I am a bit new to the whole realm of wheeling, and I am about to mod my truck a bit. I have an 82 Toyota pickup with stock everything currently. Here is what I had in mind:

1 1/2" shackle lift

New shocks

32 or 33" Pro-Comp Mud-Terrain Tires

My questions: will the 1 1/2" lift allow for sufficient flex with 33" tires, or should I go for the 32's (there is only a $2 difference between the two tires, so price does not matter)? Also, do I need the new shocks with only 1 1/2" of lift?

Thanks!

 

Anyone?

 

I think most people would tell you to go and wheel yourself, and then make your own assumptions on what is needed. I had an 89 4runner for 5 years, bone stock with a/t's and it went where I wanted it to go. I got wrench happy on my new 4runner and it really didn't give me any advantage as if I just kept it stock. IMO.

 

Yup, what he said, but I think most people will tell you, if you can get 33's for almost the same price, do it. Only thing is of course, one mod leads to another, so w/33s you'll get more ground clearance, but you should also regear, and since your opening your diff's, might as well throw some lockers in there... know what I mean.

 

haha ok. do i really need to regear with 33s?

i read on another thread that they are fine with 4:10 gears, which i have.

 

Yeah, you can "get by", but a regear is the smartest thing to do. It will get yr mpg's back to within stock as well as give you more power for crawling. 33s and a regear/locker combo will take you places many people w/35's - 36's & lifts won't.

 

so you are saying a 1 1/2" shackle lift, regearing, lockers, and 33" tires?

what would the average total cost for regearing and lockers be?

 

A few things:

- Hook up with a local 4x4 club, group, whatever and go on some runs with them (something rated such that you're truck will do ok as is). This will give you some experience and give you a chance to see what others have done with their vehicles and what works, what doesn't work. That's really important. A lot of mods look good "on paper", but basically are about as useful as tits on quail when it comes to the real world of off roading.

- With 33's, you'll have to regear if, as you said, you're going to really wheel the vehicle. You'll simply have no crawl ability. If you have a manual tranny, you'll most likely want to get lower (as in 4:1) gears for the xfer case, lo range 4 wheel drive also.

- With any sized suspension lift again, if you really wheel, you'll have to get longer shocks. If not, you'll loose downward droop equal to the amount of suspension lift installed.

- Armor, armor, armor, can't stress that enough.

- For tire size, 33's are probably the better choice if for no other reason than you'll have a better chance finding someone else with 33's on the run with you if you ever need to borrow a spare.




Fred

 

I do have 4-low gear though.

Wouldn't that be sufficient for wheeling?

Would 31's with no lift be a decent choice if I don't want to regear?

also, as far as armor, what exactly would you suggest?

Thanks!

 

yea.. you can wheel it in 4-low.. but you wont crawl. if you wanna do some great wheelin and crawling.. regear your t-case.

 

if you want to keep your yota in good running order you need armor.
t-case skid plate
brace your axles
gas tank skids
rock sliders
bumpers

there are a fair amount of options for armor..
check out www.marlincrawler.com
or www.allprooffroad.com
or www.4crawler.com

all 3 of those guys are mainly toyota people

give it a shot
goodluck!


keep it rubber side down

 

ok. here is what i have decided on for now:

32" ProComp MTs

Aussie Lockers F&R

And later on:

1-1.5" shackle lift

new shocks

now from what you have all said, lockers are one of the most beneficial things you can do as far as turning a truck into a wheeler. for 32's I will not need to gear down, correct?

 

thats def. a good way to go
lockers will get you where you need to go,
you might need to regear, but you try w/o it for a little while, if you get the tires and decide that you want to go even bigger, like sayyy 6" lift w/ 36's (hahah) then you'll have to regear Again, so i would wait it out. you should be alright, im rolling on 33's w/o regearing, its manual 3vze but its not like that engine is a powerhouse

 

are you locked?

 

I got 31x10.50's on my 84 and I can make them rub on some stuff, just so you know. It might be a good idea if you're putting on some 32's to lift it before you lock it up.

 

Whats up dude?!?!

I have an 84 xcab with 31's and a Rancho lift (the lift is not impressive though, maybe 2-4").

But man, lemme tell ya, lockers are the next thing I'm worried about. I do a lot of mudding and I've led myself to believe that lockers will decrease my rate of "getting stuck". Most of the times I get stuck simply because things get too slippery and open differentials do NOT help my situation. Lockers will pretty much help you on any surface.

In my opinion, you really don't need lift for 32/33 tires unless you're doing rock crawling or something that requires a severe amount of flex. I commute in my truck, so I can't go out and tear it up at the Rubicon. Just mud, climbing steep simple hills, and land management trails. I try and avoid rock crawling obstacles.

I only have 31's, but my truck goes just about everywhere. These trucks already have pretty good ground clearance, Toyota knew what they were doing when it came to running lines and exhaust.

So... I guess I'm saying that it really depends on how deep you wanna get and into what "sub category" of offroading.

 

I will not be doing ridiculous rock crawling or anything, just mudding and messing around on trails that my buddies and i make, so i think the 32's will be fine for a while with the stock lift.

should i lock the front and rear, or just the rear?

 

Good question, and something I'm researching now. My conclusion is, if your truck is a DD, lock the fronts because locking the rears (unless you have an e-locker or arb, where you can just turn off) will make it very difficult to drive on pavement and I have read it even makes it dangerous on turns. If you lock the front, you can turn it off w/the hubs or T-case. I think I'm getting a locker for the fronts myself.

 

so locking only the front will be worth it?

how long would it take to install a locker (on average)?

 

I have a locker (Aussie) F&R on my 84 4Runner. On the street, in the turns, it's fine. You just can't slam on the gas around the corner It's not that dangerous if you drive reasonably.