txbonds 15 4Runner Trail Edition thread

[txbonds]

Radflo passenger coil over in place. Lower bolt nut torqued to 70 ft lbs per the FSM (TIS Website). Upper 3 lock nuts tightened snug without torque setting per the Radflo instructions.

Camburg UCA installed using factory bolt and Camburg supplied hardware. Torqued to 85 ft lbs per the Camburg instructions with red loctite. Had to move a hard line forward to get a socket on the nut.

Need to tighten ball joint and reinstall the hose line brackets and bolts to the knuckle next.

 

[txbonds]

damn, you didn't just "detach" the front sway bar—you removed it.

Yep. Pretty simple process once I got started. Will put it back on in reverse order.

 

[txbonds]

Went ahead and ran to the store for some red loctite so the UCA bolt is now installed per the instructions.

Passenger side tire on and moving on to the drivers side

 

[cjacob316]

Red lactate? Might need to go see a doctor.

 

[txbonds]

Red lactate? Might need to go see a doctor.

Ha! Fixed it. Thanks.

iMac spell check. :barf:

 

[txbonds]

Drivers side done. Went a little faster than the passenger side.

Went back and added the ABS line brackets on both sides.

Now, I need to get the sway bar back on next, grease the various fittings and install the ball joint caps on the camburgs. Then I'm ready to start on the rear suspension work tomorrow after some rest.

 

[txbonds]

Stopped for dinner and a break but got the sway bar back on with a little fighting and the use of my thread restorer kit. :brick:

And officially finished the front end except for some grease in the ball joint and the UCA bushings, and an alignment. Also need an oil change so I'll wait to put the skids back on.

It is certainly higher in the front now. Can we say reverse rake……… LOL

 

[jrandom]

pop-a-wheelie Looks good.

 

[Mooney]

Don't forget those rear tires.

 

[txbonds]

Don't forget those rear tires.

Yeah man.

Getting older really sucks. I'm moving really slow today. Very sore from yesterday's work so I haven't gotten started yet on the rear. I can tell I've been sitting at a desk for the last few decades instead of doing physical work. LOL

 

[txbonds]

Had to drop my spare to start on the rear suspension so I was curious how it compared size wise to the cooper st maxi 255/80/17 tires. The spare is a BF Goodrich MT 255/75/17.

Honestly, it looks almost identical in size to me. In the picture it almost looks larger than the coopers. However, it looks almost identical in height to my Michelin 275/65/17 street tires too so what do I know.

One thing is for sure that on the steel spare rim it weighs a ton. Will probably order another FN Countersteer for the spare at some point to cut the weight down.

 

[txbonds]

Rear end jacked up under axle, heavy tall jack stands under frame on each side, and a tire under frame for added safety. Disconnected the sway bar to allow extra movement.

Factory bump stops removed on both sides

Factory Shocks removed both sides

Next up I'll remove the pan hard bar. Should have done that before removing tires but forgot. Will make it easier to articulate axle.

Also, its super humid and warm here today even though its winter so I cranked the air down to 69 and the dehumidifier down to 50%. Starting to cool down a bit and be a little more comfortable in the garage. :becky:

 

[txbonds]

Factory pan hard bar removed and rear factory shocks removed

With both side factory shocks, springs and pan hard bar removed, as well as one side of the sway bar upper connection removed, I was able to get the drivers side new spring in first, followed by the passenger spring using my floor jack under the rear diff as a support and pivot point, and using the truck jack over the axle to lower each side one at a time.

Next up is the Radflo shocks, then bump stops and new pan hard bar.

 

[txbonds]

Passenger side done

Radflo shock in place. With trial and error, I learned a trick to get these buggers in. Since mine are not the adjustable models, there is no way to lessen the pressure on them and I couldn't compress them myself. So what I came up with is to insert the lower eye onto the axle mount and then pivot the shock to get the upper bolt in line with the hole. Takes a few times to get it lined up just right. Once you get it aligned, remove it and insert the upper bolt through the frame hole and then go back to the axle mount. If you got the alignment right in the first step, it will slip easily onto the axle mount. I also used the truck jack to raise/lower the axle to get it in the correct spot.

Spring, shock and new bump stop in place

Next up is drivers side and then new adjustable pan hard bar.

 

[txbonds]

Drivers side finished. Heavy duty adjustable pan hard bar installed. Sway bar reattached.

Pan hard bar

View of pan hard and sway bar reattached.

View all 4 feet on the ground

Next up is the heavy duty rear lower links and possibly my sleekster rocker mount sliders today as well. :girl:

 

[alexb]

What all does the panhard bar do? Will it help for alignment? My rear toe is off now after my lift and I'm wondering if the bar would help.

 

[txbonds]

What all does the panhard bar do? Will it help for alignment? My rear toe is off now after my lift and I'm wondering if the bar would help.

The rear has no adjustment for toe. The pan hard bar simply adjusts where the rear wheels track in relation to the front ones. It will pull the axle back under the truck to recenter it after the lift. That said, the instructions from Sonoran indicate the factory bar is 40" from center hole to center hole and for a 2" lift you only adjust the new one to 40 1/16". Can't imagine 1/16" makes much difference and not much adjustment really but the heavy duty one allows for increased movement via the bushing setup and also is a heavier duty construction.

 

[96r50]

You're doing a great job documenting the lift install! Did you have any trouble removing or reinstalling the sway bars?

I remember some pretty furious debate on another forum about the value of adjustable panhard bars. They do allow you to centre the axle under the truck when lifted, but then they push the axle further to one side (in our case the driver's side) when the suspension is compressed. If it is only 1/16" I'd agree that the change is negligible, but then it would seem that you're better off just skipping the adjustable bar and eliminating an extra potential failure point.

 

[txbonds]

rear lower links installed. Had to do some R&R on the drivers side one as I snapped the bolt head on the small bolt holding the brake line bracket to the link.

Couldn't get the bolt out so I had to drill it and just use a stainless bolt with lock nut instead.

I messed up the pretty paint job and had to just hit it with some touch up spray mounted to the truck. As you can see it made a big mess, but solved the problem of the broken bolt. Of course this was the absolute last step to the lift install too.

 

[sandcrawler]

looks good, man!

if you didn't lube the bejeezus out of the UCA bushings beforehand, you may want to back off the UCA bolt and then shoot them full so the grease has an easier time migrating throughout.