[RinconVTR]

For many months I've been debating with myself to add airbags, a spring spacer, or new springs for just a little rear lift at all times. "At all times" is key. So when unloaded, the rear sits higher than the front, when slightly loaded therear doesn't look like its working so hard, and when towing using a WDH not require so much bar tension to level the truck. Nothing major in any case, butI knew I could improve. Airbags are cheap, but one must keep tabs on PSI. New springs would work, buy they are expensive and hard to replace. So, I focused on spring spacers.


The trouble I found, even with spring spacers, was how to compress the heavy “truck” spring. Revtek told me twice to use a clam shell style compressor. I tried 2 of them, a cheap one and a $160 version. They were equally impossible to fit and get a good bit on the thick spring. I also tried external 2pc compressors, those wont fit either. But while trying all these, I noticed a good size hole on the lower A-arm and eventually stumbled on the internal spring compressor to make use of this hole, but I had a hard time finding one to fit the large spring. I finally found one, and it’s amazing what the right tool can do.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003A18KCQ/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I also took measurements to create my own spacer made to 1-1/4” lift. I got real close with my measurements, but ended up making a slight mod for the spring ID. And I learned a few things I could improve uponif I ever make them again.

They are made out of an ABS/Polycarbonate blend material and built by a 3D FDM printer by Stratasys. (I’m an engineer and oversee our machine at work). You may think plastic isn’t strong enough, but surprise surprise,much like concrete…plastic has very high compressive strength. (If I made them out of aluminum, I would have been real near the cost of the revtek’s based on material cost and a lots of beer for our machinist.) So here’s what they looklike:

On to the job…which went fast. About 30 minutes per side.

Spring – no spacer:

Spring – compressed by internal spring compressor. Notice the angle it is at. I had to pull this one over with a ratchet strap. The otherside I swapped the compressor arms around, as there is a long and short arm,and this was nowhere near as severe. The wood is wedged in as shown to keep the assembly as low as possible and not move up with the compressor.

Spring with spacer installed.

Final product. Measurements come out to exactly 1-1/8” higher than original, again using a 1-1/4” spacer.

 

[10SeqNC]

Well done; looks good

 

[Tip Toe Over The Mt.]

It does look good.

 

[Mile_High_Tundra]

For my rear lift I actually took the upper control arm bolt off to allow more downward movement. Looking at your picture you used a 2x4 to hold it down which takes a lot of force. I actually found a clam style spring compressor and it too was very tight. The spring compressor you have there looks like it would have done the job too.

 

[drto9999]

Looks great !do you know if the air bags will give any lift to the rear when unloaded ? My empty 2010 sags a bit in the rear?

 

[AmazinglySmooth]

I have the Platinum and I think the previous owner or dealer lifted the rear. It makes the truck appear so much less "fat". It took me a while to figure out why mine looked so different than my neighbor's Limited.

 

[drto9999]

Yes the platinum has a adjustable rear
Suspension where my limited does not
I was wondering if anyone knows if you could
Get an inch from the air ride bags

 

[RinconVTR]

Looks great !do you know if the air bags will give any lift to the rear when unloaded ? My empty 2010 sags a bit in the rear?

At the 5psi minimum pressure, they typically do not add any lift. Beyond 5psi, they will begin to lift the rear.

 

[drto9999]

Thanks so much Rincon,I'll give them a try before I go down the revtek road

 

[MOE87]

Looks not bad at all a bit higher than the front


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

 

[MtnClimber]

Rincon: Thank you for sharing. I may try something similar and have several questions:

RinconVTR said:
I also took measurements to create my own spacer made to 1-1/4” lift. I got real close with my measurements, but ended up making a slight mod for the spring ID. And I learned a few things I could improve upon if I ever make them again.

1) Can you provide the key dimensions, or a sketch, of your spacers? It would be nice to take advantage of what you have learned will work best.

RinconVTR said:
Measurements come out to exactly 1-1/8” higher than original, again using a 1-1/4” spacer.

2) What was the actual thickness of your spacer? This quote seems to imply that the spacer moved the top of the coil spring down 1-1/4 inches but the truck only lifted 1-1/8 inches. Just looking at the geometry (the spring is between the frame and the lower spring carrier arm inboard of the wheel) it would seem to me that the wheel would move down considerably more than the thickness of the spacer (the wheel/knuckle/spindle assembly moves in a larger arc than the lower spring seat). Am I missing something?

3) There is a rubber spring isolator (Item #17 in the above image), Toyota P/N 48257-0C011, immediately above each coil spring. Did you remove that part when you installed the spacer?

Thanks for any help and suggestions you can provide.

 

[RinconVTR]

A couple months after this post, I installed lower height spacers, as shown. One alignment shop complained that they could not adjust camber...which easily could have been caused by the spacers...but turned out to be false. They were just lazy m'er f'ers.

The height change is in fact nearly 1:1.

Change the "set height" dimension at will...but I would not go over 1-1/2" unless the material is aluminum and you have a very professional installation method. (And you could very well run out of camber adjustment)

Recent pic...you can see the rubber insulator and how well the spacers are holding up.

 

[MtnClimber]

Thanks for the warning about the camber adjustment. This confirms what another person told me.

If I may ask, what ride height are you at with your 0.8 inch rear spacer?

I'm trying to figure out what size spacer I should add to get a similar rear height to yours, while safely staying away from any camber alignment and installation difficulties you mentioned. My current ride height, measured from the ground to the center of the rear fender, is at exactly 36 inches, or 20 inches from the center of the wheel to the fender (with OEM 32 inch tires). I have measured 37 inch rear fender height on new Sequoias, so I think my springs may have settled about an inch since new. It may be quite safe to lift 1-1/2" if it is true that in my case adding an inch just gets back to original height. Do you think that will work in my case?

On the topic of DIY installation, I reviewed the Revtek installation instructions.

http://4wheelonline.com/images/Revtek/manual/INST-441.pdf

On Page 5 they say to loosen a number of different bolts and then remove the bolt that connects the upper control arm to the knuckle, in order to allow the lower control arm to drop down more to gain access to compress the spring. Your DIY description doesn't mention loosening any bolts in the suspension, and I can see the upper control arm/knuckle bolt still in place in your pictures. So clearly use of the internal spring compressor is sufficient to avoid major suspension disassembly when installing a spacer. Did you disconnect the shock or the sway bar link to get more droop? (I have already installed rear 5100's which allow more droop than the OEM shocks.)

Thanks again for sharing what you have learned. This information will be very helpful to anyone adding rear spacers.

 

[RinconVTR]

Well, I cannot find anywhere that I marked down what my actual ride height was before all this, I only posted the difference.

Today, I measure 37-1/2" exactly. So it sounds like the .800" (basically 3/4") spacer I posted would work perfectly for you and most others.

And I must say, I am questioning my measurements and statement of 1:1 spacer to height change at this point seeing you are at 36" inches stock right now. If only I wrote down my original number somewhere. DAMN!

Regarding the spring compressor, yes its easy to compress with the tool I used but still a little scary too. (always is a little scary to me!) Obviously I had to compress it more for the 1-1/4" spacer vs the .800. I did have the lower shock bolt off, may be even the whole shock was off. The 2X4's kept the arm in a downward position to add clearance so I was not over compressing the spring. There may have been a couple more bolts to loosen to make the job easier.

The hardest part was pulling the spring inward (notice how it tilts outward) while decompressing the spring. I used a 2" ratchet tie down. It wasn't fun, but not really difficult. 5 out of 10 difficulty level for those who have done this sort of work at least a couple times before. Never compressed automotive springs before? This is definitely not the job for you.

I hope I answered all your questions.

 

[RinconVTR]

OH...those RevTek instructions have evolved a TON since I looked at them. It looks like they did the very same procedure I did (almost), but they clearly got a clamshell compressor to work. The two I tried were not even close to fitting correctly. They didn't even fit over the thickness of the spring wire itself.

What they do not show, is how they got the spring back in place...as their was tilted outward like mine did. Its challenging for sure.

 

[balu4k]

I installed my lift kit on 2012 Limited 2 weeks back and followed exactly what was said in the notes from Revtek. Yes the Clmashell type compressor ( from harbor freight ) did not help me at all. i used the coil spring compressor rented from o'reilly's and it did the job. it took about 6 to 7 hrs for me to install both the front and rear kit. I would say this is my first job ever working on cars except changing brake pads and limited tools and shop space.

 

[MtnClimber]

I installed my lift kit on 2012 Limited 2 weeks back and followed exactly what was said in the notes from Revtek. Yes the Clmashell type compressor ( from harbor freight ) did not help me at all. i used the coil spring compressor rented from o'reilly's and it did the job. it took about 6 to 7 hrs for me to install both the front and rear kit. I would say this is my first job ever working on cars except changing brake pads and limited tools and shop space.

Measured height, before and after? Photos?

 

[balu4k]

I don't have the before height. i can get the after height and photo's tomorrow morning.

 

[johnnyomega]

I just installed the RevTek 441R spacers for 1.5" lift in the rear. I also replaced the stock/OEM shocks with the Bilstein 5100 Part #33-187280. In the front I installed the adjustable Bilsteins (Part #24-239387) at the highest setting. My Sequoia has 125K+ miles on those original shocks and they were well worn, so between the 1.5" lift and new shocks, I've ended up 2" higher in the rear. If you're replacing shocks that are in good shape on a newer sequoia, I'm guessing you'd be closer to 1.5" with the RevTek 441R (or if you're not replacing the shocks at all, and just adding spacers). With this combo, I am level front to back.

I love how the new shocks/struts ride, BUT, when I took it to get a 4-wheel alignment, I got the great news that 3 of 4 corners of my lower control arm bushings were shot--the alignment bolts just spun in the bushings. Now this is going to be expensive (unless I can figure out how to replace the front LCA's and the rear coil carriers, or all the bushings). I'm so out of alignment that it's eating the rear tires' outer edge noticeably in just 20 miles.

One hint on compressing those rear coils: That OEMTools 27035 Coil Spring Compressor that RinconVTR used would have been AWESOME if AutoZone had one to loan or if I had time to wait for Amazon to ship. That is absolutely the best solution. BUT if all you have is the MacPherson Strut Spring Compressor set (like the OEMTools 25550), you can take the bottom off one of the sets and replace it with a fat washer. Then insert the bolt through that same center hole of the coil carrier. Then grab the inside of the coil as high as it will go. With the other/twin compressor, grab the outside of the coil (other side) and the bottom lip of the coil carrier. Improvising is scary when working with a spring with that much energy, but it was a solid solution . . . for me. Good luck. For the front, no compressor needed. Just drop the LCA after disconnecting the sway bar. Take off the whole unit (4 bolts 14mm at top, 1 at bottom). And yes, something like PBBlaster/WD40/etc. to soak those bolts overnight helps.

Any words of wisdom on the LCA & coil carrier bushings and alignment issue would be appreciated. Check out those alignment numbers in the photo . . . ARG!

 

[MtnClimber]

JohnnyO - Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm curious about your observed 2 inch height increase in the rear. A couple of questions:


1) When you installed the rear spacers did you remove the rubber spring isolators? (New shocks don't change the height at all and the Revtek 441R spacers are designed to work without the isolators.)


2) Did you note the thickness of the Revtek 441R spacers? If not, can you get an approximate measurement of that dimension after installation? Even a close-up photo would help as it could be compared to Rincon's photo of his installed DIY 0.8 inch thick spacers.


Sorry, I can't give any advice on the alignment issue.