PRG 3" spacer and deaver install guide

[Shinjari]

Alright everyone here is my crazy long, intensive, detailed, graphic (no...no skin sorry!) write-up

Alright guys and gals...here it is in all its PRG-ness (say that 3x fast) glory!

Let me say that Greg and Jen pack their stuff very carefully.
(Notice the PRG stickers right on top)

Package.JPG

Next we have a picture of the parts I ordered
Everything is nice and labeled
I ordered the 3" spacers for the front and the 1.5" deaver pack for the back

Contents.JPG

Heres that beefy bumpstop

Beefy Bumpstop.JPG

The Deaver packs

1.5 Deavers.JPG

And the spacers....crazy lift math....1.75" spacer=3" lift

1.75 spacer.JPG


And that concludes the intro portion of this hopefully helpful/informative 'How-to'

[Shinjari]

Now to the Fun stuff...

Here are the tools you need to do the front spacers...

12 mm socket/wrench (to remove bumpstop)
14 mm socket/wrench (to remove Nuts on shock top)
17 mm socket/wrench (to remove swaybar)
19 mm socket/wrench (to remove Nut on shock bottom)
21 mm socket/Tire iron (to remove lug-nuts)
Torque Wrench

An impact gun is helpful but not neccessary.

Power drill with 3/8 drill bit or 3/8-16 tap

Needlenose or equivalent Pliers (to remove Cotter pins)
4 lb or equivalent sledge hammer (to get ball joint loose)
Floor Jack
Jack Stands
Chucks (I think thats what they're called) or Blocks
WD40 (for lube...thank goodness my nuts weren't rusty...)


Now that you have your trusty tools set...onto the install!!!


Park the truck on level ground, put the e-brake, put it in park (P) or in gear, and block the rear tires with your Blocks or chucks or whatever you have.

Now that you're parked don't get jack happy and start lifting away.

First you need to loosen the 17mm bolts that hold the sway-bar to the truck.
If you have rusty nuts, this is where that WD40 comes in handy.

swaybar1.JPG

Now push the bolt towards the rear of the truck...Once you have both side loosened just roll the sway arm foward to give you more clearance. In order for me to get the bolts thru I had to lift the truck a little until the bolts lined up...once the bolts had no 'weight' on them they slid right out of the sway arm.

swaybar2.JPG

Now YOu can get your jack and start to lift the truck...I lifted form the Cross-bar just behind the oil pan.

Make sure to put a Jack stand under the frame and remove the jack. It is easier to do th install if you just lift one side of the truck rather than the whole front end. Now put the jack under the LCA (lower control Arm) and lift the arm slightly.

jack placement.JPG

Ok now to grab your needlenose pliers (or whatever) and remove the old cotter pin from the balljoint bolt. Next get your 21mm Socket and loosen the nut...don't take it off all the way, just loosen it to about where it is in the picture.

spindle bolt 21mm.JPG

Now that you have loosened the bolt take that trusty 4lb sledge and hit the front part of the UCA, upwards until the spindle and the UCA are separated. It may take a few hits and some adjusting of your floor jack to get the ball joint bolt straight before it comes off.

Make sure that whatever lines (brake lines, ABS lines, CV joint for you 4x4's etc..) are connected to the spindle are not in danger of snapping or disconnecting by using a wire or ziptie to hold to spindle upright.

At this point your shock should be exposed and you can now take your 14mm socket or wrench and remove the nuts from the top of the shock...then move on to remove the 19mm bolt that holds the lower part of the shock.

[Shinjari]

Here is a picture of the original shock and the new 3" spacer.

shock_stock.JPG

Take the 3 nuts you removed form the shock assembly and use them to attach the spacer to the shock. Torque them to 15-10 ft/lb.

spacer on.JPGshock_modified.JPG

Now go back to your truck and look at the LCA. Towards the back part of it you should see a bumpstop. Take your 12mm socket and remove the old puny bumpstop.

bumpstop.JPG

Now take your drill with 3/8" drill bit and make that puny little hole just a tad bigger...or for you folks who have a 3/8-16 tap go ahead and tap that hole.

Now place the new Urethane Bumpstop provided in place of that old bumpstop.

[Shinjari]

Now that you have that completed grab your newly 'modified' shock and put it back in place. This is where the extra room from removing the sway bar and spindle come in handy.

Place the top part first and then line up the lower shock mount. you may have to lower or raise the LCA with your jack to get it to line up properly.

The 14mm nuts should be tightened to 25-30 ft/lbs and the lower should be 85-90 ft/lb.

It should look like so...

wo spindle.JPG

Now put the ball joint back onto the spindle with its 21mm bolt and tighten to 55-58 ft/lb. Again you may have to raise/lower your floor jack to get these to line up properly. Also the UCA might need a good push down since the bushings naturally push it upwards.

Once the ball joint is back in place and the nut is tightened install the new cotter pins provided.

Yeay! Now you have front spacers installed and an extra 2-3" depending on which spacers you purchased.

done.JPG

Now do the other side!

As you can see with the 3" spacer the UCA has less room to move before hitting the coilbucket.

UCA space.JPG

I have driven roughly 150 miles and have only heard the 'knock' once....and that was because I was trying to get it to make noise...hitting a speed bump at 30mph was the culprit lol. But under normal driving I don't hear it at all.

After finishing both sides bolt up the sway bar, you tires and lower your truck and you're done with the front!!!! Woohoo!!!!!

[Shinjari]

Now the spacers were cake...the deavers were a tad trickier...more frustrating than anything though.

Ok so for this you need

6mm allen wrench
14mm socket/wrench
19mm Socket/wrench (to remove U-bolt nuts/lower shock mount)
21mm socket/tire iron
Heavy duty C-clamps (a few)
A ratchet strap
Floor jack (2 if possible)
Jack stands


First swap the blocks from the rear tires to the front tires.

Jack up the truck from the frame and place a jack stand under the frame.

Use your 21mm socket or tire iron to remove the rear tires.

Take your 19mm socket/wrench and remove the lower shock mount bolts and let the shocks dangle freely.



Support the axle with the floor jack and then use your 19mm socket to loosen the U-bolt nuts. Lower the floor jack so that the axle lowers slightly.

Pay attention to the e-brake and the brake lines as they will get tighter the lower you lower the axle...it is best to simply loosen the lines from their rubber grommet hangers.

Now take your 6mm allen wrench and take off the bolt on the overload leaf side supports.

6mm allen.JPG

Now place a C-clamp on the 3 leaf's. Do this because when you loosen the leaf spring bolt they will want to separate.
I suggest some heavy dutty clamps since I had some cheap ones that got over torqued from the pressure.

Clamp to hold.JPGold bolt.JPG

Now lower the axle (or if you have 2 jacks....raise the truck with 1 and lower the axle with the other)

lower jack.JPG

Now that the axle is lowered and the center bolt has been removed, remove the overload spring and discard it since it will no longer be used.

[Shinjari]

Now get the new deaver pack and remove the center bolt with your 14mm and the side bolts with the 14mm as well.

And now the funnest parts of the install...(insert sarcasm here)

Here is what the instructions say verbatim "Remove the nut and the side retaining bolts on the new leaf pack and slide the new/longer bolt through the old leaf pack and tighten the nut to bring all the leaves together. It may take some aligning of the leaves and some cuss words, they will eventually line up and go together."

SOME cuss words you say??? how bout a TON of cuss words?!?!?!

This part was by far the most annoying part of any install I have ever done on a vehicle.

Well take the overload spring off and discard it and slide the new deaver pack under the stock leaf pack.

I was so frustrated at this point that I neglected to take pictures of me putting the deaver under the old leaf pack...

So after all my cussing and frustration I finally was able to get the pack together...now to tighten the bolt to get the leaves together...bad idea...the provided bolt is plenty long enough, however since that particular bolt is simply there to make sure the leaves are centered it is made out the softest metal ever...

I proceed to attempt to get the leaves together (striping the bolt as I tighten) and then the bolt breaks from the pressure...(as you can tell from the change in style of the write-up that even remembering this part was aggrivating)

So luckily I had some heavy duty bolts in my tool chest.

I immediately put those on and repeated my process of getting the leaves together...thanks to the beefier bolt I was successful. If your bolt is really long you need to trim it with a sawz-all or a hacksaw to about 1/2" above the bolt so you can fit the old bumpstop on later.

Now to the fun with the side retaining bolts...

The side retaining brackets are simply a U-shaped bar with a bolt through it...these brackets are 1/8" too small or are just designed to fit so snuggly as to not let the leaf move...

When you attempt to get the bolt thgouh to fasten it to the leaf spring you will notice that the brackets have been bent 1-2cm...which leaves you with no room for the bolts...the hardware provided is barely long enough to begin with and yet somehow you have to 'gain' 1-2cm to get it to fit...now having any bolts this size I had to improvise.

I grabbed my trusty C-Clamps and clamped until i 'gained' my 1-2 cm back.

EDIT!!! After talking with Greg these side retaining bolts are NOT, I repeat NOT necessary!

crazy clamping1.JPGcrazy clamping2.JPG

Now replace all the brake line brackets/grommets and put that 19mm bolt and nut back on for the lower shock mount.

FINALLY!!!!!....No....you have to get the axle to line up...

If you simply try to raise the axle back into place the hole where the center bolt on the leaf pack used to sit does not line up properly. After many more cuss words and attempts to simply raise my axle into place I recall an idea I saw on this forum not too long ago.

I grabbed my trusty ratchable strap and put one end on the axle and one end on the frame.

axle alignment.JPGaxle alignment2.JPG

I just kept adjusting until it finally lined up and viola! I'm done...put back the bumpstop and U-bolts with their 19mm nuts and slap those tires back on and done! (for real this time)

[Shinjari]

Well here are the pictures of my baby after her make-over...I was so excited about my lift that I didn't take an overall

before shot, just the close-up measurement shots.



done!!.JPGdone!!!.JPG

As you can see I got the 3" in front and 1.5" in back.

Overall this was a clean and easy install...

As you can tell the front spacers were cake. I mean I only had to remove a total of 24 bolts/nuts which includes the 12

lug nuts. The 1st side I did took about 45 minutes since I had no clue what to do. After doing the 1st side I did the 2nd

side in 15-20 minutes.

As for the deavers that took a bit longer. The 1st side took me about 2 hours because of the 'fun' axle lining up part and

the leaf compression part...after figuring out my little tricks I was able to do the 2nd side in 20-25 minutes.

So over all it too me about 4-5 hours to do the install. Now that I know what needs to be done, I could easily say that I

could probably put one of these bad boys on in 2 hours or less...probably faster if you have blocks for the rear instead

of the PITA deavers.

As for the kit and instructions they are good...probably my only true complaint is about the side retaining bolts being

short and the center leaf bolt being too soft. Why would you give me a crazy long center bolt that I have to cut but give

me these puny short bolts for the side???

Oh well....if any of you plan on getting the deavers for the frontier they have performed great...however buy new

stronger and longer hardware by all means.

Now to wait for my 4" spindles! woot!

[Shinjari]

So over-all increase...


Hood 46.5" before....49.5" after
Tailgate 52.5" before....54" after
Front Fender 33.75" before...36.75" after
Rear Fender 35.5" before....37" after

So as you can see I got 3" in the front and 1.5" in the back

Front_stock.JPGRear_stock.JPGtailgate_stock.JPGfender_stock.JPG

[Shinjari]

fender_after.JPGFront_new.JPGRear_new.JPGtailgate_after.JPG

The new measurements. Hope this install helps. Enjoy =P PM me with any ?'s

[kcast]

subscribing, THANK YOU!!! Will be doing my install on monday!