lol, that pic was beofre the front end mods

it's actually LOWER now...





yeah yeah camo, I know... I just wanted to see what opinions people had

 

so the front end mods made the rear lower?

 

lmao i know...honestly..i say get the 3" leaves..then go from there..

of course it'll take a bit to get em broken in..run around with a rick of wood in your bed for a while..that helps..lol

3" leaves..stock grease-able shackles..and a crank on the torsions..

 

some people never learn.

 

check out topguncustoz.com they used to have 1" 2" and 3" AAL. i bought a 2inch AAL from them

 

I would do the zuk coil-mod, since that is what I have, and it rides so nice. 12 inch 125 lb coils. The saggy stock springs are better since it allows the coils to take most of the weight. You would have to drill you new shackle to stock length to get the most benefit.

 

JC Whitney has stock height leaf springs at a semi-reasonable price. I realize that they're not quite the boutique supplier that most people like to recommend, but hey, they're just springs, right? However, I recently went down this path on my '86 runner and found that once I removed the stock springs (300K miles on them) and put them side by side with the new ones from JC Whitney, that I couldn't tell a difference. Same free length and height. And at least subjectively, the same spring rate. I had a bad feeling about the results I was going to get, so I sent them back (good return policy) and had my local off-road shop order and install OME Dakar 2" lift springs. I cranked my torsion bars to bring the front up about 1" and am very happy with the results.

Good luck!

 

x2. I've got 2 Wrangler TJ springs waiting to be installed to relieve my leaf springs some. Those were free, I'm sure you can find some at a junk yard or a Jeep driver that doesn't need them anymore, or go with the store on Ebay that Zuk recommends.

 

well, since you've gone and made your engine bay all purdy, i'd put new leafs in there and ditch the idea of "fixing" the rear with Zuk coils, add-a-leafs, or mixed spring packs. new OME Dakar leafs are around $300, so not too bad. since you're lifting up your front by cranking the t-bars, you might not be so bad with the shackles you've got now.

i went with the OME Dakar leafs, put in BJ spacers, and then LOWERED my t-bars and the truck has a great stance IMO. i've never been a fan of a perfectly level rig anyways because as soon as you put weight in the back, it sags and looks "like a bulldog" as you noted. i don't remember the exact measurements from axle centers to the bottom of the fenders, but i'd say my front is about 1" lower than the rear. i do know that with 1500# of rocks in the back, the rears are 20.5" from center axle to the fender (i know this because i measured it last week when i was landscaping my yard). i can measure things again for you if you want to know how the sit w/o load.

oh yeah, install for the leaves was a piece of cake - maybe a 3/10 bananas. i did it by myself in the driveway in a couple hours. hardest part was probably getting the centering pin on the axle to line up with the leafs when you've got one side on the ground with a tire installed and the other side floating on jack stands.

not the best pics, but here's an idea of how the truck sits without any load (remember that my driveway has a slight slope):

but here you can kinda get an idea of how it sits from the front

 

Been doing a little rearch myself on a little lift for my '89 truck. Here is a link to arbusa. They apparently now are the fabricator/supplier for Old Man Emu.

http://www.arbusa.com/

Here is a pdf of the components specifically for our model/year of trucks. They have the springs you are looking for. (Page 2)

http://www.arbusa.com/uploads/PDF/ac...oyotaHiLux.pdf

This is the same approach I am plannign for my truck. Glad to hear I wasn't going off the wrong direction.

Good luck. Keep me abreast of your progress. Want to see how it looks & performs.

 

a lot of happy reviews for adding the Zuk coil mod, if i need more support in the future i'll go this route. but i needed to upgrade my bushings and shackles, so i am ditching my 20 yr old stock leafs for the OMEs.

if you do go with OME's, here's a tip: i got a pair of CS009s special ordered from 4wheelparts for about $90 each. no shipping as i picked them up at local store. this was the best deal i could find after a little comparison shopping.

i have not installed yet, waiting for shackle bolts from AllPro. they are supposedly +2. i don't know yet what i'll have to do to t-bars to level out. i'll post some pics when i finally get to installing.

 

I'm pretty sure NWO has some 1" 1.5" 2" easy ride springs....

 

OME CS019R leaf springs, pull out the overload leaf and you will be close to 1" of lift or keep in the overload leaf for 2" of lift. You will have to drill the bolt cavity in your bump stop to clear the longer bolt protrusion after the overload leaf is removed.

Make sure and buy new bushings, and you will have to caniballize a sleeve from your old leaf springs (why OME does not include this is beyond me). To get the sleeve out of your old springs use a small propane torch and melt the rubber.

The leafs run about $150 a piece, I think the bushing kits were $18 a piece.

 

Are CS009's the medium load (1.75" lift) version of the CS010R? The pdf linked above only shows CS010R (2.25") available for those of us in the 86-88 range. I don't want that much lift.

 

yes, cs009s are the medium load. cs010s are the heavier duty. the pdf link above is a little confusing because they're listed under 84-85 as "post 84"

 

Good, and thanks for the info.

 

again i really shouldn't be talking, but this is so much cheaper.

http://www.gearinstalls.com/russell.htm

the coils are around 25 bucks a piece i think, and the rest of the stuff can be made out of scrap metal and pipe. several people have done the mod and report almost no settling of the coils after thousands of miles and improved ride quality.

 

maybe I should just 4-link the rear, with some adjustable coil-overs

 

maybe you should just get some 2" lifted springs...or 3" then remove the overload leaf..

BOOM problem solved..........jeez gotta make everything hard don't ya..hahaha

 

Well, I left work about 30 minutes early today to get a little extra time. I came home, jacked the front up, put about 10 turns on the t-bar bolts each and now the front feels just a smigg'n softer than stock, and now sits just over an inch higher than the rear with the sagging springs and 3.5" longer shackles. I took it down to Firestone and had a quick ratation done and an alignment done before they closed, and now she drives so nice again

But I might be able to get away with just installing some stock replacement springs. If it doesn't bring the rear up and level, then maybe I'll throw in an extra leaf from the old pack or something. But I'm thinking some fresh springs with the shackles will put the rear right where it needs to be

I'll keep you all updated; I'll probably order the springs this weekend