So after months of collecting a combination of used parts I finally got them all installed yesterday.
in November I purchased a 2005 Gx that already had the rear air bags swapped out for metal tech springs and OME shocks. at 296,000 km the only other mod that this truck had was some black painted Lexus rims.
photo of “before”
The truck was on 30” winter tires with next to no tread. Front hub to fender measured 19”. Rear hub to fender measured 21”
First up was swapping out some 32” Yokohama Mud Tires.
My measurements after the tires was front = 20” and rear = 22”.
I was able to get a super good used deal on kijiji for the following:
Icon UCA’s
Icon 2.5” coil over with remote reservoir
Icon 2.5 rear shocks with remote reservoir (more on these later)
Front sway bar relocate kit
I purchased new:
Dobinson 3” medium progressive rear springs
1.5” Synergy wheel spacers
1” diff drop kit
The front install took about 4-5 hours with the help of a friend from work. We didn’t have any big issues other then a few bent threads onsome of the bolts that we had to rechase.
(can’t figure out how to rotate photo)
we fab’ed up a little metal tab to support the reservoir mount that ended up half hidden by the skirting. Pretty stable and pretty happy with it.
The cv angles are almost flat with the diff drop kit - the only draw back was that they kit was supposed to include longer bolts for the rear skid plate mounts and they weren’t in the package. (I’ll dig out the package and figure out where they came from later). I’ll need to try and pick up some 2-2.5” bolts to get the skid plate back on.
The rear springs came out pretty easy. We used spring tensioner to get the new taller springsback in. Could not have done this with out them.
Once we got the new springs in we were ready for the Icon shocks. Local 4x4 shop (Krave) indicates that the lower rear shock mounts just needed to be ground down a little to accept the smaller lower bushing diameter that’s found on the Tacoma shocks. Well - I decided not to attempt grinding 1-2mm off the round shock mounting spindle and just re-installed the OME shocks that were in there. The shock length difference when we had them side by side on the ground was probably only 1.25” shorter for the OME compared to the ICONS. I’m not planning any huge articulation so this should work for the short to medium term.
Measurements after the install
Front 24.5”
Rear 24.75”
next up - an alignment.
The truck drives super good. Very smooth on the big bumps and great on the country road washboard.
all in all very happy with the lift and have some extra parts to sell including therear icons to hopefully save me enough $ for a Coastal front bumper or sliders.
Colin
in November I purchased a 2005 Gx that already had the rear air bags swapped out for metal tech springs and OME shocks. at 296,000 km the only other mod that this truck had was some black painted Lexus rims.
photo of “before”
The truck was on 30” winter tires with next to no tread. Front hub to fender measured 19”. Rear hub to fender measured 21”
First up was swapping out some 32” Yokohama Mud Tires.
My measurements after the tires was front = 20” and rear = 22”.
I was able to get a super good used deal on kijiji for the following:
Icon UCA’s
Icon 2.5” coil over with remote reservoir
Icon 2.5 rear shocks with remote reservoir (more on these later)
Front sway bar relocate kit
I purchased new:
Dobinson 3” medium progressive rear springs
1.5” Synergy wheel spacers
1” diff drop kit
The front install took about 4-5 hours with the help of a friend from work. We didn’t have any big issues other then a few bent threads onsome of the bolts that we had to rechase.
(can’t figure out how to rotate photo)
we fab’ed up a little metal tab to support the reservoir mount that ended up half hidden by the skirting. Pretty stable and pretty happy with it.
The cv angles are almost flat with the diff drop kit - the only draw back was that they kit was supposed to include longer bolts for the rear skid plate mounts and they weren’t in the package. (I’ll dig out the package and figure out where they came from later). I’ll need to try and pick up some 2-2.5” bolts to get the skid plate back on.
The rear springs came out pretty easy. We used spring tensioner to get the new taller springsback in. Could not have done this with out them.
Once we got the new springs in we were ready for the Icon shocks. Local 4x4 shop (Krave) indicates that the lower rear shock mounts just needed to be ground down a little to accept the smaller lower bushing diameter that’s found on the Tacoma shocks. Well - I decided not to attempt grinding 1-2mm off the round shock mounting spindle and just re-installed the OME shocks that were in there. The shock length difference when we had them side by side on the ground was probably only 1.25” shorter for the OME compared to the ICONS. I’m not planning any huge articulation so this should work for the short to medium term.
Measurements after the install
Front 24.5”
Rear 24.75”
next up - an alignment.
The truck drives super good. Very smooth on the big bumps and great on the country road washboard.
all in all very happy with the lift and have some extra parts to sell including therear icons to hopefully save me enough $ for a Coastal front bumper or sliders.
Colin
