Topic: 94 Toy pu help. Need your opinions fellas

[coloradotoy94]

Good day all,

 First off thanks for the input. Just back from Afghanistan and time to work on my PU. Going to do mild wheeling here in Colorado. Would like to end up with 33' tires. Yes I have the IFS, but with the mild wheeling I am going to do should be ok. Need your recommendations on lifts, and a locker for the rear. Plan on getting the bumpers from here, MC. Noticed the tub doors are no longer being made. Anyone know where I can get a set? Lastly, looking to replace the bench seat for buckets. Anyone find some decent ones that bolt right in?? Thanks a million all and I look forward hearing your opinions.

Ron

[NorCalToy]

welcome to the board


I had a generic 4" lift on my truck when I bought it (89 PU) and it worked ok, when I had it on 33s it was way more lift than I needed.  So if all your looking to fit is a set of 33s look into a set of balljoint spacers and a slightly extended shackle in the rear. Should net more than enough lift for 33s to clear but not be too tall.

For a rear locker the Aussie locker seems to be a good choice for a lunchbox locker, although if you have the cash a selectable like an Electric locker or ARB would be nice to have.

The stock bucket seats from trucks and 4runners should bolt right in. The stock set in my 4runner were comfortable IMO.

[coloradotoy94 [OP]]

NorCalToy,

 Thanks for the advice. I do appreciate it. I will look into that option for sure. 33s, maybe the 34x10.5 LTBs is what I am looking at. I do appreciate the help agian.

R

[Snowtoy]

Welcome to the board, and thank you for your service to our country.

Unless you come across a used 4" IFS suspension lift in good condition and dirt cheap I wouldn't bother w/one, there are two cheaper ways of getting the lift you need to clear 33's.

The cheapest would be a body lift, next would be a 1.5" ball joint spacer lift and 3" longer rear shackles.  A combo of the two will aloow you to run 34's or even 35's.

This is my '90 w/a 4" Trailmaster suspension lift and 33x12.50 on 15x10's w/3.75 bs:

and my '91 w/o an IFS suspension lift on 35x12.50 on 15x10's w/2.5" bs:

To get the lift I used a 2" body lift for the cab, 1.5" ball joint spacers, beating the firewall back to the first body mount, and I used an additional mainl leaf spring in the rear and 3" longer shackles to match the 1.5" BJ spacers.  I cut 2 inches out of the fender not to clear the 35's w/IFS, but fior when I do the straight axle swap sometime in the future(built the truck 3yrs ago).  Here is more info on Ball Joint Spacer's here, as well as price, installation info and photo's.  4Crawler also has other products he sells and a lot of quick fixes/diagnostic/helpful hints on his site as well.

32x11.50's on 15x8's w/3.75 BS will fit the stock suspension and only rub on the inner pinch seam along the firewall, so you should be able to clear 33's w/a just the ball joint spacers and beating back the seam. 

A 2" BL will also allow you to clear 33's but you might need to beat back the body seam.  That is what I had to do to clear 33x12.50's on 15x8's w/3.75 bs on this '86 I restored/built a few years ago.


For a rear locker, I would go with an ARB or a Toyota electric locker(will have to modify housing, or swap in a Tacoma axle).  The option of being able to only use the locker when you need it is worth the extra price, and you can get complete diffs w/gears and ARB installed for from Marlin, or others.  I only paid $1150 for the one in my '91 from Davez Offroad Performance.  Check around your area, you might find a local shop who sells them set-up that way so you can save on shipping costs. 

If you are not sure what tire size you are going to run, I would opt for the 5.29 gears.  They are a little tall for 33's, but a lot of people w/22r(e) engines find them a nice fit over the 4.88's which are the correct gear for 33's.  These Auto Calculators and Marlin's Transmission Gear chart will give you an idea of what your engine speed will be with the different tire sizes and gears.

Davez Offroad Performance sells(used to anyways) tube doors, last time I looked they were about $200 a pair.

Don't worry about wheeling IFS, you can do more than just mild terrain, especially once you add a rear locker and dual cases.  You just have to be more careful of what you are doing, make sure you are picking the right line, and be mindful of the skinny pedal.  I wheeled my '91 on the Round-up in '07 and didn't have any issues, even passed a few SA's rigs who were having issues w/the trail, though more from a lack of their wheeling experience than their rig. 

[coloradotoy94 [OP]]

 Excellent info. I really do appreciate you taking the time to help me out. I came to the right place for sure. I am going to go this route and go for the shackles in back and the spacers up front. 33 or the LTB 34 is all I am going to run. So again thank you so much for the help and the kind words on me serving. Getting ready to retire thou woohoo.

 Just a note to those that may be looking. I swapped out the bench seat in the toy and found a set of SR5 buckets. Bolted right in, only had to drill a hole for the front inside bolt holes. Very easy swap for anyone who may be looking to do it. And you cant beat the price. $50 for both at the salvage yard. Thanks again for the advice. I am feeling much better about keeping the IFS toy..

Ron

[Snowtoy]

Happy to help.

Quite a few have regretted SASing their rigs right off as they found that they really didn't need to, to do the type wheeling that they enjoy.  I planned on an SAS for my '91 when I started building it, I just wanted to see how far I could take the IFS with a rig built strictly for the trail, and have been pleased w/the results.  Of course I can't take the hardest line, but then again when I started wheeling back in the late '80's taking the hardest line wasn't the objective, taking the right line was, and that is how I still wheel today.  However for the a few trails that I do enjoy wheeling, some of sections have gotten so torn up over the years that if I want to keep wheeling them(until they are closed that is) I have to do an SAS.  You may or may not come to that conclusion, so until then the IFS should work well enough, just make sure to carry extra spare parts, like idler arm, tie rod ends, maybe a spare CV, etc.

[NorCalToy]

Like snowtoy said if you wanna run the 34" LTB's I would look into a set of baljoint spacers up front and extended shackles in the rear along with a 2" bodylift. Most people talk down on bodylifts but they make it soooo much easier to pull bellhousing bolts if you need to drop the tranny or pull the engine . That should be enough lift for 34's and if you wanna trim fenders a little bit and pound back the firewall some it may clear 35s.

[toysfreak]

If u happen to want to go with an elocker. Have 1 w 4 10 gears. Easy mod to the rear axle housing. And bolts on.  Tony 818 813 3112

[Tofudude]

if money isn't tight then i'd say go with a long arm kit then crank or change the torsion (there is the coil over swap).