Ive never been afraid of doing just about anything to my truck. but this 60lb spring install seems to sound a little sketchy. ive read across all forums and looked on youtube and i have a general idea of how to do it. the only thing im worried about is being ABSOLUTELY sure that im at TDC so my valves dont drop into the cylinder. i was going to try to complete the job tomorrow because i need my truck for work on monday. is there any sure way to tell that i'm at TDC? i've seen the method where you use a dial indicator, (i do not have one)and also the method of pulling the injector (that seems time consuming and i do not have a tool to pull injectors)i was hoping there was a quick easy way just by turning the engine over.

Valve overlap would work. One of the valves will go down then back up but before it stops moving, the other one will start going down. When the other one starts moving you stop and thats TDC. It's not accurate by any means but accurate enough to do what you want. I would just buy a magnet that will fit down the valve guide should the piston be down a little too far. You can also use the timing pin under the IP between the block and vacuum pump kinda. It's a piece of crap but it would work. I know many other methods but they all require a dial indicator. One thing you could do though I don't have the specs to try it, is if your cam is stock you can set the intake valve lash to .033 and when it contacted the valve it would be at TDC rotating it clockwise from the front. This would work because the intake valve is down 0.023" at TDC with the normal 0.010 lash so if you added that to it, you could basically use the cam as a timing device. You could just stick a 0.001 feel gauge in it and stop when it gets tight. Which brings you to the next point...anything other than an engine barring tool will move way too much to get that accurate, but the piston stays relatively close to TDC for a range of degrees because of the connecting rod and stuff so it would be pretty accurate. I would have to look up to make sure on the 0.023 thing though as I am going from reference, but I have done it to my truck and a few other trucks and double checked with a dead nuts method and it always worked, though I did it with a dial indicator finding 0.023" actuation, not a 0.001" feeler gauge.

Valve overlap sounds relatively easy to understand. I think that'll work and I have a local snap on friend I think ill get a magnet off of just in case

Let me dig around for the specs cause I am not sure on that 23 thing, I know I posted it somewhere. I will go home and do it again otherwise. I got a new 2" digital million dollar dial indicator now Been using a 1/4" piece of crap :banghead:

I can't find it let me go home and make a video of it all. I haven't got to use that fancy dial indicator yet.

and also the method of pulling the injector (that seems time consuming and i do not have a tool to pull injectors)

I will let you know a little secret with the 12v injectors. All you need is a piece of 3/4" PVC pipe (also 3/4" electrical conduit works) and cut it 1 3/4" long. Pull your injector lines and the hold down nut. Slide the pipe over an injector. Next use a lug nut and screw it on the injector where the supply line goes and tighten it. That makes the injector pop right out! Also, it is not time consuming at all. You can pull all six and put them back in in less than an hour.

I've been doing lots of experimenting and don't even bother with anything accurate.. The valve overlap method is plenty close. Just rotate the engine with the damper rotating clockwise and watch the exhaust valve go down then as it makes its way back up, the intake valve will start to move. When the intake valve starts going down at all, stop. It will be within 5* of TDC.

In the following chart I made, you can see 30* either way only drops the piston 0.22". So the valve drop method is basically overkill. Lucky you Also, at TDC the valve from 0 lash can drop 0.086" before it hits the piston. The valve stem can go roughly 1.794" before it is below the valve seals. Meaning the piston can drop 1.794" from TDC, meaning you can go 90* to either side of TDC. So there you have it. If the valves are overlapping at all you are good to go.