New suspension lift needed ?
 

To be honest with ya'll,I need some help! My head is spinning from all the info I've found using the search function on this board. I also have found out how little I know about offroad 4 wheeling.So anyway here goes,I have a 1980 Toyota truck that is stock except for a 3" Rancho lift that was on it when I got the truck a year ago. It is about the roughest riding truck I have ever been in, a ride across the pasture is hard on my old a$$. I bought the truck to use surf fishing on the Texas coast and I need to come up with a smoother ride and still have the 3" lift. More weight will be coming with the addition of a winch,kayak rack,etc. I'd like to stay with a bolt on install if possible. Some of the kits I've seen are Rough Country,Tuff Country EZ-Ride, I listed those because they come complete with springs and shocks,I know there has got to be more choices for this truck! I apologize for the long post but any and all suggestions would be much appreciated.:bowdown2:

well yes there are a few more. i know that superlift makes a good one and skyjacker. but for a bolt on setup your still looking at a very rough ride. the fact is they make the bolt on leafs so rigid and they ride like crap. my sugestion is if your going to wheel it do a trail-gear lift. if your not i wouldnt do anything with it.

you could also try to put a stock suspension on it may be a little bit softer and try a 3 inch body lift thats whats on my toyota is a 3 inch body and 33" BFG's

Something you might try on the cheap is replacing the shocks with something softer. The other thing i can suggest is downey. They claim there springs are the same as stock just with the 3 inch lift. i have it with the doetsch tech prerunner shocks in the front and the mv-12's in the rear. its definitely not smooth but is better than the stock ride i did have. wasnt to expensive at around 400 bucks for the front. the rancho type of lifts are known for being rough and stiff, (no flex) i cant compare it to the downey as i have no experince with the others... so there is my two cents good luck and keep us posted:banger:

I switched from a Rancho 3" to a Downey 3" 12 years ago, and I've never looked back. My '81 is a truck that gets a lot of miles on it - it goes camping, hunting, fishing, gets kayaks and a little aluminum fishing boat tossed on top, 3 dirt bikes in the bed, etc.

It's not a rock rig with 30" of articulation, but I can hand the keys to my wife and not worry about her flipping it (like some friends' rigs - too soft). The springs are the stock Toyota spring rate, so it still rides pretty soft. Springs for front and rear are $378, and you can still use your Rancho shocks and shackles, unless you feel the need to get fancier (I did).

you got front and rears for 378? i got just my front kit with shocks for almost exzactly that... was that shocks too?

that was probably the price 12 years ago when he bought them, now there $219 a pair(for just springs).

The price for just springs and bushings right now, front and rear, is $378.10. Order part 48679-SE at that page I linked above. It's at the bottom of the page, under "Deals."

My bad, I didn't look at the bottom of the page

One option that a lot of people don't consider for 79-83's is an OME (old Man Emu) lift kit. From what I have heard it offer a great ride when compared to stock (the lift kits mentioned before (besides downey) tend to ride rough as a covered wagon). One place to stay away from due to harsh ride is North West Off road...they have a lot of other great products but their springs are rough as hell..
One source for OME: http://4by4connection.com/4runpicallle.html

Review of OME lift install for our trucks. Be aware that there's no "kit"; you'll have to piece together your particular lift from their parts (unless things have changed with them). This can be more effort than some people want to undertake (see Barney's review as linked above). OME is famous for a fairly supple ride.

Having said that, OME is designed for heavier loads than stock (one reason why they're so popular with LC owners), and $346 is a good price for a set of 4 springs. Caveats: the OME lift is a 2" lift, not 3", and they sell an optional add-a-leaf ($90/4) that you might want if you load up a lot. Also, you'll probably want new bushings ($80) and U-bolts ($44) (or a U-bolt flip kit) so the price goes up pretty quickly. The (probably) Rancho RS-5000 shocks you have are a little stiffly valved, but your truck rides on the springs, not the shocks, and the shocks are the correct length for a 2" - 3" lift, so you might not have to swap them out, at least right now.