Hello, all:
After 7 years of owning a 100-series, I was fortunate to acquire a beautiful 1995 80-series. This is an Arizona truck and I am the third owner--my brother-in-law bought it 3 years ago from the wife of a colleague who had passed away and who was the original owner. 228K miles and no rust to speak of. My BIL did a lot of baseline/deferred maintenance when he had it. This truck is so nice that I want to keep it as stock as possible, at least for now. Here's a pic:
As far as suspension maintenance goes, I know that the rear shocks and all the front and rear control arm bushings were replaced within the last 3 years with OE Toyota parts. Likewise, the front steering bushings and the steering damper were also replaced with OE. The front shocks are Gabriels, from before my BIL bought it, and he was planning to do front and rear bumpers before he sold it, so he deferred on replacing the front shocks. The springs are original on all four corners, and they are sagging somewhat.
While the front Toyota coils are available (@$160 + apiece), the rears seem to be discontinued. I ran into this on my 100-series, and ended up using the OME 860s in combination with the OE Tokico shocks, which works well on that truck.
On the 80, I don't necessarily want a lift, and I definitely don't want to have to install the castor correction bushings since the front bushings are quite new. I researched the sticky thread, and I am somewhat overwhelmed at trying to figure out what to do. Googling stock height options, I came across this Dobinsons kit @ Exit Offroad that seems like it might be a good solution. So, a couple of questions:
Best,
Tim
After 7 years of owning a 100-series, I was fortunate to acquire a beautiful 1995 80-series. This is an Arizona truck and I am the third owner--my brother-in-law bought it 3 years ago from the wife of a colleague who had passed away and who was the original owner. 228K miles and no rust to speak of. My BIL did a lot of baseline/deferred maintenance when he had it. This truck is so nice that I want to keep it as stock as possible, at least for now. Here's a pic:
As far as suspension maintenance goes, I know that the rear shocks and all the front and rear control arm bushings were replaced within the last 3 years with OE Toyota parts. Likewise, the front steering bushings and the steering damper were also replaced with OE. The front shocks are Gabriels, from before my BIL bought it, and he was planning to do front and rear bumpers before he sold it, so he deferred on replacing the front shocks. The springs are original on all four corners, and they are sagging somewhat.
While the front Toyota coils are available (@$160 + apiece), the rears seem to be discontinued. I ran into this on my 100-series, and ended up using the OME 860s in combination with the OE Tokico shocks, which works well on that truck.
On the 80, I don't necessarily want a lift, and I definitely don't want to have to install the castor correction bushings since the front bushings are quite new. I researched the sticky thread, and I am somewhat overwhelmed at trying to figure out what to do. Googling stock height options, I came across this Dobinsons kit @ Exit Offroad that seems like it might be a good solution. So, a couple of questions:
- Anyone have experience with this kit?
- Since it is a stock height kit, would it be possible to buy just the springs (C59-210V front and C59221V rear) and use them with the Tokico shocks (necessitating replacing only the front shocks with Tokicos, since the rears were recently replaced).
- Any other options I should be considering?
Best,
Tim
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