im considering buying a 86 runner with a SAS 5in susp with chevy springs in the rear and a 2 in body lift 35 in tires. The owner says the susp is very soft. What id like to do is use this runner as both a Dailly driver and a trail rig. What im worried about is it tipping over... Just how tippy will this thing be at highway speeds? Would front and rear sway bars with stiffer shocks make the rig considerably more stable?

Thanks,
Andy

 

Ditch the body lift and you should be fine...mine sits at 5" of lift w/ 35s and I don't have any problems...just can't drive too fast when the wind blows hard...

 

Thats kinda what i was thinkin... ditch the body lift... but then again maybe i could fit 37's ... do you have sway bars?

 

I've swayed out of a few bars before...but no sway bars for me...as long as you ain't lookin for a race car, you'll be fine...

 

not lookin for a race car but i would like to be able to drive 60 or so and not have to worry about tipping over easily around normal turns that most cars can take at 60... about the swaybars.. i heard that if you have to swerve at higher speeds and you dont have swaybars that you can be in trouble...
thanks for the info waskilly

 

Test drive that thing!
I can't imagine that anything with its center of gravity displaced (up) that much is gonna safely take the off-ramps at 65.

(If I even get my rear springs off I look forward to finding out how something 3" taller than stock handles...)

 

If you are concerned about cornering, a lifted truck on 35's is not going to be for you.

If you don't care and still want to drive wild, get a cage.

There are trade offs to soft, off road suspensions, they come on road.

 

taking turns at 60... now thats jsut stupid.....

 

Im not talkin sharp turns and i dont consider my driving to be "wild".. and most of the time the speed is more like 50-55... the truck would be a daily driver... what can i say.. i wont be driving it on the freeway. Its all mountain roads that my mostly stock 88 can handle easily at 65.. Now i know the sasd truck will handle differently but just how slow would it take to be safe?

 

Don't think anybody can answer that one. It's all up to you.

 

As far as sway bars go, when I lifted my IFS (NOTE: not exactly the same setup), I felt the truck was more predictable going around corners. If I took the corners (at a higher than reasonable speed) and stayed somewhat on the throttle, the truck did fine, however if i let off the throttle in the middle of the corner, the truck became very unstable and scary. (Had to check it out for myself, I wasn't going nuts in speed, and I didn't roll it). Like Steve said, its all up to you, the driver to know whats comfortable and safe.

 

im with robinhood, its what feels safe... i tell people i hyave rolled my truck and htey are like are you scared and i tell them no, they freak out... im like it doenst scare me

i took a posted 25 mph twisty road under a train bridge (pretty much a Z pattern at a certain spot right under the train bridge) at 65 in my friends miata... i felt comfortable with that speed... i wont go at that same turn with my truck at anything above 40

 

How big of a difference could swaybars and stiff shocks make?

 

it's no big deal.

My rig is heavier than most w/ a full exo, no sway bars, soft shocks and the rear shock setup in the typical /\ mounting.

It corners fine - as long as you don't mind some body roll.

I drive two sections of Hyw 89 and 89A in AZ on a regular basis that are frequented by the sport bike crowd - White Spar south of Prescott, and over Mingus Mountain from Prescott Valley to Jerome. Both sections have tight 90 deg or greater hairpin turns posted at 15 to 20 MPH that I can usually take at 10 to 15 MPH over the limit w/ no problem.

Freeway driving type avoidance manuvers can feel a bit hairy, but I've never felt like it was going to flop...

 

It's tippy enough that w/out the correct length shocks and my 38's my rear tire came 6" off the ground pulling onto this trailer being used as an RTI ramp. The tongue is on the ground and the trailer rides on 35" MT/R's

 

Get some sway bars and disconnects.

 

alot of it depends on the leaf springs you use also...very soft springs like alcans are prone to leaning more when on off camber situations.
i run 5" alcans on my 86 pickup and its alot different than driving an IFS rig...but it just takes experience behind the wheel to learn the limits and techiques of the truck..its fine for on road driving though...by no means is it dangerous. get some bbcs shocks, they are specificically designed for toyotas with leaf springs and are said to reduce body roll. i know my doestechs i am running right now are too soft and not valved correctly for the super flexy alcans. check pirate for more info on bbcs shocks.
Brian

 

I've not seen any pictures of your runner 4rocRunner92 but thats very impressive and clean I must say. Reminds me alot of my almost stock black 94 runner...



back on topic...heres my 86 pickup with SAS, 5" Alcans...these are some more examples of the body roll that tends to happen with really soft springs...

the springs tend to really 'give' on off camber stuff like this...my truck is heavier than most though with the exo cage so it contributes to some excessive body roll..

 

Thanks for all the feedback guys. Im now confident that an sasd runner can be used as a daily driver, fairly safely once i learn the handling of the truck and maybe add some swaybars and stiff shocks. Now just to find an sasd runner (the one i was planning to buy fell through...owner changed his mind) or buy one cheap and sas it .