I hope the 16 year old is still reading. There is a ton of good qualified oppinions in this thread.

For a 16 year old whos peers don't understand gear ratios and crawler boxes, I have to recomend some tires in the neighborhood of 31 or 32 inches. If he can learn to drive offroad with decent 32s, open diffs and stock gears he will be one heck of a driver in 6 years when he has 37s, two lockers, two transfer cases and an exocage.

Get some slightly used, cheap but good bigger tires and be smart with your money. In the long run you will be a better wheeler for it.

 

That was probably the best piece of advice yet. Get a set of decent 31" or 32" tires that are used. Then get out and have some fun learning to drive while you save your money up.

In the mean time, there's enough money to be spent on additional trail supplies. i.e. recovery strap, winch accessory kit (I recommend that you have one even if you don't have a winch. Why should the guy who's nice enough to pull you out, have to use his equipment?), tools, trail side emergency supplies and survival equipment and the one thing that we all forgot to mention, a good CB!

Man I wish I had to do this all over again and was in this guy's shoes. I could have built my rig for 1/2 the money, twice as fast if I'd known then, what I know know. And he get's to start with the dream machine of the stock Toyotas!

 

wow thanks for the replys guys, they've all been really helpful. so heres the deal, right now i've got about $700 to spend on my truck, but i gotta just get some freon and stuff so, say i've got $650, and every month after ill have an additional $400 or so, should i start lifting it now, and then i go to 33's from my 235's heh. any suggestions, what should i do to lift my truck, what locker should i get (im thinking the toyota e-locker if i can find someone in az to help me with the welding (hint hint).. im willing to pay for whatever supplies if you could help me with the install and even some labor costs. whats the best way that i should lift my truck, i hear that the lift kits dont have much flex, so im looking for another way to lift it. thanks for the replys in advance

kelly

p.s. i've been wheeling it in mud, rocks, etc with my 235 so i cant imagine how much fun i can have with 33's

 

OK. I'll lay out my plan as if I was you. Find a used set of 31 or 32" offroad tires (I don't think 33s will fit yet. The controvery on body lifts is ongoing, but for about $100 or less, you can get a 2" body lift and then you'd fit 33's. Oh yeah and throw away your sway bars. This will leave your gearing a little on the high side, but useable.

Next, I'd install some body armor, including quality sliders and bumpers - you'll need em :o)

Next, I'd save up for the gears and lockers. ARB is my locker of choice but the E-Locker is coming on strong. Have these all professionally installed. Installing lockers and ring and pinion sets is not the place for rookies.

After that I go with the lift and tire up to 35's or bigger.
Lifts actually increase flex, not decrease flex.

Somewhere in hear you need to find a winch as well.

There are those that say that the low gearing of a dual transfer case should come ahead of the lift and tires. I'm 50/50 on that one.

There's my $.02 which sometimes is all it's worth!

 

ok first off, is anyone here in az selling any good 31 or 32 tires used? and as for the sway bar removal is that going to affect my onroad driving much (liek turning will my truck dip alot). I have armor front and back link to pictures below. i would like to get some rock sliders (any suggestions on what brand to buy?) how much are ARB lockers? are they electric? and what gearing do i need to go to if i plan on 33's or 35's later on (4.88 i think)? i know lifts will increase my flex but i was talking to soemone and he said the lift kits are very stiff and he suggested


X (9:02:49 PM): not an off the shelf lift, but different parts from differnt trucks. 98 chevy 1500 rear springs, jeep wagoneer rancho lift springs up front
X (9:02:57 PM): toyota electric lockers
X (9:03:08 PM): pro comp es9400
X (9:03:10 PM): shocks

well ya. just responding

kelly


side (no top) side w/ top front back

 

oh and btw.. if i want to get larger tires am i going to need a wider rear axle from a 86-89 ifs 4runner?

kelly

 

Your friend is talking about using other truck springs to lift your truck. This is a cheap way to do it if you know a lot about spring rates, etc. You may want to talk with Crash on the forum. He can build rigs cheaper than just about anyone can.

If you don't have experience to know all of this stuff and to fabricate parts like Crash does, I suggest going with aftermarket lift kits. I really like my AOR springs www.aor4x4.com. They were expensive but well worth it.

As far as rock sliders go, see who's got them on special. Several manufactures make them and they're all pretty good.

If you plan to go to 35s you'll need 5.29 gears, not 4.88 gears.

Toyota electric lockers are coming on big, but ARB has a long track record. They are air driven. Since you'll be wanting an onboard air system down the road anyway, getting an air supply won't be a big issue.

 

woooh those aor springs are about $500 a pair.. $1000 for a lift

 

Yeah, they're spendy, but that's why I suggest deciding where you want to end up. I went with the Allpros in the rear first. A good set of springs, but I will be changing them for Orbit Eyes sometime soon. That will mean a coil spring lift, then Allpro lift, the AOR Orbit Eyes. I will have wasted about $800 on the way to the orbit eyes.

However, if you want a set of 5.5" Allpro springs, 56" long... I want to go with the Orbit Eyes and would be willing to sell my current springs...

 

ohhhh boy... i was reading this http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showt...hreadid=119074 ... and with those deal i wouldnt mind getting myself lifted and then some 35's or 37's ... i can see this truck is going to be a huge money pit for me and not even useful as a daily driver hahaha

kelly

 

Kelly, on your truck you'll need the following before you can fit the 37s. 4-6" of suspension lift, 2" of body lift, your front axle will have to move forward 1.5 - 3" and you'll need to do some fender trimming. You can get away without the body lift if you are prepared to do a LOT of fender trimming and firewall trimming.

You also won't be able to drive up a steep driveway without bogging down. I drive a V6 4runner with 37s and 5.29 gears and I only get into 5th gear going downhill!

On the trail, you would be completely useless

 

whats the largest tire/lift i should go so it will be a good trail rig (can do like level 4 trails) but still be my daily driver and be able to go like 70ish on highway

 

In my opinion 6" of lift with 35" inch tires is good but you HAVE to regear.

I have 8" inches of total lift and 37" tires. Soft springs and no sway bars. I have no problem driving 70 but I wouldn't want to make any sudden avoidance maneuvers.

 

you have the v6 though right? so isnt it going to make a difference since i only have a 4banger.. then agian my trucks also lighter

 

It makes a difference on the horsepower and torque yes. This makes the gearing even more critical. I know that spending money on gears may not seem like fun, like a lift and tires would be, but it is the way to go.

 

is it really neccesary to spend that $1000 for the lift? is 6 inches oging to give me better preformance than 4 (off road that is) are there other lift kits that would be better (i have solid front axle so i dont need any conversion to leaf's in the front)

kelly

p.s. if you have AIM whats your sn cause thatd make it easier talking to you mines "descendents8085"

 

I don't have AIM.

It's not necessary to spend $1000 for a lift but a 6" lift doesn't cost much more if any. You should decide if a 4" lift that average, will meet your needs. If it does, go for it! I kept thinking things like, I'll never put a locker in, I'll never go SAS, I'll never go dual tranny. That's why I'm putting all these suggestions to you. In your truck, with good gearing and lockers a moderate lift and good tires, you can wheel all over the place!

I would spend the money on quality gears and lockers more than a high end lift, if I had to choose. You'll get more wheeling bang from your buck that way.

 

well if i did get these (or other springs for that matter) do i need to get shackles, longer brake lines, shocks, shock towers, rear shock mounts, front drivetrait etc?

kelly

 

If you go with a front spring set from AOR you'd need new front hangers but you could use your rear shackles. The same with AllPros springs, because they are slightly longer than stock. Most other springs won't require new hangers or shackles.

Shock mounts will not be required unless you decide to go with very long shocks. You will need new shocks.

Extended brake lines will be required for 4" or more of lift.

Drivelines may or may not need to be changed. On the rear you could angle up the pinion and definitely not need a new driveline. The front however ay need to be lengthened and may need a high travel driveline. You'd only need this if you went with a high articulation setup. I went with 14" travel shocks and moved the front shock towers up through the fenders.

On the rear, go with the longer 56" springs for maximum articulation. This typically requires new shackles and hangers and longer shocks as well.

 

Keep in mind that any order from AOR no matter how small is going to take 3-12 months of waiting, they do not answer their phones, and you'll be lucky if you get a response from an email without having to threaten reversing the charge for the full amount (minus shipping, that'll show up later) they placed on your card the moment your ordered. If you aren't getting the "orbit-eyes" and still want custom bent packs then get the springs from AOR's source, alcanspring.com. There's also many other options out there though that are a lot cheaper.
You cannot rotate the rear pinion up with a standard u-joint driveshaft without ending up with vibrations. Either leave the pinion stock, or have the front shaft retubed for the rear so you have the CV end at the tranny and then rotate the housing up to point the pinion at the tranny output. Then you have the rear shaft retubed and re-slip'd to fit the front and you're set. Call Jesse at highangledriveline.com and he'll tell you all about this.

To get full travel out of a flexy suspension you're going to have to redo the shock mounts, no option there. But that's not something to worry about, steel is cheap and it's not that hard to build a decent sturdy mount. Get the springs on it, flex it up, and decide where you want to put them.