"Mini" 4 wheel drives.

[Jay Fleming]

Hey all, I just purchased an 85 toyota 4x4 p/u. I'm wanting to lift it a few more inches because I think the last person, in order to give it a suspension lift, just lifted the truck up on a lift, to where the rear end would fall as far as possible, then weld a bar behind the shackles so that they wouldn't move, causing the suspension to stay locked at full drop. Well I will soon be cutting this bar off to see if that is the culprit and I want to regain the lift or give more. I don't want to spend the 400 or so for a new lift, but I would like to rig, but do it right somewhat, some more lift. I want to either put longer shackles or drop the spring perches, which both would/could give up to 5 or so more inches if done right. I also figure that both could be done for probably $50 and give a lot better ride having the longer shackles. What do y'all think? Thanks.

[Jay Fleming]

Hey all, I just purchased an 85 toyota 4x4 p/u. I'm wanting to lift it a few more inches because I think the last person, in order to give it a suspension lift, just lifted the truck up on a lift, to where the rear end would fall as far as possible, then weld a bar behind the shackles so that they wouldn't move, causing the suspension to stay locked at full drop. Well I will soon be cutting this bar off to see if that is the culprit and I want to regain the lift or give more. I don't want to spend the 400 or so for a new lift, but I would like to rig, but do it right somewhat, some more lift. I want to either put longer shackles or drop the spring perches, which both would/could give up to 5 or so more inches if done right. I also figure that both could be done for probably $50 and give a lot better ride having the longer shackles. What do y'all think? Thanks.

[Wilso]

Seems like without moving shackles the ride would be kinda harsh, they are there for a reason. Assuming the suspension is solid axle front and rear with leafs over the axle, you are right that longer shackles will work. This disadvantage comes with excessive lateral movement due to the tolerance and bushings in the system. I had a '73 Scout II with 8 inch shackles that had bad body sway, it had leafs under the axle so blocks weren't an option. One thing you can do is a shackle flip upront- the shackles are most likely at the front of the spring so move them to the back and add rigid drop brackets in their place. This will give a smoother ride also. I'm guessing "drop the spring perches" means adding blocks, which also works, but contributes to axle wrap and wheel hop under torque, which can be negated with traction bars or whatever you prefer to call them. New leaf springs are the best method but of course cost the $400.
Is it obvious I was into off-roading before coming to college and finding FSAE?
I've seen this mini's up on 44's, a little ridiculous but kinda cool.

[Jay Fleming]

Thanks for the info, I'll clarify a little more. It does have spring over front and rear from the factory as well as solids front and rear. The shackles are in the rear of the spring. By "drop the spring perches", I meant the spring mounts at the solid end of the spring, meaning space them away from the frame a couple inches. I thought about my terminology afterwards. 44s would be fun, but I'm happy with 33s for now.

[drivetrainUW-Platt]

if your leaf springs are on the wrong side of the axle(top or bottom) companies make whats called a flip kit, both for lowering (puts leafs below axle, gives 3-4" of drop, then you can put drop blocks in there to get even more, but it would also work in reverse, put it on top, few inches of lift, then use the drop blocks for lift...kits are pretty universal, try Belltech or the like

[Jay Fleming]

It already has the springs over the axles. Thanks though.

[Garbo]

My buddy has a early 90's toyota pickup. For about a 6" lift, he and I did a solid axle conversion on the front with some mods to the rear. The modifications were longer shackles and spacers under the springs... this was followed up by traction bars the next week. He got a set of leaf springs made up by a local spring shop for fairly cheap (for the front), just dropped off an old set and got them copied + 4 inches. I would get new rear springs as well and get rid of the spacers, if I were to do it again.

We went out one saturday morning, after a pretty heavy night and started grinding the IFS off the truck. We were driving it before dark, complete with a 6" lift, solid front axle and 35's. Not bad for a day's work.

garbo

[markocosic]

Return everything to stock then go for lowering the spring (and shock) mounts on the frame/chassis OR: lowering the shock mounts and having the springs re-tempered/re-set with more curvature at a spring shop. Both should give 'ok' road-manners.

Why do you want/need the lift BTW?

[Jay Fleming]

Well I wanted the lift in the beginning because I thought it was originally a "rigged" lift. After careful review, it doesn't seem that way. But the truck is fixin to be for sale, so I dont wanna do any more work to it. Thanks for the info though.