First off.. What a pain!

Well, It wasn't all that bad, but it wasn't the easiest thing either.

First thing you need to do is bend the fenders back about 1/4" to allow the bolt to clear the fender (taking the wheels off makes the whole process easier.. :p ). I first tried using a crowbar, but this was not bending the fender back. Note: And DONT use the pivot bolt as a leverage point. I didn't see this at first, but the whole suspension tower would move when I used this. The tower was not meant to have loading in this manner. Seemed to pop back into place. I then used a pair of vice-grips and just pulled back and this worked. Make sure that you loosen the air bag wire harness from the fender, and the AC line on the passenger side. The driver's side will require the removal of the battery.

Okay, next you need to loosen the nut for the stock ball joint, then then nut for the main pivot bolt. Now start pulling the pivot bolt out, It'll still probably make contact with the fender. I used a 12" long 1/4" drive ratchet extension and placed it in the hole for the main bolt at the opposite end. I then tapped the bolt out with a hammer against the extension. After a few good taps the bolt popped right out. Along with the suspension falling down a little. Then you need to remove the ball-joint from the spindle. I just tapped a few times with a hammer and it came right out (I would suggest using the proper tool to remove the ball joint).

Now the new arm is ready to go in. I first (after getting the urethane bushings in and the sleeves in all greased up) lined the arm up with the main pivot point. I then tapped the main bolt through again using an extension to be able to reach the bolt. Once it got past the fender it just slid all the way down and I fastened the nut. I then lined up the uni-ball with the spindle. This will be a little difficult, but not that hard, because of the loading from the sway-bar. This is now just a bolt that slides through the uni-ball through the spindle. Slowly tighten this up to seat the cup that slides in where the ball-joint used to be. Then just torque to the factory specs , the uni-ball bolt uses 90 lb. of torque.

All done. It basically took me 2 1/2 hours to install both arms. This included pulling out the tools and putting everything back.

Here are some pics that I took during the install. Sorry I didn't take more during the process, but I was running out of daylight.

http://homepage.mac.com/jbryan/PhotoAlbum15.html

SWEET looking setup!!!
How much lift does that give you and how much $$$ was it???

First off.. What a pain!

Well, It wasn't all that bad, but it wasn't the easiest thing either.

First thing you need to do is bend the fenders back about 1/4" to allow the bolt to clear the fender (taking the wheels off makes the whole process easier.. :p ). I first tried using a crowbar, but this was not bending the fender back. Note: And DONT use the pivot bolt as a leverage point. I didn't see this at first, but the whole suspension tower would move when I used this. The tower was not meant to have loading in this manner. Seemed to pop back into place. I then used a pair of vice-grips and just pulled back and this worked. Make sure that you loosen the air bag wire harness from the fender, and the AC line on the passenger side. The driver's side will require the removal of the battery.

Okay, next you need to loosen the nut for the stock ball joint, then then nut for the main pivot bolt. Now start pulling the pivot bolt out, It'll still probably make contact with the fender. I used a 12" long 1/4" drive ratchet extension and placed it in the hole for the main bolt at the opposite end. I then tapped the bolt out with a hammer against the extension. After a few good taps the bolt popped right out. Along with the suspension falling down a little. Then you need to remove the ball-joint from the spindle. I just tapped a few times with a hammer and it came right out (I would suggest using the proper tool to remove the ball joint).

Now the new arm is ready to go in. I first (after getting the urethane bushings in and the sleeves in all greased up) lined the arm up with the main pivot point. I then tapped the main bolt through again using an extension to be able to reach the bolt. Once it got past the fender it just slid all the way down and I fastened the nut. I then lined up the uni-ball with the spindle. This will be a little difficult, but not that hard, because of the loading from the sway-bar. This is now just a bolt that slides through the uni-ball through the spindle. Slowly tighten this up to seat the cup that slides in where the ball-joint used to be. Then just torque to the factory specs , the uni-ball bolt uses 90 lb. of torque.

All done. It basically took me 2 1/2 hours to install both arms. This included pulling out the tools and putting everything back.

Here are some pics that I took during the install. Sorry I didn't take more during the process, but I was running out of daylight.

http://homepage.mac.com/jbryan/PhotoAlbum15.html


Great job. Thanks for the detailed post and pictures. Please update as to offroad and onroad performance differences/changes and the infamous squeek. Thank you.

SWEET looking setup!!!
How much lift does that give you and how much $$$ was it???


Thanks!

The Fabtech CO's give me 3" of lift. The Total Chaos UCAs that I just installed don't give any additional lift. They just give a little more droop in the suspension, they are stronger, have smoother operation, and (one of the main reasons I installed them) if gives you more caster so you can get a proper alignment. With the 3" of lift there is no caster. Caster gives you high speed stability. The UCAs I picked up for about $560 from wheelers.

Great job. Thanks for the detailed post and pictures. Please update as to offroad and onroad performance differences/changes and the infamous squeek. Thank you.

I'll definitely keep you posted on the performance. So far street performance is already greatly improved. The suspension travel is very smooth (actually noticeable) and the added caster really makes a difference at highway speeds :tu: . So far there is no squeaking at all. TC said to expect some squeaking from the uni-balls until they seat in, but I have not heard anything at all.

I'll post some better pictures of the arm tomorrow, I was just in a hurry last night as I was running out of daylight and I used my cell phone camera.

Good work, man. Did you torque everything to spec? ;)

Sonny

Great job! Those things are beautiful! Sucks to hear the install was a PITA though. I'll need to think harder on whether or not it id something I want to tackle.

Good work, man. Did you torque everything to spec?

Thanks. Yep everything is torqued to spec, I'll be re-torquing it again tomorrow since I've put 100 miles on it so far.


Great job! Those things are beautiful! Sucks to hear the install was a PITA though. I'll need to think hstder on whether or not it id something I want to tackle.

Thanks. Yes they are a great looking piece of engineering aren't they! It really wasn't that bad once I figured out that you have to bed the fender back with some vice-grips. I was first trying a crow bar, but this was not working. The second one went on much easier :tu: .

Got an alignment on my truck today. He was able to get 2 and 7/8 degres of caster on my truck with the new arms. Now the truck drives perfect and stable at all speeds. :tu:

But... The arms are creaking now :td: . The guys at Total Chaos said this would happen and that the uni-ball would take a while to break-in. I'll keep everyone posted on how this turns out in the future.

I dont fully understand what caster is. I have a 3" toytec lift and a 1.0 caster. I have driven the truck many times over 85 mph and I havent noticed any instability. What should I be looking for?

I dont fully understand what caster is. I have a 3" toytec lift and a 1.0 caster. I have driven the truck many times over 85 mph and I havent noticed any instability. What should I be looking for?

Well from my understanding, it makes the car not really unstable but more like nervous. I can feel a difference between the 0 caster and the close to 3 caster. You have to make less input of the wheel when driving on the fwy.

Found a good article on alignment:

http://www.ozebiz.com.au/racetech/theory/align.html

Great news! Did you have an issues with our tires rubbing the control arms before the swap? If so did you still have the problem after the swap?

Also not having enough caster can make the steering wheel not return on its own as well.

Great news! Did you have an issues with our tires rubbing the control arms before the swap? If so did you still have the problem after the swap?

I haven't had a problem with rubbing with the old arms or the new ones. I'm only running 32s. But the guy who did the alignment said that he had someone come in with an '05 yesterday and his tires rubbed. He didn't remember the size of wheels/tires, but he said that he was only able to give him 1 degree of caster cause of his setup.

BTW, where are more pics of your truck??!! All I see are batteries :confused:

Thanks I just ordered the donahoe coilovers and the TC UCA. Been wanting this for a while now.

Thanks I just ordered the donahoe coilovers and the TC UCA. Been wanting this for a while now.

Congrats! You'll love the setup. :tu: You gonna install all of this yourself?

Nice work ,thanks for the info
maybe I`ll quit hunting long enough to get back on my truck someday

I plan on installing the donahoes and the TC UCA. What are the ft/lb specs for installation? The instructions don't list this. Also, how much time does this take, I don't believe the 1 hour that donahoe lists.


Congrats! You'll love the setup. :tu: You gonna install all of this yourself?

What are the ft/lb specs for installation? The instructions don't list this. Also, how much time does this take, I don't believe the 1 hour that donahoe lists.

I'll post the torque specs tonight.

As far as the install. The actual removal and installation of the COs I don't see taking any longer than 1 hour (not including setting the truck on stands and removing the wheels). The arms will take about 3 hrs once you figure out that the fender needs to be bent back with a set of vice grips.

Post some pics during the install. I would have posted more, but I was in a rush.

Ok, I did it but sorry no pictures, I don't have a camera right now, but when I do I'll take some.

TC gave specs for their bolts: 90 ft/lbs, I didn't know the specs for the factory bolts but I can spec it when I find that out. It took me about 4 hours total (2 people). I'm no expert so anyone should be able to do it with a little help.

Actually surprised that it went so smoothly, only problem was that the dust cover on the brakes was scraping the disk, but that took 2 minutes to fix.

Had some issue getting the nut to tighten back to the tie rod because the opposite end is a loose rivet that tends to spin easier than the nut. Tried several things before wedging it up with a floor jack to hold it in place.

I'll take pictures when I install the leaf springs and DR remote res rear shocks.


I'll post the torque specs tonight.

As far as the install. The actual removal and installation of the COs I don't see taking any longer than 1 hour (not including setting the truck on stands and removing the wheels). The arms will take about 3 hrs once you figure out that the fender needs to be bent back with a set of vice grips.

Post some pics during the install. I would have posted more, but I was in a rush.