Lifting my 80, Do it myself or how much $ to pay

[Arya Ebrahimi]

Thanks for stating that!!! Make those of us that have to fight and get the kids junk out of the garage before we can even think about getting started a bit jealous. And if you mention a hydraulic lift, I WILL find you and beat you!!!

He has 3 hydraulic lifts And btw, I'm the "kid" in my family whose stuff has to be taken out of the garage Currently have two axles, all my tools(big tool box, torch bottles, 220 welder, etc etc) and a TON of other misc. crap from my Jeep days all in a 1 1/2 car garage :whoops: . If you're doing your own work and don't have air tools(I don't) I HIGHLY recommend a cordless impact. They are expensive for the good ones $2-300 but they are a lifesaver and you can take them on the trail with you for emergency repairs. I think their biggest help is when you have long bolts and don't want to sit there ratcheting away. Two seconds with the impact and you're done. I have the Craftsman proffessional 24V gun and it's more than powerful enough.



Ary

 

[TFS55]

here is Phillippines.

one tip for DIY guys with regards to OME springs so that the car wont lean to one side is to cross the springs. put the higher coil in the front on the left side and put the higher coil in the rear on the right side. this will even things a bit compared to putting all longer coils in one side.

 

[concretejungle]

My guess is it would be quite a bit cheaper if you buy from the the same shop you have install it. Most of the figures above seem to be based on buying from one and paying somone else to install.

I called slee and he said $300 is what they charge to install.

I agree about soaking the shock bolts, and for that matter all the bolts with PB Blaster several weeks before beginning the install.

And i agree with junk, sheesh, give it a shot yourself. If nothing else you can do the majority of the install and take the control arms to a shop to have the bushing pressed in.

 

[MoJ]

I called slee and he said $300 is what they charge to install.

Wow. Local 4x shop quoted me $85 yesterday! Guess that's the advantage of living in redneck country. Of course they don't have the LC expertise like Christo's gang. There you would know it was done correctly.

 

[concretejungle]

Yes, i called him because when i purchased my lift it was cold as hell out, didn't have a big enough jack, and didn't own any jack stands. Called a couple of mechanics, one of which i trusted and has worked on all my family's cars and has installed lifts of various types quoted me $350 i thought that was really high. I called christo and he said that's about right and that's about what they charge.

 

[nakman]

Thanks for all the help. I feel better now attempting to do the job myself. The only thing I am concerned about is being able to break loose the bolts without breaking the bolt off. I do not have access to air tools so its hand tools all the way. The caster bushings also concern me but I guess I will have to have a shop do it for me anyways so no big deal.

Mooker, one thing that hasn't been said yet is you don't need to do this all at once. Many of us drove around for years without doing the castor correction. That was with 850's up front myself.. what are you getting, anyway? J springs is probably pushing it, maybe, but anything less is not a big deal- you can still steer your truck fine, it's just a little squirrely on the highway when there are ruts worn in from repeat traffic. You get used to it, and you even forget about it, until your wife drives your rig and reminds you. The castor correction is better, safer, and the right thing to do.. but geez put it off for a few weeks if you want. (IMO, of course. )

 

[Brentbba]

One suggestion if you really want to put your rig on a lift to do this...check out local high school auto shops. Some may 'rent' their lifts or space on weekends.

 

[mooker82]

Thanks once again for the help. I thought about doing the lift without the bushing and seeing how it was. The only problem is here the roads are pretty well rutted due to hurricanes and flooding. I just bought the car and want to avoid getting yelled at for messsing up the handling on a 2 week old car. I was planning on going with the highest OME Lift but not the J springs. I can not recall the part # at the moment.

 

[Beowulf]

Mooker,

You must use tall jack stands. Do not attempt with the 3-tonne from HF or Sears. Get the 6-tonne or larger. You need height so you can drop the axle and pull out the old spring.

The shock bolts likely to break are the lower rear shock bolts. Soak them with PB Blaster, Kroil, Toyopeen or equivalent (ie not WD40) The upper left front shock nut can be a little finicky for some that live in areas where rust is a problem. Use care not to bust the plastic connector on the ignition coil lest you cause yourself more grief.

I don't agree with the above suggestion from TFS55 to swap the rear spring locations. Follow Christo's advice or, at least follow the advice from OME.

-B-

 

[Junk]

Wow. Local 4x shop quoted me $85 yesterday! Guess that's the advantage of living in redneck country. Of course they don't have the LC expertise like Christo's gang. There you would know it was done correctly.

When comparing cost, make sure you compare apples to apples. Not saying you aren't, but I find it hard to believe they'd do everything for $85. Heck, for that price, I wouldn't do it myself and would instead sit there with my feet propped up downing diet cokes barking orders about making sure to anti-seize the bolts going on, clean off the spring perches etc. May even toss in a few freebie belches.

 

[Riley]

$85 is silly. It's gonna take at least an hour just to do the caster correction bushings, likely longer on the first time. Also some bonehead is not going to understand how position them correctly in the arms. Most shops have no clue, I had to teach my local 4x4 shop.

Probably figure on at least 1 guy and shop 2 to 4 hours and that's if he's lucky. What shop with a hoist and 20 ton press works for $25/hour?

I'd do the springs yourself and then determine how to do the bushings. Then find someone that will press in the bushings. That's gonna save you the most $$.

Otherwise I bet to get it done right, it's gonna cost you in the area of $300.

Junk's right, make sure it's apples to apples, most shops don't know what a caster correction bushing is.

 

[MoJ]

I didn't say $85 Canandian, $85 greenbacks....... %$#@^

Cheap - guess that's the beauty of a small midwest town.