RMJ: TOP GUNZ Leveling Kit Installation

[rmjdrift]

Ok I know it took me forever, but I finally got the Top Gunz Kit on the truck. First off I want to say that the kit is top notch, great fabrication, and fits perfect, left the Tundra looking sweet. As some of you may know I own a shop so I have a bit nicer selection of tools, but I tried to stay with the simple stuff as if I was doing it at home, except for the lift, I had to use that.

OK first off here is what you will need.

-Sockets: 12mm, 14mm, 19mm, 22mm, 24mm.
-3/8 and ½ Ratchets and extension
-14mm wrench (ratcheting works best and an additional extra-long 14mm
wrench if you have it.
-Good breaker bar
-Dead blow hammer
-Pry-bars

Ok first off lift the front of the truck and make sure it’s secure on jack stands or a lift if you got it. Remove the wheels (22mm socket for the lugs). Remove the skid plate (Six 12mm bolts, you will have to use a 12mm socket with an extension). Time to get to the suspension.

Loosen but do not remove the upper coilover nuts (14mm). I used an extra long box end wrench for this, but you guys may not have that, a regular 14mm wrench will work, just gonna have to give it some muscle.



Loosen the sway bar bolt (19mm); it will not come out all the way just yet, will come back to that later.



Loosen the back nut of the lower shock bolt, 22mm (do not try to loosen the bolt, it is under a lot of tension and you will not move it, I broke a breaker bar being dumb, lol), once the nut is removed, use the dead blow hammer to knock the very long bolt out, (you may have to use a long screw driver, or 3/8 extension as a punch to hit it through).



Ok next step, the Top Gunz instructions tell you to remove the lower a-arm ball joint, that is gonna be an issue if you don’t have a nice air-hammer and you run the risk of ripping the ball joint boot. Easier way is to simply remove the two 22mm bolt that are right next to the ball joint this will separate the hub from the a-arm.



Ok time to use the 24mm socket on a breaker bar, Unfortunately I forgot to snap a picture of it, but you can’t miss it. You have to loosen (not to much) the bolts to the lower A-arm. If you look at it quickly before starting you will see that on either side, (there are two bolts) one side of the bolt is tac welded, this means that only one side will rotate. It should be the bolt facing the front of the truck on both the front a-arm bolt and the rear a-arm bolt. Again loosen but not to much you basically want to take the stress off of it so you can lower the control arm. ! Do not move the Alignment Washer!!

First off use a jack under the a-arm to raise it a bit, this will relieve tension on the previously loosened sway bar bolt, pull it out. Ok everything is loose, using a pry-bar lower the A-arm a bit and it will release the Sway bar end link and the lower part of the shock. Remove the four 14mm nuts that hold on the coilover, and carefully remove it, careful not to catch it on the break lines, (pay attention to how it was removed, the shock has stripes painted on it to remind you that those stripes face to the outside of the Truck, blue on the Drivers Side and Yellow on the Passenger Side).

On the floor, table, or wherever comfortable, place the TOP GUNZ spacer on the top of the shock, (there is only one way it will fit, so turn it a few times if needed to match up the holes). Use the original 14mm Nuts to secure the spacer to the coilover assembly. I used a shorter pry bar to hold down one side while I tightened the 14mm bolts.





Here comes the fun part, putting it all back together. Slide the coilover up into the original position, (pay attention to how it was removed, the shock has stripes painted on it to remind you that those stripes face to the outside of the Truck, blue on the Drivers Side and Yellow on the Passenger Side). When you get it into position, slide the washer on the studs and hand tighten the 14mm nuts (these are lock nuts so you will not be able to hand tighten them all the way down). Leave it loose for now.

Ok use the pry bar to lower the A-arm once again to fit the shock back into its place, also place the sway bar end-links back into place (they may not fit in all the way, leave them there in place till the end). Once they are in place, use a jack to push up a bit on the A-arm, (careful not to jack it up to much, it will lift the truck off the jack stand), line up the long shock bolt and push it in, use the hammer to knock it through the hole and hand tighten the 22mm nut, (use Lock-tite on the bolt and nut).

For this part you will need a buddy (no complaints here, I made my 68 year old dad do the prying, lol). You have to compress the upper control arm, down to line up the 22mm bolts that hold the hub and lower A-arm together. !! Use Lock-tite on the bolt before putting them back on!! Easiest way I found to do this is to get a long pry bar, (is used a 3-footer, but 24 inch will work), have your buddy place it between the coilover mounting perch and the upper control arm allowing you to use the pry bar as leverage to lower the upper control arm. While doing this you should be under the truck ready to move the hub around to align the 22mm bolt, make sure you get a few threads in by hand fairly easily before trying to torque it down with the socket, this will assure you of no threads stripping.



Ok everything should be in place, before you lower the truck make sure the sway bar end-links are in place as indicated way above. Tighten everything up, put the tires back on, and lower the truck to where the tires are just touching the ground with little weight on ther, tighten the lug nuts and finally lower completely. Once it is lowered the weight of the truck should put the end links very close to where they need to be, (use a scredriver if necessary to line up the holes) line up the bolts and tighten them up (In working on other trucks I found this to be the easiest way to line up the end links).

You are all done. Step back enjoy the new look, remember get an alignment, and adjust your headlights. Here is a link in the forum for adjusting the headlights.






Hope this helps guys. Let me know if you have any questions.

Also if you are in So-Cal and don't want to do it yourself, let us know, we will do the install for $140.

Miguel -RMJ

[Rev411]

Looks great and very nice write up.

[guapo]

Nice write up, can you post before and after picts, I still dont get it. I have stood back and looked at my truck and dont see much diffrence if any between the front and back, I do have the TRD package does that make a diffrence.

[rmjdrift]

No the stance is the same on all packages from what I know, I unfortunately had a brain fart and did not take a before pic.

REV you have a before and after on our other post right?

[Rev411]

The following pictures show the factory rake of the truck to be about 2.5" difference from the rear to the front on the before shots. I measured my truck on a level surface and the rear distance between the top of my 18" rims to the bottom of the fender flare is 14 and 7/8" while the front space between the top of the rims to the bottom of the fender flare was 11 and 1/4". After the lift, the front height change to 13 and 3/8" giving it more of a level stance and now I can actually side under the front of the truck. The top gun kit did what it claimed it would do. Clearly, it was money well spent.

The first three pictures are before the lift and the last two are after the lift. Hope this helps.

[RICORACER]

I've lowered the truck and the TRD sway bar rubs. any idea's

[Hawaii 5.7]

Thanks for taking the time to show your leveling kit install in detail. Great post.

[eddies]

new to the forum as well as toyota was looking at making this my first mod was wondering how big a tire you could put on with out rubbing (dc 4x2)

[ltengine110]

To be safe 33"

[Cuda]

Nice post rmjdrift, no kit on mine yet, but yours looks nice.

[rmjdrift]

Thanks for the comments, if anyone is doing a 4x4 install can answer questions with those as well, or bring it by we'll do iut here for you

[venturehunter]

Hello Friends.
I have a question about the leveling kits for the front end affecting the gas mileage. Does it make any difference one way or the other? Especially highway mileage.

Jim

[SybErkRimInAL]

Originally Posted by venturehunter

Hello Friends.
I have a question about the leveling kits for the front end affecting the gas mileage. Does it make any difference one way or the other? Especially highway mileage.

Jim

I'm no expert, but I dont see how it can affect your gas milage. If you add bigger tires, yes, but not the kit alone.

[rmjdrift]

I have not noticed a decrease in gas milage in the city or highway since i installed the kit

[underpar]

thanks alot rmjdrift, great info on the leveling kit. I bought the top gunz 2.25 and installed it myself in about 2 hrs. looks great.