[eo 74]

I bought suspension max key kit , shackles, ball joint flip spacers, kyb shocks and was planning to do it myself but I know a kid who has a garage and he's kinda slow right now he said he'd do all the work for $500. I'm no mechanic but I've read the threads on here and thought I could do the work myself but would $500 be a good price?

 

[cherokeecanyon]

id say that would be a little on the high side, $200 and that would be tops for me

 

[rjpoog1989]

What year is the truck? If it's newer do it yourself. If it's old and rusted, have a shop do it. I wouldn't pay $500 though, maybe 300 tops and that better would include the cost of an alignment.

 

[08Canyon]

That's 5 hours of labor, plus/minus. It may take 2 hours to install shackles, depending on rust.

Keys are the easiest thing on the vehicle to replace. Maybe not easiest, but you get the idea. It is one bolt. Pull the key off the torsion bar. But the key on the torsion bar. Install bolt. Adjust height to your happy height.

 

[eo 74]

Yeah I thought it was kind of high he said he's done quit a few leveling kits and older trucks like my 2005 z71 cc usually have rusted up bolts that take more work. He said no more than $500 but I was assuming 500 would pretty much be the price. I'd like to do it myself when weather here gets warmer , just not sure how difficult work was kinda doubting myself.

 

[08Canyon]

The shackles are the most difficult part because it's a challenge to raise the body and loser the chassis and get the bolts to align. If you have a lot of rust, the difficult level increases.

Front though, should not be a problem.

However,that is only have the battle. I you have a 4x4 you should look into lowering the differential. That will maintain the levelness of your front axles. That in turn reduces the chance of your CV boots tearing.
And depending on how far you end up lifting (there are 'safe levels'), flipping the ball joint mount position can help, or even further, adding a spacer between the mount and the UCA. It's all relatively straight forward. Depending on your willingness and your mechanical ability and the tools you have available.

I guess, just be advised that just installing shackles and new keys may only be part of the necessary labor. A shop may not want to go through all of that for you...but if they will you will pay them labor for it too. That could be 2 hours labor, maybe more? Depending on their ability. Rust is marginally factored in. Sometimes the differential nut (welded or clipped into the frame) breaks loose then the bolt can't be turned from the nut.

That isn't meant to be a discouraging post, but rather a post that identifies the other stuff that should be done when performing a torsion bar lift. Plus, 2" in the rear would likely require longer shocks if you plan to have any body flex, and most definitely if you plan to use it off road.

 

[eo 74]

Yeah there putting in keys,flipping ball joints plus spacer, lowering diff, putting in new shocks, and shackles . I bought all the stuff there just doing the work.

 

[motoxbb88]

$500 way to high id say half that or around $200, if he cant lower the price keep looking there are many small shops out there that can get the job done. you are from Mass ? I got my keys and some truck stuff from Inferno Audio in Woonsocket, RI on the border of Cumberland. They do good work

 

[eo 74]

:th_crazy:Cool thanks for the replies guys I may wait till summer and try it my self if I can't find a cheaper price, it's kind of tuff to do anything right now with a foot of snow!

 

[08Canyon]

To me, the $500 is a better offer than it was earlier when you didn't specify all of the additional work.

That's a lot of work to do. None of it is really challenging or time consuming, but it is several jobs. It's still a lot of money, however if you don't feel like tackling the work yourself and are happy to pay, pickup, drive then you[re probably okay. Never hurts to get a 2nd opinion. But be specific with the other shop you check with to make sure they are familiar with the work that needs to be done. I don't know how common it is for an auto shop to flip the ball joint mounting position. You may get a funny look or two when you ask about that one.

Does the $500 include alignment?

I'd say $200 is way too low. That is only 2 hours of labor or so. I'll assume he is charging between 90 and 100/hr. How much is a normal shock installation? 30 minutes of shop labor, $50 per axle??