fresch

I have been doing some moving and overloaded my 1991 4cyl excab 4x4 pickup. I blew a shock and the overload leaf spring.
I have been looking into buying new and used springs.

18 year old springs range from $75-150 a piece. I do not really want to take the time to replace old springs with old ones.

ARB has some ($170/each) which lift the rear 1.75 inches. So I would have to raise the front too (+$200). Don't really need the lift.

I have found OEM type of shocks for $270 on up.

JCwhitney has some for $164 each but I am not really sure of the quality of those. Plus, the pic on-line is a totally different type set of springs.

I bought a set of KYB shocks to swap out too.

Does anyone have any opinons of these options?

874runnersr5

go for downey's leafs..
they are 210$ for a set.

bigt

do they have a 3 inch lift?

flashkl

You can always get the 1.75 inch lift springs and just leave the front be...these trucks came level from the factory, so lifting the back a little bit will make it look a little more like a modern truck, with the nose angled down, but not even as much. Plus, when the truck is level, the rear wheelwells aren't as high as the front ones giving the illusion of some sag, with the ARB springs the wheelwells will look even.

fresch

Are the ARBs going to be soft? My torsion bars in front are prob warn and saggy too. So a small lift in the back could more offset than 2"

Downey springs have 2" and 4" lift they do not have OEM hight.

874runnersr5

hmm, the 2" should settle down to oem height

bigt

the 82 im buying has 3 inch lift in the front and blocks in the rear.. i wanna get rid of blocks need a good 3 inch leaf... should i just go chebby?>

flashkl

Go chevy with an inch to inch and 1/2 longer shackle. Cheap and rides well. A leaf pack with lift without being longer is horrible for the ride, my skyjacker soft-ride springs ride like a horse buggy.

algranger

yeah i just did the chev's on mine very flexy and easy to do. if you decide to do it pm me with any questions

fresch:
six states in utah has great oem rears
http://www.sixstates.com/products/products.jsp

Bigblock

I just added a leaf to mine and that solved a multitude of problems.The only one I was after was the saggy rear end but it fixed that ,the ride was better,drove better,drive shaft vibe went away.I added the second leaf out of a used set.Pretty amazing what all that simple mod fixed.
Bigblock

fresch

Downey sells NHK springs (which come on factory toyotas). But they buy by the crate from Japan and only carry 2" and 4" because the demand is so low on stock height. ($219 for the pair). They are softer without the overload leaf. So they recommend adding the old overload spring to get the load capacity back to 1/2 ton.

I just called sixstates and they distribute Dayton parts but the springs are actually Stanley springs. Looks like around $150 per spring plus shipping. They are stock height and load capacity and might be better quality than jtwhitney's $150 spring. I am waiting to hear back with the total price.

MSR

We install many ome sets that we take out one overload leaf and end up with about 1 inch lift after they break in.

fresch

MSR,

Not really sure what you mean.

OEM leafs will lift the vehicle 1" without the overload?

Thing is, I need the overload to haul a bunch of rafting and kayaking gear. So, I do not want the lift because of ride stability and also need to maintain the load capacity.

algranger

he said ome not oem
ome = old man emu

edit: if your not after lift but you want a good spring that wont break on ya again, i would go with the sixstates springs, they are real oem not some cheap aftermarket crap

King of Springs

Here are OEM replacement springs for 172.00 each, come with bushings and are assembled and ready to fit right in. Guaranteed to fit.

http://thesuspensionking.com/catalog...8umaptbc99kkf5

TheSuspensionKing.com

You can also try to search Eaton Spring or Husky spring on the web also. I believe they have these also.

Good Luck,
Jason

corax

You can get Old Man Emu springs for $149each, a 2" lift isn't much, really, and these springs usually get great reviews - I just snagged a pair Tuesday, and I'm picky about my suspension

fresch

So I ended up getting a pair of oem springs from sixstates. They were kind of difficult to deal with and I think they gave me the wrong springs. I ordered them with u-bolts and should of ordered the shackles also. Sixstates took forever to deliver them to me and there was not much cost saving on the longer wait.
Taking the old springs off of my 91 truck was quite a bitch. But I only had to cut off one shackle. The shackles are eternally bonded to the old springs. Getting them off took me about 2-3 hours. Yea I am not a mechanic, and I do not have a torch.
Day 2 Jim's Used toyota parts salvage is a great yota yard. I got a pair of shackles from them. But they did not fit my new shocks. The diameter of the lower shackle hanger was too big for my new springs. So I had to go back and get shackles for a tacoma. This is why I think they gave me the wrong springs. I also got new front hanger pins from the toyota dealership because my local ace did not have 100mm length metric hardend steal bolts.
Anyways all of the shocks were blown so I also installed 4 KYB monomax shocks. The new ride is much tighter and feels great. Although, I think I could of gotten away with the ARB 1.75" lift in the back and not of known the difference.

Thanks for the suggestions. I feel like it was a pretty tough job but well worth the outcome.

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

sucks you ran into some trouble on the fitment etc.
but is also nice when somebody comes back with an update on the outcome. see a ton of threads where someone asks for some advice and than you never find out if it helped or not...