METALCLOAK VIDEO: Toyota Tacoma 2.5" Game Changer Suspension Install | MetalCloak

 

This installation covers the MetalCloak 2.5" Game-Changer Suspension System for the 4th Gen Toyota Tacoma, including front RockSport Black Adjustable Reservoir Coilovers, upper control arms, rear True Dual Rate Coils, adjustable rear control arms, sway bar end links, and the rear track bar. The process includes safely removing the factory components, mounting the new suspension hardware, setting adjustable arms to factory lengths as a starting point, restoring brake and ABS line clearance, torquing all hardware to specification, and finishing with a professional alignment.

Complete Transcript with Time Stamps:

[00:00] Today, we will be installing the MetalCloak 2.5" Game Changer on the 4th Gen Toyota Tacoma.

[00:06] These are the tools that you will need to do the job.

[00:14] So the first thing we're going to do is remove this nut using a 19mm socket. There's also a cotter pin that we need to remove first, and we'll get on that.

[00:38] Now I'm going to give this knuckle a little love tap and break this thing loose.

[00:45] Okay, now we're going to take this bolt out. It's a 12mm socket. This bracket holds the ABS line. Just want to get it out of the way so it doesn't get damaged.

[00:58] Next, we're going to take this upper control arm bolt out. It's one bolt, really long. 22mm on each side. Pull this bolt out. Pull this upper arm out.

[01:31] Next, I'm going to use a hook just to hold this knuckle out of the way. Keep it from falling and damaging the axle shaft.

[01:47] Next, we're going to remove the stock strut. We're going to remove these four nuts on top using a 14mm tool.

[02:17] Next we're going to remove the stock strut lower bolt using a 22mm wrench and a 22mm socket.

[02:42] Right now we're going to remove the strut. You might or might not need a pry bar. Let's see how it goes. We're definitely going to need a pry bar. Much easier.

[03:20] All right, we're going to be installing the MetalCloak RockSport Black Adjustable Reservoir Coilovers.

[03:26] First, this is your upper mount. There are indicators on these mounts, a P for passenger, D for driver.

[03:34] First thing we're going to do, grab our bushings. They come in the kit. We're going to install them on the top of the coilover, like so.

[03:46] Then we'll take our upper mount, slide it over the bushings and install the supplied bolt. It's a 13mm 12-point bolt. Tighten it down tight.

[04:08] All right, now we're gonna drop the coilover into the truck. Start by putting the bottom in to the bracket. Then I'll probably have to use a pry bar. I will have to use a pry bar to get the top bolts in. All right.

[04:36] Okay, we're gonna install it up into the top. Head on it.

[05:11] All right, I'm gonna tighten these up using a 17mm socket.

[05:33] Now we're going to install the factory bolt back into the lower mount.

[05:45] Now we tighten these up with a 22mm wrench and a 22mm socket.

[05:54] So we're going to assemble the reservoir mount. This little tab goes on the back side. Put your Allen bolts through, leave them loose, about like that, and we'll install it on the truck.

[06:15] All right, this is MetalCloak's reservoir mount. We will be installing it right here where this plastic cap is on the frame. Just pop this little clip out like that. Take this bracket and slide this inside the hole. And tighten down the 4mm bolts. I like that.

[06:44] All right, these hose clamps just kind of lock into these little slots on the back. So when you're putting the reservoir on, just make sure you hit the slots and you'll be good.

[06:54] First we'll slide the upper one all the way on the reservoir. And then make sure it slides over the bracket and into that slot. Over the bottom and over the slot and tighten them down.

[07:11] Now we're going to use an 8mm socket to tighten these down, like so.

[07:26] MetalCloak has two Upper A-arms that you can buy. First we have a fabricated sheet metal arm, and we also have a billet aluminum arm. We're gonna install both today and show you how it's done.

[07:40] We need to install these little drift pins into this aluminum spacer. Use needle-nose pliers and a hammer. Hammer it in like that, not that much.

[08:07] These aluminum spacers go on the inside of the upper control arm. Just give them a gentle tap. Just set the pins into the bushing like so. And just give them a little tap, and they're ready to go.

[08:39] We're going to start with the fabricated arm and slide it up into position.

[08:51] Take this giant bolt and get it to line up. All right, a little bit of a struggle but she's in. Make sure you put the nut on the other side.

[09:45] Then you can reattach the knuckle to the arm, the uniball joint. Use the washer supplied. And the nut.

[09:59] All right, we're gonna use a 12mm Allen wrench on a socket and a 22mm socket on the bottom. Tighten that up nice and tight.

[10:18] Now we're gonna tighten the upper control arm bolt using 22mm wrenches. Like that.

[10:35] All right, last but not least, we're gonna put this ABS bracket back on the MetalCloak arm using the factory hardware. Tighten it down with a 12mm socket.

[10:55] You're going to install the cool MetalCloak cap. Keeps all the dust out of the bearing. Installation complete.

[11:08] All right, now we're going to use the 5/16 to tighten down the pinch bolt. Make sure nothing comes apart.

[11:16] All right, now we're going to install this gold billet aluminum control arm from MetalCloak, and it goes on like this.

[12:09] Now we're going to install the ball joint into the knuckle. Push it through. Put the supplied hardware on. 

[12:20] All right, we're going to tighten it up with a 19mm wrench. Make sure it's nice and snug. Of course we'll tighten it up to factory specs when we're done.

[12:38] After I get this 19mm nut tightened up to factory specs, we'll be installing the cotter pin. Make sure everything locks down nice and tight.

[12:48] And we're using 22mm wrenches on both sides of this upper control arm bolt. Get it snugged up nice and tight. And then we'll go back and torque it to factory specs.

[13:09] All right, last but not least, we're gonna put this ABS bracket back on with the factory hardware. Tighten it down with a 12mm socket.

[13:26] All right, now that we got the front end wrapped up, make sure you go through and tighten to the manufacturer's recommended torque spec. And don't forget your cotter pin. And now that we're done with the front, we're gonna go work on the rear.

[13:37] All right, a little pro tip. I'm gonna drop this tire out of the way. That way I don't have to walk around it the entire time I'm trying to install this suspension.

[13:50] All right, first thing I do is support the axle with the jack stand because we are going to remove the coil and the shock, so we do need to support that axle.

[13:58] Now I'm going to remove the track bar and get it out of the way. All right, we're going to remove this using a 19mm socket.

[14:17] All right, now I'm going to remove the track bar from the frame-side bracket. I'm going to use a 19mm wrench and a 19mm socket.

[14:48] Now we're going to remove this bolt using a 12mm wrench to free up this line because we are going to drop the axle a little bit to get the spring out and we need some slack.

[15:07] All right, now I'm going to remove the brake line bracket. Again, get some slack in these brake lines when I drop the axle.

[15:24] Next I'm going to remove the sway bar end link from the sway bar using a 17mm socket and a 17mm wrench.

[15:46] Okay, now we're going to remove the shock. I'm going to start at the upper mount and I'll work down to the lower mount using a 19 on the top and a 17mm on the bottom.

[16:23] All right, next thing I'm going to do is I'm going to lower the jack a little bit. Pull the spring out.

[16:42] All right, next we're going to install this MetalCloak bracket. It goes on the locker wires, give it a little more droop. We're going to use a 12mm wrench on this, snug it down to the axle.

[17:10] All right, using the provided hardware, we're gonna install this piece onto the bracket. Then I'll use a 1/4" Allen wrench and a 1/2" socket to snug it up.

[17:48] All right, this is the brake line bracket MetalCloak provides using the factory hardware. I'll bolt it to the frame. All right, we're gonna snug it up using a 12mm wrench.

[18:15] All right, we'll attach it using the provided hardware for MetalCloak. We're gonna use a 1/2" wrench and a 1/4" Allen socket.

[19:07] All right, now we're going to install the True Dual Rate Coil. Make sure you orient the spring on the bottom. There is a stop there. Make sure it goes up against it, just like that.

[19:23] Now we're going to install MetalCloak's RockSport Black Adjustable Reservoir Shock. First thing you need to do is take this top piece off with the rubber bushing. Leave the bottom side on.

[19:35] Okay, so now we're going to install this. We're going to put the bottom piece on first. Slide that up on there, like so. Put the spacer on, and we'll put the bolt in finger-tight.

[19:51] Then we'll put the shock in, get it lined up with the hole, and we can raise the axle back up with the jack. Get it lined up in the hole.

[20:17] Put the rubber isolator on the top, the plate, and the lock nut. And thread it on finger-tight, like that.

[20:37] We're going to tighten up the top nut on the shock using a 19mm wrench. Now we're going to tighten up the bottom bolt on the shock, 17mm socket. Good to go.

[20:59] Just like we did in the front, we're going to mount this bracket onto the frame to hold the reservoir. First thing, pull this little cap off the frame, discard it.

[21:10] Second thing, make sure you have some space between this tab and the bracket so you can slide this tab down inside the frame. Then we're gonna use a 5/32" Allen wrench to tighten these up.

[21:43] Just like on the front, make sure your hose clamps line up with these holes. Keep them locked in. We're gonna tighten these down using an 8mm socket.

[22:13] All right, first thing we're gonna do is we're gonna take the upper control arm off using a 19mm socket and a 19mm wrench. All right, pull the upper arm out.

[22:49] Okay, so now we're gonna measure our arm out and make sure it's the same as stock. Stock arm measures 15.5" center to center. And we've set our arm to 15.5" center to center. Let's go install it.

[23:06] All right, so we're gonna stick our arm in. Make sure you put the adjuster on the axle side so it's easy to get to. We'll go ahead and stick it in.

[23:14] We're gonna install this bolt. And we do use a spacer in between the bushing and the frame, like that. Okay, install the nut.

[23:37] We're gonna install the arm on the axle side using factory hardware. Add the supplied spacer, and install the nut.

[24:03] Now we're gonna take off the factory lower control arm using same 19mm socket and wrench.

[24:29] So now we're gonna set up our new MetalCloak control arm. Make sure we have the proper length. First, we're gonna measure the stock arm, 27". Now we'll measure our arm. Right now, a little bit short. So I'll loosen the jam nut a little bit. Go out a full turn. And 27" right on the dot.

[25:01] So one thing you need to know on these control arms, because there is a bend in it, we use an angled joint. That joint needs to make sure you do a full revolution when you do it. You can't do half revolutions because it will not keep the bushings in line. Bushings need to be in line.

[25:16] Next thing you need to do is push these hat bushings in. We're going to stick them in here and we're going to take them over to an arbor press. Push them in nice and tight. All right, just give them a good press, just like that. You're good to go.

[25:39] All right, we're gonna install these arms. If you notice, they do have a bend in them. The bend will go in. This provides a little extra clearance for your sway bar. And make sure you put the adjuster on the frame side of the truck.

[26:19] All right, tighten these both back up using 19mm socket and a wrench.

[26:38] All right, we're gonna tighten these down with a 19mm socket and a 19mm wrench. Same on this side.

[26:57] All right, make sure you tighten up your jam nuts. There you go.

[27:13] Next thing we're gonna install is this sway bar end link. Set to 8", just like that.

[27:30] All right, now we're gonna tighten up using a 19mm wrench, and we'll stick a 14mm wrench on this side to keep the shaft from spinning.

[27:52] All right, now that everything's bolted on, you need to go back and torque everything to the manufacturer's recommended torque specs. Next thing we're gonna do, we're gonna put the rear track bar on. Get the tires on it first, set it on the ground, and we'll install that track bar.

[28:15] All right, next we're gonna do the rear track bar. We're going to set it to the factory length, 41.75", and we will double-check ours. And it is 41.75". So we're right on. Next thing we got to do is stick it in the truck.

[28:37] All right, we're going to be installing the track bar on the axle side first. You do have two washers that need to get installed. One goes on the front, and one will go on the back. Get that lined up. Slide the one on the back side, get it lined up. It's a little tricky to get it started. But there it is. All right. I just make sure it's started before I use the impact. It's a 19mm. Make sure you come back and torque that.

[29:39] Making sure that the adjuster goes on the frame side, we will now install these washers, hopefully. Put the nut on the back. And we will tighten them up using a 19mm socket and wrench.

[30:23] And don't forget to do the jam nut on the track bar.

[30:30] All right, now that we've wrapped up the install on the suspension, make sure you take your truck to a qualified alignment shop, get it dialed in, and we will see you out on the trail.

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