I called this morning and got my Rancho's and my TM leveling kit ordered this morning. The total was 337 bucks. Also ordered tie rod ends from Amazon for 80 bucks. Now, what size of sockets am I going to need to get this stuff put in?

Looks like the only nuts I am going to have to get sockets for is the lower strut bolt and the upper ball joint. What sizes are those?

I am going to have a guy put the struts together for me, and I can do the rest. Way less stress on me if I do it that way...

 

Nice! Keep us updated on how it goes... Pictures are welcomed too

 

You will love the Rancho's. Mine completely changed the ride and feel of the truck. Definitely let us know how it turns out.

 

Thanks guys. I will get some pics as I do the swap..
Any idea on those nut sizes on the bottom strut or upper ball joint?

 

Thats a good price, even with the exchange rate to CAN dollars. Where'd you pickup your Rancho's at?

 

I ordered the Ranchos from truckaddons.com I was charged 99.?? for the fronts and 48.?? something for the back.

I don't think the price is right though. I think it is missing one rear shock. I am waiting for the email receipt to make sure. I know the guy said both fronts and both rears...

Keep in mind there should be about $80 for the TM leveling kit. So the price does definitely not add up.

 

When I ordered mine, the fronts were sold separately, so you may only have 1 front strut coming. The rears came as a pair. Maybe you'll luck out. You will be extremely happy with them.

 

Just finishing up the same exact upgrades to my '05 quad cab 4x4. It turned out to be a larger project than I expected honestly. The Buffalo winters kicked the crap out of all of my nuts and bolts. Every single one was seized/rusted and required some (not so) delicate touch to remove. Here is a quick rundown of things I learned/what went wrong when doing this job:

• Quote:

  Originally Posted by dakotaff

  When I ordered mine, the fronts were sold separately, so you may only have 1 front strut coming. The rears came as a pair. Maybe you'll luck out. You will be extremely happy with them.
  I made a similar mistake, I had to order two fronts @ about $100/each and two rears @ about $50/each. I guess it was more wishful thinking that they would be a pair.
• If you have any rust, you'll probably break your front sway bar links. Be prepared to replace this. I think they are about $40/each at rockauto. Incidentally, I started this whole process because my links went bad, not too shabby for 90k miles on my truck.
• You'll probably have to take your entire front strut assembly to a shop to have them compress the spring and remove the old strut and install the new one. I rented a spring compressor from Autozone that was pretty much useless. The shop by me charged $25 per strut to compress the spring, remove the old strut, and install the new strut and TM leveling kit. Not bad, but my g/f dad's has a ton of connections (classic car nut with about 12 immaculately restored Turino's/Mustangs) and I am sure the shop cut us a discount.
• Speaking of the front strut assembly, the top nut that seats the actual strut in the assembly was completely rusted beyond recognition on my truck. We had to torch it off, which in turn, I had to buy a new top plate for the strut assembly. That was included in my $25 per strut cost I mentioned above. Yea, I got a deal.
• Another p.i.a. with regards to the front struts, my front passenger side bushing that connects the lower A-arm to the strut was completely rusted together. We had to torch the strut off of the truck and then we pounded out the entire bushing assembly. This is where I would've bought a complete new bushing assembly, but my g/f's dad decided he could extract the bolt from the bushing, clean and repair/reinstall the entire assemble. Well, he did, but it took about an hour and a half.
• If you are deciding to do the rear lift blocks, my only advice would be find out what size rear end you have first. I believe there is an 8.25" pumpkin (circle shaped) which requires a 3.25" wide u-bolt. This is a common u-bolt size that can be found at any auto parts store. My truck has the 9.25" pumpkin out back (octagon shaped) which requires a 4.5" wide u-bolt that has proven to be difficult to find. I ended up taking it to a spring shop which is going to bend custom u-bolts to the size I need.

As a side note, we also ended up replacing my front rotors and pads, which were looking pretty hideous. I think I replaced them at about 42k, so they were much past due. The rears weren't as terrible, but as long as the truck was up on the lift I decided to take the plunge and do the rear drums and shoes. After all, they were original.

In total, we probably have about 15-20 hours of total time for the brakes and the struts/leveling kit/lift blocks. Keep in mind that I got to use my g/f's dad's shop, which has a lift and most tools you could ever need, except that pesky spring compressor. He also is extremely knowledgeable about cars. If I had to do this in my driveway I truly think it would've been at least double the time.

My total cost for the suspension upgrades (leveling kit $120, shocks/struts $340, lift blocks $30, sway bar links $80, misc. shop costs $50) was about $620. . .ouch, way more than I thought. The complete tear down and replacement of the brake rotors, pads, drums and shoes was about $500. Guess, I'll be keeping the truck for a while.

Not trying to scare you off, just telling the problems I encountered. I was told a few times that I should (a) buy a new truck and forget about this one and (b) not have done this to a 5 year old truck with 90k miles. I told him if I could I would've traded it in for a full size that easier to find after market parts for, but this truck is ultimately paid off and I don't want a care payment right now. I definitely have built up a few IOUs, but it should be worth it.

We'll be putting on the rear blocks/u-bolts tonight and I'll give you an update on it tomorrow when I get to finally take it off the lift. I hope she feels better then new tonight. I still need to get an alignment and new tires. Currently running Firestone Destination A/T 265/75/16 with some rubbing at lock while flexing the suspension. Remember, that was bone stock slightly sagging suspension. I honestly didn't like the tire a whole lot. I am looking at the Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo II or the Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac. Had the original Revo on my old Ranger and loved it, but I want something more aggressive looking.

Sorry for the extremely long post, I don't mean to jack the op's thread!!!! Hope it was useful.

 

BTW, most of my troubles were due to my car being driven through Buffalo winters with a lot of salt for 5 years. If your truck is newer/you don't have long salted winters, this job would've been pretty easy.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the good information. I have already replaced the sway bar link this winter so I should not have to worry about those. I am going to start tonight spraying the nuts and bolts with Gibbs or another lubricant.

I was thinking about putting a block in the rear, but might have to rethink that now since I have the 9.25 rear also. I am having a shop help with the struts too...

I hope to do this over the week I have off here at the end of March. That way I have enought time if I run into any problems.

I called to check on my order today and got the correct price: $401.00. So I am going to be over $600 by the time I get the tie rod ends and the alignment, IF I don't run into anything else I have to replace.