Chrisnxl185

Hi guys, im seriously thinking about 1.5 BJ Spacers for my 94 4runner.
I have 3 questions.

Will the BJ spacers mess up the suspension geometery see diagram? A arms won't be parallel

Will my on road handenling be adversly effected

Is it essential to get manual hubs and low pro bump stops?

isaac338

i've got 'em and my truck handles fine. i think people overthink these things - lots of guys run them and have no troubles at all.

Tofer

because of the angle of the CV manual hubs are suggested. otherwise you will tear the boots up fast.

Ravencraft

Agreed, everything that I have researched on the subject highly suggests manual hubs or at very least a replacement aftermarket CV boot.

I'm going to piggy-back with you here, I'm also wondering if low-pro bump stops are essential for this application.

AxleIke

Low pro bumpstops are ONLY recommended for the LOWER bumpstop. This will give you increased up travel.

DO NOT put them on the UPPER bumpstops, or you will exceed your CV tollerance, and the CVs will wear out or break quickly.

As for manual hubs, just relax your tbars back down to stock. That way you get the added flex without having to worry about the manual hubs.

As for the adverse handling, I have not experienced any from the arms no longer being parallel. You will need to get an alignment after install.

elripster

Yeah, there can be a bit of over thinking but it's all good.

Your a-arms are not parallel now nor would you want them to be. The upper is shorter and swings through its arc more quickly. This causes the tire to camber in when cornering which compensates for the body lean. For example, if you had equal length parallel arms, when the body leaned outwards, the wheels would to and you would be riding on the outside edge of the tire, not good for traction. They might become parallel somewhere in the travel window but that's just at that point.

Your on road handling will be the same but the ride might be smoother. If you have lifted your truck by adjusting the torsion bars, and the install spacers backing off the bars for equivalent lift, it will ride a lot better.

I designed them and I do not run manual hubs. I have 1.5" of lift. I did replace my boots because lets face it, IFS boots are between 21 and 12 years old. They are rubber parts exposed the elements. They are going to wear out at some point. I'm Ok with only getting like, I don't know, 9 years instead of 15 out of a new pair because I'm running +1.5" in the front.

Frank

Matt16

I got to jump in here, how much extra travel does BJ spacing give?

In regards to manual hubs, at a auto recylcer of from someone parting out an old vehicle, you can get a set of Aisin hubs for $50 - $75 (and $15 of gaskets from Toyota) and it takes maybe 2 hours to rebuild and relube the hubs, and 45 min to install both of them. Easiest mod ever. With manual hubs, you have peace of mind knowing that your CV are not wearing day to day and that if yuo break a CV you can keep driving.

Chrisnxl185

alright guys, everything was very helpful. I think im going to wait till after winter the get them. I hear lifted vehicles suck in the snow

elripster

Lifted vehicles suck in snow? I can speak from experience (and I live in San Diego) that I have been in situations where that is not the case. In fact I was still moving because I had lifted vehicle and was trailed but a bunch of smaller cars.

Lockers in the snow, another story but the lift will not hurt you one bit.

Frank

AxleIke

Last year, we had a 2 ft dump. I was one of the only cars on the road. And lockers kick ass in the snow, as long as you can turn them off...

elripster

The spacers give 1.5" more travel.

Ike, you are correct on the benefits of selectable lockers. I figured if this thread turned that direction we could redirect to the locker/spool thread.

Frank

AxleIke

Good call.

The OP can wait until after winter if he wants, but there is no need. Lift has zero impact on snow performance, except allowing you to drive in slightly deeper stuff.

Chrisnxl185

I don't doubt that with a lift you can go through deeper snow, that seems obvious.
What i was referring to was braking. My buddy said his lifts decreased brake performance in the snow.
I think i know what the problem is, he drives a Jeep. haha

gt0987

If you lift it and put on bigger tires then brake performance will be reduced. Just lifting should not affect the brakes at all.

Jay351

Correct, its putting bigger tires on that reduce braking performance. Not the lift.

elripster

What will make an even bigger difference are the types of tires. You need tires with a lot of siping. Many mudders are terrible in snow while all-terrains are quite good.

For example, my old truck with 4" of lift and 33 all terrains did way better than stock with 31's stopping and going on the white roads.

About the only place where weight on small surface area might be good is ice but man if it's that slick nothing short of studs or chains is really going to get you going or stopping in any appreciable time.

Anyway, as I'm sure you can see, the lift is not an issue here. If you drive in snow, get a good all terrain tire with good siping and you're as good as you'll get without something more radical like studded tires. If you want a locker, there is a thread on the offroad tech section which explains the various lockers in great detail.

Frank

Chrisnxl185

wow you guys have answers for everything. haha is there anything bad about a BJ spacer lift?
I have BFG A/Ts so i will be fine in the snow.
Maybe i will get my lift before winter.

Luvmeye22re

Yeah but in the same token, brake mashers are more often the ones that wreck in the snow anyway. Being a lifetime Colorado resident I downshift long before I hit the brakes in a hairy snow situation.

Also a lift I suppose could hurt in the snow but only if you are already out of control and slide into something sideways which depending on the situation could roll a car as well. Lockers kick ass in the snow for wheeling or regular driving, but make sure you are in 4wheel drive. IMO an open diffed truck front and rear will do better in 2wd than a rear locked truck in 2wd, but in 4wd with a rear locker, there is no comparison, the locked truck will go further. 1.5 inches of lift is not going to give you that much more of a chance of rolling, especially if you have put wider wheels/tires on, and it's still only really going to happen if you are sliding sideways and you either get traction or hit something like a rock, ditch etc. Just lift it!

Oh yeah, and IME BFG all terrains have served the very best in the snow/packed snow/ice hands down, even compared to Blizzaks which I'm pretty sure aren't made in a 31" tire for a light truck. A good mud terrain is great in wet deep snow but other than that BFG ATs kick ass.

mike_d

Just adding one more data point for you. I have the BJ spacers on my '89. Have run them for about 20K miles now. They're great, no extra tire wear, good off road ability. I live on a 5 mile dirt road so they get high speed bumps too in addition to rock crawling, the suspension feels good, much better than just cranking the t-bars (which is what I had before the spacers). I would suggest getting the diff drop kit from 4crawler too. I don't think that the BJ spacers make the CV angle too steep, but I did notice less binding up front when I put them in. Plus the kit comes with spacers for the sway bar, and it handles much much better around corners with the lowered sway bar. DONT go with low pro bump stops, you'll break the CVs.