To body lift or not to body lift, that is the question!

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

I like the Idea of being able to lift up the gas tank and drivetrain / transfer case and get them out of the way a bit. Mabye I can do the same with the spair tire x-member mount to get the spair under the bed up a little higher.

How hard is it to raise up the gas tank? Anyone tried raising up the spair?

If I raise up the drivetrain 1-2" and put in a toy box down the road will I still have to move the horsecollar x-member?
 
I did a 3 inch lift on the drive train and gas tank. I build custom spacers for the engine mounts, build custom mounts for the Transfer case. Lifting the gas tank was a bit involved... I cut and raised the cross member, and cut and sectioned the gas tank skid to fit... see link in sig for Green Bastard...

I didn't do anything to the tire mount... Just took it off.... :D
 
meigsrock said:
I think I will keep the body lift to 1-2" if I do one.

Boyo, Those were ball joint spacers I was looking at in that 2" lift kit. I also found some at 1.5". How big were your spacers that it trashed your cv joints.

A 3" lift looks pretty good with 33"s. I found a picture of one with a 3" body and 33"s but could not load the photo.

I think a 1-2 body lift with 1.5" ball joint spacers would be good unless those ball joint spacers are going to trash my cv joints.
Click to expand...

Here's a pic of mine with a 1.5'' body lift and about 1.5'' sus lift. The tyres are 33x12.5''

I used 1.5'' ball joint spacers - 1'' would have been better. I had to hack the ends of the upper A arm on the suspernsion the get the ball joint to fit.

I personally would not go with a 3'' body lift. Apart from all the extra hassle - shifters, fuel filler, radiator, steering, prop shafts, etc - I have always wondered about the potential bending moment caused by such long bolts. I've got this vision of the body flying off in a front end crash!!!!

Image020-1.jpg
 
yes, there is leverage to take into consideration hence my caution against puting a second body mount ontop of the original and just using longer bolts.
make the lift a one piece high density rubber with steel shank for "crush" control.
then grade 8 bolts proper length and girth.
if these are torqued to proper setting with proper crush on the rubber mounts then you would be as strong as factory.

of course the other way would be to weld steel pipe with proper holeing to the height required and then the original mounts reused.

problem is that MOST (not all) guys want to do a lift on the cheap, quick and easy.

a hack job body lift is, in my eyes, as dangerous as faulty brake or steering system ... life threatening.

each to their own.

personally, i would rather see a 1" to 1.5" lift and trimmed fenders but then i like "low and stable" on my rigs. the "North American" lifted look does nothing for me.
 
Boyo: I like the looks of your truck. Looks good with 33's. you should get manual lock out hubs on it to save your CV boots some wear.

I am still considering the 1.5" ball joint spacers. I like that idea better than messing with the tortion bars to get the lift. My truck has Asain hubs so I can unlock them for daily driving to keep the axles from turning all the time. Hopefully this will save on the CV boot wear. I do drive it in 4wd all winter long (maybe 3000 miles of winter driving) so I am still considering it. I have another set of rear pickup springs that I am going to add to mine this summer to beef them up. I will add one or two which should hopefully let me forgo the add a leaf and just get a longer shackel in the rear to even out if I do the ball joint lift.

I am also stil not sure how much lift to do on the body lift. I think for now I will keep it as is on my 31's because most folks recomend regearing for 33's or bigger. So the question then becomes do I lift and re-gear for 33's, or for 35's? Or should I do the SAS with 35's. In the end I would like to do the SAS but I think for now that money will go into my FJ60 build.

Maybe I will regear for 35's because that is what I plan on running on my FJ-60. Then if I ever do a SAS I will only be replacing the front end gears instead of both ends.

I should probably see if I can barrow some 33's to try with my stock gears and see how that works first. Anyone located in Anchorage and want to loan me some tires for a coupel of weeks?

Thanks for all the advice and opinions guys, lots to think about and consider. The links are great too.
 
Again, you can't beat the factory 4.88 diffs and you'll be much happier with them with 33's. Stock is doable on the street but sucks wheeling. You want the diffs out of a 93-95 v6 auto 4runner with factory 31" tires. 400 hundred in good shape for front and rear. Compare that to 1200-1400 to do an actual regear. You can get 200 for your 4.10 chunks too so it gets even cheaper...
 
I think I would be best to re-gear too because it is only a 4-banger and I plan on towing rafts, snowmachinenes, atv's, and small boat with it on occasion so I will need the gears to match too keep it from being too gutless.

I thought about trying to find some cheaper used ones so that info on the 93-96 v6's with auto is great......I did not know that. Do you know the axle data plate # or teeth count for 4.88's so when I go to a junk yard I can know if they are 4.10 or 4.88's?

I think that price on the re-gear may be a bit high. I thought gears usually run $200-300 per end and bearings/seals about $100 or so = $300-400 per end, but that is with no labor so maybe that is where the extra $ is coming in. But if I can cut that price in half with a used set and sell mine that would be great.
 
Yeah 800 in parts plus labor, and with an ifs front end I think the parts run a bit higher. i think you'll find it hard to get labor under 200 bucks per end, at least if you want someone who's worked on tons of toyota chunks.

Axle code is G144, from 92-95, v6, auto, 31's and tow package is mostly what they came in. Most yards will know if it's a 4.88 already since these are somewhat desirable third members, and most will have them pulled already. you should be able to get them for 400/pair IF the yard knows they're 4.88's If not 250 and then you really scored.

One thing to keep in mind here is don't get this if you ever plan on running 5.29's. the factory 4.88's have a "special" width ring gear and there is no aftermarket support for it as far as I know. you can only buy the toyota brand ring and pinion for it. you can fit in standard toyota lockers though so don't worry about that. and the front I think is the same as other ifs 7.5" diffs - it's just the rear we're talking about. that said if you stick with 4.88's, which is great for 33's and even 35's, this diff will never let you down. you WILL NOT break this thing! It's the strongest diff toyota made for the mini-trucks - cryogenically treated gears! you have to pay big big money to get gears this strong in an aftermarket setup.
 
curious, i have abuddy with a 96, V6 auto, 31s stock and elec rear diff. is this the one?
 
too bad, that e/locker is tempting.

is it because there was a change in design or a change in gearing after that date?
 
crushers said:
curious, i have abuddy with a 96, V6 auto, 31s stock and elec rear diff. is this the one?
Click to expand...

The Tacoma front diff is different from the 86-95 IFS diffs. The rear locker can be retrofitted into an early 8 inch axle housing. What the diff gears are I'm not sure, but I'd guess 4.30 or 4.56 with the 3.4 and an auto... I'm 99.99999% sure the E-Lockers never came in 4.88's. :cheers:
 
the vehicle in question is a 4play, not the pickup ... my bad. does that make any difference?
 
i "think" this might be the diff:
41110-60570 carrier assy 9108-9708 4.56 w RDL
41110-35650 carrier assy 9008-9108 4.30 w RDL

thanks, i think you are right, from what i can see on the EPC there wasn't a 4.88 w RDL. too bad since the LJ71/78 came with the electric rear diff 4.89 ... i wonder if that is why the LJ rear diff stands up so well to abuse.

of course i guess another possiblity would be to install the coil sprung axles from the LJ under the minitruck ... grey matter is begining to smoke, best rest for a bit.
 
I don't have the link but if you Google "Erik Toyota diff" first thing that comes up is a page that spells all this stuff out. Basically though the 8" diffs from 79-95 are all plug and play interchangeable on all pickups and 4runners from those years. Same with 86-95 front ifs diffs. I've heard rumors of getting the elocker from a Tacoma to work but I'm not sure what's involved. Definitely some fabbing is required.

I don't think the v6 factory 4.88 is necessarily stronger than the other factory diffs, though v6 stuff is stronger than 4 cylinder stuff. In general the Toyota factory stuff beats the pants off aftermarket gears unless you get them cryo treated.
 
I needed a 1" body lift and slightly trimmed fenders/firewall to clear 33"/12.5"r15 tires with sagged out 2" lift Downey rear springs and slightly cranked t-bars with low profile bump stop for more droop. Seems to work well enough. The 8" wide 3.75 backspace wheels also leave room for the idler arm brace and keep the tires from rubbing on the frame when stuffing the rear axle but cause rubbing issues on the firewall when turning which inspired me to do a bit of firewall/fender trimming. Budbuilt cross member buttons things up a bit and provides more clearance/protection where you need it. A bit of trimming around the tcase shift boot was necessary also. The stock 4:88 gears from a junkyard have worked well and were affordable. I already had armor on the truck so there is now an inch more space for the sliders to flex without hitting the pinch weld. A piece of trim from a tacoma stock bumper fills the gap between front fender and arb bumper. I did lift the radiator 1 inch to better align hoses and for fan shroud clearance.
IMGP0846.webp
IMGP0847.webp
IMGP0848.webp
 
I would not mind 4.56 gears eather. I will have to look at my rpm chart to see what would be best.

Anyone have any opinions on Marlin Crawler Ring and Pinion gear for either landcruisers or pickups?

That is a great looking site. I will have to spend a bit more time looking at the info and checking out the links too but it looks like a good one.
Here are the links I think you were talking about:
Erik's Toy 4x4 Pages
Erik's Toyota Differential info

I know this may not be the place to ask but does anyone know of a site with this kind of axle and diff info for lancruisers?

Thanks guys!
 
ask away, i can answer the land cruiser questions
or
you can just google the answers.
 
Well either 4.56 or 4.88's would be good for me with 33's. I spent some time on Eric's web site and learned a lot, so I am hitting up my local craigs-list adds for people parting out trucks to see If I can come up with some cheap to fair priced third members. Next step may be to call the junk yards to see what I can find.

How is the aftermarket options for lockers and limited slip options for that special crio treated v-6 third w/4.88's?

Any companies you would recomend for gears if I just buy new R&P gears?

Doug: That is a sweet looking truck. I would love to get ahold of some ARB bumpers. I plan to get one for my FJ-60 this year. They have always been my favorite. Got to get a good moose bar being in Alaska.

I am trying not to trim any fenders, at least for now. If down the road I go SAS and big tires and make it a serious 4x4 I will definatly trim, but for now it is my daily driver.

Info needed for my SAS camper project:
How wide is the spring perch center to center on a 80's pickup solid axle?
How wide are stock front sold axle pickup springs?
How long eye to eye are stock front springs for a solid axle pickp?
How wide WMS to WMS is a front FJ-60 axle?
Here is a link to that thread: https://forum.ih8mud.com/79-95-toyo...-toyota-chinook-camper-build.html#post6442817

Thanks for all the help. I can't wait untill the snow finally melts:bang: , but between now and then I can get my info and parts lined up and ready.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom