I've got a 1991 4wd Extended Cab Pickup that I bought when I was 15 as my first vehicle. I still have the truck today and use it as my daily driver that just turned over 100K on the odometer. The truck is in mint condition and I am always receiving compliments, but I have grown tired of the stock looks. I've got a pretty decently sized tax return check coming so I'm trying to find the best combo to fit 35'sx12.5 - here is what I plan to do:

Lift:
I plan to keep the truck IFS. Reason - It's a daily driver and I only do some minor offloading consisting of mud/snow.. No extreme crawling. I do plan to do a SAS in the distant future when I no longer use the truck as a DD. My stock shocks are also worn, which is an added benefit of going with a susp. lift.

I was thinking on going with the 4" Rough Country lift $600- http://www.rockymountainsusp.com/toyota4_86_96.html
Since it's only a braket lift, I don't see a reason to go with the more expensive lifts. This should also get me where I need to fit the 35's?


Re-Gear:
Everything I've read is to go with 5.29's with 35" tires. Where is a good place to find fully assembled 3rd members/clamshells? I do not plan on going with lockers at this point in time, being that the truck is a DD. Hard to justify the extra cash when the truck spends 98% of its time on pavement. This may seem like an absurdquestion, but is it possible to not re-gear the clam shell if you do not engage 4wd? I'm trying to reduce truck downtime as best as possible, so it would help if I could separate out the work.

Tires:
Open to suggestions for anything 35x12.5x15. I would like an aggressive looking tire that still remains street-able - Again its a DD. Anyone have any experience with Toyo Open Country MT's? I like the look of swampers, but I'm concerned with their drive-ability on pavement.

Random:
Bump Steer Kit? Any suggestions?


Any insight into the validity of this build would be greatly appreciated. There may be a completely more practical solution to achieve the same end result. I'm open to any suggestions.

 

that design on the side is sick looking, wish i had that on my truck.

and your second picture isnt showing for me.

 

Personally if I was in your situation and looking to sas it in the future I wouldnt want to dump a lot of money into a ifs lift when your just going to remove it later. Also running 35’s on ifs will put a lot of stress on the whole front suspension. That being said My voice of reason would tell me togo something alittle more mild and intern will save money.

1.I would look into bj spacers up front. You don’t archive 4” of lift that a bracket lift will give you but bracket lifts wont increases wheel travel like the bj spacers do. Then for the back do aal or the zuk mod.

2. Id look into some 33’s and some 4.88s. This seems to be the tire and gears of choice for many people.

The savings of doing spacers, aal or springs and then the savings of going down from the 35s to 33s can be big depending on the tires your looking at.

So then you can accomplish your basic goals of lifting with out the cost of the bracket lift with 35s. This is just me tho so just do what you want as long you like your truck who cares what other people think.

 

Ill add that I have 4.88s and 35's

You don't need 5.29 gears. My 4.88s are working perfectly fine

 

IMO, if I had a 91 xcab that just turned 100K,, id leave it stock.

I have a 94 with 124K and I thought it was special.

The reason I say that is there are plenty of molested Toyotas out there. Its in fact harder to find a stock one over a modified one. People are willing to pay for that, and the day you start lifting, welding and cutting you start to kill your resale value.

Quick story. I just parked a loaded Chevy Silverado. X-cab, leather, every button available. I drove this truck 250K miles before deciding to juice up the motor. In that time no one ever asked to buy it from me.

I buy a 94 Yota. Front bumper and corner of the fender has been bent, rear bumper was bent and there was a ding in the left cab. The engine had a blown HG. However I knew the history of the truck and bought it for a grand. I rebuilt the upper end and 500 miles later put rod bearings in it.

I have had the yota for 1 month and stop at a gas station. Man comes up and cant get enough of my Toyota and asks to buy it offering me $4,500...... Are you friggin serious!?

A loaded awesome in every way Silverado,,,, nada
A stock OLDER, weaker Toyota.........Guy offers me book value out of the blue.


I talk to the guy for a few minutes and he said that the truck being stock was why he asked.

BTW,, I didnt sale it, but I would have made 3 grand on the deal if I had.

So my opinion, because you DONT wheel it, leave it stock. If you want an off-roader, hit up craigs list and buy a beater.

 

1.I would look into bj spacers up front. You don’t archive 4” of lift that a bracket lift will give you but bracket lifts wont increases wheel travel like the bj spacers do. Then for the back do aal or the zuk mod.

no bj spacers dont increase wheel travel at all a bracket lift would if you removed the upper bumps to compress more alot more

 

Why spend all the money on a an ifs lift and gears for the ifs front end if you're going to SAS it one day? If the SAS is done right it'll drive just fine down the road.

If I were you I would find some axles and build them up, then buy all the stuff you'll need for the SAS, and get to work!

Why spend the money twice?

 

What you just said has been in my head for the last month and it's making me reconsider doing long travel on my truck. :/

 

It's just a truck not a damn relic, do the mods that will make you happy

 

I may have been mis-leading when I indicated that I wanted to do SAS in the future. I plan to use this truck as a DD for at least a few years more years. SAS would be something I would possibly look into at the point where I no longer rely on the truck everyday.

I also have no real intentions of ever selling the truck, the sentimental value is worth far more than the $3-4K I could get out of it.

I have been torn between the 33's or the 35's. Either way, I'll have to re-gear as the truck is a dog with 31's. I'm also concerned that if I go with 33's I'll regret that I didn't go big and rock the 35's.

Is there that much more of a hassle associated with fitting 35's? What would be the easiest way to fit either? (cutting the fenders is not an option)

 

33s are easy, and you can get some that a nice and light for DD

35s require cutting or a DB lift. It is very difficult to get decent gas mileage with 35s

LT is the way to go if you want to DD and off road. It sounds like a bolt on kit (Blazeland) would be right up your alley.

 

x2 on the 33s. if you spend 98% of your time on pavement and use the truck as a daily driver i can't see how 35s would make sense. 33s would be just fine. then look for a set of factory 4.88 gears and save yourself some money on having your diffs regeared. and i would go with the bj spacers or small torsion bar crank with a 1" body lift instead of the $600 bracket lift.

 

you should be able to fit 33 10.5's with no lift at all and a mild crank of the bars

 

Well there's no logical reason other than purely aesthetics. I'll have to look through more pictures posted, but I feel that I would be disappointed only going with 33's. Either way I will have to re-gear.. which will cost the same for either 4.88 or 5.29. I guess it comes down to functionality.

Are 35's really that different for drive-ability? I'm not totally against the idea of 33's... I've just seen a few posts around here with people wishing they had gone 35.

 

Probably because they've never really had 33s. I've seen just as many threads of people glad they downsized to 33s from 35s for their rig that is a DD and sees trail use.

 

How about a long travel IFS kit?

 

They usually DD beter than SAS. LT will make your rig handle like a dream on and off pavement.

I'd recommend Blazeland LT for a Daily Driver. It's completely bolt on and retains factory ball joints which are quieter, less maintenance, and cheaper to replace. Plus, the kit cost less than half of what most others would.

 

I've never had experience with going to larger size tires. Is there really that big of a difference between the 2" - What would be the major shortcomings of 35's compared to the 33's.?

As for the Blazeland Long Travel: I haven't done enough research on it to rule it out as a possibility. Seems expensive at $1k for what my application would be.

 

Yes it is a huge difference in weight and an even bigger difference in rotational mass since the wheel is heavier AND bigger.

I've got about the lightest 33" tire rim combo possible right at 75lbs combined (per wheel). No way you could come close to that with 35s.

 

Well I'm sold on going with the 33's, I found some factory 4.88's for sale.
Now the questions is what do I need to get them to fit? I'm still leaning towards the 4" bracket lift - purely based off of looks. More than likely a dumb reason, but I like the looks of trucks I've seen with the +4.