Is that normal for a 94 2wd pickup? Thinking about ordering 2 for the front. What should I expect and will they even fit? Looking at the regular stock size.

Replaced shock about 6 months ago and found this weird.

 

Totally normal. Your truck uses torsion bars. Look them up if you are not familiar, but they are basically long shafts which twist and the twisting is the equivalent of a spring compressing. Commonly used on trucks, but not totally unusual to be found on cars here and there too.

 

You're right! It doesn't have springs. (you have a torsion bar http://web.archive.org/web/201204242.../7frontsus.pdf ).

Where would you put a spring? What would you expect it to do?

 

As the others have said, your springs for the front of your Truck are torsion bars. They connect to the end of the lower control arm and to the transmission cross member area.

The mount at the transmission cross member is stationary and the lower control arm rotates. This causes the torsion bar to act like a spring, but instead of compressing and expanding, it "twists and un-twists" so to speak.

 

I'd say a torsion bar is a radial spring.

 

Or!

A coil spring is just a bent torsion bar.

 

Of the three spring types typically found on vehicles the torsion spring or torsion bar is the spring that is the most efficient in terms stored energy for the given weight of the spring. Coil springs are literally a spin on the same concept but are one for one in terms of travel to deflection unless situated on a radius arm at some distance that leverages the springs capacity. The leaf is the least efficient but is simple and provides axle location with little else required.

Torsion springs suppliers for 2nd Generation 4Runners:
Dobinsons
Swayaway
Old Man Emu (OME) or ARB
Others too but these three offer the largest differences in OD for the bar offered.

Installing an upper ball-joint spacer will open up the wheel travel and I am presently running these with stock bars with the ride height slightly higher than the OEM height which is very plush and swallows speed bumps @ 30 mph. If I stiffen this up I think I would go with the ARB bars as they afford the next size up from stock in terms of the bars diameter.

 

They have a 2wd, the spacers don't work the same since the spring is on the lower A-arm.

 

Work the same on the 2WD and the 4WD. Because the suspensions arms are separated by increasing the distance with the spacer the travel at the spindle is increased. FABTEC offered a 2Wd upper A arm kit that mounts the upper ball joint on the underside of the arm which effectively does the same thing with a longer shock. You got a lift and more wheel travel. I put SwayAway torsions on his 90 3.0L extra cab years ago now and tires wear evenly and we put shakles and an overload was removed to smooth out the rear end. Dropped in a 4.11:1 diff and he runs 30x9.50-R15's. Awesome, set up for 2WD truck with the 3.0L. His SR5 has @340k miles now.