Hey guys! I am back with new questions about my 81' 4x4 trekker. based on advice from a friend I am sticking with the stock 4 speed manual transmission. But like I said in my other post, I would like to lift the truck 4 inch probably and put 31's or 33's on it. what precautionary steps do I need to take before lifting it and putting on bigger tires? I am not worried about the engine power, etc. right now, what I am worried about are the joints, and the rear axel and other stuff that could brake when I lift it and put bigger wheels on it. what can I do to limit the future problems? Thanks! If you need pics I can upload them.

 

31's or 33's will fit with no lift unless it's really saggy. if you lift 4" you can get 35's on there.

with 31's or 33's you wont have any issues as far as strain on the drivetrain. you may want to beef up your brakes thats about all i can think of

 

i had no problems with running 32" on my 80 4speed w/stock gears springs, ujoints, birfields. if i were you i would not rule out the 5 speed swap. it will have the same gear ratios as your 4 speed but with a final drive. i put a 5 speed out of a 81 into my 80 and could not be happier.
as for the lift i would recommend longer brake flex lines, etc....

 

Guess I missed the part about your '81 being a Trekker, from one Trekker owner to another, Definitely post up some pictures of your Toy. Be sure to check out the Trekker Forum that Slacker set up, the link is in my signature.

With any truck that is 25+ years old you would want to inspect your steering components, bearings etc. I would recommend rebuilding your front axle; Marlin Crawler has a great kit with bearing that have got about the best reputation. Trail-Gear also has a quality kit. Going up to 31's or 33's are not really too bad. 31's are a very safe bet. It kind of depends on what you want to do with: mild trail running etc.
Cosmetically a truck kind of looks funny IMO with a 4" lift and 31's. 33's will give you a little more ground clearance.'

When I first bought my Trekker it had 33's on it and stock brakes. It did OK but I have since upgraded the front brakes to FJ vented rotors and V-6 Truck Calipers. Driving the truck the last week I can tell you the braking improvement is awesome. I also have a bigger bore master cylinder and dual diaphram brake booster to put on.
-Stock front axles are fairly strong up to 33's, mild wheeling a lot of folks never break anything with 35's.
-TOy rear axles are about the equivalent of a Dana 44. They handle 35-37" tires in stock form with ease. The stock brakes on the 79-85's though are kind of small (8"). A popular upgrade is to swap in an 86-95 rear truck axle. WIth that you get 10" rear drums and a 3" wider rear axles (1.5" on each side) It is a direct bolt in. I am currently looking for an axle to swap into mine.

hope this helps..

 

maybe i lied. maybe it's not a trekker. it doesn't look the exact same as the one on google XD. but anyways its a 1981 toyota pickup 4x4, 4 speed manual, longbed, 22r. maybe its a trekker or whatever u call it.

 

If you gotta have the $ to lift more more than 4", if all you wan tto do is stuff 31's or 33's throw a 3" lift on it keeps you from having to modify the front d-line and your pinion angle.

Honestly, its all about lockers f/r, re-gear and armor. thats were I would sink my money. then stuff some 33" swampers on a minimum lift, maybe even just trim and tub just enough to clear those meats and you'll be unstoppable!

But if you just want to look cool at the mall and not on the trail then jack it up 5-6" and stuff 35's on open diffs and 4.10's

 

Yeah i vote small shackle lift, 33" swampers, front and rear lockers and 4.56's maybe dual cases that thing will go anywhere. ^^good posting

 

thanks a bunch. i just want to midly hit the trails for now! i was leaning more towards 33's. so you said rebuild the front axle, and replace the front differential? sounds sweet. I am very noobish, so can you tell me what i need to get to rebuild the front axel?i can't spend too much money... hopefully less than $1500 total to get it lifted and some bigger tires and rims. can i do it?

 

craigslist is a great source for used tires. somebody always wants to go bigger or found out their mileage tanked with the mud terrains they just bought.

4.88 gears are recommended for 33's. Plumbrrob's recommendations for low lift, lockers and sliders are definitely a good idea. Sometimes you can even find third members with a locker on craigslist for cheap. A locker in the rear will get you some some great places. I am locked front and rear, driving characteristic with the locked front is not that great.

marlin's front end service kits, $159: http://marlincrawler.com/axle/front-...wheel-bearings
Trai-Gear: http://trail-gear.com/knuckle-service.html

Nice thing about leaf springs are they can be done pretty easily. Do some research on your springs before you buy. Some ride rough. Some kits have longer springs that require you to do welding of new mounts etc. Sounds like you want to find some stock length lifted springs...

I think you can accomplish a lot of what you want to do under your budget.

your truck is definitely not a Trekker. There is only one long bed trekker in existence and it was custom done by Slacker for someone in Texas.. All Trekker beds are made of fiberglass and cab level canopy. You might have a Griffin TrailBlazer (metal bed and raised canopy). does your truck have a back seat? Some people have cut out the rear of the cab for a walk through.

 

Armor is very important but not as cool looking, as a lift

sliders & bumpers come to the mind first.

But what I should of mention from my expereince is the front axle armor!

I bent my original 79 housing and bent the original tie rod setup, I learned the hard way on the trail and I am a DD.

You may be a mild wheeler now, so was I with my first yota, but as I became more comfortable I went mild to wild!

I would agree with ocdropzone on Craigs List it is the best place to keep with in your budget you just have to have patience and wait for the deal to come to you.

Make sure you haggle and trade

 

thanks a lot for the links man! I can't wait to budget this and figure out how to earn the money! It's going to be a great little 4x4. what will the gears do to my fuel mileage and top end speed? will i still be able to run 70??

 

Other people can answer this better but I'm bored, so....regearing for your bigger tires is like returning to stock conditions. You are moving more rubber and so mileage and speed will be worse, but regearing with bigger tires will give you better gas mileage than if you went with bigger tires alone. It will also help your speed all around, because you are resetting your gear ratio back towards stock, instead of having gears meant to turn 28 inch tires turning 33", you've got gears meant to turn the bigger diameter tires. So in essence you're getting back towards stock conditions, as much as that's possible with huge tires.

That's my understading of it, anyways.

 

that is pretty good explanation of it. On my old '84 I went to 33's drove stock gears for awhile, 5th gear useless than went to 4.88's and the truck drove awesome. Went to 35's back to useless 5th gear. than converted to 5.29's --all with in a year. Moral of the story: Gear for what you tires you are gonna run down the road. This crap gets expensive

 

makes a lot better sense now. thanks a lot man! I will have to look into buying the gears for sure then. got any links to any good sites with them? thanks!

 

I wouldnt worry about brakes to much, all I have on mine is the vented rotors & pads from marlin crawler, stock (actually original shoes) rear brakes with new wheel cylinders, and a new master cyl (stock replacement) and it stops better than stock with the 37 boggers, the only think Is I dont know how different the brakes are between our trucks

 

for gears i would get them from a junkyard cause 4.88 was a option in some trucks prolly for 150 or under each diff so 300 total you could do your truck..

wheres the pics already!

 

your truck has 10" rear drums, 1st Gen's have 8" rear drums.
I think any brake upgrade is worth it. You are asking a truck that was designed to stop 28-30" tires to stop something with an increased rolling diameter.

 

i found some gears, what do you guys think? worth it?

http://www.jawsgear.com/Ring_And_Pin...duct_info.html

also i priced everything out. It seems like i am going to have to spend around $1900-$2000 to do it right. but i don't mind it will be completely worth it!