How difficult is it realistically to replace a suspension at home? Can I do this myself?

Hello, I've been all over this site, calling around for quotes, looking at parts and it really comes down to this. I have some disposable income to throw at my truck and I want to start with a suspension lift, and id rather spend more on the parts instead of putting them on. I don't have any experience working with cars and will need to do it mostly alone, but I'm handy, I can build shit, im strong, I have all the requirements to read instructions and turn a wrench. I have a garage full of tools, I can buy a coil compressor and other specific tools. My brother in law is a mechanic and he'll lend me shit and probably help me out if I get lost. How hard would it be for someone like me to replace front coilovers(strut and spring), upper control arms, add a leaf/leaf pack, and replace rear shocks? I feel like I can do it. How much would it save me on install price? How long should it take? What specialty tools will.i need to rent or buy?

Tldr: How hard is it for a capable complete novice to fully swap a suspension for a 0-2.75 lift front and back including uca's and leafs(6112/5160), alone? And how much money would it cost at a shop? What specialized tools might I need to aquire.

Edit: thanks for all the good info and amazing support, I'm doing it. Still researching brands, not married to the 6112/5160 either, it's going to take at least a month to get ready, although I do have the money I want to know exactly what I'm getting into before I commit the cash.

A member said to include my area, I'm in albuquerque new mexico. Happy to support local business if there are places in town that have this stuff close to same or cheaper than I can have it shipped. What sites are yall recommending to buy from?

I'm buying a floor jack and jack stands I guess I don't need the coil compressor. I have impact, torque wrench, sockets, basic hand tools. I saw on some videos a ball joint removal tool, will I need that, same question for shock absorber tool and brushing kit. I will buy them if I'll use them, right tool for the job, but I don't want to buy it if I won't need it for THIS install. Thanks in advance

 

I think you could do this in one day inside of business hours. Just study up as much as you can beforehand by watching YouTube videos so you have a general idea of what you’re doing. Everything you mentioned is theoretically easy. The hard part is when you run into the unexpected (ie a stuck or sheared bolt). Good luck

 

Two days, one per axle. It was not too hard, just a little bit heavy on lifting parts, I did it without previous experience with modern vehicles, touched only retro before(70s). I have a video on my channel for 3rd gen if you are interested. I didn't change UCA. No needs any special tools.

 

If you have someplace where you can take it apart and leave it apart for up to 2 weeks (and not in a hurry), part cost depends on what grade you buy.

OEM UCA may rub. What does the vendor recommend. Suggest looking into extending the rear brake lines.

You are a novice, so I would do the front end disassembly and re assembly first. Budget a day to take it apart, a day to get it back together.

Tools (don't get too cheap your life and limb is at stake):


6 ton jack stands, 3 ton too short.
Harbor freight 3 ton floor jack.
torque wrench (75 ft pounds)
ratchet strap; helps getting rear axle in place when doing rear leafs.
set of decent metric sockets and combo wrench(s).

Budget a front end alignment

 

With hand tools. A full weekend.
With air or electric, a FULL day.

Me? 3 to 6 month.
3 months to procrastinate starting.
And 3 more to finish.

 

You got this. Watch a bunch of YT videos and buy the right tools.

Consider having a shop put together the coils for you. Without the proper compressor this can take all day. The ones you can rent barely get the job done. It will not be expensive and it will save you a ton of time. Worth every penny.

The long upper control arm bolt will seem like it can't come out, it will, just work it through, be prepared to bend some inner fender metal.

For the leafs do one at a time, do not remove both leaves at the time. Keeping one bolted, even loosely bolted on will keep the axle in a relatively correct position.

Good luck, we all stated some where in our garages.

 

You will definitely be able to do it if you can build stuff. I recommend a variety of prybars which will help get things aligned(especially while working alone). Also you can use your floorjack as a 3rd hand

Another option could be getting help from people on here. In the northeast we have mod days where we have done all sorts of installs and wrenching with others is much more fun.

The thread its in as an example, there may be something similar in your area.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/new-england-mod-meetup-thread.762539/

 

It’s not difficult at all if you have the tools.

In my garage with jacks and jack stands I’ve
Replaced UCA,rear leafs , tie rod sleeves, replaced CVs, bilstein 5100 lift and OME BP51 lift.

I used the weight of the vehicle to compress the coil on the 5100 lift and didn’t even have to use my coil compressor.

like others have said there’s plenty of videos on YouTube and they will give you a break down on what tools you need as well.

 

The front will be the longest part and be finicky to get things to fit. The rear is very easy.

Best recommendation for the front would be to buy from shock surplus and order springs and shocks through them and have them assemble them and ship them to you pre built. Saves a big hassle with putting the front end together.

If all you do in the rear is pull the shock and take the unbolts off to drop the axle to add a block then that will take an hour or two. Doing an add a leaf will be more challenging I did the icon one and had to cut one of the alignment pieces to get it to fit. Cutting it will take awhile and require a grinder.

Time and difficulty depends on how many parts you plan on doing. Are you doing UCA & LCA, full leaf pack vs add a leaf or just a block in the rear. I would plan what you’re getting and bring it back to this thread for a more accurate assessment and tips and tricks.

 

A day. Just have a decent floor jack and plenty of shade to work in.

If my dumb ass can do it, anyone can.

 

I've done a full suspension swap about 3 times on my truck so far, Including leafs (twice) an aal, and blocks. I've rebuilt the coilovers twice (once with the sketchy compressors, never again), swapped UCA's, pulled the axles and swapped the boots, did EGCS bushing, and even installed Hammer Hangers all solo in my garage. So yeah it very possible to do. Hit me up if you have any specific questions.

Don't really need any specialized tools that I can recall. A torque wrench is a good thing to use though, especially on the u-bolts and ball joints. An electric impact will make things a LOT quicker too.

Upper control arms kinda suck just because the bolt is damn near impossible to get out. Do yourself a favour and go buy new bolts first so you can just cut the old ones off (will need sawzall here). Then install the new ones backwards to make it easier.

Buy fully assembled coilovers. Swapping the coils and/or top hat just isn't worth the hassle. And buy a new leaf pack. AAL's ride stiffer than stock and don't prevent the factory leafs from inevitably sagging. Plus it's significantly more work to have to disassemble the leafs to stick the AAL in. I've done both, the ride is WAY better with a good leaf pack. And the rear end is basically what dictates ride quality in these trucks so it makes a huge difference doing it properly.

I don't know what installs cost these days, and I'm in Canada so prices may vary, but going rate here is about $175CAD/hour of shop time. A full swap is probably a full day at least in a shop. So that's an easy $1500-$2000CAD just for labour. You could realistically do it all yourself in 2 full days.

 

Solid advice here.

 

I did mine by myself, including uca's, leafs and the front / rear shocks. Took me probably 8 hours total over 2 days to get everything done. I'm no mechanic, but swearing was involved. I think the hardest part was lifting the shocks with one hand while trying to get a nut on with the other. Every component weighs quite a bit, and the awkward angles make it harder. But if I can, you can. Good luck

 

I was also going to mention the UCA bolts and to get assembled coilovers as well. Although I feel that cutting the UCA bolts out is a bit drastic, and you need to be really careful not to cut something you shouldn't. You'll need to remove the battery and some wiring brackets on the driver side, as well as use a crescent wrench to bend the inner fender out of the way a little, but the bolt will come out. Passenger side is easier, just have to move some wiring and tubing out of the way.

I did mine by myself over a week, spending about an hour and a half in the evenings and then buttoning things up on the weekend. I'd say at least 2 days, especially for a novice, but a novice can do it. Having some ratchet straps handy to help line up the rear leaf bolt holes will help.

If you are lifting 2-3" in the rear (I used Deaver Stage II leafs), do yourself a favor and get 3 degree shims from Headstrong. This will correct driveshaft angle and minimize potential for vibrations. I tried a carrier bearing drop and it did nothing, but luckily adding the shims only took an hour and solved the vibes.

 

I should clarify, I meant just cut the heads off so you can slide them out the other way. Once you back them out a bit there is plenty of room to safely make the cut. I didn't have to remove my battery or anything, but ymmv with difference models.

And I dunno about every different year/model, but in my 2013 TRD Sport there was no way I was getting my bolts out without cutting the heads off. I would have had to disconnect and removing hard brake lines on the drivers side which would have been a massive pain. Passenger side wasn't as bad though.

 

I have 2 sets of the screw-type spring compressors and have always used both at the same time. Still very scary. But I think I'm done with those -- if I ever do it again I will get a proper hydraulic setup.

I never did UCA's on my 2nd gen. On the 3rd gen, removing the battery and disconnecting some wiring brackets to get stuff out of the way only took a few extra minutes, and with some slight bending was all the room needed.

 

As others have said, order the assembled coilovers with the spring you want.

The other thing I'm going to say, have another set of hands if you can. Someone on here might be willing to drop by and lend a hand. Check and see if there's a local to you thread. I didn't know anything the first time I swapped my coilovers, and my dad and I got it done in a couple hours. Swapping more recently to assembled 6112s, having a 2nd set of hands really streamlined things. I feel we took less stuff apart by man handling and prying things a bit to get the coilover out/in. But since you want to do UCA, too, you will probably have more apart anyhow.

Leaf springs are pretty simple, but depending on the size they can be tough to handle alone. My Deaver U402 Stage 3 are HEAVY for my little 145 pound self. Luckily my buddy is bigger and stronger than me, so he did the heavy lifting and I slipped the bolts in on that one. Again, the second set of hands, even a young teenager, would be great. Might save you 30-50% on time if you can find someone.

And rear shocks, SUPER EASY, can do that by yourself with zero issues. Minutes per side.

Good luck and watch those knuckles!

 

I would say go for it! You can do this work. I just did this a few weeks ago on my truck. It took me just about 10 hours, calm work, hand tools, stopped for lunch. My truck is in great shape corrosion wise and I did very little fighting with corroded or seized hardware. I agree with other folk on here who advocate for doing on end at a time. Start at the front, pull it apart, re assemble, finish the job. Then repeat on the back of the truck. Factory UCA will give you issues almost right away if you lift the truck 2" or more. The castor gets reduced (moved from +3 or +4 to 0 or even a negative) This will make the truck feel nervous steering over most bumps. My opinion is to do it once, right. The work is nowhere near as awful as this forum would have you believe. You can can cut the bolts, but that seemed to add a lot of extra work. I (gently) pulled back the pinch weld seam and with a little tapping on the UCA bolt, was able to get them both out with very little effort. It may have been the easiest part of the job actually.
You could consider what I bought, which were Elevate brand upper control arms. I chose the cromoly ones, with a MOOG problem solver ball joint (I live in a winter salty place) reasonable price, good product and zerk fittings on the top of the ball joints for easy service. I have a 2.25" lift and my castor is +3.8.
As for the rear, maybe I was lucky, but I didn't have to fight my leaf packs at all. I installed Icon RXT leaf packs. They are not a specific left or right part. So, when you install them, make sure you swap the bolts around on the driver sided so they don't contact the fuel tank. I dropped one leaf pack at a time. Driver side, loosened everything, removed the u bolts, lowered the axle (careful of brake lines) then removed the OEM leaf pack. Swapped the shackle across to the new leaf pack. Got the shackle to frame bolt in, then put the front leaf pack to frame bolt in, then slowly jacked up the axle and gave it a bit of a smack into place. U bolts and good to move to the other side and repeat. I snugged up all hardware, put the truck back on its wheels, crawled under with my torque wrench and torqued it all to spec.

You got this. It is a great project, and feels pretty awesome to know you did the work yourself. The only part of the job I outsourced was alignment. I am glad I did, my shade tree garage alignment skills are crap.

 

Since it’s your first time working on a car and suspension for that matter, if you have a second car, good. If not, have an alternate mode of transport in mind if you hit a snag.