ChefYota4x4

iTrader: (5)

Court..... Sorry, no Taco Zuk wrote ups on his site.....

What is normal measurement at stock from top of leaf bump to tower? What is stock and current measurement from top of rim to top of wheel well?

U have a block and bracket lift? How much lift????

courtgordon

ya i don't have a problem with the back sagging since tacoma rears are so light but i just want to eliminate my blocks and i figured it would give me a smoother ride in the back. i have a 3in. lift but the actual blocks in the back measure 2in. and with the blocks removed i need a 9in. space between the top of the leafs (bottom of lower bump stop) and the frame (top of upper bump stop) in order to acquire the same ride height i have now. so with that said if the coil does not compress at all when installed then i would need a 9in coil however if they do not compress when installed this is probably not the route since when flexing it would be stretching the heck out of the coil on the one side constantly trying to pull it from its mount... hopefully i explained it without being too confusing i appreciate the help

RAD4Runner

Hi courtgordon, Just checked mine today.
12-inch, 125# springs compressed down to 9.25 inches.

Question to spring experts:
12inches - 9.25 inches = 2.75 inches
Each spring compressed by 2.75 inches

2.75 inches * 125 pounds/inch

= 2.75 * 125 pounds
=343.75 pounds = weight that each spring is helping the leaf springs with?

TIA,
RAD
RAD

Co_94_PU

iTrader: (-1)

yeah the math is right. The coils should share the load 50/50 with the springs. If I extend the math to account for a 50% load and all four wheels I get my curb weight.

There is a spring calculator here, and it confirms the math.

ChefYota4x4

iTrader: (5)

Wow, now that's service! Haha. Being a taco(lighter), depending on the distance of frame to top of pack, I am guessing that Court would fing himself at 1.5" or so compressed? If hes 3" lifted, maybe hardly anything, thus, ..... go for the 14"x100#, which seems to bring 2ND GEN PU's up around 4"? .... which would mean at least 1" rake, but better load capacity. .... AND, as many have, he could cut some off if it was too much?

ChefYota4x4

iTrader: (5)

Just want to try and clarify...

For Court, what I am saying is, that since he is already lifted 3" in the front, thoughr maybe the 14" springs might bring him up 4", in the back, unloaded.... With even a moderate 400# or so of gear, it might drop .5"-1"? Just dont know how much space between the top of pack and frame stops W/OUT the blocks... compared to say my stock 1st gen 4runner measurements.

courtgordon

havnt checked back in for a while but thank you chef and rad for the help ive decided to go a slightly different route but involves the cutting idea chef mentioned... i need exactly 9 in. between stops to achieve same ride height so im going to buy long jeep coils from a salvage yard and cut them to probably 12in. to start with. then set em in place lower the weight of the rear back onto the axle compressing the spring. that will tell me how much my particular springs compress then ill pull them back out and cut them to the amount they compressed over 9in. then when reinstalled ill have my desired height

RAD4Runner

Cool! regarding cutting idea, if you'd like to cut bumpstops very short to prevent stop from "plucking" the spring, and yet help prevent spring from popping out, consider this:

Crapple21

I have some rear TJ spring that work great for the zuk mod for sale if your interested pm me

courtgordon

thats not a bad idea rad what do you use to keep the bottom in place? because i was thinking when i flex my rear axle all the way out the side with the tire that is forced down farther the gap between stops is probably going to be way larger than the coil itself so it would just pop right out.. my idea was just to get coils that go around the outside of both stops and tack weld it to the metal part of each bump stop on the very top coil and the bottom coil this way my springs are attached top and bottom allowing them to stretch as well as compress when crawling and flexed

Co_94_PU

iTrader: (-1)

You can see in the last picture there is no additional retainer, atleast non I can spot.

If your size the springs properly and follow the directions.. The leaf springs or shocks keep the gap from opening enough to let the coil loose. Notice the bits where people have either jacked the axle apart from the body or droped the leaf spring shackles, and they still need to use a coil compressor to get them in..

If your undersize the springs you'll want to get the "cups" that replace the lower bump stop. Then your axle drop will be tied to the coil spring.

ChefYota4x4

iTrader: (5)

Hey Court,......

Here's the thing: You need to find a longer spring with less psi compression rating, like 14" x 100# or whatever allow a couple/few inches of compression yet still aid in load support?

Maybe that's what u meant, and I'm interested to see how it works out/how you deal with ur current lift/support needs/desire to avoid "spring floating", when doing a pickup.

RAD4Runner

Yeah, that's the better solution if you can find the right spring. IN fact, If 14" would not give too much rake, that would be a good think to try on stock 4Runner first. If too much rake, either BJ spacer or trim down to 13 inch.

In my case using the 12" 125# springs, when frame is jacked up where axle is simply hanging by leafs, bottom of spring was lifted around 1/2-inch,(Maybe more if flexed.) Not a problem with lower bumpstop because lower stops is taller and spring stayed lined up with lower stops. On top, if I did not secure with screws, spring could pop-out.

Mark, on your OME retrofit, did you have to keep your BJ spacers, or did you remove BJspacers and let OME replacement torsion bar take care of leveling?

courtgordon

ya that is a good call i was just going to use jeep springs but i think you guys are correct in that i could benefit from a softer spring because my rear is so light the softer the spring the better the ride. however regardless i am going to attach the spring top and bottom to allow for stretch when necessary like rad was saying when axle dropped all the way they lift some and he is correct when flexing this can be considerably more. and yes CO94 most people had to use a jack to place the coils which in theory means they wouldn't be able to come out (on normal driving conditions) but flexing stretches that leaf spring a lot farther than those who stretched em with a bottle jack often on rocks one of my rear tires will be stuffed clear up to my fender while the other one is flexed completely down and still off the ground ide post a picture but photobucket isn't working

cman1

iTrader: (1)

not really,cuz when I used a bottle jack between the spring,i had the shocks unbolted,so when the shocks are bolted back up ,they keep the spring in by not allowing the axle to flex too far,like a limiting strap.

ChefYota4x4

iTrader: (5)

Photobucket working yet, Court? Post a pic......

What I showed in my build, which CO- mentioned, is that even with my frame jacked up to max and the bottom shock mounting bolt removed, allowing flex beyond natural max, I still had to remove the spring using a huge prybar and wedge.... And these were 12" x 125# coils (12" being the important part). As u remove the blocks, obviously this will increase the distance between top of pack and frame/bump stop...... But that is what the zuk mod is for, right?.... Well, if its long and soft enough, and ur running normal 4" lift shocks (not shocks that are 5" travel longer, coming up into the bed to extended upper mounts)... then u should not have to worry, if done with the right springs (whichever those are), about the springs coming free from the bump tower on the frame or rubber stops....

Personally, this is why I chose to only cut the very tip of the stop towers off.... This gave them 3" more to drop......

ChefYota4x4

iTrader: (5)

Just saw this, RAD, sorry......

I didnt do the torsion bar portion. I was told by the owner of Downey when I picked up the Mega Travel Bj's, that I should run BJ spacers with relaxed t-bars to get the most travel possible, up front. The OME t-bars are fatter and tighten things up a lil, and I'm not sure whether or not I could pull this off without that spacing between the a-arms......








(The last pic is with the Zuk, whole trip at Tierra Del Sol... Upper 2 pix without the Zuk/with the new leafs)....

I dont know if the fatter t-barslimit flex, but would assume they would have to? But I think Toyotech has em and seems to be happy with em....???

nuttynu

How did the zuk mod got its name ?

RAD4Runner

Member "Zuk" made it popular and has done several installs for others. Just search forum for him.

nuttynu

Thank ya ! I figure it would be name after somebody.