33's and an ARB bumper on stock suspension?

[jplky]

Trying to juggle the three things I want to do first on my stock '96 80 series, ARB front bumper, tires, and a lift.

I can pretty easily swing two of the three right now. Mostly running old logging roads in my local US forest. Nothing hard, only the occasional deep mud hole or high center situation. I can almost do it with road tires and a winch, but what fun would that be!

Anyway, I THINK I prefer to just do tires, bumper, and winch (I have the winch) right now and add an OME 2.5" lift next year or maybe even the end of this year.

Is this a bad idea? Will my front end sag really bad with stock suspension and the weight of the bumper? Any input, opinion, or suggestions appreciated.

 

[Heckraiser]

I don't know if the weight of bumper and winch is too much for 33's and stock suspension, but I'm guessing the rig can handle it.

You could just run a spacer in the front and remove (or leave it in there) when you get around to doing the suspension.

 

[greentruck]

Trying to juggle the three things I want to do first on my stock '96 80 series, ARB front bumper, tires, and a lift.

SNIP

Anyway, I THINK I prefer to just do tires, bumper, and winch (I have the winch) right now and add an OME 2.5" lift next year or maybe even the end of this year.

Is this a bad idea? Will my front end sag really bad with stock suspension and the weight of the bumper? Any input, opinion, or suggestions appreciated.

You should be able to run 33s on the stock suspension. No lift needed.

The bumper by itself should not present a problem. The stock bumper is heavy for what little protection it gives, while the ARB is lighter than you'd think for the protection it gives. Net difference was less than 100 lb IIRC. Of course, when you add a winch, AUX battery, etc, things change.

Since you don't need a lift, you can put that off, put the bumper on, then see how it does with the winch bolted in. Coil springs age and if yours are original, you may want to replace them for that reason alone. The OME 861/862 stock height coils freshen things up and will be able to deal with the added weight.

If on a budget, I say go for tires and the ARB. Try the ARB with and without a winch. I'm sure it will be better with fresh coils, but may be workable with the tired ones.

The good things about the OME 861/862 is that you can use the OEM Toyota spec Tokico shocks (very affordable) or other stock length shock. If you add the winch and battery, too, you may need to upgrade the front pair to the OME Nitro Sports (or others suitable to you) if the Tokicos don't dampen enough. Plus, there is no caster correction needed with the 861/862, so less parts, less hassle, easy to do in your driveway to install.

 

[FloridaFJ80]

Here is my 80 with 33's stock suspension.

 

[KliersLC]

I ran 33s with the stock suspension and a non-winch ARB up front--no issues, no sag. It really depends on the weight of your winch. A used set of OME mediums can be had for cheap if you keep an eye on the classifieds...

 

[OhmStyles]

Stock on 33s. Bumpers and sliders all around

 

[sbman]

The OME kit:

No bump stops here, so the max tire size is identical to the OEM setup. Lift alone does not equal bigger tires! You have to use bump stop increases, fender trimming or body lift to run larger tires.

 

[Tapage]

You could with a simple set of coil spacers ..

 

[jplky]

I have pretty much decided on a tall skinny tire. This will dictate going with the lift. I've fallen in love with the Michelin XL or XLZ tires in 9.00-16! LOL I've always been a skinny tire guy. Even as a teen I ran the tallest, narrowest tire swamper made on my fourwheeler. Built a CJ and ran 33 x 9.50's on it. I think I'll keep with the trend. I can't really spend what they want for the 35x10.50 swampers now though :-(

 

[greentruck]

I'm with you the skinny look. Garage won't permit anything taller than 33s here -- and basically no lift. I could get away with some spacers, but why bother.

If you want skinnys that tall, though, you may need to start saving for some gears, too.

 

[jplky]

I made myself a promise at the first of the year that I would try to be more frugal with my money. I have a BAD gun habit and went a little crazy last year! So, I ordered the BFG's Mud Terrain in 33x10-16. Not going with a lift right now and plan to try to build my own winch bumper. I have a hobby machine shop in the back yard and just bought a plasma cutter that's begging to be used! That will leave me room to buy the lift sooner and hopefully some ARB lockers! Thank you all very much for the info, opinions, and especially the pics!

 

[xetura]

Stock sagging springs + Arb bumper(no winch, yet).

Stock sagging springs + Arb bumper(no winch, yet) + Man-a-Fre 30mm front spacers.

It's a little hard to tell the difference since the first pic is on a hill, but it made a pretty big difference in the front. The truck now sits even... well, until I install my winch lol. Tires are 33" BFG KM2's.

 

[Heckraiser]

decided to be more frugal with money and just bought a new plasma, huh? Sounds like you have your priorities straight

 

[96Cruiser]

I ran 33's [ 305/70/16] on stock suspension with an ARB [never mounted a winch though] for years.....when I pulled the ARB to repowdercoat, It was starting to stinkbug at 20 years of age, so while doing a complete brake overhaul I pulled the front springs [found passenger spring broken] and replaced with OME stock height heavies and the nitrocharger shocks, heck im running 35's now, BUT I don't do radical crawl stuff here, just my weekend, fall weather truck, so it's all good

 

[jplky]

I've wondered if 35's could be stuffed in there if no hard wheeling was planned! I think I'll be happy with the 33's though.