UPDATE (FINISHED!): What step gave you the hardest time when installing new struts/leveling

[toxicity]

UCA bolt.
Didnt realize the bottom of the bolt was a hex.
Tried to wrench down and turn to tighten =|

 

[sephv1]

Back is the easiest part dude!

Maybe your truck wasn’t level. It was minimal effort getting that bolt back in both times I’ve done the rear. If it doesn’t line up you shove your jack under the pumpkin and pump the whole axle up till it lines up.

I can do the whole rear suspension with kdss in about a half hour + or -.

Believe, I tried jacking the axle up umpteen different ways, it wouldn't line up.

I spent more time getting the bolt back in than I did on the rest of the rear. Other than that, it was a piece of cake.

 

[sephv1]

You don’t need to actually remove it. Just loosen the bolt enough to have free play.

I was just following a video and he had removed one of the bolts to let everything drop and move around easier. not sure why mine had so much trouble lining back up.

 

[Rogue-Runner]

UPDATE (HELP NEEDED!): We got the three nuts off and got the driver's side strut in no problem. We moved to the passenger side but the strut seems off centered (see pic). Rotating it 180 degrees doesn't help. I think the shop that installed the preload spacer did it incorrectly. I found some threads of people having the same problem and they put a screwdriver or something longer through the eyelet and pulled in order to force it to rotate. I've tried this but it feels like I'm going to damage something. The torsion down at the bottom end is too far removed from the top that needs to rotate. Do I need to take the strut back to the shop to have them realign the strut? I don't see how I can get it to fit without compressing the spring and removing the top nut to rotate it.

If anyone can help I'd really appreciate it! The wife is none too happy about the 4Runner having to stay on jack stands

for a week...


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[fbksurferjoe]

UPDATE (HELP NEEDED!): We got the three nuts off and got the driver's side strut in no problem. We moved to the passenger side but the strut seems off centered (see pic). Rotating it 180 degrees doesn't help. I think the shop that installed the preload spacer did it incorrectly. I found some threads of people having the same problem and they put a screwdriver or something longer through the eyelet and pulled in order to force it to rotate. I've tried this but it feels like I'm going to damage something. The torsion down at the bottom end is too far removed from the top that needs to rotate. Do I need to take the strut back to the shop to have them realign the strut? I don't see how I can get it to fit without compressing the spring and removing the top nut to rotate it.

If anyone can help I'd really appreciate it! The wife is none too happy about the 4Runner having to stay on jack stands

for a week...


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Screwdriver or punch and twist it. You will not damage it. It is meant to rotate. Move the a arm down a little bit and twist.

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[Rogue-Runner]

I was finally able to twist it enough to partially fit it into the mount. If I let up, it would twist back out. With it partially in, I was able to hammer it into place and tighten the nut and torque once on the ground. It's got torsion right now, so hopefully it's ok.

My hopefully last issue (apart from grease coming out of the sway bar endlink bushing) is the sway bar endlink nut keeps spinning as I try to tighten it. Wasn't an issue on driver's side. I'm aware of the Allen hex. Holding it in place with an open end wrench still allows the back side to spin. The only thing that helps is using vise grips but you can't get it flush with the grips on there. Open to any tips. Thanks!!


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[Rogue-Runner]

I was finally able to twist it enough to partially fit it into the mount. If I let up, it would twist back out. With it partially in, I was able to hammer it into place and tighten the nut and torque once on the ground. It's got torsion right now, so hopefully it's ok.

My hopefully last issue (apart from grease coming out of the sway bar endlink bushing) is the sway bar endlink nut keeps spinning as I try to tighten it. Wasn't an issue on driver's side. I'm aware of the Allen hex. Holding it in place with an open end wrench still allows the back side to spin. The only thing that helps is using vise grips but you can't get it flush with the grips on there. Open to any tips. Thanks!!


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Never mind, everyone. With a different set of grips I was able to tighten it. Front end is all done! Moving on to the back this week hopefully before my tires get here on Thursday. I really appreciate everyone's help!


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[fbksurferjoe]

Never mind, everyone. With a different set of grips I was able to tighten it. Front end is all done! Moving on to the back this week hopefully before my tires get here on Thursday. I really appreciate everyone's help!


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Nice job. Hard part is over. The rears required me bending a bit of the metal around the top shock nut for access but otherwise you shouldn't have an issue.

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[Rogue-Runner]

UPDATE: TL;DR: It's done, track bars suck, thank you to everyone, and my dad rocks!

I finally drove my rig home around 4 a.m. this morning. The rear took longer than the front, which I wasn't expecting. Part of that was that the suspension kit that I bought included some parts I didn't' need like UCAs and UCA washers, only I didn't know they were UCA washers, so I spent a lot of time trying to figure out where they went.

After everything, the hardest part was reinstalling the track bar! I made the mistake of installing the shocks and the stabilizer links before the track bar (or my mistake may have been removing one of the track bar bolts in the first place). At 1 am I had literally washed my hands and given up because the bar was coming up about a quarter inch short no matter what I did. Before leaving my dad said let's try removing the shocks and see if we can make the geometry work. I thought I was going to have to buy an adjustable track bar or something. But with the shocks out of the way, we were able to get the axle in a position to bolt the bar back on. From there it was relatively smooth sailing, but we're slow so it took another two hours to put everything back together.

Overall, I'm really glad I did it even though some parts were frustrating. If you're debating whether to do it yourself, I say go for it! If I can do it, anyone can. I'm a lawyer and not mechanically inclined at all. I had never so much as changed a tire before last week. My dad is a custodian and is handy but has never worked on cars. That's a huge thanks to this community and everyone willing to share their experiences and help, so thank you!

Also, I've got the coolest dad in the world who was willing to pull 4 late nights in a row to help me do all of this because the only time I had was after 11pm. If anyone has any good father's day gift ideas, let me know cause he totally deserves it!! I'll post pics once new tires I ordered are installed this weekend.

 

[mcat707]

Glad you got it squared away OP. Your pops sounds like mine, hard working blue collar guy that isn’t afraid to get down and dirty and do what it takes to get the job done. My father is a 86 year old military Vet and is retired and is always looking for something to keep him busy and would be happy to help me tear down my suspension if I asked him to. I remember he would wear his $12K Rolex to change the timing belt in his old Lexus.

 

[RCopp17]

No spring compressor method is the way to go.

The hardest part for me was loosing the lower control arms after marking the cam bolts with paint pen, then getting them aligned up again.

How’d you manage to get your free? I’m running into a similar issue it sounds... can’t get the rear passenger one free to allow the LCA to drop. TIA


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[jtgrinsell]

I didn't have much trouble on the fronts...but the back was a PITA when it came to get thing the trac bar bolt back on. Had to use some ratcheting straps to get the axle to shift over like 3/8" inch so i could get the bolt back in.

I haven't tackled my fronts yet, will be doing that today, but last night I did the rears and had the hardest time getting that trac bar bolt back in place. That was probably a good third of my time doing the shock and spacer install.