I reckon that the hardest thing about upgrading your suspension is getting those damn nuts off the top of your shockies. When I upgraded my 80 series suspension to 3" I damaged the old shocks because I had to use stillsons to hold the shockie while I removed the top mounting nuts.

The aim of this post is to help you plan your suspension upgrade.

What tools are you going to need?

Coil spring compressors.
For my 3" longer springs I borrowed some coil spring compressors from a friend that owns a 4WD business. As it turned out I only needed them to remove and then fit the front springs. Without them you wont get the old springs out or the new ones in.
I didn't need the coil spring compressors for the rear springs. I disconnected the sway bar mounts and the lower shockie mounts and the suspension dropped down (or levered down) far enough to carefully slip the coils out. If you do the same to the front end then it will make the job easier.

Socket sets and ring spanners.
Get these ready. Have a look at what size nuts that you will be working on.

WD40.
Give the mounting nuts/bolts a spray a few days before you work on the suspension. It may just help those front shockie nuts to release themselves making your job easier.

Other.
Workshop manual (read through the process first, do you know bolt torque settings).
Stillsons to hold the old shocks (if they are no good).
Pry bar to help lever the suspension parts.
Longer screwdrivers to use as pry bars.
Using a pry bar CAN be dangerous so use them carefully. It may be better than using your hands/fingers in some situations.
Torque wrench (if you are new to this caper then you it may be better for you to borrow a torque wrench and refer to your workshop manual torque settings when you bolt up your new suspension).

Parts.
Make sure that you have all the parts needed before you start work.
Check the condition of the bolts/nuts. The lower items often get damaged during use. It will make things much easier if you have new parts ready to replace any damaged parts (or parts that you are about to damage).
Obviously, you will need your new coil spring, shockie, shockie bushes (if needed, new shocks should already have them).

Safety.

There is a big chance that you will get badly injured doing this job unless you think about safety and take action to avoid unsafe situations.

The coil springs are under a LOT of tension when they are compressed with the 'coil spring compressors'. Make sure that they are attached correctly, and don't lever them off just to save time.
Car jacking. If your vehicle is going to be sitting up on stilts while you are pushing and shoving on your old suspension parts then there is a good chance that the lot is going to topple on top of you. Think about what you can do to stop the car from falling PLUS think about what you can do to protect yourself IF the car does fall.
Use solid stands.
Only do one wheel at a time.
Put your wheel (or two wheels, or your wheel plus wooden chocks) under the car to limit its' drop.

This post is to help you think before you approach your suspension upgrade.

People tend to get angry when they are confronted with a problem that they don't know how to handle or they haven't prepared for. Think about all the situations that make you angry!
Prepare for this and other projects that you want to do on your 80 series cruiser and you will enjoy the job much more!

Please feel free to add to this thread about the approaches you made, or better ways to your suspension upgrade

I have never used spring compressors. I have fitted 2 sets of 4inch lift extra heavy duty springs front and rear by supporting the 80 by the chassis and then simply using a trolly jack to lift the oposing side of the axle up to allow adequate room to fit the spring into the other side. No need to worry about the spring flying back at you under load. Its a simple task to replace springs and shocks once you have done it once.

I found it pretty simple to replace the suspension on the first attempt with the 80, although my cruiser seemed to still be quite tight at the front.
I probably used the spring compressors on the front before I realised that it's easier if you release the sway bar.

Also like to add a few points.

1 Keep and eye on the brake lines - they can get streched if your not too careful. Undo the bracket that holds the line to the chassis to allow a bit more flex.

2 Loosen all the suspension arm bolts. ie rear upper and lower control arms at the chassis and diff, front and rear panhard rods at the chassis and diff and the front radius arm at the chassis. This can help for 2 reasons - 1 it allows the suspension to drop with less resistance so making removal of springs without compressors much easier, and 2 once the lift is complete your bushes are not twisted due to the additional angle placed on them due to the lift

Another way to do it is to put the car back on the ground before completely tightening the bolts to put the load back onto the shocks. This limits the mount of twisting in the bushes etc.

If you like im going to write an extensive artice on this as im about to go from standard (shagged) suspension to a 2" OME lift with new steering dampener. I will document each step with pics.

I just read and noticed how I forgot to mention to tighten the bolts Good thing you picked this up I'd like to see your write up with all the pretty pics attached

Another thing depending how high you are lifting it, is to remove the front panhard rod
at the chassis end to allow for greater drop.

Rattle gun

good write up, few things id like to add

found these while fitting my 5" lift:

when doing the rear, i placed 2 of my old 33" tyres under the chassis, 33x12.5 tyres, great heeight for the 5"

take sway bar off, undo upper control arm bushes (just a few turns does it) and remove panhard..if your going this high anyway you neeed to replace it

to get such a huge coil in it was needed to remove the brake line brackets, drop the diff to the ground basically and get one of my mates to push down on the caliper ae i fitted the coil



as for shocks, rattlegun usually does it, my fronts where extremly tigh and just neeeded a friend to hold the shock only slightly to get it to come off

John

Kewl guys, im going to be fitting my 6" suspension next weekend or the weekend after. Anything else you`s can tell me that might help to fit it?

Im about to swap out my shocks and steering dampner. Make sure you have, if not order from toyota, lower shock absorber bolts and bushes.
They didn't come with my last kit.

Make sure you do those adjustable panhard rods up super tight aswell!


Btw sniper i thought you where tossing up between 4 and 5" on outerlimits?
What coils are you useing?

dobinsons coils, and pro comp shocks

lol yea I was going 4-5 then changed my mind

LBD has it right, use a rattle gun to get the top nut of the front shocks. Easy as.

well it arrived today *arms up*
hopefully be putting it in this weekend (I got a bit of house painting to do, but would rather do the lift)
got it from suspension stuff shane is a top bloke

hi punk180

i would also like to see your write up and pics of the lift
how much did it cost
cheers

ps this is just 1 great reason to have this site....diy