88toypickup

I have a 1988 Toyota with a 3" body lift, 1.5" add-a-leaf and cranked torsion bars. I don't like the body lift, so I am planning on taking the body lift out and putting in a 4" suspension lift. I am just not sure what suspension lift to go with. It needs to beable to drive on the street because this is my daily driver, but I don't want to break anything when I do go offroad. Also I want to stay below $1500 by the time I pay for the lift, brake lines, shocks etc.

seafarinman

You shouldn't waste the money on the IFS lift kit. I wheeled my truck as an IFS rig for 8 years on 31's with only the balljoint spacers and a lift shackle/add a leaf. I made the jump from IFS with the above parts to SAS. I actually spent less on my SAS than it would have cost for the expensive (and in my opinion) wasteful IFS kit. What size tires are you wanting to run? BTW I went from 31's to 37's with my SAS on 5 inch springs (also got the differentials regeared to 5.29's with lockers front and rear). Its up to you. You will very likely spend the $1000+ for the kit only to trash it later and spend more to do it right. Might as well do it right the first time.

UKMyers

X2 IFS lifts are trash if you plan to actually wheel your truck. You don't get anymore travel at all out of it. If your just gonna mall cruise it by all means. There are lots of different kits out there and everyone is going to have a different opinion on which one is "best".

dirtoyboy

What size tires do you have? You should be able to run 33s with no body lift and your cranked t-bars and AAL....

Most of the 4 inch kits suck (Procrap, Skycrapper, etc) because they utilize highly arched springs in the stock spring mounting location. This means it rides like a log truck. Anything over 4 inches should use LONGER springs IMO.

904_runner

Man a lot of people say just SAS, and i would if my rig saw mostly offroad, but since i drive it everyday and i don't wheel it hard enough or take it wheeling enough i don't feel like it would be worth it. I did a lot of searching around and was really patient and finally found an ifs lift used for pretty cheap. Besides i don't wheel my truck hard enough to need a Straight Axle. I am perfectly fine with ifs for now.


If i ever save up some money, i would love to buy another toyota and do an sas, and just deck it out, but until then IFS will be good for me.

Just search around, If you can find a ifs lift for sale then jump on it, or do the same for an sas kit.
Unless you want to buy it new.

The brands that come to mind are Pro comp, Trail master, tough country, etc.

And i haven't put the lift on mine yet, but i drove my neighbor's 87 4runner with the 4" trailmaster lift, and a 2 inch body lift.
And honestly, his rig felt pretty stable on road, pretty close if not the same to mine. except for the body lean, but i think that was most due to no stabilizer bars, oh and there was also the slight chirp and scuffing of the tires on sharp turns, due to the Detroit he's got.

norcalsvx

total chaos or jd fab would be they way to go on a IFS long travel dont waste your money on a chezzy 4" lift

www.chaosfab.com

seafarinman

The reason that your buddie's IFS lifted rig rode like yours was because of the way that the IFS kits work. All they do is move the mounting point of the lower control arms downward by however many inches of lift they provide. They give you the same suspension geometry as stock, and thus give the same exact performance as stock. So why pay $1000's of dollars for a taller, stock ride? I didn't think that I could do the SAS on my rig because I was sure that I would screw it up. Took a long time to build up the cojones to actually cut my frame! But I did it, and I did it for less than the cost of those IFS lift kits. The scariest part was the first cut. If you want to do an IFS lift, then do it, I am just saying that you will most likely regret the wasted money later.

88toypickup

I would like to do a sas but by the time I buy an axle ($300-$400), gear it ($200-$300) and buy the kit ($1400). I am already out about $2000 and then I still have to find a lift for the rear and get a front driveline and I don't know how to weld good enough to do it myself so I would have to find somebody to weld for me. So when it is all said and done I will be out close to $3000 for my daily driver that when I wheel it mostly sees mud, sand and snow not rocks. So for now I want to do an IFS lift.

904_runner

I know they provide the same suspension geometry as stock(couldn't really find those words), i was just saying how it felt the same that so other people would know. The OP said he needed it to be bearable on road since it is his DD, so i was just throwing that in there.

i only got my lift so far for $300, and i just need shocks and brake line extensions then im done.


And i would Sas mine in a heart beat, but i need to drive mine everyday. So i could throw a ifs lift on in a weekend(i hope) and be back to driving on monday, plus i am only 17 which means i live at home and my parents don't want a project laying around. By project i mean, the time it would take me to get an axle, fix it up, find all the necessary hardware, and then i would still have to buy a welder (don't know anyone who has one, and besides who wouldn't want a welder?)

So at 17yrs of age, i would love to have SAS to show off around town, but i just don't have the funds. Plus, only around $300 bucks so far for a lift to find out if i like driving it lifted for sure.

Yes one day i would like to find another Yota to Make Just for wheeling, but that will have to wait. Plus at the moment, i don't do rocks and/or that much flexing, so ifs is still good for me. I Basically wanted to have a lifted truck, so i could get some more clearance (plus it looks good lifted!)

tc

IMHO you should leave the body lift and uncrank the tbars (or at least do balljoint spacers) and get rid of the add-a-leaf in favor of some Alcan springs. This would be plenty to run 33x12.50, maybe even 35's since it sounds like you don't wheel much.

904_runner

TC, i said trucks look good lifted. He didn't.

tc

Oops - post edited to address the OP

seafarinman

Of course you should do what you can afford. At 17, I think that it is great that you have a Toyota and wheel it. I wheeled my truck as a pretty well stock IFS for 8 years. Then, instead of spending the money on the IFS lift kit (ProComp, Rough Country, Superlift, etc) I spent the money instead on doing the SAS. I won't lie to you and tell you that it was an easy thing to do, but if it is worth doing, it is never easy. And something worth doing is worth doing right the first time. If you can afford to buy and install an IFS kit, and you are already wheeling your stocker rig, then you CAN afford to wait a little longer and spend the money in a wiser manner- SAS the rig.

88toypickup

It is just hard for me to justify a $3000 investement on something that is an overkill for what I need.

904_runner

Thats why i bought an ifs lift for $300, if i do get more involved into wheeling then i will eventually get a different truck and do an sas.

seafarinman

$3000 for a SAS? Wow. For the SAS I only spent less than $1000. It was all the other "unnecessary and overkill" stuff that cost me a lot of money such as the 5.29's, lockers, 37" MTR's, dual cases, R151F turbo tranny and 2RZ-FE engine. But hey to each his own. As far as I am concerned there is no justification to waste the money on the IFS lift.

904_runner

"To each his own" Could not be said any better.

BTW Seafarinman, that is one killer toyota!

tc

IMHO gears, lockers, and tires should all be included in the cost of an SAS. Without them, it's kinda pointless to do all that work ...

AxleIke

KINDA pointless?

I'd say, "so unbelievably pointless as to border on insanity."

88toypickup

I agree, I include drivelines, axle, gears, locker, rear suspension, and installation as part of the overall cost. I can't weld so I will have to have somebody do the welding for me, where as I can probably figure out how to bolt on an IFS lift.