sorry i probably shouldn't be laughing, but something about your retelling cracked me up.

sage advice, my friend.

 

trust me.. I Feel your pain brother....I wish i had a spring compressor too... the rear springs where a B!%#! to install

 

i didn't have one for me to use so i had my brother, my dad and my friend push'em down as i bolted'em it wans't fun but it looks alot better and handles alot better,
now i don't feel like i'm in a 4x4

 

For a better deal than 160 I got mine from the sponsors page-- SpecTuned has pretty good prices! The others are about the same as well.

Nice write up-- I'm unfortunately gonna shell out the money and have it done for me.

 

thanks so much for this writeup! I used it to install my trds today and it was a great help.

man, you weren't kidding when you said those rears are a pain to install! I had a tough time just getting the struts on/off the car because there's like no room where they're mounted!

 

im venturing into installing my TRD springs tomorrow(ive lowered a vehicle before, but never messed with struts either) so its going to be interesting...

yeah the 2-comb wrenchs or ratchet+combo wrench can be very helpful...

for me-a 1/2" breaker bar+impact socket set+6 ft pole=Torque

 

thanks 4 da help!

 

step 3, 2nd pic. thats not a tie rod...thats a stabilizer link. on newer cars u can zip it right off with an air gun with no problem. otherwise you use a hex bit in the middle to hold it and prevent it from spinning, then while holding the hex you remove the nut with a wrench

 

its not dropped enough

 

wow i am rly close to getting the h-tech i was wondering how many fingers can u fit before the spring on the front and after u pout the h-tech

looks good btw

 

i had h-techs, removed them and put on s-techs. Here's the link, made a post about it a LOOOOONG time ago. Same as this thread was! haha (revive the dead!)

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...874&highlight=

 

Does anyone have the torque specs on all the bolts that are involved in this process?

 

After reading this thread I decided to tackle the rear springs first. Tearing down the interior took forever as did working with those gorilla tightened bolts, but I managed to finish the rears within 3 hours. I had no luck with the fronts though. One of the strut nuts slipped out of my hand and landed somewhere in the engine compartment so my passenger side front strut only has two nuts holding it on. That and I didn't have a proper socket for the two big bolts that are on the front struts (I think I need a 22mm or 23mm socket).

Now the ___ end of my car is low (S-techs) and the front is stock. Hopefully I can get it done on Monday.

 

how long can you drive the car with the new springs but without the wheels being aligned

 

o wow i almost fergot about this thread, good revival lol. uhmm the longer u drive without it alligned the more you're going to ruin the tires. Or atleast uneven tire wear. Most people dont mind though.

 

Im looking to get springs installed from a shop but they don't do wheel alignment so I have to drive to my dealer and get them aligned there, its about a 35 mile drive to get to the shop. How much damage will that do?

 

pics of them fully settled?

 

uhmm it wont really do that much damage. I mean its not the best thing to do. just add it to your list to get it aligned one day. I have a couple of friends with some madass camber, drifter style look i guess haha.

To whomever installed springs themselves.... how did u loosen the top nut? Whenever i turn it, it just turns the whole strut shaft.. SUCKS ASSSS mannn haha ____ed the shiyet out of me.Most struts , for example my 02 integ, had an allen key slot on the button of the strut so u can use an allen key to hold the strut, while loosening the top nut. any1 else get this problem? i had to bring it to a shop to impact wrench the nut out.

 

Bump to get this article under tech. I had to dig around to find it again. I see the pics are gone though. Does anyone know the size of the nuts/bolts that are at the bottom of the front struts?

 

im pretty sure you should wait for it to settle before you get it aligned