Hello everyone,

As you can see, I'm new to the forum, so please excuse me if I'm asking a question that's been asked before.

I"m interested in getting my newly acquired 85 pickup to do some serious flexing on the trails. I'm curious to know what suspension kits you would recommend, or perhaps how you would suggest to build a home-grown kit. If you know of a company that sells sway bar disco's (front & rear?), that would be wonderful.

Thanks in advance

 

Kits...none. Bolt on is not the way to go if you want a lot of flex.

For the front get some Rancho 44044s springs, for the rear get some 63" Chevy rear springs. You might want to get Hysteer for the front steering.

 

NWOR http://www.northwestoffroad.com sells them for around $75 a piece..... or you can just remove them and throw them out .

 

Bolt on is not the "only" way to go-

There are lots of high quality springs available. If you don't want to fab the setup yourself, or want to buy a complete kit, companies like All Pro sell great, but slightly expensive products. Alcan Spring is another source of high quality springs.

I chose to use the All Pro stuff, and it has worked flawlessly.

For information on the Rancho 44044 and Chevy spring conversion, check out the Pirate 4x4 Tech section. Also, the Pirate 4x4 Toyota Truck/4Runner section FAQS post has a HUGE amount of info available.

later

 

Thanks a bunch guys.

I want to keep the cost down so my wife doesn't kill me before I get to have fun with the truck, so I'm interested in doing it myself.

I like the look of the ALL PRO gear, but it's pricey.

Any thoughts on sway bars? I have to admit, I've been looking at Jeeps over Toys lately because of the scarcety of Toyota's in my area, and just happened upon the one I purchased, and Jeeps see HUGE gains with the sway bar removed. Is it the same for Toyotas? And is there some kind of setup to quickly disconnect and reconnect them?

Thanks again

 

I don't have one- drives fine. The entire panhard bracket has been ground off and the swaybar mounts are ground off too.

 

And there's no problem on the road? esp. highway driving?

How 'bout the rear? I know this will give away that I'm mechanically retarded, but is there a trackbar or swaybar to remove there?

 

I get body roll, but not excessive- I have a total of 8" of lift, soft shocks and a exo-cage, so it's gonna roll some. Prior to the exo-cage, it exibited very little body roll at all. The pic below is prior to the completion of the cage-

 

I prefer the AOR products to All pro, but All pro's service has been a little better. I think the AOR Orbit Eyes far outperform anything I've seen. I'm running 56" springs in the rear and 42" AOR springs in the front. I get more articulation from my shorter Orbit Eyes than I do the longer AP springs.

Please don't got with a waste of time block and shackle like. Not only are the a poor substitute but the are dangerous compared to a proper spring lift.

My money would be on AOR Oribit Eye Springs front and rear with a 56" spring in the rear.

You can do the chevy or Mazda springs, or Waggy springs, but my money is on getting the right products designed for the right purpose. Less messing around with adding or removing leafs to get it just right.

 

No rear sway bar (stock) on any of the solid axle trucks.

Front Sway Bar disco

'85 Suspension Info

 

Those are some good thoughts. Thanks for the articles that will help me understand what I have a little better!!

I had seen something about the orbit eye springs, and was pretty impressed with what I read. Out of curiosity, have any of you heard of the 'revolver shackles'? I know they're growing in popularity in the 'zuk/jeep markets, but does anyone here use them? I was thinking it would give me some serious flex to use those in combination with the orbit eyes.

Any thoughts?

 

those aor orbit eyes are a waste of money... i paid $97 for my pair of chevy springs... i plan on paying $250 for a new pair of 44044s... both ride good on the street and flex like crazy... if your trying to keep it budget thorw the chevys in the back and then put the rears up front with some mixed leafs from other packs... check out pirate4x4.com and search about rears up front in the toyota section

kelly

 

There are a few Tacoma guys running a revolver shackle. Do a search on the TTORA forums. When I searched I came up with a few threads over the last 3 months mentioning these.

 

I disagree with you on the Orbit Eyes - completely. My front Orbit Eyes flex better than my 56" AOR leafs with the same lift, and I mean far better!

Let' see that mixed pack flex like this.
http://207.202.208.243/faithwheelers/Img18.jpg
http://207.202.208.243/faithwheelers/Img19.jpg
http://207.202.208.243/faithwheelers/Img20.jpg
http://207.202.208.243/faithwheelers/corey043.jpg
http://207.202.208.243/faithwheelers...-24-03/009.JPG

I'm not saying that it can't be done without Orbit Eyes, that would be foolish. But if you wanted instant high articulation lift and springs, this is the way to go. I just wish the company was a little more customer service oriented.

It takes more skill and time to swap in different leaf combinations to get the right lift, flex, etc. If you have those parts laying around and the time to mess with them, great. If you're buying a new set of springs or you don't have the junk supplies readily available the Orbit Eyes are the best I've seen. I wish I hadn't wasted my time on the Allpro springs that I have in the rear and had bucked up the extra for the Orbit Eyes there as well.

The revolver shackles look awesome and are fairly easy to adapt to fit a Toy. If I hand't just put the All Pro johnny joint shackles in the rear, I'd go with revolvers,,,

 

Thanks upndair!

I've really wanted to dump those revolvers on something for the last while. I was thinking Jeep, but now that I have a Toy, I'm pretty excited. I'm thinking that the orbit eyes combined with the revolver shackles should allow for some pretty extreme articulation.

To be honest, I'm not talented enough to put together a setup myself with a bunch of stock parts, so I think this will be the best bet.

Thanks again

 

I should've figured you were pretty smart, being as your from Ontario. I hail from London, transplated to Washington State about 10 years ago.

The trails here in WA are a little different in Ontario :o)

 

London eh?

I grew up in Burford....just east of Woodstock.
I'm in Peterborough now, mud and rocks here. I haven't been into wheeling long, just getting into it this year, but want to have something worth getting on a trail

Do you have a crawler case in your rig too? ... btw, if you have MSN, add me. ajime101@hotmail.com

Catcha later

 

HAHAHA, my parents found a stray dog near Burford. That's what they named him. What a stupid dog that was.

 

hahahah,

I couldn't wait to leave that place. Mulletts and curly bangs....that's all there was.

My parents still live there though. They like it...I suppose it's a quiet town for the most part.



Do you make it back here often? What took you to Washington?

 

I'll be back for Christmas but I've only been back a couple of times in 10 years. I met my wife while going to school in Oregon and we ended up settling out here.