Lumpy

Just happened across this thread...nice writeup Philbert!!!

alex_mcnair

so theres no bolts actually holding it in? just the weight of the truck?

DJ99

Yup. Rides nice

ToyoTech559

which spring size and lbs should i get if i need a 1 inch lift in the rear to even out with the front

ZUK

iTrader: (1)

On the typical saggy runner with about 8" of air between the leafpack and the underside of the frame, the short 12" x 125 pounders will give 2 or more inches of lift.
If you were to use some ball joint spacers in the front and the 14" x 100 pounders in the rear, you would have a very soft ride and a nice looking lift. About 3.5" or 4" of lift in the rear.

ZUK

iTrader: (1)

....and my personnal pref. is to cut the upper steel bracket short so that no torching or bending of the remaining vertical plates need be done in order to make room for the coils. Just cut them such that about 1" of material is left and the coils drop right in and they never loosen up due to the limited travel of the factory leafs/shackles/shocks. They also do not make "noises" like others have noticed on occassion as the coils cycle up and down.

I like what BC4runner88 did here to his. Scroll down past the halfway mark....
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...84/index2.html

Duckie did the same to his upper mounts here in picture #4...
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f120...thread-208532/

My daily driver is an 01 Tacoma but the principles all are the same as on your 88 Runner or the 86~95 pick-ups. I probably have almost 2" of lift in front and 4ish in the rear. I did a few things different with my leafpacks also. I sold my originals and I now realize that I could have made them perform just as well as these "modified" AllPro's. I removed the 4 lowest leafs from each AllPro pack.....added a unique anti-wrap halfleaf on the front underside of the packs and used 14" x 100 pound coils with a 2" additional spacer-block welded to the underside of the frame. Notice the capture ring on the upper coil mounts is a mere 1/2~3/4" thick. The coils never ever extend far enough to loosen so a minimal capture is ok and I don't have to worry about the coil rubbing and making noises on it.
My ride is nice and soft in the rear and the wheels track the ground nicely offroad. The anti-wrap is marvelous. 100% effective. 88Junker is supposed to cut his overload in half and do the same anti-wrap leaf as mine....just waiting for him to post up


Here's my 01.....
Ya, it looks high in the rear but it's a truck



my 2" spacer to add an extra 1~1.5" of lift.


the 14" x 100 coils are supporting the majority of the weight so my set-up has the soft ride of the coils as a result.


a close-up of how short my upper retainer/locators are. They can never fall out due to the range of travel.


This is a shot of my "depleted" leafpack. Only 3 allpro leafs left and I cut half of the overload off. These overloads I believe are the same ones used on 86~95 Runners and pick-ups. I had them laying around in my shop for maybe 6 years and I finally got around to doing this frontal half-leaf thing. I clearanced the corners of the lower rubber snubber so that the coils would drop on 100% with no rubber interference.


showing the 3 only leafs....and still have the OEM shackle.


The front half has 3 leafs....1 upper anti-wrap(which does very little good)...and 1 monster thick lower anti-wrap that I took advantage of the factory clamp and clamped it tightly to the pack.



all the leafs go right up to the military wrap for good strength....very little chance of bending the leafpack when backing up and tires wedged in boulders.

ToyoTech559

if i do the 12x125, can i still cut of most of the top mount leaving bout an inch left and not have the springs fall out?

ZUK

iTrader: (1)

Uncertian of how close to 12" the air distance would be...... BUT....if I could talk you into setting up a little test for that answer.....it would mean placing bricks/blocks under opposite corners and that way, the flex would be maximized and the wheel would be dropped as far as it ever will with those particular leafs/shackles/shocks. Then measure the distance from under frame to the mating surface on the rubber snubber then that would tell the whole story. It would take 30 minutes.
ZUK

ChefYota4x4

iTrader: (5)

Great Input, Zuk, .... I can't believe when I did my thread on this that so many people responded.... thanks for chiming in over there, buddy!

PS> Phil, .....WHERE ARE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU? HAHAHAHA.

ChefYota4x4

iTrader: (5)

hey buddy,..... explain in detail what you'd like me to do, here and in my Zuk mod thread, and I'll do the best I can asap to get you some pics, ok? I'm 'ON THE ROAD AGAIN" , ..............for now, ahahhahaa, ...so let me know, B and Zuk, k? (Keep in mind, I'm running 12"x125# coils, inside the upper stop, no front end work, ...yet! ....all those goodies go in next! )

GranVille-4crawler

so could i run the 12" springs with my stock leafs? they pretty much have a negative angle on them as they sit now. what about up front?

ToyoTech559

could i just lift it up in the air at the shop and measure that way?

ToyoTech559

ok i measured both sides after i lifted it at work. found something odd, i measured from the top frame to the leaf spring

DRIVER SIDE: ~12.5 inch
PASS SIDE: ~13.5 inch

what would cause one side to drop down more than the other side.

ZUK

iTrader: (1)

That difference doesn't surprise me too much....but it does look like you would be a better candidate for the longer 14 x 100 pounders. Lift would be about 3 or 4 inches probably. I'm a little surprised you have over a 12" air gap with the tires hanging on the lift. I'm thinking you have something non-standard on that 88 Runner?...longer shackles? after-market leafpacks? Longer shocks maybe?

ZUK

iTrader: (1)

Philbert- I happen to see this on a taco forum....

Some folks are just soooo critical....they have no actual experience with this.

ToyoTech559

for sure i know they are stock leaf springs and shackles. only thing that have been changed are the shocks which are aftermarket from way back when my dad had them replaced.

i do like the 14inch 100lbs because i heard it will give a much softer ride. would i be able to crank up the front to give me the extra lift? if not im just gonna go with the 12inch 125lbs springs. even before i do all that, my friends got a set of, i wanna say 99 runner rear springs from a 20a recall. he told me that a friend of his was able to do it. not sure on ride and i havent got the 20a springs yet to see size and maybe find a way to measure spring rate

i have seen that other post bout knowing nothing bout the zuk mod. some guys just wanna follow the norm (i think thats whats its called lol)

ZUK

iTrader: (1)

Ya, know what you mean Toytech.
Get the 14" for sure. Remember, you can always cut of an inch or 2 as needed to get the height you want...but I see no need to ever do that in your case. On my 87 Runner, I cranked the torsion bars about 12 full turns of the adjuster nuts and received 1.5" of lift. I might have felt a somewhat stiffer ride but nothing that was a bother to me. But I bet once you go over the 1.5" mark that it would get worse ride-wise. Cranking the torsion bars is a "free lift" and I like those kinds
Ball joint spacers are a good investment also.

ToyoTech559

im trying not to get bj spacers because i didnt wanna mess with alignment but than i just realized that if i crank the torsions i need to align anyways. im a toyota tech so its free for me to do alignments but i just dont like doing them cuz im so used to only doing toe haha

guess i do the 14 inch to be on the safe side but i wanna check out the 99 runner springs from my friend 1st lol. i spent alot of time and money on my 82 truck right now (rebuilding) but i need something to hit the trails in the mean time and the runner works lol

92 TOY

OK....Phil / ZUK / Chef.........I got the itch yesterday and decided I was going to read what I could find......went to ZUK's site 1st http://www.gearinstalls.com/ and saw this thread (Phil's) referenced .........read through Chef's, then here and am convinced this is the way we will go with Joe's 4runner.

actually, thinking about it for my truck 1st as a test of my skills.......since in reality my truck has been and will continue to get loaded down with lots of stuff. my truck has no appreciable sag without it's camper shell but (and I don't know if it's an illusion or not) appears to "sit" a little in the back with the shell on.

Also, my truck gets far more "abuse" than Joe's will likely ever see.....but being hat he's not old enough to drive yet....and the motor is still out of his 4runner.....that has yet to be determined.

XXXTREME.......this certainly sounds like something we could easily accomplish on one, two or three vehicles in a day (your's, mine, Joe's)

I have yet to see any negative feedback on this mod and as you guys may or may not realize by now, I am very calculating and persistent and purposeful in what I do.

so, this definitely gets my approval as something we will definitely do.

Thanks guys.

c0ugar69

I have the 14"x100lb springs in mine and its great. I did cut them down a bit because the lift was too much to level with the torsions. I probably could have went with the 12"x125lb and been good. I have mine mounted with upper bump stop cut and opened enough to slide the spring in. I have flexed mine out a number of times and have not had any problems with springs even getting close to coming out. Info is in my build thread. I highly recommend the ZUK mod if your looking for a cheaper fix than replacing with new leafs.