CMD93

Guys,

I hope you can shed some light on this subject. My good friend (FilthyRich) and I just installed some Downey HD's on my 93 4Runner, in all I got ~2 inches of lift. All seemed well, except that the passenger rear tire was sticking out of the wheel well further than the drivers side tire. After reading many posts on here it seems that all I needed was a rear pan hard drop bracket. After contacting Downey, they were concerned that using the only bracket that they have, which is the one for the 3 inch lift, would over compensate for the axle misalignmet and woud result in the drivers side rear tire sticking out further than the passenger side tire. Downey stated that through all thier engineering, the HD coils should only offset the axel 3/8 of an inch, which should not be visible to the eye. Contacting ProComp was worthless, they had no idea what I was talking about, and did not know of any rear pan hard drop bracket.

After driving around for a few days, hoping that the springs just needed to settle and seat properly, I noticed that the truck looked as if it was sitting crooked. After further investigation the drivers side coil is not seated on the base. It needs to be rotated around an inch or so, so that the end of the coil seats in the proper place(sorry thats hard to explain without a pic).

1. Do you all think that is responsible for the original axle being off center?
2. What would be the best way to realign that rear coil?(Preferably without going through the entire install over again)?

Anyways, what are your thoughts? What should my next step be???
Thanks guys you all are a wealth or knowledge, and I hope you all can help.

Chris

NCSU-4runner

if your panhard rod isnt level with the ground the axle wont be centered with respect to the body, its only cosmetic, i dont think it should hurt anything, and with only the downey coils it shouldnt be that obvious anyway. I have ~7 inch lift coils with a panhard drop bracket from downey designed for their 3inch lift and mine isnt offset too bad. To rotate the spring you have to unload it as much as possible and it will turn without having to remove it at all, you can get a coil compressor to help take more load off if you cant get the axle far enough down in the travel. The base is shaped so that the end of the spring has a recessed spot which it should pop into when aligned properly.

CMD93

Thanks for the reponse Jeremy. Yea I thought that was all I might have to do. Hopefully with FilthyRich's help, I can get it done correctly, he is pretty knowledgeble. A couple more questions:

Will it be bad to drive the truck with one of the coils not positioned correctly?

If once I get the coil positioned correctly, and the axle is still misaligned should I be worried about anything? Uneven tire wear? Added stress on the driveshaft from operating at an slight angle?

Thanks for the help,
Chris

FilthyRich

since you have the FJ, I wouldn't drive it until we can "turn" the coil. We can do it at my house, the carport just got finished so there is plenty of cover.

FWIW with my new trac bar my rear tire still sticks out more on the drivers side. I know it is a 3rd gen, butt perhaps just an affecr from changing the OEM setup

sschaefer3

The 3rd gen bar is optimized for 2.5" of lift. If your tire sticks out a bit more on the drivers side with your new heavy custom rear bumper, you don't have 2.5" of rear lift anymore.

With my rear bumper 891's gave me a whopping 1.5" of lift which would be 1" under optimized length. Hence the 1" CB spacer.

Time for a 1" Cornbred spacer or 892.

Now with the Dana 44 I need 4.5" of rear lift and that will be coming from a set of custom made rear coils, no spacers with a 4.5" drop bar.

CMD93

thanks EJ, I hope that we can do it soon. The gas mileage of the FJ60 is killing me, especially with the cost/gallon these days. I'll call you in the AM tomorrow.

Anyone else have any thoughts? suggestions?

sschaefer3

Our FJ-62 gets 12 mpg around town. Is that any better or worse than your getting, it does alot better on the highway.

Rolling 33's with 4.88's, Auto Tranny

NCSU-4runner

IMO having the coil slightly mis-aligned wont hurt anything in the short term, but its something you should fix

FilthyRich

my bumper weighs less than the stocker + trailer hitch

firemedic

No problem with the Downey HD coils on my 93, no need for the trac bar that I can tell.

FilthyRich

if I added a spacer, my rear would be extremely jacked up. It is already slightly higher than the front. I am sure I am getting at least 2.5" of rear lift. This is w/ a new trac bar.
If anyone else has any thoughts as to why the rear sticks out to one side...

sschaefer3

Are you sure? If it's all 3/16" plate, it can't.

FilthyRich

no more than. the main section is 3/16" and the side flares are 1/8." When I lift the factory bumper and hidden hitch it at least seems to weigh more than my custom. I am guessing it weighs around 75ish. Maybe I am stronger than I think LOL

sschaefer3

Well if the sides are 1/8" then maybe your right, I wish you guys would have made the sides out of 3/16" as well.

I bet it's around 80 or so, just like you though.

FilthyRich

I am sure you are right about the 3/16" side flares. I have yet to have an issue and with the added flare support(bar wwelded and bolted from the frame to side flare) the bumper has more strength and rigidity. We'll see how well it holds up.

Sorry for the thread jack Chris.

Any thoughts on why the drivers side stick out farther than the passenger, with a trac bar??
Is it only noticable b/c I am anal and notice everything? Rather, is it just cosmetic and not enough off the worry about?

sschaefer3

I don't know, that does not make sense, the bar is around 3/8" to 1/2" longer, Stubbs has the plans and I don't recall the exact number. It is the same distance that 2.5" of lift makes it shorter.

I don't know. It's illogical.

Post a pic of the side of your truck. I wanna see how high it is.

FilthyRich

sschaefer3

Well, for starters, you have the bar on upside down. It's suppsed to "drop".

Flip the bar around and see what happens.

sschaefer3

Also your parking brake bracket is rusty and bent. Make a new one out of 3/16" or get one of my pre-made ones.

Paint it so it does not rust so bad.

CMD93

man talk about a thread hijack...