I just bought a 1993 Toyota extra cab 4x4 with a 4 22R motor. I would like to lift it a little and put nice tires and rims on it. I have no clue where to start. It will be driven daily by my 16 year old son. Any suggestions on how high to lift the truck and what size tires and rims?

 

no lift. put some 31's on it with some 15 inch WHEELS.

 

bj (ball joint) spacers in front (front end alignment will be required) small block in rear. 285/70 ( approx. 33 x 10.50 ) bfg all terrains. sounds like you just want a simple but cool trk for you son to enjoy. check for these items on ebay as a kit. its not the best but it is inexpensive and effective. 33 inch is the biggest you can run w/o changing gears. they may rub on a seam of the fire wall (common) but you can gently pound it inward until its flat.

 

the 22re doesn't have the power to pull 33's. I have 31's and i have to shift a lot for mild hills. He never said if it was auto or not. If it is I would regear now.

 

i'd go ball joint spacers and 31x10.50-15

 

My vote is for no lift and 31s. You're going to want to regear if you go to a taller size tire.

31"x10.5"x15" tires on 15"x8" rims with 3.75" backspacing.

If you do want to regear, I'd say not lift with 33"x10.5"x15" tires on 15"x8" rims with 3.75" backspacing.

 

Here's my $0.02
Stay stock for now - make HIM do the research on what to do with the truck, then do the mods together. In the meantime I would go through maintenance stuff on front steering, brakes, etc and make sure it's safe for road, depending on how many miles on truck. There are several YT members over the years who start with older Toyotas in HS and buy them themselves. I wish I was smart enough to have bought one in HS but instead started with a 67 VW bug that was a money pit. Hopefully he bought this truck or helped?

I would have him read the lift guide stickied at top of this forum and decide after he weighs cost of mods vs what you gain vs what is practical, etc. If the truck is 5spd (hopefully it is for learning purposes and anti-distraction) then you may just decide to not touch the suspension right now and just put 31s on the truck out of cost. This was a stock dealer option on some trucks. Go bigger than 31 into 32/33 tires and you'll likely want to regear for power and maybe lift if you don't want to modify metal for clearance depending on tire size desired. I ran 31s on stock height and gearing for a long time, it was still very capable off-road and I got my best mpg at that time.

I will say this though - if you change the tire size to gear ratio, the speedo/odo will be incorrect because they don't match anymore. If you increase tire size without regear, the speedo will read slower/less than actual speed/distance travelled Make sure your son is aware of this or it may get him into trouble. I do believe there is an option to swap the pickup gear used by the speedo for those who want to correct it.


With all that said, and to answer your actual question - I think a 33" tire on maybe 2" lift is a perfect stance for DD and gives enough to be more capable off-road yet not too much for practical DD. It does come with the trade off that you'll likely need to regear the diffs to 4.88 and suspension lift also costs money. The cheapest way to get everything you need is probably off craigslist and good online shopping - you'd be looking for: bj spacers to lift front along with tbar adjustment. Rear needs either new leafs, add a leaf, taller shackles, blocks, etc etc to get more height. 33x10.5 tires will fit stock wheels, a 12.5 wide 33 needs aftermarket wheel and different clearance from sheet metal on truck. Factory 4.88 geared diffs can be anywhere from $50-800. Of course there are many other options, all of which your son can research here on YT

Good luck!

 

Honestly, I wouldn't think of lifting the truck for a 16 year-old beginning driver until he had at least two years of driving experience under his belt, preferably even more. High center-of-gravity trucks/SUV's aren't the safest vehicles in the world at best, and throw in a lift and a green driver and you're inviting a roll-over accident, which never end up good.

 

93 also doesn't have any safety features like airbags...

 

^This!

 

read this:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...tickys-242840/