Big tires small-(ish) pockets

[Dog in Da Cruiser]

Hi everyone I have a couple questions about larger tires and what needs to be done to suspension and other components. This is my first post so I hope its in the right place.

I currently finishing up baselining my 97 and have started to look at some mods. To start off I would love to stuff 39s on it but Im unsure were to start. Ive done a bit of research for different suspension setups but Im a bit overwhelmed with all the options so Ive turned to this post to look for some people who have first hand experience and could help me out.

I like I said above Im looking at 39 inch tires and with that I want to re-gear to 5.29 Yukons. Right now Im hung up on suspension how many inches of lift and anything else I may need to do in order to clear 39s without destroying the geometry of my Land cruiser. This post is a little bit of a cry for help but Im just looking for any advice I can get. Additionally if there is already a thread that goes over this in detail I would love to look at that. Thanks!

 

[mudgudgeon]

Advice?

Revise your ambitions to match the depth of your pockets.

Half-assed mods suck. You'll end up spending more in the long run, or damaging something you should have changed, but didn't because of lack of funds

Or, just send it! 39s will self clearance eventually

 

[Squeegee]

Model it after @Broski s build

 

[Azca]

Hate to say it but, 80s are not where you want to be if money is tight. There is nothing cheap about an 80 and don't go cheap now because you will just end up throwing that money away when you finally accept that the cheap fixes just don't work.

If you lift it, you WILL change the suspension geometry. Don't go cheap and try offset bushings or bearings, just throwing money away. At a minimum, if you lift, plan on either new radius arms or caster correction plates and a panhard bar or bracket. I love the Delta Radius arms an panhard bracket, best money I have spent on the old girl. You can also get the Delta arms that must the axle forward a bit, can't recall how much though.

If you go with a 3" lift, you are dancing with the devil for a DC shaft. Some rigs work, others don't. If you go higher than 3", plan on the DC shaft.

To clear 39s, you will be cutting something. I am not sure a 6" lift will clear them and everyone I spoke with 5 or more inches hates the way they drive.

So now that I peed on your Wheaties, you may want to cut your plans back to 35s or 37s and a shorter lift if $s are a factor and, they always are...

 

[Marvelicious]

It might be worth a look at the build Nate from Dirt Lifestyle (Youtube) did on his channel for last year's Onx build challenge. If I remember right, he managed to do 39s with stock springs, 1" lift pucks, a lot of trimming and a little bit of bump stop lowering. He did quite a bit of body work to make it look less cut up than that sounds.

The final result did pretty well, but the competition was based heavily on votes, so he lost out to guys with more followers. I'm also not entirely sure how close some of the others stuck to their budget.

 

[Broski]

Can you weld and fabricate?
Low lift 2.5-3” and 39s can work and work well just a lot of cutting and fabrication.
Delta arms are nice but not necessary. You can get the same results with landtank caster correction plates and if you can fabricate, you can move the OEM arms forward yourself to help clear 39.
It’s all Documented in my build thread.

 

[Dog in Da Cruiser]

Hate to say it but, 80s are not where you want to be if money is tight. There is nothing cheap about an 80 and don't go cheap now because you will just end up throwing that money away when you finally accept that the cheap fixes just don't work.

If you lift it, you WILL change the suspension geometry. Don't go cheap and try offset bushings or bearings, just throwing money away. At a minimum, if you lift, plan on either new radius arms or caster correction plates and a panhard bar or bracket. I love the Delta Radius arms an panhard bracket, best money I have spent on the old girl. You can also get the Delta arms that must the axle forward a bit, can't recall how much though.

If you go with a 3" lift, you are dancing with the devil for a DC shaft. Some rigs work, others don't. If you go higher than 3", plan on the DC shaft.

To clear 39s, you will be cutting something. I am not sure a 6" lift will clear them and everyone I spoke with 5 or more inches hates the way they drive.

So now that I peed on your Wheaties, you may want to cut your plans back to 35s or 37s and a shorter lift if $s are a factor and, they always are...

Thanks for the input, Im just now realizing that my title doesn't quite match what I wanted to say and I cant edit it. Ive got about $20k set aside for my build, I just wanted to stay away from something like a 3 link kit.

 

[family80]

20k can easily fit 39s

 

[Dog in Da Cruiser]

Can you weld and fabricate?
Low lift 2.5-3” and 39s can work and work will just a lot of cutting and fabrication.
Delta arms are nice but not necessary. You can get the same results with landtank caster correction plates and if you can fabricate, you can move the OEM arms forward yourself to help clear 39.
It’s all Documented in my build thread.

I can weld a bit. When you say a lot of cutting do you mean trimming fender flares and tubbing the wheel wells? And I'll definitely check out your build, Thanks!

 

[Broski]

I can weld a bit. When you say a lot of cutting do you mean trimming fender flares and tubbing the wheel wells? And I'll definitely check out your build, Thanks!

I went as far as I could with out tubbing the wheel wells.
But I also filled everything back in instead of just pie cutting it and shoving it out of the way.
If you have questions feel free to PM me. Always like talking Cruiser’s

 

[GW Nugget]

Stay at the 3" threshold or below.
Start with 37s & bump down 2.5", this will give you 3.5" of uptravel in the front with 3" suspension lift.
You can cut fenders later to achieve more uptravel later in the build.
If you must, you can add coil spacers so when you realise what a 4" lift does to your rig you can pull them out.
Move front axle forward 1".
Dont cheap out on shocks, best bang I would right now are the Ironman Foam Cell Pro. I have those.
When you do the Tcase gears do both high & low gearset at the same time.
I can go as everyone here knows I do, so I will stop here...............................................................

 

[CrabCake]

A few thoughts to consider...
Are you still at stock height? If not where are you now on any suspension/tire upgrades? 39's are huge, even next to my 315's.
Are there any clubs or other cruiser heads somewhat local to you to check out their rigs (of any modification level)?
Have you wheeled with other 80's? I'm amazed at how capable, fun, drivable, and reliable mine is on 315's (34.5"'s).
Can you do work such as your own gear install? If not, basics like this will eat your budget for breakfast if you need to pay for labor.
Are you willing to cut up the body? This would be an absolute game ender for me as my rig is way to nice to chop up.
What is your end goal? Not to be smart, but just going for looks, or do you have specific wheeling goals to consider?

Just putting this all out there...even if you need to travel a bit, find a shop, club, or other owners willing to give you additional insight, or better yet, a ride along! Here in MD/VA/PA, we have a handful of regional clubs and many summer wheeling weekend gatherings that always have an open seat!

 

[cruzinfj1]

Im in work on mine right now. Was on 37s, and have made the move to 40" Baja Boss MTs. Keeping it on a 2 1/2" spring, but I did a 3 link in the front and adjustable uppers and lowers in the rear. Even with pushing the front forward about 1 1/4" and able to move my rear back, there is still a lot of cutting and metal work that needs to be done. Alot more than I expected once I got into it. Front isnt too bad, but starting to get into the rear, and there is a lot of work there to make it all work. One thing I will ad, is have your wheels picked out and then start trimming/cutting. I sold off my Methods and went with a set of 3 3/4" BS wheels to push them out a little bit more.
Definitely plan on doing the tcase gearing when you do the 5.29s. Also, as mentioned above, check out @Broski build and what Dirt Lifestyle did with that LX for their build.
This is another one Ive read over

Build - 97 on 40s Expo Build

Hey everyone. I have been building my 1997 Land Cruiser for a few months now. It took a year of saving before this, and many hours of work in between high school classes. But ever since I saw @Apounder and his crazy truck I knew I wanted 40s. You can blame my dad for the love for Land Cruisers...

forum.ih8mud.com

Cant remember his username on here, but he has a thread also-


20k will definitely get you there, Im nowhere near that, but I have done all the work myself.

 

[Broski]

Everyone will have there opinion.
The 80 on a low lift and 39s becomes a nearly unstoppable machine still capable of doing 75-80 down the highway.
This video I was with 2 4runners and 4 mini trucks and the 80 just dominated the trail

I went with the Mud hogs 39x12.50 17s on 3.75 back space 8.5" wide wheels this allows the tires to tuck in in the rear and also help save the 8" diff in the front

 

[Brindleboxer]

Not sure where you are located but here's the only really active club I know of in WA.

WA- North Sound Cruisers

forum.ih8mud.com

There are various levels of builds on many 80s in the Puget Sound area, feel free to post and /or go to the next meetup (the next one is May 25th).
You can checkout the other clubs via the clubhouse tab at the top of the page.