i am going to invest in a 2" add-a-leaf kit for my '94 ext. cab pickup with a 3.0, 4x4. i dont have coil springs in the front, just shocks. i dont want to crank up the tortion bars and without the springs i cant put spacers on. eventually i will probably get an actual suspension lift later down the line, but for now i just want an easy way to get a few more inches. any thoughts?

 

just do a body lift it's cheaper and less stress on suspention ball joints tie rods just my two cents

 

balljoint spacers will complement that add a leaf nicely. Or you can do a small body lift if you just want the clearance to run larger tires.

 

ugh. You could use BJ spacers up front to compliment the rear addaleafs...




...if you search, you will find it.

 

*Hijack*

im also in the market for a IFS lift....Im lookin for a decent, nicely priced LT kit. Been searchin around but I never see prices on things, which leads me to believe I dont really want to know.lol.

and yes, its my first post. been lurkin a little while now, finally postin

 

Sorry to say this, but

LT kit ≠ nicely priced

 

DUDE!!! SUPPORT BLAZELAND LT!!!!

somewhere around$1000 for about 8"-10" of travel!!!

hell thats WAY WAY WAY WAY cheaper than any other LT kit ever made and produced...

www.blazeland.us
i believe thats the place..look for a thread call "Toyota Long Travel"

 

any other alternatives for IFS?

besides SAS....

 

ya the blazeland Lt kit is pretty well priced, especially compared to the total chaos $5000 kit.

as far as more ifs lifts, you could do a bracket lift.
they cost anywhere from $700(rough country suspension) to $2000(pro comp suspension), depending on what you want and give about 4-5 inches of lift.

 

sorry for the nub Q's .....

But, what would a bracket lift do for me? I liked the idea of the long travel for jumping ( which i plan on doing, just nothing to crazy ) and soaking up whoops .

again, sorry and thanks.

 

oh, and Im workin on buildin a 89 p/u extended cab 22 re. been mainly doin a lot of reading and everything is just kinda jumbled around and dancin around my head.

 

Still cheaper than SAS as well.

I looked at the toytec add a leaf and their spacers. It'd be 2 inches all around but also about $200-250. That kit does look sick, and as i am a noob, it's nice to finally see a GOOD alternative to all the guys sayin.." hack that IFS SH** out...and throw in a solid front"

 

everyone dont need a SFA. if you put a locker in teh front and rear of your truck, and some good mud tires you can anywhere you want

before you buy the toytec checkout 4crawler.com. i ordered my bj spacers from him fro 115 bucks. and a 2inch superlift AAL from topguncustomz.com for 40 bucks. also, its not a 2inch lift. its 1.5in in the fron tand 2inch in the back. you have to crank the tbars to make it 2inches in the front. but i didn tcrank mine and it sat jus tfine. i cleared 33x12.5os with this setup, bu tlater added a 2inch BL for better clearance

 

a bracket lift would make you look cool. but seriously if you get a bracket lift with rear blocks and plan on jumpin or hittin whoops, plan to buy new leafs

 

A 4" drop bracket lift will allow you to run 33x12.50r15 tires. Its like putting your truck on stilts. Ever walk around on stilts? I second the rear block statement. Either is just a temporary fix that will delay your eventual progression to a SAS or LT. Take the leap or do the baby steps, your call. Check pricing on the drop bracket kit(s) and the Blazeland LT, they are comparable!

 

if i lift the rear i would have to get new rear shocks or would i not have to?

 

idk why everybody dogs on bracket lifts...

apparently they aren't junk or they wouldnt sell SOOOOOOO FREAKIN GOOD????

but if you plan on catching any kind of air..do not get a bracket lift..they weren't designed for jumping lol

and with a 4in lift im pretty sure you can clear 35's..i know i can clear 35s on the front of my '92 runner....idk about the rear though

of course i got coils in the rear..lol..

 

they sell so freakin good cause theyre complete kits that are sold by vendors that you'd automatically go to for a lift kit ie Skyjacker, pro comp, rough country. That said, my skyjacker bracket lift's been great to me, tough as nails for everything ive put it through, and I love it.

 

I have had a Superlift, a ProComp Stage II, and a Trailmaster Drop Bracket Kit and they have merit. The Superlift had a one piece crossmember while the Pro Comp and Trailmaster re-used the stock crossmember. The PoComp had the strongest bump stop design and I also liked the lateral compression struts. The Trailmaster was neat because the (4) brackets that dropped the LCA pivot were interchangable in any position- the term stilts came from this observation. All of them were decent and cost effective. Flashkl called it though, they sell so well because various vendors sell them and they are a complete kit. They were mass produced and compact to ship. I think also why they sold so well is that when they came out in the late 80's it was a trend to have as tall a truck as possible with the biggest tires. People would install the bracket kit with a 3" body lift and run 38" tall tires. I even saw a truck in a car show where two bracket kits were stacked one on top of the other with like a 10" body lift. This thing had 44" boggers, its was a trip seing a Toyota that big! The Rancho kit of that era was more suited for off road situations, it actually increased wheel travel. Long Travel developed a bit later because people were wanting more performance. LT also allows a lower center of gravity. Drop bracket kits are great for big tires, mud pits, water crossings, and cruising the malls but not suited for the desert or twisty trails because they don't flex all that well and have a high CG. They are fairly strong and do add rear crossmember where the factory omited. The cost of the kits very, but you can find them used for next to nothing. People often just throw them away after converting to LT or SAS. I sold my Traimaster kit on craigslist for $400 and that was a fluke I got so much. The Superlift is on my brothers truck, along with some early Blazeland long arms (the combo kit) The ProComp kit I keep for mock up. I found it on craigslist from a guy who did a SAS on his T-100. It came with the whole front end- LCAs, UCAs, front diff, knuckles, hubs, shocks, spindles, front drive shaft, steering, T-100 CVs, everything. The whole package was $300. The guys truck had been in an accident so a few of the ProComp components were damaged; but it works great for mocking up future designs.

 

One thing I noticed about the drop bracket kit design is the front differential is exposed and when you come down on a hard landing, like I did in the following picture, the brackets that lower the differential cannot support the weight of the truck pushing the differential up into the truck- so they failed. This failure translated through the driveline and I bent up more stuff and grenaded the gears in the front diff. The MFG allowed me to purchase replacement parts, but nothing was covered under warranty. Come on, I was only jumping it! Ha Ha! The new parts I received had some gussets added, so it must have happened to other people as well. The other mfg bracket design was slightly different and seemed stronger but the diff is still hanging below the crossmember.

In the photo of my truck (back in 2003) you can see the Superlift drop bracket, Rancho tubular upper control arms, and Downey slip yoke axle shafts. I also had Downey Double shock hoops with dual Bilstien shocks. The truck has a 2" body lift. This set up gave me about 11" of travel but the Rancho arms were weak. The truck was a little too high and the center of gravity was off because the control arms were stock length. With long arms things were a lot better but I still didn't like the height of the body lift and the drop bracket. If I could have gotten rid of the body lift and kept the drop bracket lift I would have, but with a motor swap a body lift is needed. One final note: my brothers truck does not have a body lift, so the combination of long arms with the drop bracket works well.