I bought my friend an add a leaf kit for his truck for Christmas from JC Whitney. I had to spend 20 bucks more to qualify for free shipping, so I bought these little coil booster things. I thought it would be worth a shot. It's supposed to raise the front an inch or 2. The coils are not spaced far enough apart to fit the little mechanism in place between the coils. I jacked up the truck on the frame so the suspension was not loaded, and it was flexed all the way out, but it still wouldn't fit in there. Has anyone used these before? Do you know any tricks to spread the coils out? They only need to spread out a little bit farther, and it will go right in.

 

Don't the boosters have square holes in them? You are supposed to be able to put a ratchet in the hole and screw them in. A big screwdriver prying the coils apart will work too.

 

I think he's probably talking about the doughnut shaped poly spacers.

Did you remove the shock and let the suspension droop as far as it would go, or are you letting the shocks act like limit straps????

 

I didn't disconnect the shocks. That's probably a good idea. They are not the kind you screw in. Here's the link to what I got: COIL SPRING 2-WAY ADJUSTER & STABILIZER : JC Whitney: Auto Parts & Accessories

 

I personally would not waste my time with gadgets such as those, but to answer you question: disconnect the shocks and sway bar if you have one to allow full droop of the suspension.

You may also have to disconnect the TRE if it ends up binding the knuckle and prevents full droop.

 

Oh ok. Yea I pretty much regret buying them hahaha! I thought about installing them on one of my other vehicles. You can turn them around and use them to lower a car too. I give them another shot on the truck, but if it gets too involved I'll just use them on something else. Thanks for the advice. Hopefully I can get them in and raise the front an inch or two.

 

I'm assuming that these are the aluminum "twist in" knuckles that spread out the coil springs for added lift...?
I had used them for years in my old plow truck Bronco.
When I bought the truck the front springs were sagging, I installed 2 of them in the front springs to correct the sag. (perfect)
When I started to plow I added 2 more to each side before putting on the plow. After plowing, I took out the 2 extras.
I would jack up the truck by the front crossmember where the IFS almost met (it overlaps). This would relax the front springs enough for me to spray the twist in knuckles with WD40, and using a 1/2" rachet with a 6" extension, crank them into the lowest place on the front springs 180 degrees apart (1 front, 1 rear). Then I would tap them into position with a small ball peen hammer.
This truck always had 2 in each front spring for plowless driving and I would add 2 more, one coil up when I attached the snowplow. They never damaged the springs and I didn't have to put up with stiff plow springs when I didn't have the plow on.
I could not begin to tell you how many times I did this over the 8 years I had the truck, and not only to this vehicle. Just don't go too high, it will screw up the front end alignment.

I will swear by these! They are cheap, quick to install and work great if you install them correctly!

Steve G.

 

That's the ones I have used, and for the same reason too. He has the ones that are two threaded rods with two "u" shaped pieces. The problem I have with them is they are too large and clunky and won't fit in the tight space you find sometimes around suspension components.

 

Yea, F those things I bought. I might turn around the U bolts and use them to lower my car or something. Even if I did make them work to lift my truck, I am afraid that they would move around. I might have to buy a pair or even 2 pair of those screw in boosters you're talking about. Is there any specific brand that would be best for my application??

 

They are all pretty much the same. And I would not count on a lot of "lift" from them. Possibly a 1/2"-1" .

 

http://www.jcwhitney.com/Coil-Springs/GP_2005889_N_111+1986+200729571+600003419_10101.jc w?Ns=p_PRICE|0||p_Product.LONGDESCRIPTION.sort

Is that a good one? I'm excited!! I can lift my truck close to 2 inches for about 25 bucks. That's cheap enough I can buy it today if I want. Should I put 2 in each coil up front?