Rear height question

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digital

digital

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94 Toyota Pickup 4x4

I will be installing 32'' BFG KM2 M/T's.

I used this guide to adjust my torsion bars Torsion Bar Adjustment - Trucks 4x4 @ Off-Road.com.

After adjusting the torsion bars, I measured exactly 14.5" from the top of rim to the fender.

My question is what should I do as far as adjusting the the hieght of the rear of the truck? Should I leave it alone or install something to compensate for the raise in the front of the truck?

Appreciate it.

:beer:
 
I would think you would want to have your truck level? As well, the rear needs to take on loads-if you use you truck as a truck. Perhaps an additional leaf in the rear?

Is the 32 a true 32" tire? The reason I ask is that I run a 31 MT and have plenty of room/0 rubbing issues. I cant imagine needing to crank the T Bars for a 32 but maybe you just want a different aesthetic?
 
You could do Add-A-Leafs, air-bags, or longer shackles, or a better more permanent solution is to replace the leaf springs. Fifteen year old stock leaf springs are gonna be pretty flexed out, probably sagging.
 
KLF said:
You could do Add-A-Leafs, air-bags, or longer shackles, or a better more permanent solution is to replace the leaf springs. Fifteen year old stock leaf springs are gonna be pretty flexed out, probably sagging.
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Sounds like I may be due for new leaf springs, excuse me for my lack of knowledge but do they sell the leaf springs 2"-3" higher than stock or will I still need to add shackles if I buy new leaf springs?

Which brand of leafs do you recommend?
 
digital said:
Sounds like I may be due for new leaf springs, excuse me for my lack of knowledge but do they sell the leaf springs 2"-3" higher than stock or will I still need to add shackles if I buy new leaf springs?

Which brand of leafs do you recommend?
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You gain lift by adding different springs so yes, you can lift the truck with springs. Consider as well you will need different shocks-longer travel.
 
Jukelemon said:
You gain lift by adding different springs so yes, you can lift the truck with springs. Consider as well you will need different shocks-longer travel.
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I need longer shocks even if I only raised it 2" in the rear? what about the length of the shocks in the front if I've done the torsion bar adjustment and gained about 1.5" in the front?
 
Another way to increase height on the front while gaining a bit more flex performance out of the IFS is a ball joint spacer. You will have to either get an alignment typically around 80 dollars or do a drive way alignment when adjusting the torsion bars. When you crank to Torsion bars you also lose some flex and make your front end more stiff.
What I did is keep the torsion bars where they were added ball joint spacers and my front end ended up lifting to 16 inches from the top of the 15 inch rim to the fender. A few more things you can do low pro bump stops, and disconnect and toss the pointless sway bar, I don't feel a difference now that its in the garbage. Good luck and with spacers you need longer shocks and toytec lifts where I got my stuff from have exactly what you need.
 
Family 40's said:
Another way to increase height on the front while gaining a bit more flex performance out of the IFS is a ball joint spacer. You will have to either get an alignment typically around 80 dollars or do a drive way alignment when adjusting the torsion bars. When you crank to Torsion bars you also lose some flex and make your front end more stiff.
What I did is keep the torsion bars where they were added ball joint spacers and my front end ended up lifting to 16 inches from the top of the 15 inch rim to the fender. A few more things you can do low pro bump stops, and disconnect and toss the pointless sway bar, I don't feel a difference now that its in the garbage. Good luck and with spacers you need longer shocks and toytec lifts where I got my stuff from have exactly what you need.
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I think this is what I am going to do. Do I need longer shocks all around or just the front? Did you get your shocks from Toytec?

What did you do to raise the rear? shackles?
 
Yeah I got the toytec lift with the ES1000 shocks. It rides pretty good. I ended up going with an Add a leaf, but already have 2 inch shackles on there. I have the ES1000 for all four corners. Some people will try to steer you away from add a leafs saying it will harshen your ride. But with my experience it is the short AAL that do that. I love the extra height that I have from mine and don't even notice a difference in ride quality. I decided ES1000 instead of the bilsteins because I plan on doing an SAS down the road and didn't want to spend the extra money to waste it. The shocks are long enough that it doesn't limit travel. Ill take some pictures today so you have an idea of where it will sit with this set up.

I was extremely happy with my combination of the AAL, Ball joint spacers with no adjustment to torsion bars, new shocks, no sway bar, and low pro bump stops. Another thing I decided keep my down travel bump stop stock and not shim the low pro so I don't have any CV bind. Here is an article that can help you with the Ball joint spacers:

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/Docs/BallJointSpacer_HowTo.shtml
 
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Here they are: Low pro bump stops and the the pictures below the one on the right is the stock bumpstop on the down limit. If you plan on putting a low pro there make sure you have no cv bind, it explains it on that link i gave you.
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Family 40's said:
Yeah I got the toytec lift with the ES1000 shocks. It rides pretty good. I ended up going with an Add a leaf, but already have 2 inch shackles on there. I have the ES1000 for all four corners. Some people will try to steer you away from add a leafs saying it will harshen your ride. But with my experience it is the short AAL that do that. I love the extra height that I have from mine and don't even notice a difference in ride quality. I decided ES1000 instead of the bilsteins because I plan on doing an SAS down the road and didn't want to spend the extra money to waste it. The shocks are long enough that it doesn't limit travel. Ill take some pictures today so you have an idea of where it will sit with this set up.

I was extremely happy with my combination of the AAL, Ball joint spacers with no adjustment to torsion bars, new shocks, no sway bar, and low pro bump stops. Another thing I decided keep my down travel bump stop stock and not shim the low pro so I don't have any CV bind. Here is an article that can help you with the Ball joint spacers:

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/Docs/BallJointSpacer_HowTo.shtml
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the info and pics, very helpful.

btw: that link doesn't work?

:cheers:
 
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I also meant to mention the low pro bump stops are about 6 bucks for 2. cheap upgrade alot of gain. just if you put them on the down limit make sure to check the cv shafts to ensure they dont bind and if they do make sure to shim those stops.
 
So in terms of what to do to the rear its dependent on how much you want to spend / what you want to get out of it. Add a Leaf sounds great for this sort of thing, but my friend says that directly after he put those on his his rear suspension started to suck. So in terms of just gaining a couple inches I would just swap in a couple extra toyota leafs into the spring pack.

Shackle length is a debatable thing amongst us interweb guys you'll hear a load of different things. Fact is its not super important. There is a geometrically perfect length of shackle, but you have to factor in mounting location which requires you to cut and reweld the shackle mount. In the end for someone not doing anything super big as long as your around or near 10% of your curved spring length your fine. (measure this center to center from the eyes.)

Now if your planning on spending a little money a bit more than 200$ could net you a set of old man emu springs. You would probably have to call or e-mail them so that you get the direct bolt on length springs with the amount of lift you prefer, but here's a link to those springs: CS009R HILUX 4RNR REAR (OME17) - OME Dakar Leaf Springs - Suspension Systems - Online Store - OldManEmu.com

Someone might suggest using lift blocks under your springs, I and a lot of other people would consider this to be a bad thing to do and I would suggest you ignore that particular suggestion.

Happy Trails!
 
I'm assuming you've gone onto vendor sites and looked at what's on offer to lift your truck 2" +/-? Just in case you haven't done that, here's what is included in a complete 2 1/2" OME kit:

Cruiser Outfitters
 
Awesome idea, I never even thought of that building your own springs.

I went with the AAL and it is great for me, plus I have not noticed a reduction in flex either. I am happy. I have plans to run a 2 inch body lift then 35's with 5.29's all round run the hell out of that for 5 years. Everyone tells me its a waste of money but I am excited about the set up. Ill keep all informed with the project.
 
I had Add A Leafs in the back of my pickup for awhile, I would never buy them again. After a few wheeling trips, my leafs were all bent out of shape from the AAL's. Longer thin ones might have worked better? I ended up buying a set of 2" downey springs, and was much happier with them. The add a leafs were half the price of the full leaf springs, spend a little more and do it right.
 
the Downey 2" lift rear spring is a pretty good match for a cranked t bar or ball joint spacer lift. With a 1"body lift and a bit of minor fender trimming you can run 33" without rubbing. I would not bother with 35" until the sas. If you really need 35" tires then you really need to ditch the ifs.
 
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