Thanks for the responses - will be taking it on a small road trip south of Denver to check out a Landcruiser 60 series to give a sibling to my other 60. What’s wrong with us...people always talk about “the addiction” and “the bug”, I guess I got it
Link to airbag replacement I did a year or so ago
Placeholder 2019
June 2020
Needed to get rid of the rear shocks, they just seemed too hard for my pup riding in the back!
put in some 5100 Bilsteins but then pulled the trigger on 6112s for the front while I was talking to ToyTec about getting some rear 2” Icon springs, we discovered the Bilsteins are hard to get right now and he had one pair left in stock, so I bought them. In hindsight, if I hadn’t waited 1.5 months to get the rears I may have sent them back and gotten a whole different setup. But I think this will be fine.
taking a break from putting the fronts in while writing this... here’s a picture...I’m deciding how to get them in all the way. I have it on the 3rd notch which is 1.25” lift. Should I Rent a compressor and see if I can get the springs compressed a little, or maybe I should remove the upper control arm Ball joint to get some more space. What did you all do whose done this job?
I was on the second ring for a while and then decided to go to the 4th. I was not comfortable doing it with an HF compressor or a compressor borrowed from a LPS. So, I took both assemblies to my local Firestone (where I get my alignments) and asked if they would do it. Luckily, a young guy was eager to try with the hydraulic tool they had shoved in a corner. I paid Firestone for the time +/- and then gave the kid a tip for his willingness to help.
If you have a relationship with a shop of any kind, I would suggest taking the assemblies (off the car) to them. If you come armed with donuts or beer, I would wager that you will get it done easily.
Good idea but since I do all my own work and don’t let anyone touch my vehicles after multiple bad workmanship issues the few times I’ve tried...that said...how bad could they mess it up. I have one shop I might try if I can’t get it. So far the spring compressors don’t fit up high enough for me to really compress them enough. It’s closer, but not there even if I push the axle as far down as possible. I’m trying to break the upper joint off the uca using the hammer trick but no luck so far. I think that will allow the hub to drop enough to get them onto the perch.
I’m going to let it soak overnight and get the type of ball joint removing tool from harbor freight that doesn’t tear up the boot. If that doesn’t work, I’ll button it up without the coil overs in and see who can get them in. Can I actually drive without front struts in the car? I’d have to go a couple miles
In the future if hou have bad smells, you can buy bamboo charcoal air fresheners. They come is little pouches. Just leave them in the truck and it will absorb a lot of nasty smells. Leaving the carpet in the direct sunlight helps too. The UV rays do wonders on nasty smells.
Never heard of those. Where do you get them? Luckily the smell is gone now and the electric rear quarter window motors I installed make it so I never leave them open but actually I now think the water was in the back from the trim leaking. I replaced all those too, thanks to the guys on here.
I did a little research last night and figured out there a two bolts on the bottom of the steering knuckle that I should be able to remove to have the lower control arm drop away for easy install of the longer coil over.
Nobody wants their car to smell like an ashtray or their dirty clothes hamper to permeate the air. Fabric and room-deodorizing sprays go a long way toward covering up these odors, but they don’t get rid of smells. Plus, aerosol sprays release lung-damaging volatile organic compounds into the...
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You can get them on Amazon, at Walmart, Bed Bath and Beyond, ect...
Good idea but since I do all my own work and don’t let anyone touch my vehicles after multiple bad workmanship issues the few times I’ve tried...that said...how bad could they mess it up. I have one shop I might try if I can’t get it. So far the spring compressors don’t fit up high enough for me to really compress them enough. It’s closer, but not there even if I push the axle as far down as possible. I’m trying to break the upper joint off the uca using the hammer trick but no luck so far. I think that will allow the hub to drop enough to get them onto the perch.
I’m going to let it soak overnight and get the type of ball joint removing tool from harbor freight that doesn’t tear up the boot. If that doesn’t work, I’ll button it up without the coil overs in and see who can get them in. Can I actually drive without front struts in the car? I’d have to go a couple miles
Pull the two huge bolts below the lower ball joint and the lower arm will drop out enough for you to slide the lower end of the strut into the mounting bracket. Once you get the strut buttoned up use the floor jack to bring it back up enough to reinstall the bolts.
Thanks , that worked. I forgot my FSM again. Does anyone have a link to torque values for
OuterTie rod 19mm nut
Lower shock mount 19mm nut
Upper shock tower mounts 14mm nuts
Sway bar to end links 17mm nut
Sway bar to frame 14mm
Ball joint to knuckle bolts 19mm bolts
It’s back together, the fronts were at 23” until I drove it around the block - then everything seated and now it’s measuring 21” from center of hub to edge of wheel well.
I did the airbag trick and got the back to 22” without the spare tire in.
I used a 1/4” steel spacer to trick the air bags. Previously they were at 19.75”.
Pic of spacer between frame and sensor bracket to trick the air bag. Just loosen the two 14mm bolts and slip
a 1/4” piece of steel between the bolts and tighten back down. Later I’ll make a proper spacer with holes for the bolts.
Here’s Pig Pen with the Bilstein 6112 with circlip set to the middle notch (1.25” lift) and tricked airbags. The back is 1” higher than the front.
how’s the ride you might wonder. Incredibly soft. Surprisingly so. The front dips down when you brake in a parking lot going 5 miles per hour or less. I’m surprised I hadn’t read more about the softness. I would’ve gotten stiffer springs but they only had the 600# at toytec and I was happy they were in stock. Later if I put in a hidden winch I'll get the heavier front springs. For now they ride, well - like comfort setting.
