jumper_bob

Hey guys! Got some parts on order from Amazon, so I can spend another entire weekend wrenchin' on the truck again! (haha my wife might be starting to hate this truck!)

I have the "saggy butt" syndrome:





These leafs are pretty well flattened out; my kidneys hurt just looking at this picture. Right now, frame-to-leaf clearance is 7.5"; the left bumpstop is about 1-1.5" from the frame bumpstop; the right side doesnt even have a bumpstop on the spring.

So I have some leafs sitting around from the other 4Runner i blew up in a mud hole a few years ago:
(they even had 2 greasable bolts, which I didnt notice until yesterday! Score! the two bolts installed in the right side bushings in the photo)



and I ordered a set of Prothane bushings from Amazon:


I have the shackles in the picture, on the ground; I am guessing that I can use one of the middle holes to keep close to the stock shackle length. Later I could add a bit of lift if I chose, I guess. But dont have longer brake lines, LSPV drop bracket, etc; and dont want to really lift the truck too much right now, just get back to stock height in the rear and more importantly, get some ride quality back.

Have been considering the Zuk mod for a bit more comfort and load capacity, but when I go off-pavement, I think that might limit the compression of the suspension a bit. So I will think on that for a while. Currently have ~3" body lift from the P.O., might dump that this summer in favor of ~2" lift springs and BJ spacers, till I can save up enough money for SAS.

(If you feel like crying, think about if you had a SAS'd runner that blew the engine, and were stripping it down at a friends house, and when we took out the front, complete, SAS, he accidentally took it to the scrap yard with the body of the truck... talk about a sad day )

So this weekend I plan to swap in those springs. I have an electric impact; and have been soaking bolts in PB back there for a week now; and my friend has air tools and a bobcat with forks, so maybe he will redeem himself by lifting up my truck for me to swap out the springs real quick.

Also ordered some Autopal H4 headlight replacements from Amazon:
$45 shipped

and some 100/55 bulbs:
$7 each:

So hopefully those will get here before the weekend and I will be able to drive at night and actually see the road!!!

I know swapping in these leafs should be straight-forward, any input or common issues with these Toyota's for this surgery?

Any suggestions on bolts to use? Between whats on the truck and whats lying on the ground in the picture, I am pretty sure I have enough to do it; but might need to replace one or two if I find any terrible ones.

Also, do you guys think that any of the stock leafs are good enough to pull one leaf out and stick it into my "new" ones, to make a 5-leaf pack, for a bit of payload capacity? I usually have a bit of weight; although I am very soon gonna lose the top for the summer. And maybe by the fall when I put it back on, I will have money and time to do my minor "real" lift.

I am 90% sure that the leafs I am installing are stock or close to stock; the previous runner they were on had 6" blocks and these monster shackles and fit 33's easily; but they look and measure just the same as my current springs, so I am hoping I dont run into any height issues while installing.

Ok, sometimes its so hard to sit and wait for parts, and go to work in the meantime. If someone would just pay me full-time to fix up my own truck, life would be great! (I think I need to start a build thread - this is getting fun; after having the truck in storage for 3 yrs while I was in Alaska, I like playing with it and making it even more awesome than they are stock!)

- Scott

Bama

I am about to do a leaf swap today and I was hoping to find some tips as well. If you already did it and have any that would be great. If not I will share any I run across with you tomorrow!

jumper_bob

Hi bama,
I tried to do my swap a week or two ago; I ran into major problems as I had not measured correctly the "replacement" springs I had. turned out that the springs I was intending on swapping in were the same length, but a different length to center; and in addition, different spring eye sizes. I came to the conclusion that my springs were actually intended for a 66-77 bronco. I am talking with a welder to see if he can weld up new mounts to keep my axle centered in wheelwell; but I am also having to figure out any issues that may cause with changing the pinion angle, etc. So its a slow process; plus I still cant figure out which bushings to get for my new springs. I havent had time to call in to a suspension place to cross-reference yet.

So my tips would be to measure very carefully, overall length, length from each end to center pin, size of spring eye; make sure you have the springs you think you have!

also I had a hell of a time getting the old hardware out; I had soaked it in PB blaster several times over the course of a few weeks, but still required a grinder, cutoff wheel, sawzall, pry bar, and a torch. hahahah sounds like fun dont it?

also since my springs are flat and riding on the overloads, my shackles had mostly seized solid.

I was doing it in my driveway with jacks and blocks; I had a friend with a bobcat but couldnt coordinate to do it at his place; it takes quite a bit to jack the frame high enough to droop the springs, so make sure you have the vehicle very well supported, blocked, etc, when its up that high it can be a bit wobbly. I worked on one side at a time. A lift, or using the bobcat to lift the whole ass end safely, would have been much preferable.

I used an electric impact from autozone to try to loosen the bolts; it didnt have enough power. I could actually very slowly move the bolts with a long breaker bar, and then once they were unfrozen I used the impact to spin them off. An air impact would have much more power (also was at my friends house instead of mine!)

Gather all your hardware before you need it - I had to get new hanger and shackle bolts cuz i boogered up the old ones getting them out; my store only had 3 of the metric ones I needed, so had to use metric on one side and standard on the other. My u-bolts ended up being reusable, but depends on condition.

Stores these days seem to be good about returning stuff, so I have adopted the mentality of "get absolutely everything and return what I didnt use" but that may not be budgetable for everyone.

Well I think that is about the most pertinent things I could tell you about my experience. After all that, I have the stock springs back on, as I failed to plan and analyze and confirm parts correctly. Although next time, at least the hardware is loose now
but I would have much preferred to knock it all out quickly, once; with the right parts and hardware and having considered all the various effects a swap would have. Are you just replacing to stock, or lifting? Longer brake lines necessary? Have to lower the LSPV? will your shocks be right length? Will you change pinion angle, and then start chewing up ujoints? etc etc etc, the list goes on. I actually went by a local 4x4 shop and bought an hour of shop time with a tech; it was very informative and more than worth every penny of the $50 it cost me. Saved me a lot of grief and time.

Ok, good luck, let us know how it turns out! Hopefully better than mine!!!

- Scott

Bama

Thanks for the update Scott. Sounds like you have alot of thinking to do with plenty of work to follow. I ordered Skyjacker TR60S rear leaf springs. They give 4 inches of lift to the 4runner and unlike alot of the other aftermarket leaf packs don't require re-positioning of the hangers. I ordered one from Amazon because that was all they had in stock and the other from Summit. I got the Amazon one last Tuesday and the Summit one on Thursday. Sadly Summit sent me a Land Cruiser spring so I had to return it and they offered exchange. I checked Amazon and they had more in stock and for $35 cheaper than summit with faster shipping. I love Amazon. Well my swap has been pushed back until probably next weekend due to the mix up. I will update you as they come along. -Derick

Bama

HOLY CRAP! I can not remove the front hanger bolts! I have got the nuts out but the bolts just spin and spin and wont budge. I have beat them with a hammer. I have heated them up with a torch and put the impact gun to them. i have cut the head off one and hammered it the other way and it still wont budge. apparently the bushings are permanently joined to the damn bolt inside the leaf spring. Does anyone have a suggestion? This is the only thing keeping me from finishing this swap! HELP! I am losing my mind! I am guessing you had about the same problems after reading your reply. So yeah what exactly did you do with those front hanger eye bolts? I am so pissed right now and I am without a ride because my truck is in mid surgery and things aren't going well!

catfish21

iTrader: (1)

Put the torch to it long enough and it will burn them out I know exactly what you mean about them damn things I had the same problem just turn the fire up and let it melt ol boy good luck

Bama

Good advice! I burned them all the way out and then I still had to take a angle grinder to it because the bushing sleeves were corroded(welded haha) to the damn bolts. Well one side down. I will have to do the otherside tomorrow, I am probably just going to use the angle grinder on that side because I dont want to drop the gas tank and I am thinking a fire an inch from the gas tank might not be the best of ideas?

Anyways I do appreciate the tip and it did help. Thanks Catfish!

jumper_bob

Hi Bama, haha sounds like your swap is going about like mine - slow and painful lol
My front hanger required lots of different tools and torch and effort and some misery. On the gas tank side, the hanger bolt was rusted to the hanger. I got the nut off the back by heating and then a big breaker bar; waited till it cooled a bit and then got the nut all the way off.

I had a similar problem - the head of the bolt was rust-welded to the hanger, wouldnt spin at all. I ground it off, flush to the hanger, cut off the nut side the same way; so the bolt was *just* as short as I could make it while still being stuck in the hanger, then I pried the hanger open just a bit with a big ass prybar, and beat on the bushing with a 3lb sledge. That opened the hanger just wide enough to beat out the spring eye (bushing still installed).

Once the springs were out, I burned out the bushing rubber - took a while; I only have a handheld torch, but I used MAPP gas, which burns hotter. After about 10 mins, the rubber caught on fire inside the bushing and I sat there and drank a beer and watched it burn - just like a tire. After a few minutes I was able to beat it out with a hammer. Then I took a Sawzall to cut out the metal sleeve; came out pretty easy but I had to be careful not to cut the spring.

Ive worked on other old trucks, and seems like the same principles apply - heat, effort, more heat, more effort, and some cutting tools lol.

Good luck!!! I am currently rebuilding a 60s Bronco leaf pack (disassemble, new sliders and center bolt, some paint) and gonna have the welder move my front hanger and rear shackle to fit, sometime next week, to put those in.

Bama

Yeah Bob, it has been trying. I did pretty much exactly what you recommended Friday evening. I cut the bolt head and the threaded portion down to the bracket. This required me to cut the leaf spring off right at the bracket. I figured it would be easier than dropping the tank. I think it was but who knows. Once I got that done I drilled a hole into the bolt head side so I could get a punch to stay in there and I beat one side in and then from the middle I beat the whole rest of what there was out, bushing and all. It was am adventure. Ready for install as soon as I get the upper bushings for the hangers (forgot those). I am in no way an expert with this kind of stuff, I just enjoy figuring things out and the satisfaction that I get by doing it myself. -Derick

Bama

Here is my write up on the spring swap if you guys are interested. Thanks Scott and Catfish for the help!

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f120.../#post52088393