crawler85

I owned an early bronco years ago and have always wanted a 1st gen 4runner.

well here it is....

22RE rebuilt with headers

manual

shackle/block lift

stock gears

snorkel

stock push/pull steering
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and I have no idea what size lift it has.

The front looks like it only has a shackle lift. the front shackle measures 6 inches from the center of each bolt to the other. the springs look original as there are no new polyurethane bushings on the leaf springs. i am thinking they are the stock springs.

the rear has 3 inch blocks and the shackles measure 6 inches also. they also have corroded bushings.
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right now the rear springs are sagging, so I am gonna order some new springs, i just don't wanna get the size of the springs wrong.

a recommendation on springs is also appreciated. Northwest Offroad was all the rage years ago when I was rock crawling in the 90's. are they still the way to go?

thanks for any help you guys can provide.

rokblok

iTrader: (1)

Trail Gear makes good springs. Contact the Wabbit on this forum for anything you need. Springs, shocks, etc. With 3" blocks and 6" shackles, that would give you approx. 4" to 4-1/4" lift technically. But this depends on your springs as well. If your front is lifted 4" then you can get the TG 3" rear kit since it comes with 5"(?) shackles netting ~ 4" lift. If you want a little more then maybe the 4" kit. The reason I say kit (I know you already have shackles) is the springs are longer than stock and require some welding of new hangers. It also comes with braided brake line and matching Bilstein 5125s and U-bolt flip kit. I don't think you can piece the parts together cheaper than a kit already is. But Wabbit will let you know.

And I'm not sure about the front. I have a crappy 4" Rancho lift that was on my truck when I got it. It has rubber bushing(not urethane) but the springs are arched for the lift. My rear has 4" blocks Stock shackles all the way around. I seem to recall that stock front springs are pretty flat, and yours look arched. But that's just an observation...

That is a good looking Runner, by the way. Good find!

And welcome to the forum!

ksti

That's a really nice rig, I especially like the wheels.

crawler85

thanks rokblok,

i am not looking to get any welding done, just looking for swappable springs in the back that can also replace the blocks.

i was thinking about this and realized that.....

as long as i get 3 inch lift rear springs and remove the blocks, using the same shackles, than it should still come out to the equivalent lift that was previously installed.

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as far as the rig goes...
i was surprised that it is pushing 35's rather well with stock gears.
4-low 1st gear does not even compare to the granny-low i had in the early bronco.
perhaps a dual xfer case mod will get it close to the same thing.

rokblok

iTrader: (1)

Correct. But there aren't many, if any companies that sell lifted, stock length springs. Custom ordered from Deaver or another company will prob be more money. I think I priced custom Deavers a few months back and they quoted me around $700, and that's for just the springs.

Let us know what you find.

rokblok

iTrader: (1)

I just saw your truck on CL. I presume it's not you selling it already?

westjohns yota

dang your selling a red 85 4runner, get mark in here....

crawler85

haha no i bought it from them. ended up getting it for $3,200.

pros-

recently rebuilt 22RE engine w/ lots of powder coating and headers.

overall condition. you can see the body work and preservation that was done.

cons-

stock push-pull steering. prolly gonna be my first upgrade.

leaking front diff's. gonna eventually need to be rebuilt.

sagging rear stock springs.

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any thoughts on if i got a deal/decent/ paid too much?

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

Welcome to Yotatech

Nice 85.

:wabbit2:

ThatGuy1295

Is that a home made snorkel I see?

rokblok

iTrader: (1)

It looked as tho the snorkel was integrated/molded into the fender. Looked cool from what I saw.

You got it for a steal...

donomite49

i'd go ahead and do it right, 63"chevy springs.
http://www.nwtoys.com/content/135-ch...-swap-faq.html
if your gonna spend money, AND keep it to use.
doing it right 1st time is cheaper than doin it twice.
just my .02

nice runner.

crawler85

the previous owner put the snorkel in. it is molded with flush paint like it is built into the fender and routes through to tap (drilled) underneath the stock airbox.

i can take photos of the setup if anyone is interested.

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donomite49,

thanks for the lift suggestion. i am gonna research it. i am definitely into the philosophy of "do it once the right/best way".

ThatGuy1295

I would, MOD's = ,,,,, well sometimes = , but nothing wrong with a funtioning snork.

crawler85

so are nerf bars really that hard to get for these? that's what I'm reading online.

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

I got some chrome and black ones for sale.

:wabbit2:

crawler85

So I turned my rig into the body shop to stop all the rust.....

Discombobulated

Dang pretty drastic, bet its gonna be sweet when it's done

YoungFeller

The back's not saggy...that's the 4runner stance with the high-cut "prerunner" front fenders:



I find add-a-leaves to be pretty satisfying. OME/ARB sells lift packs that are stock length.

Leaky front knuckles are pretty common. I tried replacing the axle tube seals and knuckle wipers but they started leaking again not too long afterwards. I just pump more grease into the knuckles now n' then to replace what gets washed out.

crawler85

Thanks for the recommendation. My only problem with add a leaves is that the flex pretty much disappears.

I am gonna go with the Chevy springs eventually, that seems to be the best route.