So everything went pretty smoothly and I am happy with the results. I replaced the rear shocks at the same time with Monroe Sens-a-tracks. The ride is definitely much nicer, not feeling the bumps as much. I wasn't sure whether to go with the 12 or 14'' inch springs but in the end I decided to get 14'' 100lbs springs because I figured if I had to I could always cut some off. The coils were $30 each on ebay (http://www.gearinstalls.com/coilinfo.htm), and the shocks were about $32 each from Rock Auto. I felt like my alternatives were to try add-a-leaf, or purchase new leaf spring packs which I couldn't locate online for less than about $140 each.



This is with the truck sitting on all four tires. As you can see the leaf springs are totally flattened, resting on the overload.



You can see the blatant sagging before I did the mod. My measurement from the center of the hub to the fender was 22'' in the front, and roughly 19'' in the back on both sides.







First I jacked the the truck up under the differential. I then rested it on jack stands underneath the frame towards the rear of the truck, then removed the jack so the axle would be able to lower as much as possible.




I did the mod without mounts or welding. I used both an angle grinder with a cutting disc, as well as a sawzall to remove material from the upper frame mounted bump stop. I don't have a torch, so I wasn't able to heat the front section to make it more malleable, though I may have been able to move it slightly banging on it with the sledge hammer.



I used a bottle jack to lower the leaf springs as much as possible, but it still wasn't quite enough to get the springs in with just my hands. First, I spiraled it into place up top, and then used a flat shovel with the brake drum as a fulcrum to position the lower end of the spring over the lower bump stop. I then simply tapped the spring off the edge of the shovel as I gradually pulled it away, and it popped right into place over the bump stop.





I feel like I was able to leave a reasonable amount of material on the upper bump stop. Once it was in, it definitely seemed like a snug fit and based on other people's testimonials I'm not worried it will come out.



Same process for the other side. Once that was done, I once again jacked up the truck under the differential and also placed the jack stands there so I could replace the shocks.




This is what the old ones looked like.



I think the truck looks just about right now. It's probably slightly higher than stock in the rear now, but I'm happy with how it looks and don't feel any need to cut off part of the springs. My measurement after doing the mod was about 23'' in the rear, for about a 4'' gain over the original measurement. A big thank you to Zuk and everyone on Yotatech, I wouldn't have even been aware of this possibility without the forum here.

 

Looks great! I have to do this too.

 

Dang, that rust makes me cry. You must be back east. Those springs did a number on that sag. Looks good.

 

Hey jason, at least my rust isnt THAT bad!

Nice work with the zuk mod. Looks like it sits perfect now

 

Give that under carriage a good spraying of fluid film ...... twice a year, every year. Fluid film is cheap, rust is $$$$ and hard to work on.

 

Do you wire brush it or anything before spraying the film?

 

holy salt mine bat man!!!! zuk coils look good.

 

this picture scares me




lol, but good job!

 

^^^ lol you can see the spring buckling and twisting... hahahahah

 

Are you saying the spring doesn't seem strong enough?

 

Looks great

 

You should have used an external spring compressor it would have made the job a lot safer! You can rent them at your local auto parts store a spring under pressure is extremely dangerous. FYI

 

I left this part out before but I did actually try to use a spring compressor from Autozone, before using the shovel. The problem was the the hooks on the compressor were too thick to fit in between the coils, meaning I would have had to hook the top and the bottom of the spring, but then I wouldn't have been able to properly get the spring in position and remove the compressor. I guess I can see how this looks dangerous from the pictures, but it never really felt sketchy. The spring was firmly seated up top, and when I used the shovel I was always far away from the spring.

 

thumbs up for the ZUK mod - love mine and gained about the same height. Good write up. That rust **IS** crazy!!

 

Hehehe. nice new avatar, Phil!


To the OP, do you carry alot of gear? In my 4Runner, I got the 14" 125lb. The spring is compressed down to 11" when the body is back sitting on it, wondering what the 100lb. spring sits at in an empty bed, and loaded down.

 

Phil, thanks, I looked at your write-up before doing the mod. The reason I didn't remove the lower bump stop like you did was because my ubolts were so rusty I would have had to cut them and buy new ones, so I wanted to avoid that for now. By New England standards, my truck is actually not that bad rust wise. It's somewhat hard to find one of these trucks that doesn't have a heavily rusted frame. My frame definitely has some rust, but nothing close to rot like a lot of others do. I think I will start using the fluid film like chubbydude suggested. I'd never heard of it before.

Regarding the gear I carry....I guess one thing affecting it is that I have the camper shell on there for now, which is probably holding the springs down a tiny bit. Without that I would have even more of a gain, perhaps even too much. I will at times be carrying a lot of weight but I haven't yet, so I'm not sure how much lower it will get. I could update once I see what happens.

 

I did this same mod on an 86 SR5 pickup (with the taller coils) and I can tell you (even with the camper that I had on it) that loaded down for camping it was a sweet ride. I also did this on my current 4runner that I load down for camping and you'll find that the coils decrease body roll and make the ride very nice..... even with 200lbs of camping gear in the rear.

Well done!

 

No you don't have to wire brush it, maybe a good spray at the car wash underneath to get the pockets where mud and sand collect and get off the loose rust. The fluid film will slowly penetrate the rust and slow down future rust. The other thing is that once it gets absorbed and collects a nice coating of dust, the oily coating looks black.

 

on a 91 pickup i want to do this i am constantly loading my truck till im hitting the bump stops in the rear and it sags empty. i work in construction so pallets of concrete and block or trailers with scrap metal or cars gives me no rear suspenstion. any links of what i need to get and where to get it i already have new stock size shocks and i have a welder and plazma cutter to remove bump stop and weld on spring mounts if i should do that.

 

kmcmahon93---Sounds like you need some 14" x 150 pound coils. Everything you need to know is in the lower left corner of my website.