Another Center coil install

14 low res pics loading

5-9-2004

Bought this 87 Runner with 22RE and auto as a project to be passed on to dad so he can get out a little and enjoy some camping :) Keeping it simple and cheap, I chose a TJ front coil as it would do a nice job of lifting the rear stocker packs the desired 3~4 inches. Even with the fiberglass top off, the rear packs still rested flat against the overload leaf. When that happens, the ride gets harsh. Using a center coil picks the pack up off of the springboard giving a very cushy ride.

The floor jack is pushing the frame much higher than it will ever ride....but it sure is nice to have all that extras headroom to do the required fitting and welding. Here, the truss is already mig welded to the axle housing. The upper crossmember and dish is also in place.

The 2 dishes are lined up with each other and the mig welder will fill in that 1/4" gap nicely.

Don't want to possibly warp the housing so moderate welds are fine. Date-coded for historical reasons.

The factory pre-formed brake line would not do for the new truss....AutoBone had a 20 and 40 incher for less than 5 bucks total. I formed the new lines using a random piece of 1" OD pipe and kept the lines ON TOP of the new truss to keep the boulders away from them.

Forming them was rather easy.....service loops took up the extra length nicely.

OK.....shoot me....I took a square plate and welded it under a round dish. And yes, when I was a baby, I did negotiate the square peg into the round hole.

Moment of truth....The 17" long TJ coil just looked too long to wedge between the dishes. I chop-sawed off about 2" on the coil.....it was still a bear even with the shackles disconnected and the rear jacked extra high...but it did go in. The coil compressed about 5" with the entire weight on it. This gave 4" of lift as measured from wheel lip to bottom of fender.

Note that the leaf packs are no longer resting on the overload.

I've found that no amount of articulation will ever allow the coil to loosen up and shoot out......the only way to get it out (without compressors) is to remove the shackles/shocks/brake hose/driveshaft and somehow jack the rear up about 2 feet....then it will fall out.

The factory brake line mount was moved on top of the truss so length was not a problem.

The new cross-member did not interfere with the actual proportioning valve itself. I chose to chopsaw off the long rod that attached all the way down at the axle housing. I felt it was not needed.....and it wasn't.

The BEFORE pic......

The AFTER pic. It's hard to tell but the rear has a bit of the 'stink bug' profile to it. The front has the torsion bars turned 12 full turns on each side for 1.5" of lift and the rear has 4" with just the coil mod. The rear shocks are close to being fully extended but that's minor. The on-road ride has yet to be tested as of this moment....Update to come...Just rode tested it and it rides smooth...really smooth...........ZUK