 650lb front springs.

Wondering if its possible to change out the front springs without spring compressors on the King system by using the trucks body wt and LCA with a jack.....The tophat is different on the King shock then this video, so I'm not sure its possible. I'll need a post alignment anyway so maybe I'll just have the shop do it. But Im bored this am before the games come on..

Thanks all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5E6u7dC7EHg
 
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Upgraded the Suspension on my 4Runner but have since added Skids, Rock Sliders, winch, slimline bumper and larger battery. I already upgraded the rears to OME 898 in anticipation of a rear bumper. They are stiff! Even with rear drawers, fridge, Solar generator system and gear. I'm sure they will settle with the rear bumper, but I may even order up the OME 889, but I do have a set of Toytec RCC2.0 on hand I may put in till I get the rear bumper.. I've got more rake than I want and get major nosedive on braking and lift on mild takeoff. Sloshy and I had to dial in a lot of preload to gbet the front to sit close to where I want. I'm going to 650lb front springs.

Wondering if its possible to change out the front springs without spring compressors on the King system by using the trucks body wt and LCA with a jack.....The tophat is different on the King shock then this video, so I'm not sure its possible. I'll need a post alignment anyway so maybe I'll just have the shop do it. But Im bored this am before the games come on..

Thanks all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5E6u7dC7EHg

I used this method on my TRD Pro 6112 shocks as well as OEM shocks but never tried it with Kings. Try it, you'll know if it works or not simply by looking at the top nut on the top hat. If you put as much pressure as possible under the control arm and the nut still has load on it, it won't work. In all honesty though, I don't see why it wouldn't work. A 600 pound coil is a 600 pound coil.
 
This is with a ton of preload dialed in. THe height has settled some since this pic, but its still sloshy as heck.
 

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Upgraded the Suspension on my 4Runner but have since added Skids, Rock Sliders, winch, slimline bumper and larger battery. I already upgraded the rears to OME 898 in anticipation of a rear bumper. They are stiff! Even with rear drawers, fridge, Solar generator system and gear. I'm sure they will settle with the rear bumper, but I may even order up the OME 889, but I do have a set of Toytec RCC2.0 on hand I may put in till I get the rear bumper.. I've got more rake than I want and get major nosedive on braking and lift on mild takeoff. Sloshy and I had to dial in a lot of preload to gbet the front to sit close to where I want. I'm going to 650lb front springs.

Wondering if its possible to change out the front springs without spring compressors on the King system by using the trucks body wt and LCA with a jack.....The tophat is different on the King shock then this video, so I'm not sure its possible. I'll need a post alignment anyway so maybe I'll just have the shop do it. But Im bored this am before the games come on..

Thanks all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5E6u7dC7EHg

How much preload are you at currently?

I just adjusted my preload last night to about 12 threads (just under 1.25") showing. I have 650 lb springs on my King coilovers and am actually a bit high in front now compared to my rear with 2" (2.5" actual) Icon springs. Waiting to see if it'll settle, and I have a lo-pro bumper on the way which should help level it out. But anyway, I don't have any ride quality issues at all from such preload, and I attribute it to those 650 lb springs.

I don't think the method in the video is possible since the top hat as you said is different. Also, I had a hard time using a jack to compress the coilover using the LCA with the 650 lb springs and the preload. It wanted to lift the entire truck off my jack stands instead, so you might have some issue there even if you could disassemble like they did in the video.
 
while the OEM performance series doesn't turn our 4runners in to trophy trucks,
I was very impressed earlier this year when Gerardo Iribe patiently answered all my questions about some troubles I was having during a rebuild. These guys find time for ALL of their customers. amazing.

OP,
I'm not so sure the LCA jacking method will work with the king coilovers. ie: There is a fitting in the way at the top of the shock body, and there is no center nut and bushing at the top- it is a pivot bolt through a spherical bearing that is inaccessible until the shock is disassembled

The coils are removed from the bottom of the shock, not the top like in that video. The cone at the bottom can be removed when all the preload is removed.

they'll need to be removed and the springs compressed for disassembly.

I could be missing the point entirely... please correct me if I'm wrong
 
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