lifted, now i have more questions

[uintahiker33]

well i have about a 3.5 inch lift on my 4runner and am having a few issues and had some questions..first do i need to do any drive shaft work done on this lift? the front is seized so it's going to the shop in a few weeks, do i need to do anything to the rear? i have a drop drag link for the steering in the front installed but the stock torque rod was to short..my question for that is how important is a torque rod? should i make a longer one or am i fine to run it without? also i was wondering about the rear brakes, is there any need for modifying the e brake mounting hardware or something called the rear proportioning valve? all i got was springs and shackles so i'm going from there. any tips or suggestions are welcome.

[bbagwell]

You may need a longer front driveshaft. I have about 3 inches of lift in the front on my 83 and my front shaft was too short. Your rear driveshaft should be fine. You need a torque rod unless you have crossover steering. It will cause the truck to pull side to side when you hit the brakes with no torque rod.

[uintahiker33]

ya i am taking the drive shaft to the shop in a week or so and am also ordering some longer brake lines as well. the front wouldnt even droop tell the front driveshaft was off. as far as the torque rod goes i have been driving it for about a week and the pull to the right isnt as bad as i thought it would be when i brake. with no front driveshaft and therefor no 4 wheel drive i wont be going offroad with it so is there any reason i cant drive it for a while tell i get the shaft done?

[bbagwell]

Yeah you can drive it no problem with no front driveshaft. One thing I forgot is without the torque rod when you flex the truck it will flex better then with it on. The problem with this is that you can/will break the steering J arm.

[fourwd1]

You DO want the torque rod on the street, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Either lengthen yours or get an adustable one.

[uintahiker33]

who makes longer ones? i found some old info on rancho brand torque rods, but it looks like they stoped making um. any suggestions? i wont have any time to make the old one longer for 3 weeks, do you think the steering arm will last tell then? it sounds like i really need to run this.

[fourwd1]

Unless it's already weak, you shouldn't have a problem, especially on-road, it's not getting tweaked to an extreme angle like it might be off-road.

I'd worry more about the sudden swerve to the right you will get when you hit the brakes hard at speed. The torque rod prevents that. Check 4crawler.com, I sorta remember he sells an adjustable one.

[Oatmeal]

Yeah, don't run without a torque rod and factory steering. I believe Superlift still makes an adjustable "S" shaped rod to replace it and Northwest Offroad makes an extension for the axle side bracket http://www.northwestoffroad.com/parts/steering_components.html . Another reason to keep your torque rod is, when offroading the torque rod limits the down travel on the driver's side, without it in place the axle can droop farther than the "J" arm will tolerate and you will eventually break it (the "J" arm).---------Hans

[uintahiker33]

well i found a skyjacker part that is a bolt on extension for the stock mount. it works perfectly, no more swerve to the right when i brake. now all i need to do is send the drive shafts off to six states. thanks for all the advice everyone.

[fourwd1]

Great !