85 pickup questions/ideas

[Nickkw]

Here in the next month or so I plan on starting on my 85 pickup once I finish up the 02. Just a couple of questions/ideas I'd like some input on.

For the rear, Im going to be using chevy 63's since I have a set laying around. I was considering putting the rears up front, but they are pretty rusty and worn out. Has anyone ever put rears from a 1st gen Tacoma up front? I'll have almost new set once i go to 62's on the 02.

I'll also have a Tacoma rear axle laying around. I've always liked that track width on the beach, where the 85 will spend 90% of its life. If I remember correctly, a 60 series front axle is the same width, anyone ever done this swap?

Lastly, for now at least, I love the round headlight style pickups. Is this a simple swap (like tacoma/4runner swaps) or much more involved? Body has a lot of rust (bought it partially to learn body repair) so I dont really have a problem replacing the front clip.

Thanks for any help/input.

 

[2ndGenToyotaFan]

I think the Taco and maybe the 89-95 rear springs are a bit longer than the 79-88 rears, So I don't think they would be a good option for rears up front...

 

[Nickkw]

I'm pretty sure they are, and maybe a little wider also. Just throwing around ideas for cheap options since just about anything is gonna cost more than the 200 I spent on the truck.

 

[H8PVMNT]

I used my longer '94 (3rd gen length) rear emu springs for rears up front. They locate the axle further forward so you have to have the steering box take over the body mount location to make the hi-steer work. There is a little more spring out the back but not enough to cause a problem hanging up on anything. The ride is super awesome and they flex a little more than the standard shorter spring RUF. When I first set it up I used 14" stroke shocks which were maxed out on compression and extension and I had so much flex that my hi-steer arms crushed the bottom of the shock body and I had the super long marlin extended brake lines maxed out like guitar strings. I re-arranged things and ended up using 12"shocks and limited my uptravel a bit more to keep things healthy. They are a bit more work but I think they work really well for RUF, especially if you allready have a set. Not sure about Tacoma springs though.

 

[pappy]

Tacoma rear springs are very flat.

 

[toomanytoyzz]

Find another set of rear 1979-95 toy pickup springs and combine them with the pack you already have. You normally have to play around with different configurations before you get it right using rears up front anyway. The 79-83 style springs are better to use as the main leaf since they have a bolt only instead of a sleeve which is a PITA to remove when it seizes inside the bushing. Roger Brown has a good writeup on using sping packs from a 79-83 and 84-88 Toyota 4Runner Suspension Upgrade.

 

[Dedtruk]

Here in the next month or so I plan on starting on my 85 pickup once I finish up the 02. Just a couple of questions/ideas I'd like some input on.

For the rear, Im going to be using chevy 63's since I have a set laying around.

Ditto on Roger's site, its excellent, just killed two hours there and found solutions to several probs I've been having with my rig.

I used instructions off Pirate to install my 63s and it ended up pushing the rear axle back a bit (like 1-1.5"). It didn't seem like a big deal but it threw off my shock mounts which killed the shocks, etc. I think a better method of locating the spring hangers on the frame is to run a plumb bob off the frame to locate the center of the stock rear axle and then position the spring center pin accordingly, meaning the center pin on the spring should fall at the center of the axle. Then you simply attach your spring hangers wherever they fall on the frame. Just food for thought for ya.