I dont have a Toyota yet but I am looking to buy a pickup from 89-92. I dont know much about the toyota pickups suspension. I want to be able to drive the truck to school and sometimes even be able to take it offroad on some not-so-technical trails. I want to get a 3" suspension lift and maybe a 1 or 2" body lift. would it be better to buy a kit for the suspension or buy new leaf springs for the rear and new control arms and lift for the front?

 

bj spacers, add a leafs, no body lift! 32's

Do some searching!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

search button buddy...

you can fit 33x1050s with no lift, 33x1250s with a BJ spacer lift

 

I know i can fit bigger tires but i want to lift it to give it an aggressive look.

 

Why do you want to lift it? Aesthetics only? It will just cost you more in gas. Unless you plan on taking it on hard trails that require huge tires, there's no practical reason to lift it. "All show and no go?". The Hummer H2 is a great if you that's what you want.

Fernando: "It's not how you feel. It's how you look. And you look maaawwvelous, dawling!"

 

I want to be able to get about 35" tires under it and have it be capable of some light offroading. im not worried about the gas mileage or anything.

 

WHY DO YOU NEED 35" TIRES IF YOU ARE JUST DOING LIGHT OFF ROADING ,AND NOT NO HEAVEY TRAILS , OR CRAWLING. THATS KINDA RETARDED

 

Why does everyone have to jump on the kid?? If he wants 35s he can have 35s hes just asking a question no need to be so elitist about wheelin...

 

You might want to search around and discovery the many benefits of a bl.




Fred

 

i second the idea...use the search feature of the forum!! this has been gone over many times. read a few threads, get some information, then, if you still have questions, post em up. i know you are new to wheeling and to the forum but that does not excuse you from doing a little research. we all really enjoy helping people out with information and getting people into the sport. we're glad to help in any way and this is the best way we can help you. if you need some help with the search feature we can help with that too.

welcome to the forum!

 

Seriously, there is no need to put tires bigger than 31x10.50x15 on a rig you get. In fact, I wheeled mine for almost 20 years on 235/75/15's. Could drive all but the trails rated 6 and over on a scale of 1-10 bone stock.

If you learn how to carefully wheel it stock, you'll save yourself a pile of money and be a better driver to boot. Needless lifts and big tires are no better than huge wheels and low-profile tires on 4WD rigs, IMO.

 

Trust me i know what is capable for tough offroading. i have been wheelin with my dad since i was little and have been on all the tough trails. i just havent driven on them. i have search around on the forum but i havent really found exactly what i am looking for.

Thanks for the backup LIYOTA

 

hey, wantayota, i'm with you man. i think there's a part of all of us that want to go a little bigger and a little farther than we ever have.

first off, i respect your desire to get into wheeling for yourself. i grew up building and running jeeps with my dad, too. that's what got me into the sport.

second, i respect your decision to get into toyotas! great choice to start wheeling in and still have a daily driver. my first yota was a 1983 pickup. i bought it with a cracked block and a "running" motor in the bed. i hauled it home and had it running in a weekend. i ran 35's on it just cause i could. good times. it got me into the sport for myself and from there, its been a blast figuring out what i can do to my trucks to make them better and better.

as far as searching the site for information goes, i still encourage you to read, read, read! there is a ton of info on this site and, for a lot of us, it gets boring going over the sames stuff over and over again. to get you going, here is a link to a great page that will help get you off the ground.

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f120/toyota-faq-66255/

scroll through there, click on any link that sounds like it might help and read to your heart's content.

as far as your choice in trucks, if i could give you my opinion (and it is just that, opinion...) i would steer you toward an older yota...something with a solid front axle. it will be easier to achieve what you want to accomplish (a daily driver, 35's and some wheelability. you can pick them up for cheaper than 89-92 trucks, parts are plentiful, and they are cheaper/easier to lift the amount you want to. i lifted my '83 3" with a set of springs and another inch with shackles (wouldn't do the shackles again though). i trimmed out my fender wells and cleared 35's no problem. hope this helps.

here's a pic:

 

hey thanks idayota. that link is helping out pretty good.

 

Good flipping grief people!

Its pretty bad when people tell the OP to search, and haven't searched themselves.

First of all, a body lift is EXACTLY what you need. A ball joint spacer "lift" does NOTHING to get you bigger tires. It increases your flex.

In your case, for mild offroading, I would recommend a 2" body lift, get the ball joint spacers, and then crank the torsion bars until you can fit the tire of your choice.

However, you will probably still rub. You can go to a 3" body lift, but be certain you buy a quality kit, or you can have shearing issues. 4crawler.com can hook you up.

In addition, a body lift is hands down the best offroad lift you can put on your truck, should you decide to get more serious. You will be quite happy.

 

Not only haven't they searched, but check this angle. This post is in the newbie section with newbie in the title. If you don't want to answer a newbie question you could easily just not read the post.

I say if you are going to go to the trouble of telling the guy to search you might as well answer some questions or put some on topic info in your response while you are at it.

Wantayota, building up your truck for mild wheeling is not too hard and that's a good place to start as far as getting into the sport.

Now since this vehicle will be doing mostly street duty, I would strong suggest you look into regearing when you get the bigger tires. Lockers will truly make the biggest difference in off road capability and there are numerous types. Regearing is typically rather expensive and when the differentials are out of the truck is the best time to install a locker. There's a stickied thread in the offroad-tech section that goes into lockers and what is good and bad about different types.

I say look into the body lift. They are not ver expensive, relatively easy to install, don't raise the COG as much as a suspension lift, and our Toyotas handle them fine. Ball joint spacers don't clear tires, as AxleIke said, they increasee flex. Now on the street, yeah they clear tires but they don't limit up travel so when you compress the suspension, the wheel travels up just as far is it did before the spacer so it will rub just as it would without the spacers.

Good news though, the body lift and some minor pinch weld pounding and you are clearing tires. I'm clearing 33X12.5's on stock 15X7" wheels with fender mods that took all of 45 minutes.



Frank

 

Hey Wanna,

I'm running 35's using a 3" body lift from Performance Accessories. The install was a bit of a PITA, and you have to remember to tighten it after a week or so (or the body will shift). This leaves my drivetrain completely stock. Adding 35" tires put an additional 2" under the axles, for a total of 5" lift without touching the suspension. I do get rub with the wheels turned and stuffed but nothing drastic. It was my daily driver up until last month.

For the cost, I would go with a 2-3" body lift. 4Crawler makes a far better kit than the Performance Accessories kit I bought. I drool over his website .

Light wheeling can be done stock, so don't think you can't go out with friends without a lift.

 

so wuts so bad about suspension lifts? i know body lifts will work for wut i want but what about suspension lifts?

 

Nothing. They are more expensive. In order to clear the tires you want to clear, you will need a bracket lift. Those run several hundred to a thousand dollars, depending on if you buy new or used, and the condition.

A ball joint spacer lift will give you more room for tires on the street, but not offroad. If you never flex the truck, you can fit tires. But if the truck flexes much at all, you will rub because your suspension can still compress up to the same spot it could before.

 

the great thing about the position you are in now is that you haven't bought a truck yet. you have the chance to feel out what you want/like/need from all the varied model years.

if you follow in axleike's footsteps (which are good ones as it seems to me!) he's gone with a less expensive, quite capable set up that has done well by him. just check out the threads he's started. with a relatively mild lift (body and ball joint, like he said) he is able to do a ton of wheeling. you can ask him what his thoughts are on why he chose this route, but as a young guy it makes sense to keep things simple, make it capable and don't break the budget.

in my humble opinion, i'm not a fan of body lifts. they are inexpensive and they do give clearance, but i'm not a fan of how they look and they don't give the vehicle any advantages besides being able to clear larger tires. if this is the goal, great! the wonderful thing about most mods (and especially of body lifts) is that they are un-doable in the future. if you put a body lift on with a ball joint spacer lift, crank the torsion bars and add a leaf in the rear now, as money and time allow, you can always choose to do a different setup later. as it is, the debate between ifs and solid axle, body lift and suspension lift, big tires and small tires is no where near ending. what it amounts to is your preferences and what you want to accomplish with the vehicle you choose.

hope this helps and keep the questions coming.