Tuff Country 52910 - Toyota Tacoma 05-14 2 leveling kit - Manual (Page 3)

Please follow instructions carefully:
Before installation begins, measure from the center of
the hub, to the bottom of the fender well, and record
measurements below.
Pre-installation measurements:
Driver side front:_______________________________
Passenger side front:___________________________
At the end of the installation take the same
measurements and compare to the pre-installation
measurements.
Post installation measurements:
Driver side front:______________________________
Passenger side front:__________________________
Front end installation:
1. To begin installation, block the rear tires of the vehicle so
that the vehicle is stable and can’t roll backwards. Safely lift
the front of the vehicle and support the frame with a pair of
jack stands. Place a jack stand on both the driver and pas-
senger side. Next, remove the wheels and tires from both
sides.
2. Working on the driver side, remove the sway bar end link
from the knuckle. Save the hardware for later re-installa-
tion. Repeat procedure on the passenger side.
3. Working on the driver side, remove the cotter pin that
connects the knuckle to the upper control arm. Save the
cotter pin for later re-installation. Loosen but do not remove
the castle nut that secures the knuckle to the upper control
arm. Carefully break the taper in the upper control arm and
the knuckle. Once the taper has been broke, remove the
castle nut and set aside for later re-installation. Repeat pro-
cedure on the passenger side.
4. Working on the driver side, place a reference mark on
the driver side strut. This is done so that the driver side strut
will be put back into the driver side of the vehicle. Working
on the driver side, remove the (3) upper nuts that connect
the strut into the OE location. The nuts may be discarded.
Repeat procedure on the passenger side.
5. Working on the driver side, remove the lower bolt that
connects the strut to the lower mounting location and save
the hardware for later re-installation. Special note: During
removal of this bolt, take special care not to damage
the CV boot. Also, make a mental note on which way
the bolt is removed, it needs to be re-installed the same
way that it was removed. Remove the strut assembly
from the vehicle and set aside for further instructions.
Repeat procedure on the passenger side.
Special Note: Tuff Country EZ-Ride Suspension highly
recommends using a wall mounted strut compressor
when installing the strut spacer into the strut. If you do
not have access to a wall mounted strut compressor,
please take it to your local Toyota dealer to have the
strut spacer installed into the strut.
6. Locate the driver side strut assembly. Working on the
driver side strut, scribe a line down the entire strut from the
top of the strut to the bottom. Special note: If this step is
not performed properly re-installing the strut back into
the vehicle will be difficult.
7. Using a wall mounted strut compressor, carefully com-
press the driver side strut until the upper strut bearing plate
can be removed. Remove the nut and hardware from the
top of the strut assembly and save the hardware for later
re-installation.
8. Working on the driver side strut, remove the upper strut
bearing plate from the strut assembly. Remove the rubber
isolator from the upper strut bracket and set the upper
bearing plate and isolator a side for further instructions.
9. Locate (1) new strut spacer, the driver side strut, the
bearing plate, the isolator and the hardware. Carefully com-
press the strut enough so that the new strut spacer and the
isolator can be installed. Install the new strut spacer and
isolator into the strut and secure the upper bearing plate to
strut assembly using the upper strut hardware. Make sure
to use loctite and torque to 65 ft lbs.
10. Locate (1) new upper strut isolator spacer and (3) new
10 mm nylon lock nuts that were packaged with the installer
copy of the installation manual. Working on the driver side,
install the new upper strut isolator spacer on top of the
bearing plate and install into the upper strut location.
Secure the top of the new strut assembly using the new
hardware. Torque to the new hardware to 42 ft lbs.
11. Locate the lower strut bolt and hardware. Secure the
strut assembly into the lower location using the hardware.
Make sure to use loctite and torque to 75 ft lbs. Special
note: When installing the lower bolt, make sure that the
bolt is installed the way it was removed. Facing
towards the front of the vehicle. Also, take special care
not to damage the CV boot when re-installing the hard-
ware.
12. Repeat steps 7 - 11 on the passenger side strut
assembly.
13. Locate the castle nut and cotter pin. Working on the
driver side, secure the knuckle to the upper control arm
using the hardware. Torque and install the cotter pin.
Special note: when torquing the castle nut, DO NOT
loosen the castle nut to get the holes lined up to install
the cotter pin, tighten the castle nut until the holes line
up and the cotter pin can be installed. Repeat procedure
on the passenger side.