John,

No, it's a 3" wide racing seat belt.
I use it only offroad, as it allows me to to lean out some and watch tire placement, etc.

The stock seatbelt system is still installed and you can see part of it (shoulder strap) right by the rear part of the door jamb.
I wear the stock seat when on road.




Fred

 

Unless you are adding a HEAVY bumper and winch do not change out your torsion bars. BJ spacers are all you need. For the rear the springs will be great.

Now remeber this with BJ spacers, you will still compress to where you do now. You do get additional travel and can get a higer stance, but uptravel goes to the same spot. The BJ spacer was designed for additional travel on 4" bracket lifted rigs, not for larger tires on a stock rig, but it works very well on stock rigs. So if it rubs now it will rub with BJ spacers. If you want to run a 33 it will probally have to be a 10.50 wide, or you will seriously rub or seriously trim.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

Cool beans.

I know all about backspacing (offset) and rubbing. I had to get around that situation many-a-time with the Supra. Thats cake to me.

As far as using different terminology and figuring out what works BEST for my truck (daily driver through town, but my grandparents have a 200 acre farm and I have many friends that go trail driving).

I really knew there was some other cheaper (but just as effective) option other than the $1000+ suspension lift kits.

31x9.5-15's are FINE right now. I could do a 32" if I wanted to. But I honestly want to lift it 1.5"-2" before i do that. New wheels with a wider (less offset) stance should take care of the rubbing. < That is again the least of my worries.

Just getting the RIGHT parts the first time is what I want to accomplish soon.

Thanks again for your patience,

Jonathan Mann

 

Not true, like I said I haven't trimmed my fenders, nor have I pounded the pinchweld and with 12.5 wide I barely touch them. And my tires are very close to a true 33" tire. At first I thought that it was because the swaybar was still connected, but I have now run it without on some hard trails with very minor rubbing. That is where the pinch weld is but it is so minor, I would do way more damage by pounding the pinch weld. The only time I can get it to rub seriously, is really hard turns at the dunes while at speed without the swaybar.

 

I was looking at your link/url for your trucks profile, thats exactly the stance I want mine to have. You also have your parts backed up by experiance out in the elements. I like that.

So the stock 97' landcruiser rear coil springs and front OME ball joint spacers bring it up to that height eh? Pretty trick!

Now how much for the 97' Land Cruiser rear springs?

Looks like I will be copying your set up a little bit! Of course having different wheels and such, LOL


Thank you so much! You really helped me out!:bigclap:

-Jonathan Mann

 

If all you have is BJ spacers you could have fit those stock then, or you dont compress all the way. All a BJ spacer does is put the hub 1.5" lower at any given height. Droop is limited by the upper arm, since the BJ spacer is below the upper arm you get an additional 1.5" of droop. Compression is limited by the lower arm, since the BJ spacer is above this arm and the hub the compression is the exact same is was stock, there is no difference. So if you couldnt fit it stock you wont fit it with BJ spacers.

With you not rubbing thats good, what BS is your rim as it looks to be the optimal spacing. I have 3.75, which is probally clost to what you have, becuase I able to get 35's to fit with a 4" lift with only beating the pinchweld.

I am looking to get BJ spacers, if I decide not to SAS, for the extra droop. I just can decide if I want that much stress on my CV's with 35's.

 

No problem, just make sure you do your homework, which it seems like you are doing. Also, remember to post pics when you are done.

 

You can bet on that!

So the extra spring height from the 97' Land Cruisers is around 1.5" - 2.0 Inches? Matching the ball joint spacers for the front. I am guessing this is the reason that the front ball joint spacers were made around 1.5" thick, to lift to the height of those 'Cruiser springs?

I will give you and some select other's a PM if I need any more in depth information!

Again, thank you for your patience!

-Jonathan Mann

 

Ok, there is nothing wrong with bodylifts, as someone already said, they make regular maintenance WAY easier.
I'm 100% for them... most trucks actually ride high on the frame (look at a nissan pathfinder or chevy s10 blazer lately? The ride DID get better, i think the blocks take some vibrations away...
And about sway? For what it is (a lifted suv) my truck handles great... my buddies in stock cars cant hang with me in twisties.... (more driver thing then anything) and the body roll is NOT BAD, i can take highway on-ramps at 40mph if needed... (i've got 33x12.5's and 3" bl) but my cuz's 4" susp and 3" body with 37's is different, it's a damn slinky....
I would do a balljoint lift and a mild bodylift if i were you, to gian some clearance.
Also, it's called a "flat-belly" in toyota world... lots of guys on pirate4x4 have done it to their trucks, turns out really sweet.

 

I understand what you are saying and it took me awhile thinking about it. Like you said, the hub is 1.5" lower at any given height, therefore at full compression, the hub is 1.5" lower than it would have been without them. The lift doesn't go away as it compresses. I had to draw myself a couple diagrams while I was doing this to try to make sense of it. Yes the lower arm stops at the same place on compression but the upper arm is 1.5" higher than with no spacer, therefore you still have the 1.5" of lift. If you just crank your tbars 1.5" to get lift, at full compression both your arms are where they would be even without tbars cranked, therefore your lift has disappeared.

The bj spacers were originally made to be used with the bracket lifts. Bracket lifts advertise 4" but part of that 4 is cranking your torsion bars. Cranking your torsion bars gives you lift by pushing both arm lower, therefore assuming you can get full compression, the lift is gone. By adding the bj spacer to a bracket lift, you can uncrank your tbars. now your ride is better and when you compress the lift doesn't go away. Therefore you gain more suspension travel.

You are correct about the backspacing, i forgot to mention that earlier. Mine are 3.75 backspacing. No way it would work with anything less, you would definately rub on all your steering components.

Assuming you are going to use the bj spacers to replace the torsion crank on your bracket lift, I don't think it will put more stress on your cv's. If you don't uncrank, then that is a different story.

 

Actually the BJ spacers were made to increase travel in conjunction with a 4" bracket lift, but work very well with the cruiser coils.

Yes and no, since the BJ spacer is on top of the hub you get the added droop, but it has nothing to do with the compression. Before BJ spacers your hub was X" from the upper arm and y" from the lower arm. After the BJ spacer you upper arm is X+1.5", but your lower arm is still y" from the hub. So at all locations thruout the suspension cycle your hub is still in the same location relative to the lower arm, with or withour BJ spacers, therfore you still compress the same. If the bumpstops for compression were on the upper arm then yes you would compress 1.5" less, but then you wouldnt have the increase in travel, which is the real reason for BJ spacers. There are two differnces between cranking the tbars and BJ spacer; one the ride doesnt go to crap and you get that extra 1.5" of droop, other than that its the same result. Its your 3.75" rims that allow you to only barely rub.

On which bracket lift? Not my Pro Comp Stage II. Not on superlift. In fact superlifts is a 4-5" lift, but the bracketry is a true 4". My tbars are as loose as they can go, 25mm Powerbarz. Even with the HEAVY ARB bumper and winch. I dont really want to sit higher, another reason I have yet to get BJ spacers. If I get them, thou, it will be in 1" to save the CV's.

I am more worried about full droop in the trail, that extra 1.5" is a lot when your talking CV's, on the steet I could care less as I have hubs

 

I get what you are saying. I have been drawing diagrams trying to figure this out. Maybe it has to do with the difference in geometry. with a tbar crank, all the lengths stay the same. while with spacers the length between the two arms changes. Maybe that difference causes a slight difference in the compression cycle with the way the tires are aligned. I know there are many people running 33x12.5 with just bj spacers, 3.75" backspacing, and just pounding the pinch weld. I know that would not work stock. My head is spinning now, all I know is that what I have works. I have definately had it cycle through the suspension while turning with little rubbing. It def. hasn't rubbed the outside of the fender, just barely where the pinch weld is.
I am intrigued now.

As far as the bracket lifts go, I know that some of them only get to the advertised height with a tbar crank. It makes sense that the better ones don't. I learn something everyday on here, often more than 1 something.:pat:

All I know is that I can't wait to SAS.

 

I think you will get more lift than that. I have a slight rake to my runner, but cancels out when loaded with camping gear.

 

I dont think rubbing on the edge of the fender is ever a problem, it the pinchweld, an easy fix, and on the frame. Now 35's stock would probally rub the fender, I get within 4"... there is a guy on this board who runs 35's stock, but they are 35x10.50.....

 

I guess I shouldn't be trying to think and type before I have my coffee in the morning. Thanks for clearing that stuff up!

 

It took me a while to think about it and make sure i was correct in my thinking... all we really proved is BS is a bigger part than suspension.... and 3.75 seems to be that magic number...

 

Ok,

well I made up my mind. I am going to do the ball joint spacers, OME springs (rear) and do the Pro-Comp shocks (4" travel) 3000 series (most likely, if not OME then).

Doing the truss brace and the do some other small brackets needed for the lift.

Of course i need new plug wires, spart plugs, belts a nice little short ram intake and a few other choice items to set it apart from the norm.

I have no worries about running out of torque or loss of torque, the 3 v6 liter has none already

 

Sounds good.... but you not talking about the shocks for the 4" lift are you? Those will cetainly not work with the setup you are planning. They will be way too long compressed and not alow any suspesnsion travel upword.

As far as the exhaust... you really really dont want to go that big, 2.5" is the norm on a 3.slow. But most the guys here say that they dont notice anything from a catback, you have to do headers to see the difference.

 

"too long compressed" ?

The truck will have a around a 2" lift with the springs and the balljoint spacers. Thats not going to make that big of a difference.

Now if I were on stock ride height with stock coil springs and no ball joint spacers, THAT would be a problem.

I am not going to be doing heavy crawling, so I do not need the extra rebound length. If I wanted that, I would buy a complete 4" lift system. But for what I will be doing, its not worth the extra money.

2.5" piping reverberates too much (shorter wave lengths are higher pitched). A larger diameter pipe and larger inlet/outlet/interior muffler will promote a deeper tone always.

 

yes, too long compressed... waay too long... It is THAT big of a difference

As I have previously stated the BJ spacer allows for extra droop, so you may need a slightly longer shock, 1" at most. But it also compresses to the stock location, as if you had NO lift, therefore a 4" longer shock would keep you from traveling your last 4", which in a IFS setup that usually gets 7-9" (cant remmeber) you have just seriously limited youself, and probally wont be able to even be at ride height without bottoming out the shock. If you look at the 4crawler web site, BJ spacers CAN provide lift, but dont have too.

A quick look at the rancho specs (others will be similar) the stock shock has 4" of travel.. if you put a 4" longer shock on a basically stock suspension.. its not goona work, at all. Compress length is 9.375, I would get one that has the most downtravel with a bout 9.5" compressed.. max. Look at what OME sells, they are probally a better shock than PC anyhow.

As far as the rear I would also see what OME has to offer.. a little longer shock would be nice, but 4" will be too much here too.

This doesnt have much to do with how you plan to use it, it has to do with what fits and what doesn't. And you will actually have more front travel than a 4" kit does anyhow.

As far as the tone of the exhaust.. Toyotas sound silly on large pipes... and if you choose to run 33's I think you will be very unhappy with the performance of a 3" exhaust... but thats your call...