Lift And Tire Help

[cjnielsen]

i have an 84 toyota long bed, single cab. already lifted, not sure how much, and with worn out 33s, want to stick with 33x12.50.... right? like i said before want a daily driver, but weekend warrior. on a budget... now it lifted, but not sure how much, and im worried about new 33s and clearence. noticed lift blocks, and i want all spring with no blocks. now the tricky part. it has rear shackle, 6.5 hole to hole. but stock front shackles. want to eliminate the rear lift blocks. what size lift should i use on a truck with 33X12.50 , what can i use off my existing lift? used springs? im not trying to be cheap, but i wanted planning on replacing the lift, but being im learning more and more about this toyota stuff, im wanting diffrent stuff. please help if this makes any sense... thanks.

[mx924]

ok in my opinion i would get rid of those frickin' blocks for sure. go with allpros 4" lift 56"long rear springs, if you have the dough. if not put some chev springs under there. 4" is a good height and will clear those 33' pretty good. i haven't done the chev spring setup before so i don't know what it involves, but i think you have to relocate your front (rear) spring hangers foward a ways (not the shackle end) this supposed to be flexy and cost effective. if you are a yota man i hope you have checked out Sky manufacturing(.com), really good deals on yota stuff.

[Spider]

If its a daily driver you probably wont have the time to install the chevies. Just slap a 4" lift on there. Springs front and rear. I can't really imagine the allpros being a budget build.

If you dont have the cash and want to just fit the tires (and I can hear my ears starting to burn now) put a body lift on it.

Sure, you have the shearing factor, and the ugly gap between the frame and the body and blah, blah, blah, ********************, blah blah blah, mall crawler, blah blah blah, sissy truck, blah blah and blah....but its a budget thing.

If I go play its all mud and skidder/Jeep trails. I went with a Rough country lift. It has a budget price, and works for my application. I don't need to be able to drive off the back side of a RTI ramp.

You really need to figure out what your going to use the truck for, figure out how much your going to set aside and then look around and see what everyone else uses and the goods and bads of it. If anything, buy half of it now and half of it later. once you have both halfs put it on....

[mx924]

i actually would recomend both a susp. lift and a body lift. in fact i should have mentioned that earlier. it increases tire clearance a bunch, i have a 2" BL and i would be SCREWED with out it, my 35's still bust up my front fenders and i have 7"-8" of lift. i dont see how a chev or mazda setup would be to hard...for me anyways, probably cheaper too

[Spider]

Originally posted by mx924
i actually would recomend both a susp. lift and a body lift. in fact i should have mentioned that earlier. it increases tire clearance a bunch, i have a 2" BL and i would be SCREWED with out it, my 35's still bust up my front fenders and i have 7"-8" of lift. i dont see how a chev or mazda setup would be to hard...for me anyways, probably cheaper too

I belive the chevy swap would by far be cheaper (not cheaper than a body lift). I didn't know if this was the only vehicle he had or if he has the equipment or the friends that will do the work...Lots of factors here. If it was my daily driver, and only rig, I wouldnt feel comfortable trying to add stuff on my days off. I like it when i can park it, and work on it at my pace....

Heck it took my 6 months to put the V8 in my truck. I sure as heck wasnt in a big hurry! :)

I look at it more as, if your happy with what you buy, and it gets the job done for you! Who cares what everyone else has!

[leorn]

give us more info on what you mean by weekend warrior. I've seen stock vehicles do some of the meanest trails in northern utah.

plan on going technical trails, or just those fun fire break roads???

do you like top of the line for performance or a happy medium of money and performance???

[muddbitch]

2.5 body lift on my 80 toyota clear 36's just fine but then all my truck sees is the mud.:D
2 inch drop hanger in front and 4inch longer shackles in rear!!:Rockonman

[jvmin]

I have a 2.5 inch body lift and a suspension lift as well and clear 35's on an 84 standard cab toy. the downey springs I purchased did the job but I wouldn't suggest anyone buy those things they are like iron bars under there with little to no flex. and I had to change em later.

then I did the 63 inch chevy springs it seems to have about 4 inches of suspension lift and 2.5 in body lift for a total of about 9.5 inches of lift which includes what the tires raise the truck as well 35 inch tires.

keep in mind the chevies require some welding and cutting.

do as much searching on it as you can and research what others are doing. pirate BB is a good place to find out about it. the swap was easy enough. and the diference is amazing to say the least.

but in all honesty you should really consider what you are going to use it for. and since it is lifted already allbeit blocks why not just put a locker in it and wheel the crap out of it until you start having problems. people run blocks everyday and never have a problem with them. they also run body lifts every day and have no problems with them even in crashes. and a locker and new tires will get you places you haven't been able to go before. this will also help you decide just how far you need to build your truck to do what you want to do with it. a lock right locker is pretty easy to install and only costs about 200.00

most of the hard core wheelers are running in the rocks. which is different from the mud for sure. or from the desert stuff for that matter.

so you better find out how your going to wheel it first.

and about the tires just mount the new tires and see if they rub and how much they rub and see if you can live with it. that is the cheapest way out. you said you want to go all suspension. and you said you had lift blocks? what kind of lift blocks?

body lift? or suspension lift?

a simple solution for you is to use what you got until you see a wheeling hinderence or a driving issue that needs to be changed.

keep it simple and wheel it. a rancho lift or soft ride lift or simple bolt on new lift springs may work just fine for what type of wheeling your going to do.

but to get 5 inches of lift you will have to do drive shaft mods and other stuff as well as new shocks so keep all that in mind.

you could always just trim the fenders a little and make room that way. with trimming and a hammer you can run 33's on the stock suspension. with no lift. but with say a 3 inch lift and a 2 inch body lift you could run 33's or 35's with no trimming and no drive shaft mods.

with a 5 inch lift you will be required to make drive shaft mods.

[Spider]

Originally posted by jvmin
the downey springs I purchased did the job but I wouldn't suggest anyone buy those things they are like iron bars under there with little to no flex. and I had to change em later.

why not just put a locker in it and wheel the crap out of it until you start having problems.

I will second that statement on the downey springs. They ride like a hard tail 2x4! I never had to replace them but they are not softies...Rough country isn't much better in the front with a four cylinder either. They are a bit more cushy with the V8 though :)

I have a 1981 4x4 with the 4" rough country springs in the front, Rough country add-a-leaf in the rear, welded front end and a 3" body lift.

The springs dont flex real well but the welded front end helps out tons. I would definently suggest buying a locker before welding though!!

Works great for mud and what not...