Topic: help out the new guy

[83yota]

i have been on this site for about 2 weeks. i am new into the toy scene. i have been reading about using chevy thankssprings and such. i need someone to tell me exactly what your talking about. thanks

[KYOTA]

Chevy rears. 63" long compared to the stock Toyotas at 48" Hella flex! Get 'em offa 88-98 Chev pickup 2wd (3 leaf+ overload) or 4wd (4 leaf + overload). Chop back half of overload off. You'll have to move front spring hanger forward 9-10 inches according to best shackle angle. Look at my truck in project section under "83 Buildup" You'll see how. 

[83yota [OP]]

excelent. will that give me any lift or will i still have to install a lift?

[KYOTA]

I use 2wd Chevys 3 leaf and half of the overload, that gives you about a 3" lift. If you need more to match your front springs, WELD a 1" block to your perches. I built my perches out of 2.5 x 2.5 x .250 square tube and designed the 1" lift into the perch so its one piece then boxed the ends in.

[83yota [OP]]

that is great info do you have any other info for me.

[KYOTA]

Yep, go to the junk yard and get a set and slap 'em on !

[yotaboy79]

get 1/2 ton not 3/4 or 1 ton those are a bit too stiff

[Hyena]

The heavier springs will work but if you want to most flex you could take out a leaf or two.  My springs gave me i think 2 inches of lift.  Also depends on how heavy your truck is to see how much lift it will give you.  Mines a little heavier becasue of the extra cab.

[83yota [OP]]

what do you all think i should do for the frount. i am kinda on a tight budget. i have got parts but not alot of money. (see what i get for joining the military )

[WHITE_TRASH]

use the rears out of the toy easyest deal really and its damned near free

[83yota [OP]]

i am lost AGAIN . rears from what? Thanks for the help.

[WHITE_TRASH]

Theres a lot of different ways to do it, personally I have done it 2 ways and Im working on a 3rd.  You can either just bolt a set from the rear directly in the front, or build a drop hanger for the front of the springs.  For what you are doing Id just bolt them in for now and enjoy the added travel.  There are pretty detailed pics in both of my buildup threads bolting them in directly is in  $300, and using the drop hanger method is in Ive been busy.  Both threads are in this section.  The 3rd method is in the end of the $300 thread.  I detail what springs I used in each setup.  Good luck and have fun!
WT

[yotaboy79]

the one that u just bolted them up on was that the orange beast with gost flames?

[WHITE_TRASH]

yep that would be the juan!

[83yota [OP]]

any other suggestions? i found a set of chevy springs for $20 that i pick up on saturday. when you say cut the overload. the ft half or the back half? thanks again

[83yota [OP]]

i looked at your build up wt but i must have missed the ft springs. do i need to move something to get the rears to fil or do i just bend them more?

[yotaboy79]

you will need  boomerang shackles or longer single or u could do double shackles u shouldent need to move ur front spring purtch, but there not just gunna go in. and u cut the back half of the over load off of the chevies i dont realy think it matters thats just what most people do

[83yota [OP]]

how do i move my ft perch forward?

[yotaboy79]

i corected it i thaugth u where talking about the chevies sorry bout that

[83yota [OP]]

so what about the springs for the ft do i just put them on or do  i need to do something first?

[yotaboy79]

you will need  boomerang shackles or longer single or u could do double shackles u shouldent need to move ur front spring perch

thats how u gust bolt them on that can mess with ur pinion angle a little bit so u mite have to cut ur sring mounts off and put new ones on in a different area on the axle to fix pinion angle or use wedjes, does that help?

[83yota [OP]]

see i have never done this and i dont know about steering angles so if you could help me out

[yotaboy79]

what part of the stearing angle are u talking about caster, linkage,......... on the two that i did for friends i got pinion angle and what not in the ball park of how it was befor and took it to the alignment shop and they fixed what ever angles i fu*kd up if u got any more questions u can ask me or white im shure one of us will answer, infact right now im making a spring pack for my front out of a toy rear im using the toy rear as a starting point i need some moore scrap springs to mess with to get it right

[83yota [OP]]

you said cut the spring mounts, use a wedge and such. that had to do with my angle how do i fix that? see if i wasent in the military i would be able to figure this out but they took what was left of my brain at basic and gave me  in return. fair trade but not when i am tring to do a low budget lift by myself

[yotaboy79]

im talking about the spring pirches that are welded to the axle tube the place that the springs bolt to on the axle and u may need to use wedges or other things like that to fix pinion angle if u use longer single shackles ur pinion angle and caster will be all out of wack, i sugjest using a boomerang shackle id check with white trash and get some more ideas befor starting be cause he knows more than me, with the longer shackels ur only raising the back half of the spring which is changing the pinion angle and caster an du would put a wedge in between the axle and the spring do u under stand now, sorry if im not a real good teacher, if that didnt make sence tell me and ill try to clarafy it i almost got lost reading it

[83yota [OP]]

well if you wt could give me an idea on how to do my mounts please do i would like to have this done this weekend.

[WHITE_TRASH]

You will probobly need 4-6 degree shims to put under your springs.  That will solve your pinion angle and castor problems.  Just get a set of rear springs out of a 79-88 toyota pickup.  I used 2 wheel drive springs because they have about 2 inches of more lift to them.  I pulled the overloads out of the pack and added 1 relatively flat leaf to each side.  If I was to do it again I would put a 3/8ths plate on top of the driver side spring perch on the axle to level it out instead of using different arched leafs in the pack.  I made some shackles that were 5" hole center to hole center.  Instead of bending the shackles like factory I kept them straight and added 5, 3/4" washers per side to even out the shackle width.  Another thought what steering are you gonna use? 

[yotaboy79]

thanx for takin it white i started to confuze myself

[83yota [OP]]

thanks for the help both of you. any other hints?

[WHITE_TRASH]

I forgot that I added a short leaf to the driverside pack also to level it out.  But like I said before I would still sled a 3/8ths piece of steel to the perch instead.  I hadent switched over to crossover steering yet so I just cut down my draglink to make up the difference in the length.  Good luck and have fun.  If you have any questions with anything feel free to post em'.  Ill be on here off and on a bit tomorrow and Im sure that many others can answer your questions just as well if not better thant I can.
WT

Oh yea heres what I was talking about for the shackles and spacers.  On the next set Im going to weld spacers instead of using washers, but Ive seen no ill effects of using washers so far.