jumper_bob

Hey guys;

Okay so its not a TOTAL disaster, but pretty close. Had removed some springs off an old 88 4Runner, which I thought (and measured) to be the same as the ones on my 1987 4Runner. They are the same length, but have different eye sizes. The ones I just took off the truck are 1.1/8" approx:


and the ones I was planning on putting on have eyes that are approx 1.1/4":


In addition, once I laid them next to each other, it was obvious that they were not the same, thickness is different, my "new" ones have four full leaves and no overload, etc:




and the ProThane bushings I just got from Amazon:


are just a little too small and sloppy for me to be comfortable with in the bigger eyes.

Also, as I figured, the bolts/pins I was removing were totally trashed and I had to cut/grind/torch/beat/curse them out.

So I got some from the hardware store, but of course all they had was:
3 of Grade 8 1/2"x4" fine thread, with washer/lockwasher/nylock nut
3 of Grade 8.8 M12x100 fine thread with same hardware.
So I will have to suffer with having one side different from the other.

But will these bolts be strong enough? I see that 4crawler sells on his page, M18 size bolts... wouldn't those be HUGE???
And is it okay for me to sleeve the bolts I have to fit in the current bushings on my new springs? Which fit a much bigger bolt? (I am guessing the new springs fit an M18 bolt, which I have 2 greasable ones of, but they wont fit through any of the shackle or hanger holes....??? WTF kind of bastard setup am I making???? lolol)

If anyone can ID what springs I have, or point me in any direction, it would be super awesome so I can get some bushings that fit. As it is, I am going to have to ghetto-fab it together to get to work on Monday; and order some proper bolts and bushings and crap and pay butt-hurting overnight shipping so my suspension doesnt fall off...

I am guessing from the looks of them, being a bit more sturdy than my stock 87 springs, that they might be the next-gen model, of a runner or truck; since they are the same length and very close in design, just a bit heftier. So I am off to NAPA to measure any bushings they have in stock; I will check back when I get home and see if anyone has any input of what kind of springs these are.

I'll send my secret ninja monkey team to deliver some fine colorado micro-brew via airdrop to anyone who ID's these springs!!!

Thanks, Scott

jumper_bob

Okay, did some reading and got some better measurements.
Found a spring FAQ on Pirate:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/toyot...sions-faq.html
(Is it a breach of protocol to post a link to that forum? Is there like some hate-thing going on? I dont wanna be "that idiot that linked to Pirate")

My springs measure:
Spring eye 1 1/8" (approx 30mm, as 4crawler talks about)
front to center - ~21"
center to rear - ~27"
width 2 3/8"

Springs I am installing are:
Spring eye ~1 1/4" (approx 32mm?????)
center pin is centered, approx ~24" from both ends
Width is 2 1/4".
Stamped "Made in Canada" on one of the spring wrap-things.

I am not sure how to look up what springs these are... One thought is that maybe they are Ranger springs? Only think that cuz some Fords are produced in Canada. Toy's never were, I assume?

Well anyways, the new springs have bushings in 3 of 4 eyes, so I am going to operate under the premise that I can sleeve the bolts, use the current crappy bushings till I can order some more, and install them, hoping that moving the rear axle 3" to the rear wont cause any huge problems. I am going to use the shackles I pulled with the new springs;



The shortest hole on those is ~1" longer than my stock shackles, so will potentially make up for a bit of the axle-move. Also hoping I dont run into any sheet metal issues with the rearward move, or any "driveshaft falls out of t-case" type of garbage....

85sr5excab

Seems to me that if u move your axle 3 inches to the rear will cause 2 major problems......1 you're tires will no longer be centered in the wheelwell and 2 you will need to make sure you're driveshaft will be long enough.

Jesse Fullerton

They sound like Tacoma springs to me...

jumper_bob

So I tried some test fitting of the springs I have sitting around, and they would not work whatsoever, in any dimension. So I ended up just putting my saggy spring back in for the moment (only took off the passenger side). They did get new bolts and bushings anyways... which should make for easier removal later this week when I am either going to have a welder fab up mounts to mount these springs correctly, or more likely, since I will have to have a welder do something no matter what, I will go by the JY on Tuesday and find some 63" chevy springs and go that route.

I did find this link to a chart of leaf spring sizes:
http://littlekeylime.com/MrN/mrnimages/leaf_springs.png

and it seems that what I have are 66-77 Bronco rear springs, minus the overload leaf. These have a weight rating of 1750 lbs; which is higher than the Chevy 63" (1400lbs for the 3 leaf version). So time to think for a day or so about these two options. It looks like if I used these springs, I could just have the welder move the front hangers forward a couple inches, unless that puts the hangers too far forward/down on the frame, and throws off the pinion angle. But we will see which will work better.

Aaarrggghhh... well this was my first try at suspension work in a long time, so its a lesson learned, to do better research in the first place; and take a lot more measurements and such.

They looked SO exactly the same... I just measured the wrong places... oh well baby steps lol.