jbeezy22

I have a 1988 4Runner with a 2" body lift. I want to remove it and hopefully put 1 1/2" bj spacers and a t-bar crank on the front for the other half inch. For the rear I want to get new leaf springs that can give me the 2" lift I want. Is this a good way to go about a lift? Any input is welcome

streetlancer

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RogueYota

Read the first few pages of my build thread....at first i would do anything to get a few inches of lift. Now look at it!! lol Save a little money and do some research and you can have real suspension.

jbeezy22

I read you have a 1.5 inch bj lift? How is that workin out for you?

RogueYota

You read wrong...I have 0" of BJ spacer lift.

BMcEL

At least he's posting in newbie tech...

Ball joint spacers were not meant to add lift, they were meant to increase travel. I think What RogueYota means is that he installed ball joint spacers but didn't crank the torsion bars up. This is the proper way to do it.

Cranking the torsion bars for lift, with or without ball joint spacers, is typically a bad idea. Also keep in mind most shops won't align a truck with ball joint spacers, so be prepared to do it yourself if you go that route.

RogueYota

I need to read my own thread lol

There are no BJ spacers on my truck. Nor did I crank the torsion bars....if you look at my front end...it is flat all the way across the bottom. Could use a wee bit of crank though...like 1/2 inch or so. But im looking at Blazeland Coilovers anyways.

HappyCamper

On my previous truck (88), I used 1.5" BJ spacers from 4crawler. Installation was easy. I had the OME kit and cranked the torsion bars up to fit 33" x 10.5" BFG ATs (on stock rims) but the ride was harsh. If I did it again, I wouldn't go with 33s, just 31s, and not crank the torsion bars so much.

I loved the OME suspension for going fast in the desert or along dirt roads, but the suspension is quite stiff, without much flex for rock crawling. 33s aren't required for that kind of driving and the 31s I ran previously were fine.

If you do want to run 33s, i suggest a body lift rather than cranking the torsion bars up. Of course, with 33s, you may want to re-gear your differentials.

jbeezy22

I have a 2 inch body lift on my runner.... does that make the suspension a whole lot rougher? Just wondering because thats how I got the truck and I haven't driven it without the body lift.

jbeezy22

So do you have any kind of lift on your truck? I like the way it looks man its nice

Swamp Pirate

I run 1.5 inch BJ spacers on my truck and they're great. After I put my bumper and winch on, the front end sagged about 2 inches and the stock travel sucked anyway. I had maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch of uptravel on each side and it rode like crap. I put the BJ spacers on and it made a world of difference. I didn't crank the torsion bars at all and it leveled the truck out, made the ride so much more bearable when I go fast down dirt trails or roads full of potholes (which we have a lot of), and gave me a bit more flex out of my front end (on IFS, every bit counts).

HappyCamper

No, a body lift doesn't affect the ride other than the center of gravity, but less so than a suspension lift because you're not lifting the heavy motor, etc., which is a good thing. For fitting bigger tires on an IFS truck, I think i small body lift is a good way to go. I say keep the body lift, add the spacers, and crank the t-bars up the minimum to fit the tires.

MalachiRunner

I have the BJ lift on my 4runner and it's great! I was able to get about 3" with the right amount of spacer and a little t-bar work. There are minor details that you HAVE to pay attention do if you do this though...I would suggest going to 4crawler.com and reading what he has to say. He has extremely detailed information on BJ lifts. When I was very new to this stuff I had the lift improperly installed and it fried my CV's in about 2 days. Lets just say I learned a valuable lesson (the hard way unfortunately) but i recently re-installed the lift properly and everything is straight and solid. The key is to find someone that really knows what they're doing and talking about that can help you out if it's something your new to. Ride quality depends of preference I guess, I didn't notice much change especially with the MKB shocks I put in. Just make sure you get all the info before you put it in because there IS a RIGHT and WRONG way to do it for sure, trust me, I learned the hard way.

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/...ml#BackSpacing

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/DiffDrop.shtml

BlazeN8

FYI- For those of you who have installed the BJ spacers, Blazeland will not accept your modified Upper Control Arms for a core exchange. Why? BJ spacers require your to carve out a portion of the UCA that accepts the spacer; weakening it! For a BJ spacer application this is probably not an issue, but for the Blazeland UCA Extension Bracket- where your putting additional leverage on the arm it could be.

BlazeN8

A customer sent me a set of core that were modified for BJ spacers. Compare the modified UCA to the un-modified. Both modified RH & LH control arms had developed a hair line crack in the middle just below the cut away portion.

BMcEL

Please don't quote your words as mine. I'm assuming this part's yours:

I'm almost positive Toyota never offered ball joint spacers from the factory. I'm sure someone else will chime in on that. And I never said you couldn't get an alignment done:

BlazeN8

Yeah, I am am with BMcEL I can't see BJ Spacers being offered from Toyota. I'm surprised alignment shops would have issue? I have never had a set of BJ Spacers so I can't comment with them on any first hand experiences. The concept seems valid. I could see getting more travel by increasing droop. But it seems to me reconfiguring the droop stops would be achiving the same thing. How it affects the preloading of the torsion bar and ride height adjustment may be another feature of the BJ Spacers that brings desired results? The guy who sent me the modified UCAs as cores beats on his 1990 4Runner in the desert pre-running arena so not surprised to see the hair line cracking.

I've gone through about 60 sets of UCAs as cores. I have seen some issues in the same area caused by some brands of Drop Bracket Lift kits too! Because the way the spindle spacer makes contact with the UCA at extreme angles it sometimes bends up the lip of the pocket. This deformation conflicts with the fit of the UCA Extension Brackets. But even the worst case was repairable with some minor metal work of bending and hammering back into shape.

As far as the set of UCAs that were cut for BJ Spacers its not some minor bending back of material. It would be cutting a new piece of 11 GA metal, bending in a 90 degree fold, then grinding to shape. Then welding the patch in place. Too much work!

autie-88

my buddy has them on a 91 pick up with torsion bars cranked all the up. his front end is showing the negative affects. cv boots & joints hate them.

BMcEL

What I was told by almost every reputable shop in Central Oregon was that it was a liability issue due to the steering geometry changes and nature of the part itself. It just makes the insurance companies uncomfortable...so much so that even my offer to sign a release of liability, stating they were in no way responsible if anything happened as a result of the ball joint spacers, was denied by almost everyone. They wouldn't even accept a complete release.

When I finally found a place that would do an alignment on it (mom & pop shop), I didn't have to provide a signed release, but they couldn't get the damn thing in line. Not even with the torsion bars relaxed (frame's straight as an arrow). It was close, but not quite in spec.

I wound up removing the spacers and I can honestly say I don't miss them. Never had an issue with the CVs, but I also had the t-bars relaxed to a reasonable level and left the bump stops alone.

Some people like them, some people don't. I still have mine laying around somewhere...first $50 takes them.

yoder519

I got Bj spacers, Wheel it hard, beat it up, bounce up and down etc. plus i have a body lift. I have broke 1 CV shaft. Get the bj spacers, don't waste money on a high dollar drop bracket suspension lift ( my opinion ). I got an alignment with no issues. If you crank the tbars alot with bj spacers, it cant be aligned properly

in your situation, i would keep the BL and don't worry with the BJ spacers., or leave the BL and add the spacers. i wouldnt remove the BL just to get the same height with a suspension lift