Egan's Mini Lift

[Egan]

I have a full size spare too (the reason the tailgate is down in the first pics), but my spare tire carrier is at a local welding shop getting the guruerror treatment.

[jsbihn]

Originally Posted by Egan

I have a full size spare too (the reason the tailgate is down in the first pics), but my spare tire carrier is at a local welding shop getting the guruerror treatment.

Egan,
That is one bad ride!
What was the final cost to do all this, and did you have air suspension prior?
If you had air suspension, would doing this convert it to spring.... or would you have to first convert then do the mini lift.

(btw, should have got the deer, had deer steaks and mounted it on the wall of your garage - you know.... being your first kill and all..... make sure that you stripe the H2 (again since it is its first kill) )

[Egan]

Originally Posted by jsbihn

Egan,
That is one bad ride!
What was the final cost to do all this, and did you have air suspension prior?
If you had air suspension, would doing this convert it to spring.... or would you have to first convert then do the mini lift.

(btw, should have got the deer, had deer steaks and mounted it on the wall of your garage - you know.... being your first kill and all..... make sure that you stripe the H2 (again since it is its first kill) )

First kill with the H2. I hit one with my 04 Subaru STi on the way to the coast 7 years ago. Damage was a lot more though.

I converted the air suspension shortly after getting my H2 last year: http://www.elcovaforums.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=42682

I've seen other posts where people did the mini lift keeping the air in the rear. A lot of people only raise the front to level the truck out.

Here's a breakdown on cost:

Cognito UCA - www.dmaxstore.com - $470
Bilsteins x4 - www.dmaxstore.com - $330
New torsion bolts - www.dmaxstore.com - $10
Kryptonite Front Endlinks - www.dmaxstore.com - $100
Torsion Bar Tool - www.dmaxstore.com - $120 (should be able to sell this and recoup some $)
Traxda torsion keys, rear spacers, front shock extenders (not used) - www.traxda.com - $347
Install - me - $0
Alignment - Goodyear - $79
ATX Artillery 17x9 - America's Tires - $190 x5
Toyo Open Country MT 37x13.5x17 - America's Tires - $375 x5

Next up - wider fender flares (any ideas?) and lower gears in the pumpkins.

[New York City]

That looks awesome.

Your balls must add extra weight to the truck... As I personally wouldn't have an ounce of ball sack to even touch the suspension in my car.

Great job! 5 Star!

[accely]

awesome job man that looks amazing. I'm ordering pretty much the same stuff except for rims.

Just got :
Traxda Lift and Level Kit
Cognito UCA kit
4x bilstein 5100 shocks
Kryptonite HD Sway Bar End Links
2x new torsion bolts


Question for you, I'm on the fence about trying to DIY. would be me and a friend and I'm just not sure if it's something I wanna risk with.. I've done lots of things on vehicles before but nothing do with with suspension, etc. What do you say for attempting it on my own or just paying a shop?

[accely]

Originally Posted by Egan

Then it was a simple matter of placing the spacer above the coil.



The last thing to do was install the new shocks. For whatever crazy reason, I put the driver’s side shock on upside down. Of course I did not catch this until I finished up for the day and had to spend a quick half hour the next morning flipping it around.

Egan, how did you compress the coil so you could place the rear spacer on it?

Also noticed you are using air tools.... I have a 150 PSI 4gal compressor, is that enough to operator the air tools I would need? What air tools do you recommend? Are they used primarily for removing lug nuts on the rims or for other nuts as well?

thanks man.

[accely]

Originally Posted by Egan

Next I moved on to the front components. Here’s the stock set up:



Removing the stock UCA was a pain because I didn’t have a pickle fork, but I eventually got it out of there. With the UCA out, I then removed the shock and shock mount. I installed the shock mount, then the new shocks. I built the Cognito UCA’s on the ground before installing each in place. Tip: grease up the sides of the UCA bushings because it will be a tight fit!

For these steps, would you recommend something like this ? Craftsman 5-Piece Pickle Fork Kits to aid in removal?
What would you do if you have the pickle fork? I guess it would make sense if i was in the process of removing the UCA but I figured I would ask in advance. Trying to get all this straight in my head. Seems like most of this isn't too difficult especially with your nice write up


Also- I assume you used the Kryptonite HD Sway Bar End Links (For 2" LEVELED Trucks), right?

[Egan]

Originally Posted by accely

awesome job man that looks amazing. I'm ordering pretty much the same stuff except for rims.

Just got :
Traxda Lift and Level Kit
Cognito UCA kit
4x bilstein 5100 shocks
Kryptonite HD Sway Bar End Links
2x new torsion bolts


Question for you, I'm on the fence about trying to DIY. would be me and a friend and I'm just not sure if it's something I wanna risk with.. I've done lots of things on vehicles before but nothing do with with suspension, etc. What do you say for attempting it on my own or just paying a shop?

I had done a similar setup on my Titan and have done lots of car suspension mods when I was racing. It's not hard, especially if you have the right tools. It really takes no special knowledge and is mostly bolt turning.

[Egan]

Originally Posted by accely

Egan, how did you compress the coil so you could place the rear spacer on it?

Also noticed you are using air tools.... I have a 150 PSI 4gal compressor, is that enough to operator the air tools I would need? What air tools do you recommend? Are they used primarily for removing lug nuts on the rims or for other nuts as well?

thanks man.

No need to compress - I was able to get the diff low enough to slide the spacers in.

My compressor is 150 psi 60 gal. Yours will be enough, but it is going to run a lot refilling that small tank. I just use air tools because it's quicker to get lugs and bolts off. There were a couple of places where I had to do things manually due to space, but otherwise the air tools were a big help.

[Egan]

Originally Posted by accely

For these steps, would you recommend something like this ? Craftsman 5-Piece Pickle Fork Kits to aid in removal?
What would you do if you have the pickle fork? I guess it would make sense if i was in the process of removing the UCA but I figured I would ask in advance. Trying to get all this straight in my head. Seems like most of this isn't too difficult especially with your nice write up


Also- I assume you used the Kryptonite HD Sway Bar End Links (For 2" LEVELED Trucks), right?

Correct on the links.

I didn't have a pickle fork, but a sledge hammer broke the UCA loose.

[accely]

thanks!!

[accely]

egan- did you do measurements after you put the 37's on? Those toyo's are actually 37.0" inflated so I'm thinking compared to my current tire (wrangler duratrac) which sits under 34", I should gain a few inches just based on upgrading the tires alone.

over all it sounds like you get around 2inches from the parts and potentially another 1-2 from tires? So 3-4 over all height gain? Could you measure and compare before and after with your 37's now?

thanks!

[Egan]

Originally Posted by accely

egan- did you do measurements after you put the 37's on? Those toyo's are actually 37.0" inflated so I'm thinking compared to my current tire (wrangler duratrac) which sits under 34", I should gain a few inches just based on upgrading the tires alone.

over all it sounds like you get around 2inches from the parts and potentially another 1-2 from tires? So 3-4 over all height gain? Could you measure and compare before and after with your 37's now?

thanks!

I'll measure when I get home tonight. But since it's 109F today, it may have to wait until 3AM!

[Egan]

Originally Posted by Egan

I'll measure when I get home tonight. But since it's 109F today, it may have to wait until 3AM!

Due to the sweltering heat, I only measured one side, but it should be close enough for your purpose.

This is after the suspension has settled in, a front end alignment, and the new tires.

FR before with "35"" BFG AT KO's = 41.1/4"
FR after lift = 43.1/4"
FR after 37" Toyo's = 45"

RR before with "35"" BFG AT KO's = 41"
RR after lift = 42.1/4"
RR after Toyo's = 44.1/4"

So it looks like a solid 2" out of the tires, maybe more considering the suspension settled a bit.

YMMV

[Egan]

Finally had the chance to get my modified spare tire carrier mounted. It's been lifted 6" with a 5 degree angle back towards the bed. A local welder did the work for $90, including tacking on my CB antenna mount. On the first go around the tire was tightened down against the mount near the bottom. I was concerned about damaging the tire over time, so I added a couple of thick washers to each lug to keep the tire pushed out a bit.

[Egan]

[guruerror]

Looks great!

[Egan]

Originally Posted by guruerror

Looks great!

Thanks for the inspiration on the tire carrier mod!

[Lucky1]

Do you write text books for a living ??? Lol... That is an awesome write-up with illustrations. Your truck looks awesome too !

[Egan]

Originally Posted by Lucky1

Do you write text books for a living ??? Lol... That is an awesome write-up with illustrations. Your truck looks awesome too !

No, I just used to moderate a few forums, especially the DIY sections. I still get emails from people asking questions about the write-ups on my 2001 Sporttrac (which I traded in back on 2005).