OME Lift Kit Instal, Tips and Tricks Appectiaed!

Hello All,

This Saturday I will be tossing on my OME lift kit at home with some friends to assist me

The components ill be putting on are:
OME 886 coils paired w/ the nitrocharger sport 90021 shocks
Dakar MD leaf pack
Rear nitrocharger sport shocks
OME upper control arms
Extended yota mafia brake lines
ECGS bushing to reduce those vibes
Headstrong off-road 1/4" top plate spacers (these will hopefully bring the truck level)

The questions i have are:
Are there any tips and tricks to making this install easier? I have never done any suspension work on my own vehicle, but the people helping me have and I would like this process to go quickly and smoothly
What would you guys think this entire install would take time wise?
Would I need an alignment directly after this install, or would marking with chalk and self-realigning be acceptable for ~200 highway miles? I have a body shop appointment Tuesday (I obliterated a deer a few weeks ago) and the shop is 100 miles away. I can probably get that alignment in monday, but would have to take off work in order to do so.
Is there a torque spec sheet of all the bolts that will be replaced during the install process out there somewhere? Or should I just look up each component as the time comes?

Thanks in advance!
Pic of everything below

 

There are good videos on YouTube, I highly suggest watching before you start. I watched videos and gathered the torque specs for everything and wrote myself 2 pages of instructions to check off as I went, which is easier than following a video the whole time you're doing the install.

 

I just recently tackled this with an OME BP-51 lift kit on a DB2015. There are some tricky spots for sure. The UCA's are a pain. If they are like the 2015 you have to slide the bolt all the way through the Control arm. I dont know if they made room but it was not fun. Total install time was like 7 hours in a real shop. Buddy owns a garage and let me use the lift.
I didnt get the alignment done for 3 days and didnt have an issue. I drive 40's miles round trip to work. Hope that helps a little bit.

 

1.) Use a crowbar to remove the front leaf spring pins

2.) You’re going to spend most of the day doing the front components and will be dog tired when you start on the back leafs. Give yourself next Saturday to get it done and rock the bro lean for a week

 

Mark your alignment before you take it apart and get it as close as possible when you put it back together.

With new UCAs, I would plan on your alignment needing to be done sometime soon after the install. You'll know right away if you can make it to Tuesday.

Here is a link for a thread that has the service manual that has torque specs.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-torque-specs.454603/page-2

 

Curious, are you adding extra weight like a bumper or armor with the 886's?

 

Unfortunately that is not an option. The truck needs to be at the body shop on tuesday and will be there for a week or two. Gotta get it done this weekend Have to admit that would be pretty damn funny tho

 

I installed my lift last December by myself. I watched lots of videos. Brand doesnt matter a ton for the videos since the process is pretty much the same for all of them.

It took 3 hours for the front (coilovers preassembled) and 4 for the rear. So 7 hours total. I bet I could shave an hour off each end if I did it again (I put shims and the stock overload leaf in a couple months ago and it only took like 1.5 hours or so). Biggest issue I had was putting the two bolts back in the LCAs - for whatever reason I COULD NOT get them back in during reassembly.

I did not do the ECGS bushing (add another 1.5-2 hours for that?) and I also did not do UCAs (maybe another hour for that?).

The leaf pack, clovers, and shocks are all fairly straight and easy, just tedious and time consuming. UCAs and ECGS also seems relatively simple from the videos I've watched, just time consuming.

Tips for the ECGS is watch the tacomaholic video on it and have a ~200ft-lbs torque wrench. One of the bolts gets torqued to something like ~173ft-lbs I think. Tacomaholic's video has a good example of a DIY slide pull that should work to get the CV axle out if nothing else works.

 

Eventually yes. I went with the 886's because of sagging issues with the 7's and 8's. I paired them with the soft valved struts (not advised) to avoid losing my teeth until i do so, but i called ARB and they verified it would be okay. Not planning on putting a crazy heavy bumper on, and no winch.

 

I found these videos very helpful
Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOW-FRDl5wg
Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spGpKnBejUI

 

That's good to hear - I'm about to install 886's on the soft struts as well I am also putting on a lighter bumper and no winch for now, so hoping this won't be something I regret down the line... wondering if skids and sliders would make it miserable without the stiffer struts - I guess I'll find out

 

I installed an OME lift by myself last year. Took me about 6 hours. The front was pretty straight forward (didn't do UCAs though), the back was what took me the longest. The big thing was finding the best way to get the truck jacked up enough and blocked up so i could get the new, larger leaf packs in.

Make sure you've got blocks and jack stands tall enough to allow the leaf packs to sag out fully. I had to get real creative with cribbing and a couple bottle jacks.

All that being said, if you ever have to do it again. It's much easier the second time. I recently swapped my factory suspension back on before i traded my truck in and it only took me about 3 hours to do the the whole deal.

 

Ill let you know how the ride is (hopefully) tomorrow night!

 

I watched vids, took notes, grabbed all them torque specs, and im feeling ready for tomorrow. Ill have 4 heavy jacks as well as blocks and try to get some smaller hoists. Will update as time goes on! Thanks everyone for the input

 

Go to your local dealer or parts store and get a couple extra front diff oil seals and if you don't have a set of seal drivers then go to the hardware store and get a piece of PVC pipe and a coupler of the correct size to drive in the new seal (think it's 2"). It's easy to damage the original seal while removing the CV shaft and/or installing the bushing and installing a fresh one is just common sense when you have the shaft out. It's not uncommon to damage them when installing, so get 1 or 2 extra. They are like $5 from parts store or $12 from dealer. I have one of each and would bet my lunch that they are identical and from the same manufacturer (national seal)

 

Alright! We actually got everything done saturday. 13.5 hours and everything was on the truck. The needle bearing screwed us, and took around 4 hours itself. The removal tool from ECGS wouldnt fit, so we grinded it down and eventually got it in, only to find out that it wouldnt thread. We retapped it multiple times and finally got the removal tool to thread. Then it snapped in half. A pilot bearing puller paired with a slide hammer from Autozone yanked it out in all of about 5 seconds. Overall, a lot learned in those 13.5 hours. Will post pics of the truck tonight!

 

Looking forward to hearing how you like the ride!

 

The ride is stiff for sure, but not teeth rattling. Its perfect for what i want and will only soften w/ time or when i get my bumper on. Pics below

 

I wanted it to sit level, and im assuming it will once i throw my tent&rack on the back. Havent measured yet but the back seems to be about 1/2" higher than the front

 

I've done it a few times on my truck and others. I like to write down all the sizes. It sounds simple but it makes the process flow much smoother.

^ posted some good videos. Watch these, write down each step if you want, and write down the measurements and sizes of what everything is. This will keep you on a good path and flow pretty smooth. It will also familiarize yourself with what you will be doing and give you sort of a check list on what to do next considering you haven't done this sort of work before.

Good luck!