In middle of installing new suspension, questions about torque and ride height

[frawstme]

Good evening,

I just finished installing the following on the front of my uzj100:
-SPC upper control arms
-Dobinsons IMS shocks
-Lower ball joints
-Moog sway bar links
-CV axles and diff seals

I'm having a few problems, the primary being my own fault- I didn't check my ride height before I disassembled everything. The other issue is that there's no install instructions for the shocks or the sway bar links so I don't know the torque specs.

Here's what I've got:

SPC UCAs (install instructions):
Top nut- 200 ft-pd, castle nut 45 ft-pd... but the pivot bolts ? I googled it and got several different torque specs for those

Dobinsons IMS shocks:
I have no idea what the torque specs are, there's no real info on their website. It just says "install at ride height" - but I don't know what that means exactly. If I put my jack under the lower control arm, the pressure from the shock won't allow the ride height to be less than 22.6". After that the entire side of the car just lifts up. I can't get it to that 19.75" factory spec.

Sway bar links:
I read that the top nut is 18ft pd and the bottom is 38ft pounds. however my sway bar is not sitting flush and looks weird:

The last question I have is out of all these items, what needs to be torqued at ride height, and how exactly do i figure out what ride height is:
-pivot bolts
-SPC UCA top bolt (200 ft pd)
-SPC UCA castle nut
-The top and bottom of the shocks (I know the top has to be torqued at ride height)
-Sway bar links


ps dont judge my rotors, I'll install new ones soon

 

[frawstme]

Bump please, it's morning now and I'm hoping to finish up today

 

[Zuberg]

Any bushings that see movement from suspension travel should be torque at ride height.

Sway bar bushings look that way due to suspension being dropped. They should look normal once at ride height. Aftermarket parts may also fit differently than OEM.

The FSM has the procedure for setting factory ride height. You don't mention if the truck is lifted etc. I'm guessing it may be since you're using Spc UCA.

The torsion bars are what set the ride height. You need to adjust the torsion bars to set ride height. The shocks just dampen it.

 

[frawstme]

Any bushings that see movement from suspension travel should be torque at ride height.

Sway bar bushings look that way due to suspension being dropped. They should look normal once at ride height. Aftermarket parts may also fit differently than OEM.

The FSM has the procedure for setting factory ride height. You don't mention if the truck is lifted etc. I'm guessing it may be since you're using Spc UCA.

The torsion bars are what set the ride height. You need to adjust the torsion bars to set ride height. The shocks just dampen it.

Appreciate the info. So basically only the shocks and sway bar links need to be adjusted at ride height, everything else won't matter. I think I will just hand tighten those a little and install the wheels, then torque them once the trucks on the ground.

I did more research last night and apparently there's not a real torque spec for the top bolt of the shocks, but instead to eyeball the bushing. I am still unsure about the UCA pivot bolts torque specs but it seems to be 72 ft-pds or 81 ft-pds.

Off topic but I watched a video last night by Timmy the toolman, he says the upper ball mounts torque spec was around 89 ft-lb. It's weird to me that SPC's installation guide says to torque it to half of that- I know it's after market but it's still holding the same weight and dealing with the same forces as OEM lol

If it's not obvious, I'm not an experienced mechanic and this is my first home suspension job that I'm doing without professional help

 

[jaewastooshort]

Appreciate the info. So basically only the shocks and sway bar links need to be adjusted at ride height, everything else won't matter. I think I will just hand tighten those a little and install the wheels, then torque them once the trucks on the ground.

I did more research last night and apparently there's not a real torque spec for the top bolt of the shocks, but instead to eyeball the bushing. I am still unsure about the UCA pivot bolts torque specs but it seems to be 72 ft-pds or 81 ft-pds.

Off topic but I watched a video last night by Timmy the toolman, he says the upper ball mounts torque spec was around 89 ft-lb. It's weird to me that SPC's installation guide says to torque it to half of that- I know it's after market but it's still holding the same weight and dealing with the same forces as OEM lol

If it's not obvious, I'm not an experienced mechanic and this is my first home suspension job that I'm doing without professional help

My understanding is that control arm pivots specifically need to be torqued at ride height to avoid pre-loading the bushing

 

[medtro]

I did more research last night and apparently there's not a real torque spec for the top bolt of the shocks, but instead to eyeball the bushing.

There is a real torque spec for that in the Toyota FSM. It is either 50 or 51 ft lbs.