Hey all...was thinking of getting a 2" lvling kit...long term I will lift it but for now (money) its all I can afford.

Anyway...anyone done this themselves before? Much work? Suggestions?

The "kit" only $80 but labor was around $220...I think.

Any help would be great!

 

first jack the truck up and set on jack stands on the frame high enough so the tire's don't touch the ground but the jack under the axel then unbolt bottom shock take shock and tower out together buy removing the 3 nut's unhook your track bar at the frame and take your tire's off then start lowering your axle spring's should remove wants axle is down might have to man handle the axle if you need more clearence remove your swaybar links

 

Honestly it is not that bad at all. I used the HBS 2" kit which I am very impressed with. Although it is just a chunk of metal, its constrution made me feel confident about putting it on. Anyway, I ended up putting it on myself for the most part, but did ask for a helping hand twice throughout. Lets just say im a smaller build than most, so breaking those rusted bolts loose turned out to be quite a chore for me. On my christmas list, there is a 1/2 breaker bar or bigger in my future so I can get enough leverage. The only other time I asked for help was when we were trying to get the coil springs back in the sattle. We ended up using a crowbar just to get the spring started, while I was putting all I had to "compress" the coil by pushing from the 2n'd from the bottom coil up. With out teamwork, It turned out to be like 2 minutes per side trying to fiddle with the coil springs. Had my helper of not been there, I would have been a sitting duck.

A few things I would have changed from when i did mine.

1. Possibly look for new coil spring isolators. Mine have some like clay or something on them and so they are not black black. They don't look that bad, but had I of known, I would have probably taken a few dollars and got new ones.

2. Remove the power plug for the 4x4 vacume thinger. I almost managed to screw up after jacking my truck up to support it with jack stands. Then let the axle back down. You will see a wire almost dead center after you start lowering the axle down. I didn't notice at first because my driveway is black and so is the loom that the wires run through. Just be careful.

3. Make sure you have solid ground. Aparently my driveway is not strong enough to support my truck x10 Yay. Well... I guess I should have figured after the truck has been parked in the same spot for 8 years almost and there are dips where the tires sit. Anyway... After my whole project was done, I had pry the jack stands out of the ground just a little bit, and the floor jack that I used left wheel imprints in the pavement.

4. You may want to buy new swaybar bushings ( its the perfect time). You will probably break your old ones getting them off as mine were cracked pretty bad. Look in your front wheel well in the center behind the wheel, you will see a metal rod and then the swaybar and bushings. I would inspect those before you do anything. Those are the ones that were replaced, and... yea its so easy to do. One nut. Oh, take that nut off while the axle is jacked up, then let it down.

5. I wish I would have had my shocks on hand. I ordered 2" taller shocks for the front, and stock size for the rear. It just so happened that I installed the coil spacers on a friday and the shocks didn't come till monday. There went my weekend. Also the rancho shocks for my truck didn't fit right in the front. For some reason I had to file down the pre-installed metal bushings on both sides.

6. It is suggested to get an alignment... I still have yet too. I have an adjustable trackbar that has to go on yet... 2 weeks, and my tires are junk. Im off maybe a hair, but it was that way before I did the installation anyway. Try to install the isolators and coil springs in the exact same spot as they were when you took them off.

7. Im sure im missing something, but I did this about no more than 6 months ago and my memory isn't quite that great. If you have any more specific questions or anything, shoot me a pm. You can check out my level kit by clicking on the cardomain link below if you want to see where 2" put me.

 

Forgot something already... see I knew it!

8. Have a sawzall on hand. I pulled the shock tower out the the shocks. Trying to remove that nut from the center rod that goes through the coil tower is a mega pain in the ****. After pounding on one of my wrenches trying to get that nut off with liberal amounts of PB blaster, I cut through the rubber isolator and problem solved.

9. As mentioned about the shock fitment up front, I changed my rear shocks at the same time... and also replaced the steering stablizer to give me rancho's all the way around. I have the twin tube self adjusting (rsx's I believe). Anyway to the point. If you are trying to replace your steering stablizer haha... GOOD LUCK! The axle side is ok, but the one that connects to the tierod bar? is a major, major, major pain in the ****. Harder than any part you should encounter putting in your leveling kit. For some reason after getting the nut off, the shock rod just does not want to pop out. I ended up usings a fork and a mini sledge for... oh say 20 minutes until she broke loose. It was the same story on my buddys 2nd gen as well...

 

Thanks...lots of information...and looks like it will be lots of fun!

 

If you want an even more lifted look than just the leveling kit, but want to keep price down also, get the 2.5 inch leveling kit from hellbentsteel, and also look for a fabtech 1.5 inch add a leaf kit for the rear, makes a world of difference, after I did that i was kind of sad that I ended up getting 33's because now my 33's look small in my wheelwells haha. But between the 2 you should end up spending less than $200 and you will have an average of 2 inches of lift, and also dont forget, without lifting the back end you end up lowering it because the pivot point so by putting on the leveling kit the back of your truck will sit lower.

 

TIMIDONE, get a chunk of 4x4 or something and a floorjack. Put the jack under the front of the truck and put the block of wood on top so it rests flat. If you look behind the air dam and straight up, there is a section of frame that is flat all the way across. Position your block to rest on the flat section of the frame with the jack to keep it up there. ( I had a 1 foot section of 4x4 that I used and laid it on top of the floor jack). Anyway, now go to the wheel well and measure from the coil spring sattle lip on the bottom (does not have to be in the tray, I just rested the tape on the lip), to a part of the upper sattle. Get your measurement. Jack a few times in the front and check your measurements again in the same exact place you took your others until you put 2" up in the front. Step back and take a look. If the front needs to go higher, add another .5" and go from there. This will give you exactly what you truck will look like after you put the spacers in. I think my starting measurement was 11" in the front and jacked it to 13" where it is perfect for me.

 

Do you have too replace your shocks if you add a 2 or 3 inch coil spacer to the front end? Or can you reuse the stock ones?