glwood54 vs. stock 4R

Latest - Shock Warehouse has the rear Eibach shocks in stock, but not the front struts. That's why my order for a complete set was shipping from Eibach. The rep at SW said I have the option of either canceling the entire order, or just the front struts. If I leave my order with SW for the rear shocks, they would ship today from Mississippi, and I would then have to find the front struts in stock somewhere. Doesn't seem like a bad idea... any thoughts?

No response from PM to Wheeler's as of yet...

 

Let my order stand with Shock Warehouse for the rear Eibach shocks, to ship today. Spoke with Wheeler's by phone, they had 3 front struts on hand. I placed an order for those with Wheeler's. All seems to be moving forward again, pending any more vendor closings...

 

Good to see you moving forward.

 

Man! You have the worst luck with getting things shipped!

I hope you get everything soon. Looking forward to pics of the install!

 

Now that it looks like the suspension components are on their way, our governor declared that tomorrow all NM non-essential businesses should shut down. If that applies to the shop I was going to use for installation, I'll now have the Eibach shocks but no place to have them installed.

 

I would think a car repair shop would be an essential business. Plus, it's not like they have a lot of people gathering there.

Give them a call and see if they plan on closing. If not, tell them you have some parts coming in and you'd like to make an appointment.

 

In Wisconsin, auto repair has been deemed essential. I'm thinking you're probably right.

 

I think you're probably right. On the way home from a doc appt. this morning, O'Reilly Auto was open. If a parts store is open, more than likely a repair shop would be. I need to contact the Toyota dealership, as my 4R is due for its first Toyotacare visit.

 

I have an appointment for a body shop in the morning, i called to be sure they were going to be open, they are.

 

Careful on that. 100s of stories of stripped out skid plate bolts, busted oil filter covers, body damage and list goes on. Techs don't do the work, under paid entry level techs aka jiffy lube types do the oil changes

 

Tracking numbers received for everything. ETA 3/27.

 

It's still dragging on...two rear shocks are out for delivery today; Wheeler's shipped the two front struts at the same time, but in two separate boxes - one's out for delivery today, the other is still "in transit"...

 

WTF? I hope it shows up soon!

 

Tracking now shows the second strut delivery day to be Monday. They both shipped together, arrived at another UPS center together, but only the one continued on from there.

Having worked in the shipping dept for over 20 years, the best procedure was combining items into the fewest number of boxes to save on shipping costs. Two struts in one box doesn't seem unreasonable.

But then again, some say if you ship two items in one box, you increase the possibility of losing the entire order, and if you ship two items in two boxes, you double the chances that at least one will be lost...

 

LOL! Hope NEITHER of them get lost.

 

Rear shocks and one strut delivered today. The other strut arrived @ UPS today, will deliver Monday.

I went by the install shop, and chatted with them about the installation. They are running about three weeks out due to having 4 of their usual 6 techs out...

I might get these installed one day...

 

Last strut is out for delivery today. Thing now is, the shop is backed up around 3 weeks due to several of their install techs being off at present. I will check and see if that's still the case currently.

In the meantime, I have all of this week and next (at the least) off from my job; so I got to revisiting the 'no spring compressor' strut replacement videos for a Tacoma:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5E6u7dC7EHg

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jo0FJSi-KYs

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vkVLBOnAifc

This process really doesn't look to be all that difficult for a reasonably competent DIY person, which I'd like to consider myself, having worked on Toyota trucks & Jeeps for decades...I'm really considering tackling this myself.

The shop will do the install for $230 (+$100 for alignment, which I'll need anyway), which I don't mind paying to save the trouble, but waiting another 3 weeks is hard...

If I could just get my mind around dealing with the front KDSS, and/or what is necessary with that, I'd be all over this job. I have all the time and tools necessary; tempted...

 

I haven't done the no compressor method with KDSS and haven't really seen a beginning to end write up on it either, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

From what I can gather, it sounds like the first step would be to remove your skid plate and ratchet strap the KDSS coils in place on the ground before you lift it (like the picture below). Then jack the truck up, remove the tires, remove the bolts that connect the KDSS to the LCA (I think), and follow the rest of the no compressor method instructions.

Does this sound reasonable to anyone who has lifted a truck with KDSS? Keep in mind glwood is trying to do the no compressor method to replace his struts while keeping his stock coils, so it'll be a bit different than replacing the whole strut/coil assembly.

 

And after reading a bit more, it seems like some people have trouble with lining up the KDSS to LCA bolts when re-assembling everything. Seems like another ratchet strap or a clamp from the KDSS bar to the LCA is the call (like in this picture).

The floor jack with the block in this picture is just another way to keep the KDSS coil in place when replacing the struts/coils........so same idea as the ratchet strap method in the picture above, just a different way of going about it.

 

Jake, thanks for the ideas and photos, I really appreciate it.

I could swear I've read about someone who did this with KDSS, and if memory serves me, all they did was unbolt the brackets that attach the swaybar at each end to the LCAs, then proceed with the strut replacement procedure shown in the YT videos. I believe they said once the struts are all in and everything is back together, the last step was to reattach the end swaybar brackets to the LCAs, with the truck back on the ground...no ratchet straps involved...

Can anyone confirm this?

But I'm not against using some method to keep the KDSS in place while working on the struts, if necessary.

 

I believe @4X4Runner has lifted two 4's with KDSS. Maybe he will chime in with some tips? An if one is open, you can always take the struts down to a shop and have them assemble them to make the job even easier.

 

FROM
Best way to lift or level kdss system??

His was the post I was referring to, I believe. It'd be great to hear a little more clarification on how he worked around the KDSS.

 

I just lifted mine with KDSS and all we did was disconnected the sway bar links. Reconnecting them was difficult, though.

I was later told that it is best to disconnect the links while the truck is sitting on the ground, and the reconnect after everything is done on the ground as well.

There's no working around it. You just perform the lift as if it wasn't even a thing.

I'll say that it was a real wrestling match hooking the links back up. I think this is because we disconnected them at the lower control arms rather than the links at first. But, I didn't want to make it sound easy and have you struggle and be annoyed with me.

 

So having done this, what would you recommend for the process of disconnecting the sway bar? On the ground, but disconnecting where?

 

I heard it was best to disconnect them at ride height, on the ground. I think the links are the better bet.

 

Posting this link for future reference. Photos don't work for me, but between the steps posted, plus the other installation linked in the thread, I think everything is covered, including torque values.

 

I think this is a pdf of that write up. Pics are visible in this one. This pdf was towards the end of that thread. The second pdf is some tips and tricks.

 

Hey Jake,

Thank you very much for the pdf attachments. Much better than the online thread, especially with the photos now available to look at. Between the two threads I had looked at before, and the one linked at the end of the pdf with tips and tricks, I think I can do this.

I did set up an appointment for April 16th at the shop (the soonest they could do it), but if I tackle this and get it done, that would just be for an alignment...

 

Yeah Gary! You got this.