so I've been thinkin... (1 Viewer)

[clownmidget]

2.5 ome with ome trim packers and mr gasket spacers in the front

ok, so just go check any pics posted of AMMO's truck. That is the suspension lift he's running. He then added a 2-3" body lift for about $100 and then installed an electric radiator fan for $300. He runs 37's just fine and has done some pretty intense trails.

look at it this way, if you don't like it, it all bolts off and your truck is back to stock with minimal investment.

 

[Mr.Bryan]

ok, so that's already the cost of a full set of custom coils in any lift and pretty much any rate you want from Slee/OME. Slap 'em on, wheel it and adjust accordingly :hillbilly

ok, here's the thing with that. I do the slee coil overs, i have to extend everything. It's never that easy, and I'm not saying what I am proposing is easy either.

I don't see this adding up. you still have the spring perches, ubolts, shackle set up, I'm guessing the steering is not going to work in it's current configuration so that's a wild-a$$ guess as to how that'll play out. As I said before, lots and lots of folks have spent a lot less time and pretty much the same money to get 35" tires running just fine both on the road and off road. anyone with advanced fab skills can spend almost no money on using the stock front control arms, cutting them and re-welding them to get the right caster and cutting and sleeving everything else (e.g., z80).

As far as the steering goes, i still have a little more research to do there. perches, shackes i can make, ubolts i can get at ace hardware. I'd like to end at a 36 or 37" tire. That is plenty for this truck and I dont think I'd ever want to do anything other then that. As far as fabbing up the control arms myself, it can be done, I'd just have to get all of the dimentions and all that stuff and make sure I've got everthing set up right. cutting and sleeving stuff isn't hard either, but what I'm saying is that if I want to ever go more then 6" i have to do all of that again, where as leafs, just throw some bigger shackles in there or somethin.

I have to laugh at that one. there are some great leaf sprung trucks that get great flex but I wouldn't take them up to 100 mph on the freeway and do any steering Seriously, you can build up your coil spring 80 to run 35-37" tires, not have the bolt-on, bolt-off or slickness of say a full Slee setup, spend a lot more of your time and resources, but have it act pretty much like a regular OME 2.5" lift on 33's. And I assume you're talking about your friends 92 4Runner being leafed only in the front since their rear was already a sweet 4-link coil setup that flexed like mad kind of like some other Toyota's...

I'm not planning on running the baja 1000 in this thing. I cruise on the highway at 60-65 as is. I don't need to go fast and if everything is put together correctly, then i shouldn't have to worry about highway driving.

my friends 92 runner is leafs all around. we stripped everything and went with leafs because of the simplicity of them. I am very impressed with the way that truck turned out and if mine was like that I would be more then happy. the ammount of flex his truck has now is nuts and minus the 3L v6 it's great on the highway.




I'm just laying out there what i have in my head. I'm not defending leafs against coils (i know it sounds like i am) I'm just trying to put my ideas out there and what i see as possibilities.

 

[CJF]

Why not post this in the Hardcore Corner?

 

[Gumby]

My guess is they would tear it up. Lots of guys on there trying to get rid of crappy limiting leaf set ups and putting coils in.

A good coil set up would out flex John and be more stable. The way his truck leans now is scary. I don't think you would have been able to hold that hill going down to the river without flopping into the tree if you had leafs.

Wrist one of the front arms. extending the rear control arms and making dropeed front control arm brackets will take the same scrap steel that leaf hangers would. New coils would be WAY cheaper than new leafs. Used coils are pretty much free. Sleeving the existing control arms costs almost nothing.

Limiting factors of the 80 are width and weight, not the suspension.

 

[sleeoffroad]

The way the steerings arms on the 80 are does not work with leaf springs. Ask anyone that has done a 80 front swap into something with leaf springs. That is your biggest headace.

 

[tarbe]

At first I thought this was going to be one of those April Fools jokes - converting a coil truck to leaves vs the other way around.

I must be missing something - I thought the 80 series coil suspension was more comfortable on road, more responsive and generally better travel off road, and easier and cheaper to mod?

So what exactly is better about leaves? No panhard rod?

 

[Mr.Bryan]

Thanks guys, this is all the stuff I wanted to know. I checked out the steering too and went over a few things with that... and that damn christo character is right. It would be a big headache to tackle that. I'm going to look into what it would take to make some longer control arms for the front. I guess if I could do that, then just sleeve all the other stuff in the time it would take me to grind it off for leafs. ok, well off to wheel.