Rcastle
New member
As promised here is the write-up of my Toytec Ultimate lift install.
First of, I am sorry there aren't more pictures. I wasn't planning on doing a write-up and I was excited.
First thing, park the 4Runner on a level surface, set the parking brake and chock the rear wheels.
I jacked mine up using the center cross-member then supported it on the frame with a couple jackstands.
Remove your skid plates.
Remove your wheels.
Disconnect your front sway bar links and set aside.
You should now be at the point it looks like this.
I turned my wheels so that I had as much space possible to work in the wheel-well.
Undo the 3 bolts on the top of your strut brace, above the upper control arm.
(12 mm if I remember right)
Undo the bottom bolts supporting the shock and spring.
(19 mm I think)
At this point my shock/spring assembly fell right out.
I took this moment to compare old vs new.
As you can see there is quite a difference in height.
Next, install the new coil-over assembly and start the 3 nuts on the top, securing it to the top mount.
At this point we got the spare tire jack and used it to push the upper control arm down enough to move the suspension and let us get the bottom bolt in. It worked very well and didn't do any damage to anything.
After you are done, use the same steps on the other side. Once you have both coil-overs in, tighten all the nuts and bolts securely. Everything should look like this.
Once you are sure everything is good and tight you can move to installing the differential drop kit.
This is pretty easy, remove the old bolts that hold the differential up. I think they are 17mm or 19mm. There is a nut at the top, so you will have to get a wrench up there and use a socket or an impact gun if you have it to break it loose.
Install the spacers between the differential brackets and the frame, then use the new bolts, washers, and nuts to secure everything back up.
It should look like this when done.
After you are done with this, mount your skid plates back on using the new spacers and bolts that were included with the kit. Pretty self explanatory.
Then you can put your wheels back on and lower the front down and have something like this.
Jack up the rear and hold it up using jackstands.
Remove your wheels and get ready for some fun.
Disconnect your rear sway bar end links and either remove the sway bar completely or you can just let it hang at this point. We will get back to it and the front sway bar in a bit.
Remove your bump stops. There is a bolt in the center of them, I believe its a 12mm socket.
Undo your rear shock mount. (17mm or 19mm I think)
Using a floor jack, jack up one side of your rear end until you can remove the rear coil spring on the opposite side.
It shouldn't take much effort.
After you have this removed you can reach the top shock nut much easier. I recommend spraying some PB Blaster on it when you start this job so it comes off easier. Mine were a ***** to get off and they are hard to get to. I want to dick punch the engineer that came up with this shock mount design.
After you have removed the shock you can put in the new spring.
Here are some comparison pics. I went for the Fox 2.0 shocks because I hadn't seen any reviews so I figured I could be the test subject. So far (1 week with only 4 days driving on it) I like them.
To install the new spring, take the rubber spring mount on the top and put it in the new spring. Then install it where it goes up top and we used 2 of us, one with a pry bar to slightly compress the spring and the other to push the bottom into place. Once the spring is in make sure that it is settled in the right orientation. It should be pretty obvious.
Next, install the new shock into the hole up top but don't put on the top bushing or the nut. Then install the lower part of the shock onto the shock mount and loosely tighten the nut.
Repeat this process on the other side.
Once you are done, put the wheels on and lower the truck back down.
It should look like this.
Now you can install the top bushing and nuts on the top of the shocks. With the lift you should have plenty of room to accomplish this easily. Tighten the top nuts and the bottom mount bolt/nut.
Double check that everything is tight, all around, front and back.
Check again.
Take it for a spin around the block.
Check again.
At this point you can re-install your sway bar links if you want to. My fronts went right back in, I haven't re-installed the rear so I am not sure about that.
Take pictures and enjoy.
I think I covered anything. If I missed anything, you want more specific pictures or have any questions please feel free to let me know and I will do the best I can to get the correct information on here.
First of, I am sorry there aren't more pictures. I wasn't planning on doing a write-up and I was excited.
First thing, park the 4Runner on a level surface, set the parking brake and chock the rear wheels.
I jacked mine up using the center cross-member then supported it on the frame with a couple jackstands.
Remove your skid plates.
Remove your wheels.
Disconnect your front sway bar links and set aside.
You should now be at the point it looks like this.
I turned my wheels so that I had as much space possible to work in the wheel-well.
Undo the 3 bolts on the top of your strut brace, above the upper control arm.
(12 mm if I remember right)
Undo the bottom bolts supporting the shock and spring.
(19 mm I think)
At this point my shock/spring assembly fell right out.
I took this moment to compare old vs new.
As you can see there is quite a difference in height.
Next, install the new coil-over assembly and start the 3 nuts on the top, securing it to the top mount.
At this point we got the spare tire jack and used it to push the upper control arm down enough to move the suspension and let us get the bottom bolt in. It worked very well and didn't do any damage to anything.
After you are done, use the same steps on the other side. Once you have both coil-overs in, tighten all the nuts and bolts securely. Everything should look like this.
Once you are sure everything is good and tight you can move to installing the differential drop kit.
This is pretty easy, remove the old bolts that hold the differential up. I think they are 17mm or 19mm. There is a nut at the top, so you will have to get a wrench up there and use a socket or an impact gun if you have it to break it loose.
Install the spacers between the differential brackets and the frame, then use the new bolts, washers, and nuts to secure everything back up.
It should look like this when done.
After you are done with this, mount your skid plates back on using the new spacers and bolts that were included with the kit. Pretty self explanatory.
Then you can put your wheels back on and lower the front down and have something like this.
Jack up the rear and hold it up using jackstands.
Remove your wheels and get ready for some fun.
Disconnect your rear sway bar end links and either remove the sway bar completely or you can just let it hang at this point. We will get back to it and the front sway bar in a bit.
Remove your bump stops. There is a bolt in the center of them, I believe its a 12mm socket.
Undo your rear shock mount. (17mm or 19mm I think)
Using a floor jack, jack up one side of your rear end until you can remove the rear coil spring on the opposite side.
It shouldn't take much effort.
After you have this removed you can reach the top shock nut much easier. I recommend spraying some PB Blaster on it when you start this job so it comes off easier. Mine were a ***** to get off and they are hard to get to. I want to dick punch the engineer that came up with this shock mount design.
After you have removed the shock you can put in the new spring.
Here are some comparison pics. I went for the Fox 2.0 shocks because I hadn't seen any reviews so I figured I could be the test subject. So far (1 week with only 4 days driving on it) I like them.
To install the new spring, take the rubber spring mount on the top and put it in the new spring. Then install it where it goes up top and we used 2 of us, one with a pry bar to slightly compress the spring and the other to push the bottom into place. Once the spring is in make sure that it is settled in the right orientation. It should be pretty obvious.
Next, install the new shock into the hole up top but don't put on the top bushing or the nut. Then install the lower part of the shock onto the shock mount and loosely tighten the nut.
Repeat this process on the other side.
Once you are done, put the wheels on and lower the truck back down.
It should look like this.
Now you can install the top bushing and nuts on the top of the shocks. With the lift you should have plenty of room to accomplish this easily. Tighten the top nuts and the bottom mount bolt/nut.
Double check that everything is tight, all around, front and back.
Check again.
Take it for a spin around the block.
Check again.
At this point you can re-install your sway bar links if you want to. My fronts went right back in, I haven't re-installed the rear so I am not sure about that.
Take pictures and enjoy.
I think I covered anything. If I missed anything, you want more specific pictures or have any questions please feel free to let me know and I will do the best I can to get the correct information on here.
