mrNatural

hi

i'm new here. i live in SoCal , in the San Gabriel mts. i love toyota trucks! in '82 i bought my first new truck, a base model 4x4 short bed. i drove it for 114K miles in 10 years with no major problems. and very few minor ones!!

since then i've also owned '79 and '85 4x4 PUs . the '85 i recently sold.

i really like the solid axle trucks but at this point i wanted something a little more civilized. a few weeks ago i bought a '95 4runner with 190K miles. aside from a Bronco all the 4Xs i've had were solid axle trucks. lucky for me i already had a chance to replace a front axle on my new toy, so i got a close up look at how all the parts interact.

so far aside from the axle fix i've replaced the bulbs for heater control and shifter ( it's auto),and removed a huge amp that was mounted/flopping around in one of the rear stowage compartments. custom touches have been to remove the valance below the front bumper and the mud flaps. i also made some 1" spacers to raise the back of the front seats. now the sitting position feels more like a truck, and i don't feel like i'm sitting in a hole. and phycologiclly (sp) it feels like the truck has been lifted, so now i won't need to beef up the suspension as much.

soon i want to modify the suspension. i've had good luck with Downey Off Road and was thinking of going with the "Grand Slam"

Torsion Bars
Rear Coil Springs
Front Dbl. Shock Loops
Front Bilsteins (four)
Rear MV12 Shocks (two)

also i plan on using BJS so i don't have to use the torsion bars to raise the front. i'll be running 15x8 black steel wheels of some kind with 32 or 33" tires.

i'm not sure i'd need double front shocks, but they sure would look cool. i've never read any posting from anyone who has used this package, so i still have more research.