Coilovers arrive tomorrow... any tips prior?

My Toytecs are due in and I pick them up tomorrow. I will also be swapping out the UCA's. Any tips or advice that you guys have for making the UCA swap as easy as possible? I'm already familiar with the coilover process since I put the Readylift spacers in.

 

buy you a case of beer

 

I sprayed down all the bolts to let them soak to make removal a little easier.

 

If you don’t have air tools, consider making a last minute purchase!

 

I have plenty of those.

 

The UCAs were a tougher install than the coilovers, IMO. Had to remove stuff in the engine bay.

 

That long bolt on the UCA was a bear to move around the engine bay and to get the wrenches on. Hardest part of the install. You will love your Toytec Coilovers.

 

Check with Firestone Tire if you have in your area they offer a lifetime alignment for around 169.00. It makes it nice when you want to adjust your shocks you can have the alignment rechecked for free.

 

That is exactly what I did. they do offer a Military discount if the sale is not ongoing.

 

after struggling and breaking knuckles for a few hours, i gave in, broke out the sawzall and bought new bolts.

 

Firestone is hit or miss I think. In Houston, 3 locations couldn't get mine right with SPCs and 5100s. I had their wonderful lifetime warranty. Kept getting "toe-n-go's" no matter what I specifically asked for. Horrible experience, and made my alignment worse and eventually they claimed a seized tie rod, and that's when I gave up on them. I ended up learning how to do the alignment myself (it's a PITA as well) but it got me to at least be able to drive it somewhere who was capable of doing it correctly, including the upper ball joint. Reading y'all suggest Firestone made me boil again, it was that bad of an experience. I have a whole write-up on TW about them and learning to DIY lol....

Good luck with the install OP! A set of needle nose vise grips helped me pull back the inner fender/body so the bolt slides out through the engine bay easier...otherwise, enjoy the beer!

 

Mine is a 13 but the bolt will still be fun getting it out? I dont know if the engine bay is any different between 2nd and 3rd gens.

 

pulling the battery will give you a lot more working room on the driver side. if the bolts are stuck, it'll be faster and less frustrating to just cut them off.

 

That bolt on the uca is a bitch. You need to disconnect things in engine bag to do it right. Take out your battery as well to give you room. The sucky part is the washer on the long bolt kept seizing. If you have one pair of hands in the engine bay pulling the bolt and another set tapping that washer while the bolt slides it’s way easier. Also you’ll need a balljoint puller to unseat the spindles from the old UCA. I’d rent one before you start the job.

 

I also had to loosen the LCA to get the longer shocks in. Mark the LCA cam bolt so you know where to reset than to. 208 ft/lbs I believe.

 

I had 200 miles on mine when i did it, so no corrosion. The hard part with the bolt is feeding it through the A/C hoses on the passenger side, and all the gear on the driver side. I watched some youtube videos before to get an idea on how to do the install. The wife called it creative play, i called it research.

 

pulling the sway bar off will give you some more room as well.

 

Same esentially. Def same UCAs

 

the problem is that the bolt is like 1.5 feet long or something. It connects both side of the UCA. To get it out you need a clear straight path from the hole because if you pull at an angle it will bind. its not necessarily the bolt but all the hoses and wiresd that obstruct the path. pulling and pushing at the same time is a two hand job. I had a buddy sit in the wheel well and help the bolt along and keep ot from backsliding as i made continuing adjustments to the contents of the engine bay.

it sucks because the bolt will slide back down
if you let it go. Its just tedious. if you do'nt do your due diligence preparation in the engine bay it will fight you, hard, the whole way.

also those washers are huge and make the job more difficult as now your bolt head is 3 times as wide!

With that being said your best tool is going to be patience

 

As mentioned by others above, the UCA bolts are a pain in the ass. Specifically the driver's side. The passenger's side was fine if you move all the little hoses out of the way and have one person push while the other one pulls from the engine bay. For the driver's side, I used the 7/8" / 22mm tire iron that comes with the truck with a pipe attached to loosen the UCA bolt. It has the perfect angle to get in behind some pesky hoses that wouldn't budge for me. To tighten them, I couldn't get a torque wrench in there, so I just got them pretty tight using the same method/tools.

I know for a fact that some people have popped out their CV axle out of alignment, but they were disconnecting the lower UCA ball joints, rather than the upper UCA ball joint (since you are replacing the UCA, just disconnect the upper UCA ball joint, don't worry about the lower)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E_GpBuNzAY

This video was extremely helpful for me while installing a similar setup.

 

@Tundra234 let us know how your install goes?

 

Will do!

 

agreed, get a buddy to help. An extra pair of hands in the engine bay is worth the case of beer or whatever without a doubt.

 

Get yourself one of these wrenches and a breaker bar with a short 22, disconnect the two electrical harness securing bolts on the driver's side (one by battery & one by the frame underneath) and one hose retainer bolt up front on the passenger side. No need to mess with the battery or fuel lines with this wrench. Only took a couple hours to do both sides.

$34 GEARWRENCH GearBox 12 Pt. XL Double Box Ratcheting Wrench, 22mm - 85922

https://www.amazon.com/GearWrench-8...+Ratcheting+Wrench&qid=1587770319&s=hi&sr=1-2

 

Eat your Wheaties ! Your gonna need it.

 

On hold for the install until my next work from home week on the 4th....that and the resi mount brackets and hardware were missing.

 

Hey I just realized something. I didnt order the full lift kit...I ordered just the Alumas and the rear with resis. I contacted them about sending me the missing brackets and hardware, but did I need to get the bump stops separately since I didnt order a full kit?

Second question....I didnt order shackles yet bc I already have a block installed, but once I remove the block and replace it with shackles, wont the alignment have to be done again? My thinking is that if I will have to realign it, I might as well order shackles too if i have to order the bump stops.

 

I second eating your Wheaties. I just did a full job on mine this week. It's certainly doable by yourself, but it'll be a long day. The Dewalt cordless impact wrench I recently bought became my new best friend.

 

Thanks for the tips. Amazon wont arrive in time for my planned day for the swap out but I found a local tool store that has it in stock for the same price.

 

So far so good. The ride is much better than the spacer kit. Looking at yours, I see your ABS line was a little tight as well between the control arm and the bolt area. I twisted my brackets a little to give more slack. I ran into a nightmare trying to install the shackles. Unfortunately I will have to lower the exhaust for the install.