Topic: Spring under axle with Marlin 4" springs?

[BUDDERS]

Has anyone tried doing a spring under conversion with Marlin's 4" rear springs?

I know my buddy was using 8 leaf deaver packs on the rear of his taco with spring under setup and some really long TC shackles with the shackle hanger mounted on top of the frame.  The reason I'm asking is cause most people are looking to go with the lowest lift for the tires they are running - some running fiberglass bedsides to avoid rubbing issues.  I do realize that most everything under the truck would be a rock hanger if someone tries this, so it would probably be best for a pre-runner style truck.

I took a few quick measurements last night and it looks like if this were done with Marlin's 4" rear springs (with axle housing diameter, spring perch, and leaf spring pack thickness in consideration) it might acually drop the rear an inch from stock, or quite possibly be level.

What are your thoughts on this?

[jimbo74]

waste of a perfectly good lift spring

if this were done with Marlin's 4" rear springs (with axle housing diameter, spring perch, and leaf spring pack thickness in consideration) it might acually drop the rear an inch from stock, or quite possibly be level.

[BUDDERS [OP]]

Yeah, it might be a waste if someone was wanting to lift their truck, but if you wanted to pre-run it, it could be a cheaper alternative to deavers.

[AaronB]

Yeah, it might be a waste if someone was wanting to lift their truck, but if you wanted to pre-run it, it could be a cheaper alternative to deavers.

i would think that marlins springs would be to soft. since they were designed for "max flex".

[jimbo74]

also, what about the arch?

a 2wd oem toyota has the same lenth springs as the 4wd, but the 2wd had more arch because they were factory mounted sua

[BUDDERS [OP]]

I wouldn't worry about the arch, mainly cause the pre-runner springs have a arch in them as well.

[jrock]

I wanted to do this with the 5in but talked myself out of it. The springs are thick and would hang lower than I wanted and with minimal lifts you want as little hangups as possible.

[BUDDERS [OP]]

I wanted to do this with the 5in but talked myself out of it. The springs are thick and would hang lower than I wanted and with minimal lifts you want as little hangups as possible.

That's kinda what I was thinking

[twistedtoy92]

you could always test it out and let us know if it was worth it!! 

[BUDDERS [OP]]

Yeah....I don't have that kind of time.  I do have the whole Marlin 4" kit sitting in my garage though.  I still have to get the truck running before I do the suspension - I'm still having issues getting my 3rz conversion to fire up.

[twistedtoy92]

ohhh... wiring issues???

[BUDDERS [OP]]

Yeah, I'm borrowing a buddies scan tool this weekend to figure it out.  It cranks and gets fuel, but no spark and no codes.  I think the Ecu is not powering up for some reason, but I want to hook a scan tool up before I tear my dash apart to check pins at the ecu (I didn't mount it in the stock spot!).

[twistedtoy92]

one piece of advice i can give you is double check ALL your GROUNDS.... not having just one ground wire hooked up or grounded well enough can drive you frickin crazy!! i hate it when scanners cant pick up the codes or the problem sets no codes..... hopefully you get it figured out!

[BUDDERS [OP]]

Yeah, no joke.  I found a loose ground on a 3.4 (on the side of the intake) for my team leader that he had been trying to diagnose for a week.  It kept giving b2s2 o2 sensor codes.

[twistedtoy92]

lol! oh yeah my favorite electrical bs!!

[BUDDERS [OP]]

Ok, back to the springs.  Any more thoughts?

[ZUK]

Ok, back to the springs.  Any more thoughts?

ya...I think it's a novel idea. Leaf-under has some advantages....like greatly decreased axle wrap and almost no hopping issues on steep loose hills. It would be almost a zero lift but that could be changed by extended both the front and rear mount points.

The dis-advantages are rocks might hang up on them....and that's about it. Driving skill is more important obviously and requires picking good paths with low packs.

I have "experience" with that sort of thing....it didn't work all that great for me because of the EXCESSIVE arch of the pack which resulted in the rear end lifting up during acceleration. This was a custom pack that I had a local spring shop make up.  The key to success is modest arch and DROPPED mounts....longer shackles are ok in the equation also.

[BUDDERS [OP]]

Wow, I never thought I'd get the almighty Zuk to respond.  I knew I'd seen that rear end before - those cool, no wobble shackles are hard to forget.

[ZUK]

Hahaha...yep, I have to admit that those shackles did not wobble sideways in the least even though they were about 9 inches long between bolt holes.