Hey guys, l have an 83 SR5. l'm doing a cheap budget on my truck since l'm a college student. But l'm not sure if my front leaf springs are tired. They bend as if they're up side down. l've seen this on other trucks before but l'm not sure if they're suppose to be like that or not. Anyway, what l have in mind is to put my rear leaf springs on the font since they look better and l have some new Chevy S-10 laying around that l'd like to put on the rear. This will probably give the truck two or three inches in lift from it's current position. So do you think this is a good idea to do without having to modify the drive shafts? The whole truck is probably at least 1-2 inches lower than it was out of the factory so l'm guessing that it'll be close to original height.

 

Your new rear springs will need to be off of an 89 to 06 full size truck. NOT an s10. Take a tape measure and make sure there 63 inches long. Your next guess is your shackle length. Its not to hard though. Search the facts. Good luck

 

Why not the S-10 springs? They're only two inches longer in length than the stock ones. Also l would do some new shackles for the rear to make them fit.

 

You should give it a shot. The only thing i would worry about is axle placement.

 

of they are 2" longer than stock, then in theory, they will move your rear axle back 1"...
other things to think about are, are they rated for the same weight? how much more arc than the yota srpings do they have? are the springs themselves the same width? and will they bolt into the factory location without modification?

btw, putting the rears up front (RUF) is a well known trick and works pretty well...

 

I also recently acquired a set of free s-10 leaf springs and found the below link helpful in comparing between all of the options. It turned up under a related search on one of the toyota forums - can't remember which one.

http://littlekeylime.com/MrN/mrnimages/leaf_springs.png

All of the s-10 springs are 54" compared to 47" in the pre-88 trucks. The issue I would be concerned about is the spring capacity, as the s-10 leaf pack thickness varied by application. I still haven't compared the arch between the stock rears and the s-10 rears.

 

ok your factory rears are 48" long and the center pin is different then you're factory front so it'll move your front axle 2 inches forward. therefore you need to modify your front driveshaft. you can use pretty much any rear spring you want in the rear with modification. the most popular is the chevy 63s then the f150 springs. but im sure you can use s10s if you want, just probably have to move both the shackle and the front spring mount.

 

X2

the RUF will push your front axle forward, possibly requiring you to trim th front lip of the fender, new drive shaft and you will need a longer shackle for the longer spring.

the s-10 rears are too long to just bolt up. you will need to weld on new front hangers and shackle hangers. an easier setup is to use chevy 63's as they flex like mad and ride great. you will still need to relocate the front spring hanger but you can use the stock rear shackle mount if you put the chevy shackle flat against the frame and then use the toyota or a different shackle on that. though this setup can be unstable on heavy braking while downhill or offroad as it can 'unload' both shackles... that said it can be very helpful offroad for the added flex.

Al