OEM Front Coil Spacers Installed (8 Viewers)

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BTW, it took my shop 35 minutes to install these, they charged me $80 and my alignment at the alignment shop was $86 with tax. All in with the cost of the spacers was $236.
 
Done! This should keep me happy until momma allows the Dobinsons MRR kit to go on lol.

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@Tex68w what size KO2s do you have installed? The stance in photo two is perfect, IMO.
 
Were your shops anywhere near DFW? If so I’m interested! Thx

No, he's in south Texas. I wish I had a similar shop like his when I lived in Plano many years ago lol. He did the entire lift on my Super Duty to include Sulastic Shackles, external reservoir coil overs, track bar, rear springs, front arms, etc. for $400. He did the lift on my new RAM 3500 for $200 and knocked it out in under two hours solo. He's thorough, quick, and most of all very fair with his fee, keeping a low overhead and a staff of two to include himself certainly helps. These shops charging $1000+ to install a bolt on kit make me sick and yet people flock to them and recommend them blindly on the forums, it's silliness.
 
BTW, it took my shop 35 minutes to install these, they charged me $80 and my alignment at the alignment shop was $86 with tax. All in with the cost of the spacers was $236.
Only 35 minutes...do you know if the alignment was off ? I think I will have my mechanic do the spacers rather than my dealer who does not want to put them in.
 
The only thing off was toe and it wasn't by much but I still recommend you get an alignment afterwards.
 
Had the spacers put on mine about 2 weeks ago by the dealership here in Bend, Oregon. They did an alignment. Just over $425 or so for everything. I had a significant rake on my 2021 HE. And it was worse after adding airbags. The spacers didn't eliminate the rake but brought it closer. About an inch different. And when I two our trailer with 700# of tongue weight and a WD hitch and 20 PSI in the airbags it levels out. (When not towing I have the airbags at ~6 PSI.)
 
Had the spacers put on mine about 2 weeks ago by the dealership here in Bend, Oregon. They did an alignment. Just over $425 or so for everything. I had a significant rake on my 2021 HE. And it was worse after adding airbags. The spacers didn't eliminate the rake but brought it closer. About an inch different. And when I two our trailer with 700# of tongue weight and a WD hitch and 20 PSI in the airbags it levels out. (When not towing I have the airbags at ~6 PSI.)
What airbag kit did you go with? Did you do a central inflation system or individual?
 
What airbag kit did you go with? Did you do a central inflation system or individual?
Firestone. (Can't remember the model number but I believe it is the same that others here have used. I followed the lead of @linuxgod). As for the line, I went with the combined setup (T-connection) and had the single line run under the vehicle and then the valve mounted under the hood right next to my ARB air compressor. Note the red circled area in the attached photo. It is actually close enough that I can plug in the air chuck/gauge into the compressor and then attach the short hose from the chuck onto the airbag value without needing to use my long air hose. Works great.

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airbag model #s are in my sig. first set is for stock suspension (crossed off). Current ones are for mild lifts
 
Recently joined the LC200 ranks and have been implementing my upgrade plan starting with spacers and new shoes. I dug deeply through this and other threads to pull together all the information possible to provide my local shop and tried to stay on top of them during install. They said they did not need to mess with the KDSS to install the spacers. <Q1> Is that possible? <Q2> Do I still need to open/ bounce to reset the system since they did not? Thx in advance!
 
If they think they can get enough droop out of the sway bars to install them I don't see why not but I don't think it would have been possible when we installed them on my 200. Let us know how it goes.
 
Did anyone change the caster measurement after adding these spacers? When Slee did a 1.5-2” ARB OME lift on my 2016 they set the caster to +3.5-4 degrees. I am wondering if I should do something albeit something less now that I had the spacers added. I know the dealership did an alignment after the install of the spacers but I don’t know if they changed the caster from whatever the stock setting is.
 
Greetings all:

New to the forum. I posted what I did on another thread as well, but this one seems a bit more on point, so I'm basically duplicating my post here as well.

I completed the spacer install on my 2021 LC200. It was a real PITA and I'm not sure if I'd go through the effort again unless I was installing a new suspension at the same time. Regardless, it does level the vehicle out and I am pleased with the results. There really is no way to get the LCA to just "swing down", at least, not on my new vehicle. There was a LOT of resistance. Might be easier to loosen the alignment cam bolts, but I didn't want to mess with that.

Also, despite what I've read here and elsewhere, my vehicle had noticeable positive camber and will need an alignment after the install of the spacers. So marking or photographing the alignment might be kind of pointless, since you might want to have the positive camber dealt with by a shop.

One other thought: Once upon a time, I used to have a drive-on lift. The strut removal/install would have been a breeze with the vehicle on a drive-on lift then using ratchet straps to ratchet down the lower control arms downward by wrapping the straps around the lift.

So here is a step-by-step of what I did from my own notes (sorry, no pics):

  • Open KDSS Shutter Valves
    • Tools Required:
      • 5mm Alan Key or Socket; OR
      • 8mm socket with extension (newer KDSS valves)
  • Turn BOTH shutter valve bolts counterclockwise 2.5 turns (no more than 3 turns)
  • Measure height of each front corner of the vehicle and note the height somewhere: should be 34.5" ground to fender well for a stock LC200.
  • Jack up the entire front end, support using jack stands.
  • Remove the front wheels
    **DISASSEMBLY PER SIDE**
  • Using bungee cords or similar, support the spindle as tightly up as you can (not sure how much good this did, but it made sense).
  • Disconnect the Sway Bar Linkage using a 19mm socket
  • Remove Lower Strut Bolt using a 22mm socket and 22mm spanner (box/open-end)
  • Loosen the two (2) lower control arm bolts using a 22mm socket with long breaker bar.
  • Lower control arm (LCA) should then be able to move downward for levering.
  • Remove the four (4) bolts at the top of the strut.
    • Leave the two outward nuts very loosely attached to prevent the strut from dropping and potentially damaging the CV boot.
  • Be prepared to turn the steering as you work to allow for better access and CV boot awareness.
  • LEVER the strut out. Note: This requires a VERY large screw driver and is HARD.
  • Install spacers, noting outward direction as indicated on spacers, you may need to finesse the strut down a bit, watch the CV boot.
    **REASSEMBLY PER SIDE**
  • Install the four (4) bolts very loosely at the top of the strut.
  • LEVER the strut back into the LCA.Note: Very large screw driver and also HARD AF.
    • Plan for a second person;
    • Have some wood blocks, pieces, etc. to jam between suspension stops.
    • This is basically patience, a bit of geometric thinking, blood, sweat, tears, and cursing.
  • Torque the four (4) top strut bolts:
    • Torque to 33 ft. lbs.
  • Reinstall the two (2) lower control arm bolts:
    • Torque to 221 ft. lbs.
  • Reinstall Lower Strut Bolt, hand tight only.
  • Reinstall front wheels.
    • Torque Lug Nuts to 97 ft-lb or 131 Nm (in case you were wondering what the lugs should be torqued to)
      **LOWER VEHICLE**
  • Reinstall Sway Bar Linkage:
    • This will require lowering the vehicle.
    • Using screwdrivers as levers and while the vehicle is on the ground with wheels on, finesse the driver's side linkage in, you may want to use a 6 point socket with a very long extension to finagle the inner linkage mount straight.
    • Then jack up the passenger side, and only the passenger side.
    • Then use a floor jack to compress the sway bar under the sway bar spring/damper (look for the rubber boot) on the driver's side):
      • This will allow the passenger sway bar linkage to lower and be levered back into the linkage seat, wheels must be straight.
      • This will also take some patience and finagling, but it does fit back in without much force. Keep in mind you can lightly lever the bushing around with a 6 point socket and long extension to get the right angle for final fitment, like the drivers side.
    • Lower the passenger side.
    • Torque both sway bar linkage bolts to 89 ft. lbs.
  • Torque Lower Strut Bolt
    • Torque to 144 ft. lbs.
  • Allow vehicle to “settle” for 5-10 minutes.
  • Close KDSS shutter valves:
    • Torque to: 10 ft. lbs. or 14 Nm (140 kgf/cm, 10 ft/lbf).
  • This should “level” the vehicle. Result: 35.5” from ground to fender will, 1” lift.
  • You will likely have positive camber, so you may want to plan for an alignment.
    **INSTALLATION COMPLETE**
I am sure there are other ways to do it, some might be a lot easier than the way I chose, but I hope my step-by-step proves useful to some of the folks out there. If nothing else, I already did the torque setting legwork by lurking Tundra forums. I discovered how to get the sway bar passenger linkage to drop using a floor jack by lurking 4Runner KDSS related forums.

Give yourself a full uninterrupted weekend to do this so you're not stressing too much while dealing with the lower strut removal and reinstall or the sway bar headaches. I spent some time head-scratching and googling, so it turned into a two day job for me.

Cheers,

Dave
 
Ah, and the Tough Dog installation video is a bit misleading IMHO, since it makes it look like putting the strut back in is simple. However, if you look closely at about 1:50 in, you will notice a very large pry bar just behind the installer being levered by a second person off camera. I suspect this same large pry bar was used to make the removal look pretty easy as well. Since I wasn't removing the struts completely, I did not disconnect the steering linkage and instead just opted to just disconnect the two LCA bottom bolts. If you're replacing the struts (i.e. doing a full lift), as opposed to just slipping in spacers, then you will want to remove the steering linkage to give space for full strut removal and replacement. I'm on the fence with loosening the upper control arm linkage vs. the two bottom LCA bolts; I try to avoid using hammers around expensive-to-replace-pressed-in rubber grease-booted fittings if/when I can. Most DIY folks aren't going to have a torque wrench that can go to 221 ft. lbs. for the two LCA bolts, so I can kinda understand why they wouldn't go this route in a DIY install video.

Regardless, a great video to get your head around what to expect if you start screwing with your front suspension.

 
UPDATE: After 50 miles and an alignment, the spacer install into about a 3/4" lift/level in front (and I'm being generous). My wife asked me if it was worth the effort...my immediate answer: No. It just isn't enough of a difference to really matter, and I don't care how many pics from how many angles get posted. If I knew then what I know now, I would have just driven it as is and worried about leveling it when I was ready to go off pavement with it.

So, for those of you on the fence about doing this to a newer LC200 (much like I was), I advise against it. The juice isn't worth the squeeze IMHO. If you're paying someone else to do it: I still advise against it. Just wait till you feel your truck is ready for a 2"+ leveling lift and be happy with how it rides on pavement until that day.

Again, this is just my own personal opinion after doing the work and driving the results. I mean no offense; each to his own.

Dave
 
I had mine installed when the dealer installed my Bilsteins. Pretty much was a free installation since they were installing the new shocks. As you mentioned, I too wouldn't have installed them alone. Very satisfied with the look and ride.
 
UPDATE: After 50 miles and an alignment, the spacer install into about a 3/4" lift/level in front (and I'm being generous). My wife asked me if it was worth the effort...my immediate answer: No. It just isn't enough of a difference to really matter, and I don't care how many pics from how many angles get posted. If I knew then what I know now, I would have just driven it as is and worried about leveling it when I was ready to go off pavement with it.

So, for those of you on the fence about doing this to a newer LC200 (much like I was), I advise against it. The juice isn't worth the squeeze IMHO. If you're paying someone else to do it: I still advise against it. Just wait till you feel your truck is ready for a 2"+ leveling lift and be happy with how it rides on pavement until that day.

Again, this is just my own personal opinion after doing the work and driving the results. I mean no offense; each to his own.

Dave
I had the dealer do it in a day for not a lot of money. I feel it greatly improved the look… I had rear airbags installed for towing which raised the rear, so the spacers prevented even more rake than stock. As you say it’s not a huge difference…but I’ll bet your disappointment is from doing the work yourself.
 

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