here's the deal....i have a 94 PU and i dont do much trail riding, mostly just mud in it...nothing aggressive. i'm getting a 4 inch lift, 4.88s, and want to run 33 X12.50s. since i dont wheel hard at all is it worth it to lock the front and rear end? i am on a very limited budget. this truck will be a daily driver and like i said it will be in the mud a little.

 

Lock the rear first and do the front if/when you need it. You can do a lot of stuff with just a locked rear.

 

If its just mainly for road use and only some mud sometimes i would say just get a nice set of 31's and maybe a rear locker for the mud

 

what kind of rear locker would you recommend for a daily driver? keep in mind i dont have a lot of $$ to spend

 

I had a Lock Right before I went to a spool and it was pretty decent. Can pick one up at www.performanceoffroadcenter.com for about $250.

I just installed one in the front this past weekend. I finally (after having my junk for 15 years) decided that I really needed one up front.

 

ive heard good things about aussie lockers...it will obviously not be ideal for road use but it shouldnt too bad...but ill let some one else chime in on this one because i havnt had lockers yet

 

Aussies, Lock Rights, and Detroit Easy Lockers are all almost identical. They all have some quirks when street driving, but the off road performance is worth the bangs and pops they make.

 

The cost for the locker/lockers is not only the issue, though. If you can't do it yourself, you'll have to pay someone to do it for you. That can be expensive, also.

 

the big money there is gunna be for the lift/tire/gear combo. definately consider going with 31's on stock gearing, and stock height

 

I'm in the same boat and want to do a lot to my truck. Since I have the manual hubs up front I'm thinking aussie up front first but first I gotta get my new to me 33's on it and see if she needs regearing.

 

If it was ME, and I rarely 4x4'd, the BIGGEST bang for your buck would be a good set of MUD tires. That will increase your traction more per dollar spent than anything.

 

If you want to run 33's and are on a limited budget, then forget the 4" lift (suspension). It's simply not needed.
Get a 2" bl and call it done. You'll have at least as much flex as you have now and maybe the possiblity for a little more.
The wheels (or spacers), tires, and regearing will take care of the rest of your "limited budget".
If you have any money left, the armor everything.
You don't want to break your daily driver, with no money left to fix it.





Fred

 

Being in a similar situation with a 4runner, I've decided to go with a 2" body lift, 1.5" ball joint spacers, and longer shackles to level the rear after the spacer lift. You can get all of that for ~$300 from 4crawler. If you're set on running 33s, that might give you enough clearance, and it's about 1/4 the cost of most of the suspension lifts I've seen.

After that, I'll probably save up a little more cash and try to duplicate this coil lift to take some of the sag out of the rear.

That will get you similar tire clearance for what you'd get from a 4" suspension lift with less work, less cost, and less modification required. The money you save you can put into better tires, lockers, and gear.

 

after being on a restricted budget and slowly building my truck i have done some trial and error and i would do a few things diffrant than what i have but not much

i suggest a 2in BL to fit 33x12.50's and BJ spacers and shackles and relax the t-bars a little to match the shackles/ stop rub. if you just go with a BL for a while i would suggest removing the fender spash guards it significantly cut down on rubbing for me, but i didn't eliminate it untill i installed my BJ spacers.

you don't need 4.88's to run 33's (i still have 4.10's) but i would sugest doing it as soon as budjet allows because it cuts down on the need of the skinny pedle and the only time i see above 70 on the highway is down hill.

then get you a locker which has already been discussed so i will leave that alone

now if you go with 31's you wont need to go with any lift or gears, and could spend the money on a locker right away

kinda confussed by this on your post but in a pickup he will have leafs not coils

 

My 4runner also has leaf springs. That's why I provided the link, to show how one might augment the performance of saggy leaf springs by adding in coil springs without doing any heavy modification to the stock leaf spring hardware.

 

I don't do any off-rading with my 4runner, but if you only do some "mudding", why bother with a lift at all? Maybe just level it out if the rear sags, do as TNRabbit says and get some good tires, and then go from there? Maybe a locker will help some for the mudding, but I don't see the need for a big lift of any kind.

 

I second that notion. Mud tires are indispensable in mud. Anything else just fills up with mud (in many cases) and you lose traction. If you still find yourself getting stuck, then a limited slip in the rear would work well and still keep your rig a good daily driver.

Oh, and throw in a couple of sand bags in the bed to keep the rear end from bouncing as much.

Clicking on the link would clear up any confusion there, guy. It's a mod for leaf springs. I've done it and it works well. Cost all of $45.

 

If your going to be on the road alot, why not go with a limited slip?
It will help you in the mud but still be nice on the road.

 

 

My budget mud truck would be a 3" body lift, good 33x12.50 mud terrain tires, 4.88's, a lockright or aussie in the rear and weld the front.

Figure about a grand for the tires, and about $450 for the axles.

You can cut some more off of that by getting used tires, finding a junkyard 3rd with 4.88's already in it (if you're lucky), and doing the Lockright install yourself.