SteveO

Here are some shots of it sitting level. I just took these a few hours ago, when I was adjusting the front suspension, notice the work clothing. By the way, I'm 5'9" tall. I was in the picture to give you a perspective of how big the 4Runner is getting.

runnerboy97

dude, you seriously need some bigger tires. Yu could probably take off the body lift, and it would still be high enough

SteveO

....Steve, How does it ride? Have you put a decent amount of weight in the back to see how much it sags compared to your Downeys?

When I measured where I was going to place the springs, I had 6 60lb sandbags in the back. This gave me 360lbs, of which I figured I would have about that much gear. I also put the spare tire in the back, as the vehicle will be carrying the tire on any trip. With this much weight, it does squat a tad, but the rear end was still pretty high. After a bit of flexing it should come down, and with it carrying the weight of a new rear bumper, I'm hoping that it will sit nearly level.




.....Did you have any driveshaft issues?


Yes, I had to lengthen my driveshaft about 2.5 inches. I sent my driveshaft off to Tom Woods in Ogden, UT. They re-tubed it with 1/8" wall, tapped the grease fitting on the slip yoke and put in a low profile zerk. They also balanced it very well. I have had the runner up to 80mph on the highway, and no issues at all.


....What parts other than springs, shackles, and brake lines did you need?


You need
spring perches,
longer shocks,
a longer brake line,
bushings,
shackles,
front spring mounts,
rotate the axle,

and lots of patience Padawan




......Do you have a 3" lift on the front? I would like to see a pic to on flat land also.


I have a procomp 4" lift on the front, plus adjustable Downey coil-over shocks.

SteveO

Yeah, ABQJIM has me playing around with the idea of 37" meats.

runnerboy97

37's on a 3rd gen...........i like the idea. Go for it man, be the first.

BruceTS

Nice Job! Gettin it ready for SAS I see......

Mike over at Kartek put leafs on the back of his 4runner with the TC LT kit up front. I'm actually thinking about doing something a bit different with longer control arms and doing a 4 link design with the upper and lower links converging.

SteveO

You know I thought about that too, however getting arms around that gas tank is a pain. The main reason that I went to leaf springs was because I was breaking too much stuff. I broke a grade 5 5/8" bolt in half in the rock garden on Iron Chest. I drove to the top with two lower control arms and one upper. I noticed that I was getting some serious rear torque steer, and when I looked, it was not a good thing.

I also found that even though I tightened the control arms down, the 5/8" bolts were elongating the holes they were in. Too much flex putting too much stress on the small factory control arm tabs.

I have also bent a lower control arm, and after that I went with Spidertrax control arms, which work very well.

Well, nevertheless, a SAS will definitely be in the future, its just a matter of time....

sschaefer3

I have a set of 93 and 88 Chevy 1500 springs in my garage right now. I know all the Chevy part numbers to rebuild the things.

If you think the All-Pro's are something, you ain't seen nothing.

I built Verns 92 Mini and in this Pic the thing is not even 1/2 way there yet.


92 Mini on Log Corral

The pic shows the stuff side and the double shackle swinging down, but not the insane droop. The "adapter" shackle has a Daystar poly bumper so when it moves off the frame it returns softly and quietly.

I love those Chevy’s sooo much I could cream my pants. Pat “Party Girl” Murphy gave us a buch of really cool Chevy tips as well on Log Corral. I'm looking for a 92-95 short bed mini that will be built to kill. All Yota axles of course.

doink

this might have been missed, but how much did the entire rear conversion cost you? if you dont mind me asking

sschaefer3

Think outside the box.....................................

sschaefer3

Why did you buy a new rear drive shaft ???

BruceTS

I actually came up with a 3 - link design that will work with the tank in the stock location, but I really don't like where the tank is currently located and will move it to the back. The biggest problem with the stock suspension is the design isn't meant to do mad flex. The flaw is the addition of the panhard bar, which causes the links to bind during articulation, which you apparently found out, when one of your upper links failed. After I get my rear bumper fabricated and a few other minor projects, I'll be building the link system on a mock-up frame/rear end. I still have a few calculation to make, but I really need to get everything else done before hand so I can have accurate measurments and weights on each wheel. Then I can figure out my actual CG. If all goes well I should have things rollin in a few months.

loosehead

Yeah, how 'bout gettin' some 36 or 37 inch Parnelli Jones Dirt Grips...

sschaefer3

I don't know how your going to keep the steering rack cool. Seriously you'll need an oil cooler radiator hooked up to the low pressure PS line.

315's heat it up pretty good and those are 34.5".

loosehead

Oh, I know...just playing devils advocate with SteveO. I doubt he'd wanna spend the $$$ for the Dirt Grips at ~$290 ea. for a 37"

runnerboy97

i think some 37" mud terrains on 17 inch rims would look hot. Those tires are only about $260 a tire.

SteveO

SSchaefer3

You're gonna need a better picture than that to really show some flex.
I didn't buy a new rear drive shaft, I sent my in to Tom Woods and he re-tubed it with 1/8" wall tubing.
During this whole rear setup, I took the time to install an auto tranny cooler on the low pressure side of the PS line.

Doink

cost, hmmm......The 5.5" kit from All-pro was $659. I didn't want their shocks that were included in the kit, so I swapped the shocks and shock mounting tabs for a set of Johnny joint shackles.
The Tom Woods driveshaft mod was about $175.......
I had the 3rd member setup properly at the dealership, an ORS disaster, that cost $330.....I probably shouldn't include that in the price, that was a fix from a previous installation.
New inner axle seals, 0-rings, gaskets.....$50 or so.....
so, I'm figuring around $900 or so, plus a lot of time in the garage. One thing is for sure, my suspension is a lot stronger and more reliable. I have not had to put on a traction bar, as the axle rotation job was spot on.


BruceTS

I'll bet your design is gonna be really nice, and It should flex real well when its on the trail.

Loosehead

do the Parnelli Jones last a while though???? I'm trying to find a tire that will give me about 40k miles. I would love to go to 36 or 37" tires, but finding one with decent mileage, now that is a challenge. And we don't want to break the bank either......

runnerboy97

want to buy my '16 M/T Classic Lock wheels. That is one thing I have noticed, most 36 or 37 tires are for 17" wheels or 15" wheels. The tire manufactures, except Interco, seemed to have skipped the 16" wheels.

loosehead

Steve, in all honesty, I don't know much about the Dirt Grips, other than they look cool! You could probably search and find some reviews, but I haven't. Their price kinda turned me off. The specs and prices are on the National Tire and Wheel page. You know, if you consider the potential other weaknesses in the driveline now, would it really be wise to go much larger than 35's? Seems there are plenty of 315/75/16's to choose from. If it were me, I'd wheel it with 35's and see what happens. There isn't as big a cool factor in running an A/T 35 on the trail versus a beefy, aggresive 36 or 37 , but I'm sure you can get past that...

SteveO

The price is definitely a turn off. However, I have noticed that the tire sizes, aside from Interco, are misleading. For instance, I am currently running Nitto 295/75R16 tires, which are actually 33.27x11.73.
If I was to go to a standard 315/75R16 tires, I'm looking at 34.49x12.32 on the Nitto chart, and it seems other manufactures follow the same suit, where a 35" tire is not really a 35" tire. I would only be moving up by 1" or so, which is 1/2" in ground clearance. I may end up doing this, but I would really like to see if I could find a 36" or 37" tire for close to the same price. Then, I would really be getting some ground clearance for the money.
say for instance, the M/T Baja Claw Radials 325/80R16 = 37" x 13.5".
At this point, I would be moving up 3.73" in size, and gaining about 1.8" of ground clearance. Not too bad. Now if I could only afford those tires.

loosehead

Steve-

I see your point about ground clearence. I did find more info on the Dirt Grips here. It says someone got 41,000 miles from a set. Check out the size/specs, too. It might help. I would spend money on these before I would on Mickey Thompsons, based on what I have whitnessed in terms of wear. Mickeys just melt away really fast in the summer months going down the highway...