June 24, 2005 -- Time for PRG upgrade round 2! The
Titan is already sitting pretty atop a PRG 2.5" front
kit and a PRG 1.5" rear kit, but we need a better ride
quality on the rear end. To accomplish this, we
installed a set of PRG modified Bilstein shocks and a
set of PRG designed Deaver leaf packs. The shocks
are longer than the stock Ranchos and have a much better
ride quality. The leaf packs replace the stock
overload leaf and consequently re-arch the leaf springs
for about a 1.5" lift and a more linear spring rate
(better ride quality again). This installation
party was attended by:
Click the banner for the PRG online store: |
New Bilstein vs Stock Rancho |
About a 3" increase in length |
Front measurement before we started... |
Rear measurement before... |
Remove this screw in the fender liner to access the top
shock bolt on the passenger side |
The driver's side top shock bolt is much easier to
access |
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When installing this much lift, standard jacks just
don't go high enough! Thanks to VShortt for sacrificing some MDF pieces to help get the Titan high enough.  |
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VShorrt decided make his move and hold Havock's hand
while he though no one was looking, but Aggie caught him on camera!  |
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All that wood and still the back end wouldn't lift high
enough! We had to move the jack to the side and put jack stands under the frame at the jack points.  |
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Here is "WannaBeTitan" aka Rick who is a future Titan
owner and was gracious enough to loan us an extra jack, jackstands and an Allen Wrench large enough to disassemble the stock leaf springs.  |
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Here is the passenger side leaf spring with the overload
leaf removed and each of the leaves relaxed to their natural shape.  |
OK, how do these things go in? I think we can
figure this out... Maybe... |
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Oops! Have to remove the nut from the alignment
pin before we can install the new leaves in with the old ones.  |
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See VShortt the Wood-Worker, this is how you do some
mechanic work. You know spinning wrenches instead of sawblades.  |
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"How to Eat Nachos with a Knife" lessons to Moto-Max-Titan
from Havock. (Havock's hands were really dirty and he was too lazy to wash them)  |
Putting Aggie to work! He turned those wrenches
with a smile! |
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Passenger side leaf spring shackle. We removed the
bottom bolt so that we could remove the shackle/leaf spring. The top bolt will not come out while the shackle is in place because it is blocked in by the frame.  |
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The front of the leaf spring is held by this mount.
The nut is held from turning by the mounting bracket, but it is not totally captive and will slide out when the bolt is removed.  |
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With the leaf spring removed, we used a combination of
c-clamps and pipe clamps to compress the individual leaves. The worst part was trying to keep the alignment pin holes lined up because with each little bit of compression, the holes would shift out of alignment.  |
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VShorrt whips out the handy jig saw and whacks the end
of the new alignment pin off so it will fit inside the bump stop when everything is reassembled. You can also see the nice flat stock overload leaf laying there flat and lifeless.  |
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Oh yeah Baby! Look at that arch! I'm sad we
didn't measure it, but it looks like it is at least a foot!  |
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Fully compressed! Whew, what a pain that was!
Also note the bottom 3 leaves in this pic are the stockers and have 4" plastic pieces between them for some reason. The new leaf packs didn't come with them, but they do have plastic slider discs in the ends of the leaves.  |
Can I eat this? |
Smile big! |
Installed baby! Woohoo! Passenger side done!
Shiny, pretty Bilstein and all! |
Shiny new muffler, Shiny new Bilstein, Shiny new leaf
pack! |
Another passenger side view... |
Putting VShortt to work on those U-bolts! This
time it is Ryan's turn to supervise... |
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When we got to the driver's side, we found that we had a
small problem... Can you see it? This won't be a problem for those who don't have the Utility bed package, but The driver's side lock box will not allow the bottom shackle bolt to be removed. To disconnect the shackle/leaf spring in the rear, you have to first remove the lock box. We chose not to remove the lock box, and I cannot say right now if that was a good decision or not, but we didn't have the instructions from the Service Manual on how to remove the box.  |
Another shot of the problem lock box... |
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Sorry, but during the few painful hours of installing
the driver's side leaf pack, we failed to keep up with the pictures. But, here are the after pics!  |
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When reinstalling the U-bolts make sure you put the
bolts between the ABS line and the axle so the bolts don't pinch the line.  |
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A view from atop the differantial looking at the
driver's side. Looks like the brake lines still have enough slack for my current lift. (3.5" at the time of this pic)  |
Here is the rear measurement after VShortt & I took it
on a couple test drives. |
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Wow!!! 40.75"!!! That is a 2.5" increase
from the starting point for the day. It will settle more than this, but I have to admit that 4" of rear lift looked great while it lasted.  |
Full side shot after the initial test drives. Kind
of dark, but is was midnight after all! |
Day after shot... |
38.125" on the front 2 days and 125 miles after... |
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40.25" on the rear 2 days and 125 miles after...
That is a 2" lift from the leaf packs at this time. We'll measure again in a few days to check for further settlement.  |
Passenger side angle... |
Driver's side angle... |
Driver's side angle from the front... |
Got clearance? I might even be able to fit my fat
head in there! |
Another fine example of PRG stance enhancement! |
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OK, this pic has not been doctored. Yes, that is a
Zima in my hand. Yes, I drank it. Yes, it was better than I remembered. No, it was not better than beer. Yes, I drank 2 of them to be exact. It was late, we were tired and my resolve was beaten down and I caved. Here's one to you VShortt!  |
