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OK, here is the write-up. I might have missed a few odd points, but nothing anyone who would attempt this should have a problem with.
Fitting Land Cruiser (HDJ80) springs, panhard drop kit, diff drop kit, shock absorbers, and front anti-roll bar drop kit.
Parts:
Land Cruiser HDJ80 springs. Available from Milners. Why? Provides 3" of suspension lift to the rear.
ES3000 Procomp shock absorbers. Available from Procomp. Make sure you specify the lengthened parts, +3" at for the rear, and +2" for the front. Why? Standard Surf shock absorbers will not provide enough downward travel, and will limit the ability to keep all wheels on the ground when off-road.
Panhard drop kit. Available from Bushwacker. Why? With the lengethened springs, the panhard rod will be out of line, and will pull the rear axle to the right, buggering things. By dropping the right end of the panhard rod you allow everything to stay as it should be.
Diff drop kit, and front sway bar drop kit. Available from Jotto. Why? To keep the front at roughly similar height to the rear it needs to be cranked up on the torsion bars. There is a limit of roughly 1.5" before it gets too much for the CV joints. By dropping the diff down 1" it brings the CVs closer into line, at means that you can raise the torsion bars by 2" and still be within tollerances (you can probably do 2.5" and still be OK). Lifting the front also takes the anti-roll bar out of line, so it needs to be dropped down a bit.
Tools:
Full set of sockets, up to 22mm. Handy if you have both long and short sockets.
Long socket wrench is very handy (I used my torque wrench), if not then some form of breaker bar that can be fitted over the end of a normal socket to give you more leverage.
Set of open and ring spanners up to 19mm.
Pair of spring compressors.
Axle stands.
Locking pliers.
WD40 may be handy.
Preparation:
A few days before it's probably worth spraying a good dose of WD40 on the following nuts/bolts.
Panhard rod, both ends. Shock absorber bottom bolts (and top if you don't currently have the original adjustable shocks). Anti-roll bar bolts that attach to the chassis (front) and chassis/axle (rear). Torsion bar adjusting bolts.
At the back.
Place some bricks in front and behind the front wheels to prevent it rolling anywhere. Then jack up the rear end, remove the wheels, and place axle stands under the chassis (make sure they're not under any part that moves with the suspension, you want the springs to be under as little compression as possible).
Remove the rear shock absorbers. If you have the original adjustable shocks, you'll firstly need to remove the actuators from the top. Then undo the top bolt, the bottom bolt, and extract the shocks.
Undo the bolt that attaches the brake line to the axle, and also a couple of the clips either side.
Undo the anti-roll bar from the chassis and the axle.
Use the spring compressors to compress the springs (duh!) enough to slip them out.
Undo and remove the panhard rod. The bolt on the drivers side that attaches to the chassis is threaded all the way along, and will need to be unscrewed after you've take the nut off. You may need to bend a little bracket that is attached to the bolt to allow it to turn.
You can now compress the new springs and fit them. They need to be squashed a lot to fit, roughly half their unsprung length. I used a pair of nylon straps with locking buckles to assist the spring compressors compress them. Be very careful when doing this, if the springs should somehow come loose they will be under immense pressure and will cause harm/damage. When fitting the springs into place they go such that the thinner end goes at the bottom, and there is also a notch where the end of the spring sits. At the top, the rubber bush is slightly too small for the LC springs, so make sure that it is as centered as possible.
You can now fit the rear shock absorbers. Assemble the bushes as so... Cupped washer (cupping upwards), rubber bush (with the smaller ridge upwards), into hole in chassis, rubber bush (smaller ridge down), cupped washer (cupping down), and nut. You'll need to squash the rubber bushes a bit to get the nut started. Tighten the nut enough that you can start to see the thread coming through. To do the bottom bolt up you'll need to lift the axle a little bit to line it up with the bolt hole.
Now fit the Panhard drop bracket, but only do it loosely at this point. Refit the panhard rod. Once the rod is back in place, you can fully tighten up the bracket.
Fit the brake line spacer (try not to strain the brake line too much whilst moving it out enough to fit), and re-attach the clips.
Re-attach the anti-roll bar to the axle. The bolts that attach it on are slightly different top and bottom. The top ones have a slight taper, get it wrong and you risk shearing a bolt... guess what I did.
Attach the anti-roll bar drop plates to the chassis, and then bolt the end of the anti-roll bar to the plates.
Everything should now be in done, so just take a quick moment to check that all nuts/bolts are sufficiently tight. Put the wheels back on and take a break. That's the hard part of the job done.
At the front.
Again, place bricks around the rear wheels. Jack the front up, remove the wheels, and place the car up on axle stands under the chassis, again making sure that they aren't under a part that moves with the suspension.
Remove the front shock absorbers in the same way as the rears.
Fit the new shocks same as rears.
Undo the brackets that hold the anti-roll bar onto the chassis. Be careful when undoing the last bolt as the bar will drop down.
Place the spacers in place, and bolt it all back up again.
Place a jack under the centre of the front diff, just high enough to hold it in place.
Undo the two bolts that hold the diff in place. They have a nut on the other side of the brackets that you'll need to get a spanner to get them undone.
Once the bolts are undone, drop the jack down an inch. Hopefully the diff should drop with it. Fit the spacers between the diff bolt holes and the chassis brackets. The passenger side one should slip in quite easily, the drivers side may require a bit of percussive persuasion. Bolt it all back up again.
Refit the wheels, and drop the car back to the ground. Now measure the height to from the ground to the wheel arch (I was at 91cm on 31" tyres). Raise one side up so that the wheel is off the ground, and yet again jacking to a point that isn't part of the suspension. Tighten the torsion bar bolts, 15 - 20 turns should get you about 4cm. Do the same again on the other side, until both sides are at the desired height. You're probably best checking this again a day or so later after a short run has settled it all down.
Now stand back and admire you're new ride height. Now try getting in and realise just how much of a difference a couple inches can really make.
One other thing that you may want to consider doing is to cut the top bump stops on the front suspension. After a 4cm lift they'll probably be touching the upper wish-bone, and so you'll not get much travel. They are just bolted on, and should come off easily enough (you might need to jack the wheel up to get them out however). Cutting them in half should give back the required travel, at the possible expense of some ride harshness on bumpy ground.
Fitting Land Cruiser (HDJ80) springs, panhard drop kit, diff drop kit, shock absorbers, and front anti-roll bar drop kit.
Parts:
Land Cruiser HDJ80 springs. Available from Milners. Why? Provides 3" of suspension lift to the rear.
ES3000 Procomp shock absorbers. Available from Procomp. Make sure you specify the lengthened parts, +3" at for the rear, and +2" for the front. Why? Standard Surf shock absorbers will not provide enough downward travel, and will limit the ability to keep all wheels on the ground when off-road.
Panhard drop kit. Available from Bushwacker. Why? With the lengethened springs, the panhard rod will be out of line, and will pull the rear axle to the right, buggering things. By dropping the right end of the panhard rod you allow everything to stay as it should be.
Diff drop kit, and front sway bar drop kit. Available from Jotto. Why? To keep the front at roughly similar height to the rear it needs to be cranked up on the torsion bars. There is a limit of roughly 1.5" before it gets too much for the CV joints. By dropping the diff down 1" it brings the CVs closer into line, at means that you can raise the torsion bars by 2" and still be within tollerances (you can probably do 2.5" and still be OK). Lifting the front also takes the anti-roll bar out of line, so it needs to be dropped down a bit.
Tools:
Full set of sockets, up to 22mm. Handy if you have both long and short sockets.
Long socket wrench is very handy (I used my torque wrench), if not then some form of breaker bar that can be fitted over the end of a normal socket to give you more leverage.
Set of open and ring spanners up to 19mm.
Pair of spring compressors.
Axle stands.
Locking pliers.
WD40 may be handy.
Preparation:
A few days before it's probably worth spraying a good dose of WD40 on the following nuts/bolts.
Panhard rod, both ends. Shock absorber bottom bolts (and top if you don't currently have the original adjustable shocks). Anti-roll bar bolts that attach to the chassis (front) and chassis/axle (rear). Torsion bar adjusting bolts.
At the back.
Place some bricks in front and behind the front wheels to prevent it rolling anywhere. Then jack up the rear end, remove the wheels, and place axle stands under the chassis (make sure they're not under any part that moves with the suspension, you want the springs to be under as little compression as possible).
Remove the rear shock absorbers. If you have the original adjustable shocks, you'll firstly need to remove the actuators from the top. Then undo the top bolt, the bottom bolt, and extract the shocks.
Undo the bolt that attaches the brake line to the axle, and also a couple of the clips either side.
Undo the anti-roll bar from the chassis and the axle.
Use the spring compressors to compress the springs (duh!) enough to slip them out.
Undo and remove the panhard rod. The bolt on the drivers side that attaches to the chassis is threaded all the way along, and will need to be unscrewed after you've take the nut off. You may need to bend a little bracket that is attached to the bolt to allow it to turn.
You can now compress the new springs and fit them. They need to be squashed a lot to fit, roughly half their unsprung length. I used a pair of nylon straps with locking buckles to assist the spring compressors compress them. Be very careful when doing this, if the springs should somehow come loose they will be under immense pressure and will cause harm/damage. When fitting the springs into place they go such that the thinner end goes at the bottom, and there is also a notch where the end of the spring sits. At the top, the rubber bush is slightly too small for the LC springs, so make sure that it is as centered as possible.
You can now fit the rear shock absorbers. Assemble the bushes as so... Cupped washer (cupping upwards), rubber bush (with the smaller ridge upwards), into hole in chassis, rubber bush (smaller ridge down), cupped washer (cupping down), and nut. You'll need to squash the rubber bushes a bit to get the nut started. Tighten the nut enough that you can start to see the thread coming through. To do the bottom bolt up you'll need to lift the axle a little bit to line it up with the bolt hole.
Now fit the Panhard drop bracket, but only do it loosely at this point. Refit the panhard rod. Once the rod is back in place, you can fully tighten up the bracket.
Fit the brake line spacer (try not to strain the brake line too much whilst moving it out enough to fit), and re-attach the clips.
Re-attach the anti-roll bar to the axle. The bolts that attach it on are slightly different top and bottom. The top ones have a slight taper, get it wrong and you risk shearing a bolt... guess what I did.
Attach the anti-roll bar drop plates to the chassis, and then bolt the end of the anti-roll bar to the plates.
Everything should now be in done, so just take a quick moment to check that all nuts/bolts are sufficiently tight. Put the wheels back on and take a break. That's the hard part of the job done.
At the front.
Again, place bricks around the rear wheels. Jack the front up, remove the wheels, and place the car up on axle stands under the chassis, again making sure that they aren't under a part that moves with the suspension.
Remove the front shock absorbers in the same way as the rears.
Fit the new shocks same as rears.
Undo the brackets that hold the anti-roll bar onto the chassis. Be careful when undoing the last bolt as the bar will drop down.
Place the spacers in place, and bolt it all back up again.
Place a jack under the centre of the front diff, just high enough to hold it in place.
Undo the two bolts that hold the diff in place. They have a nut on the other side of the brackets that you'll need to get a spanner to get them undone.
Once the bolts are undone, drop the jack down an inch. Hopefully the diff should drop with it. Fit the spacers between the diff bolt holes and the chassis brackets. The passenger side one should slip in quite easily, the drivers side may require a bit of percussive persuasion. Bolt it all back up again.
Refit the wheels, and drop the car back to the ground. Now measure the height to from the ground to the wheel arch (I was at 91cm on 31" tyres). Raise one side up so that the wheel is off the ground, and yet again jacking to a point that isn't part of the suspension. Tighten the torsion bar bolts, 15 - 20 turns should get you about 4cm. Do the same again on the other side, until both sides are at the desired height. You're probably best checking this again a day or so later after a short run has settled it all down.
Now stand back and admire you're new ride height. Now try getting in and realise just how much of a difference a couple inches can really make.
One other thing that you may want to consider doing is to cut the top bump stops on the front suspension. After a 4cm lift they'll probably be touching the upper wish-bone, and so you'll not get much travel. They are just bolted on, and should come off easily enough (you might need to jack the wheel up to get them out however). Cutting them in half should give back the required travel, at the possible expense of some ride harshness on bumpy ground.
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