how hard was it to do your lift? how long did it take you?

[Blazintrails03]

alright so i got a quote today for 6-7 labor hours. in northern va thats around $600-$700 and thats with me providing all parts and having new struts, springs, strut mount, and lift built so all they would have to do is swap out the front coil over assemblies and swap out the rear shocks and springs and install the spacer while at it. i know for a fact hes quoting me a little high cause i have yet to find anyone in this area that has lifted a TB and he doesnt know what hes getting into. i am fine with the high quote cause i understand where he is coming from and also the shop came highly recommended from my soon to be father-in-law and he trusts the guy fully. im sure if it ended up being like 2 hours or so he would adjust the pricing.

i have worked in an auto shop before for 5 years and was thinking about trying it myself in the parking lot just wondering what you guys have run into and had trouble with and how long it took you to do this on your own. i would be using mostly run of the mill hand tools but im also thinking about picking up a cordless makita impact wrench to help. i already have a makita 5 piece kit and found the bare tool impact on amazon for around $150

[DirtyBacon04]

soak your shock mounts with PB Blaster several DAYS before attempting the lift. Other than that, if you have a reliable pair of spring compressors and a solid work station, should go pretty smooth. Just make sure you pay attention to how the bushings are supposed to go on.

[Blazintrails03]

yeah ive read a couple places to hit all the bolts with oil like once a day for a week before you even attempt or something like that. atleast that was gonna be my plan. and my dad is a mechanic for city of fairfax and they have a wall mounted spring compressor i could use to put the assembly together but being a government facility my TB cant go in the bay so no lift and no air tools. damn politics

[DirtyBacon04]

I would invest in that makita impact you were talking about. I know Roadie keeps one locked and loaded at all times. We used his to install my 89s and it was a piece of cake.

[NC_IslandRunner]

alright so i got a quote today for 6-7 labor hours. in northern va thats around $600-$700 and thats with me providing all parts and having new struts, springs, strut mount, and lift built so all they would have to do is swap out the front coil over assemblies and swap out the rear shocks and springs and install the spacer while at it. i know for a fact hes quoting me a little high cause i have yet to find anyone in this area that has lifted a TB and he doesnt know what hes getting into. i am fine with the high quote cause i understand where he is coming from and also the shop came highly recommended from my soon to be father-in-law and he trusts the guy fully. im sure if it ended up being like 2 hours or so he would adjust the pricing.

i have worked in an auto shop before for 5 years and was thinking about trying it myself in the parking lot just wondering what you guys have run into and had trouble with and how long it took you to do this on your own. i would be using mostly run of the mill hand tools but im also thinking about picking up a cordless makita impact wrench to help. i already have a makita 5 piece kit and found the bare tool impact on amazon for around $150

6-7hrs, $600-$700! $100/hr Find a new shop this guys a crook charging that rate! Or call some friends and DIY!

[JorDaneeKey]

It took us 2 days working in the driveway with no garage. We did the fronts first. Biggest hassle was compressing the springs. We were nervous about it since Mike knew of a few guys that had been injured before, and you really have to compress them to get the spacers on. So that is probably what took the longest.

You'll need to cut some metal to flip the UCAs. No big deal there. Just takes time.

The rear was easier, by far. However, we were slightly stumped at first how to get the panhard bar reconnected because the tail had shifted an inch or so. That's what working out in Florida heat on a crushed seashell driveway will do to you....However, we figured it out at the same time and I merely pushed against the rear side to line it back up to connect the bar.

Overall, it took maybe 13 hours with several rest breaks from the heat. It would have gone fast, but getting the springs compressed, oh! Yeah, forgot about the front shocks. One was completely rounded so the Alan wrench was useless. We ended up cutting that.....which was even more terrifying (for me anyways). So, aside from those challenges, it would have gone faster. And it really wasn't that bad. Just lots of cursing from Mike and lots of frustrated grunts from me.

[mikekey]

Ugh, so glad we have a 2 car garage now. I'm pretty sure the 80% humidity slowed us down considerably.

[Blazintrails03]

I would invest in that makita impact you were talking about. I know Roadie keeps one locked and loaded at all times. We used his to install my 89s and it was a piece of cake.

Yeah I figured it would be nice to have around just for the fact of flats and at home rotates

[Blazintrails03]

6-7hrs, $600-$700! $100/hr Find a new shop this guys a crook charging that rate! Or call some friends and DIY!

That's actually the going rate for this area. I could possibly find a shop that charges $95 an hour

[Blazintrails03]

Jordaneekey you're like the good part of my fiancé she's wants the lift done and wants to go for trail rides as well but I don't think I could get her to help me install it or if I would want her help haha. It's awesome you were able to help Mike out

Mike you're a lucky man bro

[TangoBravo]

Can be done with basic hand tools and of course a spring compressor. I have power tools took me five hours start to finish. But I am a mechanic and took afew beer breaks as well, probably could have got it done in three.

[v7guy]

I think I was at a bit more than 4 hours for the install.

I don't even try to remove the nut on the shocks without heating it up with a mapp gas torch.
You'll spend a good bit of the time compressing the spring. Removing the shock from the yoke can be a bear too. Spray it along with the nuts.
You can do it all with basic tools and it's worth it for the money.

[dvanbramer88]

me providing all parts and having new struts, springs, strut mount, and lift built so all they would have to do is swap out the front coil over assemblies and swap out the rear shocks and springs and install the spacer while at it.

If you are showing up with assembled strut/coilover assemblies, The lift should take like 2 hours maybe 3. When we lifted Josh's TB, he traded lifted strut assemblies for his stock assemblies with another member, and we also did rear shocks, springs, and lift blocks. And added wheel spacers and 4 new wheels. And it only took 2ish hours to swap all the parts and put 2 trucks back together. Granted we had 3 experienced guys turning wrenches. I bet you could lift one truck by yourself in 3 if you already had assembled, lifted strut assemblies ready to go.

And 100/hour is a rip-off. The expensive shops around here are 80/hour. The shop I get my truck inspected at is 55/hour.

For you, I feel like the learning experience doing it yourself is worth it alone. Knowing your truck mechanically and having experience working on it is a great investment for your time. Saving 500+ dollars makes doing it yourself priceless.

[JorDaneeKey]

Jordaneekey you're like the good part of my fiancé she's wants the lift done and wants to go for trail rides as well but I don't think I could get her to help me install it or if I would want her help haha. It's awesome you were able to help Mike out

Mike you're a lucky man bro

She might surprise you! And frankly, working on vehicles together is a surefire way to learn how to work together under tough circumstances (which btw, is REALLY important when you're out on the trails alone. Communication, teamwork, and trust!). I think the only thing I've not worked with Mike on in the truck was the wiring of the CB. I've assisted and been by his side every step of the way on this build.

Perhaps though we were always fated to work together on cars considering my first TB hauled his Bravada out of a really deep hole.

We started dating shortly after that.

[HARDTRAILZ]

3-4 hours. Just need a set of spring compressor and an impact to tighten them. We do lift installs in parking lots at meets pretty regularly. Nothing to it.

[Cable810]

It took me 2 days to do front and back. I think It was 4 hours to do the rear and 6 hours for the front. It was super easy. If I could do it again I would.

[tbangert]

I did mine solo and took me about 10 hours to do, part of that was to run to the store to get a puller to get the lower strut mount off the lower a arm. I'd highly suggest doing the install yourself, you learn a bit about the truck. I know my truck inside and out, know what every noise is and why my check engine light is on, ect. Having that knowledge could help you a lot more on the trail.

[Conner299]

I found a way around using a puller on the lower strut mount. I unthreaded the nut till it was flush with the end of the threads. Then used a small sledge to TAP on the nut. Two or three times and it came right off. Had no problems with mushrooming the thread or the nut not coming off.

[fishsticks]

I found a way around using a puller on the lower strut mount. I unthreaded the nut till it was flush with the end of the threads. Then used a small sledge to TAP on the nut. Two or three times and it came right off. Had no problems with mushrooming the thread or the nut not coming off.

I do the same thing, except I pound the shit out of mine. Also, pickle fork between the mount and the stud.

Works every time.

[Opeth]

Think it took me that long, I had a poor set of spring compressors which made the job longer till I rented a proper pair.