Ashley wants to get high...

[Bimati]

Stock 99, but my baby Ashley wants to be a big girl like Suzy (Ldub).

Have OME 912 springs and a set of 285/75/16.

Questions to get it done:

1. Is there a national chain store that would do tire mounting/balancing, alignment and lift (the whole shabangabang) for me?

2. What labor/costs should I expect if I drop her off with tires and springs and tell the place to "Git-er-done"?

Any info is appreciated as I have no experience modifying off-road vehicles, and could easily be bent over the barrel if I go into this blind. Thanks.

Bimati

[Locomigo]

Get the tires mounted/balanced, load em up and come home.

Bust out the floor jack, jack stands and get ready for some fun.
Chock the front wheels front and back. lift up the truck fairly high and play the jack stands under the frame, towards the back (prior to the bend for the rear axle house to articulate).
This will allow you to articulate the axle to replace the springs.
One guy lifting up on one side, while the other presses down on the opposite side, the spring should come free.
Repeat and install the new spring.
You should be abe to articulate the axle enough by doing this, if not, remove the shocks first.
You're gonna need to replace them anway.
Once you have the springs replaced, install new longer shocks.
Cycle axle articulation and verify your soft lines (brakes) arent being pulled on with too much tension.
Install new rear tires.
Lower the rear and chock those wheels.
Lift up the front and crank on the tbars (probably need to hit the adjustment bolt, shock mounting hardware, etc with pb blaster a day or two prior.
Replace shocks with new longer ones.
Install new front tires and lower the front.
Cycle the steering and check for rubbing/close calls, etc with the fender liner/tires.
While cycling the steering, stop at the closest point and cycle the suspension and determine impact(s).
If it rubs or close to rubs, trim liberally plastic, fiberglass, metal, etc to clearance the tire.
Hit it with a light coat of paint/primer.
Drive around the block and scissor the wheel back and forth to dive the front corner down @ ~30MPH. Best on road test for rubbing I know.
If it rubs there, trim more. You should see evidence of rubbing on the fresh paint.

Enjoy your lift/tires. You are now done. Congrats, you now have time to come play in Buena Vista Aug 10-13 with the rest of us @ Co Zu 8!

OR
Come to Denver and let us help you with it.

Lifts are a SNAP, and fairly easy to do. I mean, cmon if I can do it, ANYBODY can!

[WiSDoM]

PepBoys with do it for about i think 140.00 0r 180.00 they will quote you over the phone. They can do the whole thing even adjust the torsion bar for like 35.00. I did my lift myself with some advice from mbeach but did call pepboys to see how much it would cost. I wasnt sure if i was going to have the time. They did do my alignment. but i installed the spring, HD tie-rod, adjust torsion bar and had my geolander m/t+ mount balance at BJ's and i put them on.

In my state of Maine most shops wont install tire on any vehicle unless it is the size stated on the vehicle or one size up.

your stock shocks should be fine mine were. I also did the ball joint flip but may not be needed.

[Locomigo]

UGH... Pepboys, run far far away! I have never had a pleasant experience with them ever, and know several other that share my experiences.

I did purchase tires from them, and had them mounted on wheels, then carried them away as they did not want to put them on my vehicle, but as you can see, I found a way around that.

The ol buy the wheel/tire package then take em home and mount them works out well.

That price isnt a bad deal for the install, but for what you learn by doing it yourself, I would definitely do it myself, especially when you have soooo many people nearby to help.

[Ldub]

All I can add to what's already been said is get it aligned ASAP...

I ran mine without for about a month while waiting for the new tie rods to show up & it shows on the outer tread of the front tires.
That was just driving 2-3 mi. to & from work 5 days a week & maybe 20-30 miles on the wknd.
Got it aligned yesterday & rotated the fronts back.

She drive good now !

Although, the TOD does seem to "flip out" under hard acceleration in low gear.

[WiSDoM]

Loco you are right about that.
I found it rewarding as well. It is good you learn your way around your ride, more so when you are going to drive it hard offroad. I have alot more fun with my Vx now that I have more clearance. next is skid plates and rock slidders.

[TEN36VX]

I will agree with everybody else... Get the wheels/tires then do the work yourself. I just did mine last month.

When I was calling around on mine, most chain shops around here wont install customer supplied parts. I called a private shop and was quoted $250 labor+fluids, to install the brake lines. Did it myself for about $6 in brake fluid and 2-3 hours of my time.

The BJ relocate was the most labor intensive as I rounded a castle nut. The actual lift itself (T-bar crank, springs & rear shocks) only took about 3 hours. I recommend Triathlete's how-to.