That scenery is just amazing, your photos were really well composed. Snow in July?? I can't even imagine that as I smolder here in the FL sun. You are lucky, those are some amazing trails. I love watching your thread because you actually get out there and wheel...I wheel vicariously since we both have red 4Runners and the same front bumper. I also have the same budbuilt skid plate sitting in the garage waiting to go on. Hopefully soon.

 

Just curious are your 63s off a 2wd or 4wd?I believe they look like a 2wd.the 4wd had a extra leaf on the bottom.

 

X2^^. I'm curious as we'll. I want to do this mod but worried they will be to soft as I frequently haul stuff in it.

 

i am ordering the 63" swap kit from low range
I am upgrading shackles ( to greasable ) and running 4x springs they are 1" lift and hold 400 pounds more ( roof top tent and full 4runner cage from innovations

The 63" spring swap will give you 4" the 4x springs give you 5" but are a little stiffer

Sent from my iPhone using YotaTech

 

i'm not claiming to be an expert, but i've screwed around with these springs with different configurations for 4 years now and i'd venture to guess that i've done more research on the chevy springs than most. first of all, the 2wd springs can have 2 or 3 leaves, plus the overload. the 4x4 half ton springs can either have 3 or 4 leaves plus overload, but the 4 leaf packs are extremely hard to find. these are the ones i have right now. i ran the standard 4x4 3 leaf packs for 2 years and they were way too soft so i tracked down the 4 leaf packs and swapped them in. it did not help out at all. keep in mind that this is with the overload removed. if you leave the overload in, they can be fairly firm when loaded since they will ride on the overload, however i found that when they contact the overload frequently it makes for a rough ride, which negates the point of running these springs (thats why i pulled the overload).
so that's why i added the toyota leaves, it was to make it more FIRM, not less. the only way your going to get a better hauling capacity is to leave the overload in but then they ride like crap. there's a picture of my current springs when i first put them on on page 9. (this was before i pulled the overload and 1 leaf)
'83 trail rig- i'd try to talk you out of running these springs, i think aftermarket lift springs will provide a much better overall ride. just my 2 cents tho

 

Great info. And love that you are honest. There I read about them being soft and sag with weight, the more I lean towards a different option. I'm so torn with this

 

I may be able to add a little info to chevy springs info. After 2000ish they switched both 2 and 4wd 1500s to 2 leaf packs with over load. They are 2 thick leaves. Dont droop great, stuff AWESOME. I got a solid 3" of lift from my 2 leafers with a pretty relaxed shackle angle.

Heres some more spring info:

99-12 spring info: http://www.generalspringkc.com/Leaf_...011_s/1825.htm

88-98 spring info: http://www.generalspringkc.com/Leaf_...998_s/1824.htm

 

That's good to know!

 

ya man but you've got the swamps down there! its always fun seeing mud trucks! come up to CO sometime and we'll wheel our "twins"

 

ya if i were to do it again i'd go with all-pro springs hands down.

 

Great info boys!!

 

drove the truck around the block to test out the springs, seems to be MUCH better! a lot less sway around corners but still absorbs the bumps well. we'll see how it does loaded down.
Some updates: i get my welder back this week from my friend who borrowed it to do a SAS, so i'm gonna get right on my sliders and get em done.
i've got some wheels turning for building an IFS width front axle this winter. I had planned on doing a Rock Assault but things change when your married haha. (i guess paying bills IS more important) so i'll keep this updated as that progresses, but its not going to happen until after this wheeling season.

 

Glad that the springs are working out for you! Hope they perform well when loaded down.

Look forward to seeing your sliders finished!

Do you already have a ifs rear axel (I cant remember) or are you going to swap one in after you build the ifs width front? Im pretty happy with mine, haven't had any trouble with it, still want to upgrade the brakes to a 1" bore master cylinder though.

 

Hey ed,
thanks ya i'm lookin forward to finally getting the sliders on, they've been in the making since winter. yea i switched to an IFS rear back when i put in my elocker, so i've been running spacers up front. i can't wait to get the front axle finished so i can have a halfway decent turning radius again, i have to do a 3 point turn to get in my garage haha.

 

That's cool, do you already have a spare front axel you're building, or are you going to widen your current front axel? what set up are you planning on using, ifs wheel hubs/calipers/LC rotors or are you going to use Taco rotors? I went the first route, but I want to switch to taco rotors someday, it looks like changing out a birf on the trail would be a lot easier.

 

I'm going to try to pick up a cheap housing to build so i can keep my rig running in the meantime. i'm not going to be running IFS hub bodies since they're essentially the same as running wheel spacers (from a steering standpoint). i'm going to actually lengthen the housing, and keep the SA hubs. this will get rid of the huge scrub radius, which will help my turning radius and relieve some of the pressure on all the steering components. I think it will help with on-road stability too by eliminating bump-steer and wandering.
as far as brakes, since i'm not going to run the IFS hub bodies i will just do the FJ60 rotors with IFS calipers. if you are running IFS hubs, the tacoma rotor swap is pretty sweet, though the "camo" method for swapping birfs is almost as fast

 

A custom width axel housing would be pretty sweet! So when you do high steer will you need a custom length tie rod and drag link too? I like your approach to things, always thinking outside the box!

 

thanks ed! i can't claim to be original, most of my ideas are stolen from pouring through endless build threads. A guy on pirate actually came up with this idea and i was so impressed that i'm going to be doing something very similar. he went +3" on both sides, i'm only going to do the short side, and i can get an off-the-shelf axle shaft as well as the +3 wide High steer from trail gear from their IFS width rock assault axle to match. i'll do a full write up on it all once i gather all the parts so i can dive in
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/toyot...right-way.html

 

did some local wheelin on saturday with my budy and his freshly SAS'd 2nd gen, probably one of the cleanest around too! it was a nice shake-down run for him and a lot of fun for me to get out of the city for a few hours and play on some rocks

 

looks like a fantastic weekend.