with 5" skyjacker springs, and 35" tires what else beside a draglike and brakes do i need to upgrade? i know my brakes for sure and the draglink for my steering but will the big tires cause me to break other stuff related to my stock steering set up? am i going to be forced to buy a hy-steer kit? im thinking about a Z shaped draglink and a godzilla bar from marlin crawler but does anyone know of anything else that i need to beef up to stop from breaking my steering on the freeway and flipping 10 times and totalling my baby?

 

Hy-steer would be the way to go really... add it up, either way is gonna cost.
The brakes on your truck now won't be too bad off w/ 35's. A drop drag link could be had for $50-100 bucks pending on where you get it.

Running the torque rod still??? The scary part will be if you remove that and ever need to stand on the brakes J-arm is a common breakage if you wheel it alot w/ out the torque rod... All in all hysteer is a safer more flexxy set up, but if you need to keep the push pull set up for now just keep a few things in mind and intact whilst you do.

Keep/ lengthen the torque rod for now...
Consider flipping the ball on the j-arm...
I wouldn't worry about a brake upgrade, they will handle the 35's
You will need to address the front drive shaft, theres a $100
Brake lines...
I wouldn't worry about busting your steering on the freeway, but do inspect it after every trip on the trail!

 

yea, im not epecting anything to bust on the free way but if i crack something on the trail and vibrations from the 35's snap it on the drive home is what im worried about. the reason im asking this is i can't afford a hy-steer kit. otherwise i'd buy one

 

Brain, I have a similar setup on the 85 Runner I bought. I am gathering high-steer parts now. The quick answer is get high steer. I think most will agree.

I think you'll be able to run it with the aftermarket draglink to get you by for now. Some things to note.... You may have to do the j-arm ball flip if the spring pack is much thicker than what you currently have as you might have interference issues with the u bolts on the leafs. Brakes will be fine aside from possibly veering/lurching when braking. I do not have a torque rod or stabilizer on mine. I can't tell you much for trail-worthiness since I am still getting this thing sorted from previous owner's stupidity. Road manners are not great.

I did some research for a quick fix and seeing some of the busted j-arms makes me very leary of that setup.

From your sig it suggests you are running a 3" now? Why go skyjacker for +2"? If you just want to stuff 35"s? You might consider just going shackles that you can use with decent springs later and throw that leaf cash at highsteer? I'm not a big fan of that much lift with stock spring hanger location. I am currently running 5" + shackles in the stock locations, and I plan on going Alcan as soon as I can afford it.

Have you considered just doing crossover? I saw some threads on this, you should be able to search and pull something up. I wasn't looking for that info specifically, so I can't give the details other than it seems people weld another pass side steering arm to the exisiting arm and gusset for strength. Seems to me this may be an option for you and get you part of the way to highsteer? The Cost of the draglink is about what you'd pay for an IFS box. You'll only use the link until you get highsteer anyway? Why not throw that money into something you'll use long-term?
Good luck, post what you decide
-Bear

 

Oops... forgot to mention. My drivers side front (stock) spring hanger is cracked too! I would reinforce that if you can't do an aftermarket spring hanger.

 

my #1 recommendation is NOT to get the skyjacker lift, unless you want it to flex like a brick, those lift kits are more for the street queens than a truck that will see some off road use, i know from experience, i had procomp 4" springs on the front and 5" skyjackers on the rear, it sucked, i flopped many times from those stupid springs, they dont flex, period. right now i have rears up front and chevy 63"s in the rear, they work great, i would wait until you have some more money saved up and either go the junkyard route like i did, or buy from marlin, all-pro, sky, etc...

 

yea, the reason im getting those skyjackers is becase i got some free skyjacker rear springs off of my brothers flipped 4runner. so getting matching front ones would seem practical. im going to take his ifs steering box also so i wont have to pay for one of those. do you know if i could install that hy-steer kit by myself? is there welding needed? im planning on getting those brakes still. the ones i have now barley stop my 31's. my 21 year old brakes just straight up need replacing anyway. i would like to get all pro or marlin springs but the only thing is i cant weld and i would have to relocate the hangers and shackles. stock length springs are my only option. being 18 and working crappy minimum wage jobs i dont have much funding. i just want to get my truck mildly trail worthy. nothing too crazy but just enough

 

FYI,
You don't need to be able to weld in install Marlin or All Pro's front springs. They will bolt right into you front hanger. You may need longer shackles or bommerang (sp) shackles, but no welding. Also, because they will move your axle forward because of the center pin location, you will need to go crossover or redrill a new hole in you axle spring perches. And yes, you will need to do some welding for crossover because you'll need to sleeve your frame for the new steering box.

Another area of concern with the 35's is that they are going to be all in the firewall when the springs are compressed. I run 33's with about a 3" lift and I've had to cut the fenders/firewall to make room. But then again, with skyjackers, they aren't going to flex anyway, so it may be of no concern. That's why Marlin and All Pro springs relocate the center pin forword, to move the axle forward make room in the firewall (amoung other things).

 

ive always heard good things from skyjackers from my jeep buddies. i wish i could afford an all pro extreme lift kit. i want one so bad. but does anybody know what other kinds of stock length sprngs i can get w/o having to relocate hangers and shackles?

 

do the stock length all pro springs have decent flex in them?

 

i have fiberglass flares in the front so i shouldnt have to worry about them rubbing but if its hitting the firewall or the weel, im sure its nothing a rubber mallot cant make fit

 

35's will rub unless the axle is moved forward
5" Skyjackers are going to be stiff (no flex, mall crawler style)
Most mass manufactured lift springs (skyjacker, rough country, etc) are 3 or 4 thick springs. Thick springs don't flex like thin springs. I do believe All Pro's are 5 or 6 thin leaves which will flex much better.

What's your budget? Try here: http://www.trail-gear.com

 

you could consider building your own spring pack out of two '85 rear packs. That would get you good flex,decent lift, and its cheap.

 

There is reason that this is the case, since with stock steering, you are really limited as to how much spring (i.e. thickness of the spring pack) you can get to fit. So the only real option is to maintain the stock setup and use 3 or 4 thick, stiff leaves. Yes, a taller pack made of more leaves will flex better, whether it is a commercial pack like AllPro, Marlin, Alcan, etc. or a set of rear springs in a custom built pack:
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/4R_suspe...#CustomSprings

But that thicker spring pack will cause the stock steering to bind up, drag link end will make contact with the u-bolts, BTDT. You can work around that with a dropped/adjustable draglink after flipping the ball on the steering J-arm, etc. But the greater flex you get will stress the stock steering components, which is another reason many of the name brand spring kits are fairly stiff. I would imagine one time like this:



and the stock steering arm would snap right off (stock rear springs up front).

 

i think. that i have officially decided to save up for a high steer kit. then after that all pro long travel springs, hangers, shackles, shocks you know that whole deal. total im looking at is about 500 for the high steer and about 600 for the suspension. then i will concentrate on tires and gears. which will probably be 5.29's and 35x12.50 Goodyear MTR's. can't wait, thanks guys

 

with the brake upgrade to v6 3rd gen. calipers, and vented rotors. how well will they work with a stock master cylinder? ive heard you have to get a fj40 one. anybody know the details on that or how will they'll work with my stock master cylinder?

 

Should be fine, but if you want to upgrade, you can go to an FJ-80 m/c.
- http://marlincrawler.com/htm/brakes.htm

 

even if i put my brothers ifs rear axle on my truck? it has the 10 inch drums on it. i will be pumping to the bigger caliper+rotor and the bigger drums. will it be bad for what it should be yet better than what i have? or just be terrible in general and to wait for an fj-80 mc

 

almost forgot, 4Crawler, in that picture is that stock rear springs up front or your custom build pack? and will the rear springs move my axle forward enough to stuff 35's under there temperarily while saving up for the all pro kit?

 

I have the IFS rear/IFS V6 caliper/vented rotor swaps on my 84 4Runner and the stock MC works just fine w/my 36" TSLs.
Don't change the MC because of something you read or were told, see if you actually need to.