I figure this will be a quick easy question.

I put 2" taller springs on my truck a while back (front and rear), and I'm finally getting around to putting some extended bump stops up front (Daystar) and some longer front swaybar links. Bump stops arrived today; when the swaybar links show up I'll get under the truck swap out both the bump stops and swaybar links.

So my question is - is there anything special about pulling the front bump stops and putting in the new ones? Those of you that have done this, are there any special secrets? Did they come right out? Do the new ones just pop right in?

http://www.daystarweb.com/productdet...?productID=664

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sp...l/applications

Thanks.

Edit - No sooner did I post this email the UPS truck shows up with my front extended swaybar links.

 

The secret is.....use some hefty pliers and just grab the bumpstop and pull towards the tire. Spraying WD40 up around the edge helps lube it up.

Pushing back in can be done more than 1 way. Place jack to where you can lift the frame. Place a large enough block of wood or other on the axle pad. Let the jack down to let the truck weight push the bumpstop in via the block. Jack back up to pull the block out.

Done.

 

Makes sense. I like the block of wood idea. Thanks!

 

Ok; so today was "work on truck day" for my 96 1500 4x4 with a 2" suspension lift. Today I swapped out the front bump stops for ones 2" taller and the sway bar links. And amazingly, I managed to do it all without drawing blood (usually I'll cut/scrap something to at least get a little bit of an ooze of blood). All work was done with tires still on the truck.

Front bump stops: Pretty easy. A pair of pliers to pull the bump stop to the side, and then a small screwdriver slid in to pop them out. I did the raising the truck and block of wood thing to get the new bump stops to pop into place. No issues.

Maxx Link "extended" sway bar links: A little more involved. I was afraid since they are a taper fit into the sway bar that after almost 20 years and just over 200,000 miles they would be stuck in there good. No; they came out is a light tapping. When I compared my old links to the new ones, they were the same length! I checked my invoice, and I had ordered the correct ones for my application (SMX-1224L) and that's what was written on the wrap around the parts so I gave them a call. They referred me to their suspension folks, and he patiently explained to me that they did send me the correct part for my application. Seems my 96 has the "early inverted link design", which means I have a pedestal coming off my axle (that the top of the link attaches to), and actually when you lift it if anything you want the link shorter. He said if they sent me longer links, it would interfere with where the draglink and tie-rod meet when turning. Yeah; it made sense. I guess I got the right part after all.

So it's bolted up, and I need to take it for a test spin. I'm not really expecting to notice a difference (the old links were worn but not loose), but we'll see.

Next I want to find some longer bump stops for the rear axle.

 

Do the links need to be tighter? Should crush the bushings just a little bit.

 

I guess I could tighten them a little bit more. The instructions said to have between 1/2 and 3/4 of an inch thread showing at the top.