Ok, so on friday at about 12 I began to take my truck apart in my driveway to put the new Tuff Country lift kit in. The instructions said it should be a 1-3 hr. job with only hand tools required. After i got the frame sitting on jack stands and the axle supported by a floor jack I began to take the truck apart. The wheels, shocks and front spring bolt all came out without a problem. The rear spring bolt would not budge though. I inlisted the help of 3 of my very mechanical friends for some help to get the bolt out. We ended up using half a dozen blades and cutting the bolt off on the inside of the shackle. It was about 8 p.m. by then so we called it a night and came back the next day.
We started saturday off at about 2:30 p.m.by bringing the spring to a friend of mines shop and getting the rear bushing out. This took about an hour with a 55 ton press because it was so rusted in. next we put the new bushings in using the 55 ton press We headed back to my house to get the other spring out. Again the wheels, shocks, and front spring bolt came out with no problems. We decided to cut the bolt the same way we had the other night because it was the only way. This time however it took 14 sawzall blades to get through. We took the spring back to my buddies shop and repeated the steps with the press. At about 9:30 p.m. we headed back home to go to sleep.
So today we started at about 2 p.m. and figured it would be easy to bolt all this stuff back up. Well it turns out the nut that the company supplied was too big to fit through the alinging hole in the U-bolt bracket. So i had to go to the hardware store and by a drill bit. After that everything bolt right back in with a little persuasion. At about 6 p.m. we put the new 35 in. BFGoodrich All- Terrains on and prayed that they wouldn't rub. THEY STILL RUBBED! It turns out that when I had my fender bender back in August the bumper got pushed back a little back.
So for a grand total of $313.00 I still have my old tires on the truck. Now I need to go to my mechanic on Monday and have him push/ pull the bumper back out. He probably would have charged $50 to install it for me. Wow did I screw up or what.

Expenses:
lift kit: $120
shipping: $20
drill bit: $28
bushings: $30
hardware: $15
sawzall blades: $100

 

Was this just a front leveling kit? if so I don't remove the springs from the truck. I just put some clamps on the springs. cut the center bolt let the clamps off put the new spring in the pack and use the clamps or vehicle weight to clamp everything back together install the center bolt and put it all back together. Its still not a 1-3 hour deal. 3-5 for both sides is more reasonable.

 

Is there any write-ups on doing the leaf springs? Or is it a pretty simple job.

 

You can shim the bumper forward usind some longer bolts and a stack of large washers. I shimmed mine out about an inch and no rubbing on th bumper. It sill hits the springs sometimes though.

 

post pics when you get the new tires on!