I wheeled my '91 yesterday for the first time ever and it honestly surprised the hell out of me. I took it onto some property where I have permission to cut downed wood on a powerline ROW. The ROW cuts through a small valley which has a few little seasonal streams running through the bottom and then goes up a steep incline. The only tracks on the access road were from what was probably a large skidder with chevron treads so I had to be careful to stay out of the ruts. I pushed it a little because if worse came to worse I could always walk home (about 2 miles away) and get my F350 to pull it out. My Yota is about as stock as it gets complete with POS street tread 235/65/15s:



I just put it in 4HI and pointed it where I wanted it to go. The stream crossings weren't bad as the power company had dumped stone in the bottoms, but climbing up out of them was a little hairy. I had to rev and keep momentum up simply due to the lack of any kind of grip from the tires. I can't even imagine what kind of difference a good set of M/Ts would make! Furthermore, in this area clearance between the diffs and the ground is extremely important because of all the tire swallowing ruts. I know I need to regear for 33s and I plan to (4.88s if not 5.29s), but the 4Runner thread "no lift and 33s" got me thinking. Can I run 33s on the truck without an actual "lift kit" just by cranking the torsion bars up front and installing a taller ZUK spring in the rear? I was going to go with a 12" spring to stay stock but I could do a 14" spring instead and replace the rear shocks/brake line while I'm at it. Finally, would going with 9.5s rather than 10.5s help with avoiding any rubbing? Treadwright sells 33/9.5s CHEAP.

 

yes, you can put 33s on your truck. 33x10.5s should fit without any of those modifications, but a little more clearance from the t-bar adjustment wouldn't hurt. bj spacers will help give you a little more articulation/droop up front - resulting in less 3-wheeling as it helps keep your wheels on the ground for traction with open diffs. for the rear, the ZUK mod is more for trucks that have the "saggy butt syndrome" and is a cheap temporary fix as opposed to buying replacement leafs - your truck looks fine in the pic above, so you may not need anything at all unless you've got issues holding weight back there. you may be able to just get away with a longer set of shackles - 2" longer for every 1" additional height.

as for 33s, there are several popular tires out there that people run, but unfortunately the 9.5" tires are very hard to come by these days. sure you can get them, but good luck finding a replacement since they're somewhat "phased out". same thing with 10.5s - only a handful of manufacturers make those, BFG probably being the most popular - but then again if you need a replacement ASAP, they're usually not on the shelf very long because people buy them up quick. there's a reason why the treadwrights are cheap - because they're retreads. 33x12.5s will require new wheels with different backspacing and/or some modifications up front, in addition to some clearance modifications, but it can be done.

 

If you're concerned about bottoming out the rear suspension when you're loaded up with firewood and don't want to get new rear springs that would be overly stiff when empty why not consider some airbags?
http://shop.airliftcompany.com/dyn_search_vehicle?k=0

they are adjustable air them up when you need extra support/air down when you don't.
they are as cheap or cheaper than a zuk mod which as a previous poster noted may be a popular diy mod but perhaps not the best choice.
Also if a zuk fails you or someone else might get hurt... if the airbag fails other than the boom all that happens is you get saggy on one side...

a lot of the questions you asked have answers that can easily be found using our new search box located just below the upper banner.

nice story about your first off road trip... these little trucks are amazing with what they can do even with less than ideal conditions/equipment... no wonder they are the first choice of freedom fighters everywhere lol...

 

You have an F-350 but gonna use the Toyota for firewood?.
Lots more trips

 

We had a baby and one of the vehicles needs to get sold in order to finance something that can move the whole family around comfortably. I love my Powerstroke but it's a regular cab that I bought when I was a single guy. Me, my wife, my daughter, and my chocolate lab don't fit in it that well anymore I just haven't sold it yet. Believe it or not the Yota will probably work out to be a better firewood getter than the Ford was. It's smaller, more agile, and a hell of a lot lighter should I need to winch out or get pulled out. I used to shy away from a lot of cutting spots with the Ford-a lot of times because it was just to damn wide for the trails. I actually rubbed the passenger side door on a tree once which I'll need to fix before I sell it. Driving the same trails with the Yota is like being in a John Deere Gator by comparison! Plus if I beef up the rear suspension enough and build some racksides I'll probably be able to carry almost the same amount as I did in the fullsize bed of my Ford because I had a large toolbox/auxillary fuel tank that ate up a lot of room.

Thanks-a while back I thought I had read that 33s would only fit with a lift

I know the history, read through the threads on them etc...I'm willing to give them a shot. As I understand it the 33x9.5 MTs they sell are retreaded Super Swampers which I think is the only company still making that size. 10.5s would be fine I just have used 9.5s in the past (on my Land Cruiser-R.I.P. ) and liked them. If I was going to be tearing up and down the highway at 80 MPH with this thing I might re-think the retread idea, but hauling deer/firewood out of the woods and then down 10 miles of two lane country road to my house is no big deal. I might drive it to work once in a while when it snows as I'm getting my wife's Corolla as a DD.

If it was a DD I'd maybe go that route but not for what I'll be using it for. I did read a few posts from another member here (TFE) who said the only regret he had after doing the ZUK mod was that he went with 125lb springs instead of 250lb springs. As far as them popping out I was skeptical at first too, but I can't find any instance of that happening. What wasn't sure of was how much lift (if any) a 14" coil would give me vs. a 12" coil, but it sounds like I might not even need any lift at all in the rear? The springs are cheap-maybe I'll experiment and post my findings. I could always sell the set I don't end up using to someone else.

 

One more thing to remember. Just because the load will physically fit, doesn't mean you should load and carry it. There is gonna be a huge capacity difference between the F-350 and your Toyota.

 

Sure-I realize that the Toyota is a half ton, but with proper tires, 250 lb ZUK springs in the rear, and a modified braking system (T100 mod/LSPV delete) to stop it all, I should be able to move 2000 lbs around safely and easily.