Modification: Toytec Top Plate Spacer Lift
Toytec Lifts Front Top Plate Spacer Kit - $60.00
Front Top Plate Spacer Kit - Toytec Lifts: Toyota Lift Kits: FJ Cruiser Lift Kits, Tacoma Lift Kits, Tundra Lift Kits, 4 Runner Lift Kits, Sequoia Lift Kits, Toyota Truck Lift Kits
Added bonus: Toytec Lifts decal!
Hidden Cost: Front End Alignment is required after the lift ($75-$90)
Difficulty Scale (1 to 10): Six
Sp8ball’s Personal Intimidation Factor (1 to 10): Nine (mitigated to a “four” by Antman having already done it, and offering to help)
Install Time: 2-3 hours
Reason for Doing It: Level the rake of the truck to make the front even with the back
Benefit: Looks better, and it’s cheaper and easier than replacing suspension components (shocks, struts, UCAs, installing coilovers, etc.). And it prepares the truck for new shoes!
Cons: It’s the hardest mod so far!
Other Products Considered: Bilstein 5100s.
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Alright…here’s the biggest one so far!
I’d like to start off by saying – again – that I couldn’t have done this mod without the guidance and insight provided by this forum. Not only is it full of great ideas, but great people as well. In this particular case, Antman and I discovered that we live about a mile apart, and he offered to not only help me with this mod, but to host me in his garage (with his large collection of tools and jacks and impact guns) to do it! Mad props to Antman.
[Note: Want to know what Antman looks like? That’s his arms doing all the work in the pictures. In all fairness, I did the driver’s side after this tutorial on the passenger side. With some help.]
The documents posted in this thread (
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/59485-modifications-write-ups-quick-links.html) (specifically, the TIS FSM sections on the front end suspension) proved invaluable. You have to go through some downloading and a tiny bit of searching to get to it, but it’s well worth taking your time and doing a little bit of upfront research.
OK, this write-up is going to be picture heavy for a number of reasons:
1) A picture is worth a thousand words, and I have 30-some pictures to post. That’s 30,000+ words I don’t have to write. And it has been noted that my posts are “wordy”.
2) There was a lot of discussion on here about needing a spring compressor to do this mod. We’re hoping to show how we did it without one.
We’ll have before-and-after pictures at the end to show the rake both before and after the spacer lift.
So, let’s get started!
Step One: Chock the rear wheels.
Step Two: Jack up the side on which you are going to install the lift. Put a jack stand under the truck and slowly lower the jack. For this series of posts, we are working on the passenger’s side. (we started with the passenger’s side because it was closest to the coffee pot)
Step Three: Give the opposite side of the car a slight lift, and install another, lower jack stand on that side for stability.
Step Four: remove the six lugs holding the wheels onto the rotors.
Step Five: Remove wheel.
Step six: place the jack under the lower control arm (large metal part of the suspension just behind the rotor) to support it during the next few steps, because you’ll want that slight upward pressure on the spring while you do step 7.
Step seven: Loosen and remove the nut, cushion retainer (a metal washer), and shock absorber cushion (a thick rubber disk).
[continued on next post...]
