Topic: what springs

[motoracer]

 im doing a lot of upgrades with my toy this year one is a 4.3 engine . wew tires, and new rear springs. so heres my ??  what spring should i go with? (my set up now is a 3 inch spring with 2 inch blocks and 5.5 shackles.) what i was wanting is a 6 in spring ,to get have more flex. all pro springs you have to move the spring hanger and shackle hanger. well i can move the front spring hanger forward but i cant move my rear shackle hanger . so what spring well work for what i need . ive never  built a spring before with different leafs. so what do yoy guys think would work the best?

[motoracer [OP]]

no body was any ideas

[superyota]

your budget would make a difference on what springs to run.  cheapest way would be build  your own pack.  maybe use 4404's, or just put a couple of sets of rear springs together to build a pack.  if you have lift springs, throw a few in out of that pack and it will help with the lift.  if you need more details, let me know.

[motoracer [OP]]

i was going to go with all pro springs but i cant move my shackles in the rear.  a longer spring would be great i need more flex.  ive got  4 sets of springs for a toyota  . 2 for a stock ifs truck  ,1 for a straight axle 81 model and a set of rough contry 3 inch lift springs.

[yoshaleng]

I'd go with ALLPro, same thing as what Marlin use to carry and I hear they have plenty of flex.

[blackdiamond]

www.alcanspring.com

[motoracer [OP]]

i would love to put 63s on my truck but  cant move rear shackle mount.

[blackdiamond]

i would love to put 63s on my truck but  cant move rear shackle mount.

I don't know if you can run any of the All Pro/Marlin/TG spring designs without moving the rear mounts.  Alcan has a stock length option and a 5 inch extended option or you can go completely custom.  A little more money but a much better product in the end.  I had the stock length springs on my 85 truck and now the 5 inch over stock on my 89 4Runner.

[motoracer [OP]]

yea i checked on it and the 5 over stock is 240 a spring and if you add orbit eyes just to one sid it was lie 850 to 900$$$ little to much for me. $500 just for rear springsabout 530 with the spring hangers.  how does your springs do?

[motoracer [OP]]

with the 5 inch they said just to move the spring hanger foward 5 inch . it might work out good

[blackdiamond]

yea i checked on it and the 5 over stock is 240 a spring and if you add orbit eyes just to one sid it was lie 850 to 900$$$ little to much for me. $500 just for rear springsabout 530 with the spring hangers.  how does your springs do?

I think my springs to great.  Search for "blackdiamond" to find pictures of my 85 truck and "bdrunner" to find pictures of my 89 4Runner.  I don't have "buggy" flex, but I think you'll see that my truck is capable of tackling some difficult trails.  I've always requested springs that are firm enough to handle safely at 70 mph so I know they can be made softer.

My personal opinion is that most people have springs that are too soft.  A firm spring will allow you to climb better in most terrain.  Wheel hop is the enemy.  Obviously, keeping tires on the ground can make things more stable so it's a balance and depends on where you wheel.

[motoracer [OP]]

i wish mine had half that flex mine gets  a 1.5 foot off the grond in the front and my rear tires are coming off the ground

[Cheesemaker]

Alot of guys run 63" chevy's.  They are supposed to be uber flexy.  And ton's of them in junkyards everywhere. 

[81yotalove]

since you cant move shackle back. run 57 inch ford springs long side forward you might have to move your shackle mount forward even.

[blackdiamond]

i wish mine had half that flex mine gets  a 1.5 foot off the grond in the front and my rear tires are coming off the ground

When I first purchased my 85 Truck it has a 3.5 inch Pro Comp lift with blocks in the rear.  After a few years I replaced the lift with a 4.5 inch Superlift without blocks.  The front springs actually flexed very well but the rear springs have about 1.5 inches of travel total.  They didn't ride great, but in Moab that truck would climb like no other.  It didn't climb quite the same with the Alcans and my 4Runner isn't even close with the longer softer springs when it come to climbing in Moab.  If you have lockers, lifting tires won't be the reason you can't get somewhere in most cases.

[motoracer [OP]]

so do you think i should go with alcans in that case. id just like a little  more flex . i go over a small rock and it fells like im going to turn over.

[blackdiamond]

so do you think i should go with alcans in that case. id just like a little  more flex . i go over a small rock and it fells like im going to turn over.

I think that Alcan springs are pretty much what everyone should want if price isn't an issue.  They do cost more and for some people this makes them not an option.  You just need to know what you want so that you can request it.  I had to guess how much bumpers and stuff would weigh and then tell me how I wanted the springs to handle.  Are you just looking for rear springs or a full set?

Here's a few additional questions:
What type of wheeling do you do?
How much do you drive your rig on the street?
Do you have any pictures of your rig that you can or have posted?

[motoracer [OP]]

just rears for now. mostly trails, well its a hunting truck too so its on the street but not on highway. got pics on here just look under first truck build by motoracer

[TCBVince]

Motoracer I'm in the same boat as you right now. Alcan are about my only opinion because you can tell them what your looking for in your spring and how much your truck weighs and etc. See my probably is I'm building my truck for hunting mainly but I want to be able to still go crawling. So I had to weight my flatbed with my dog box on there and I even weigh the dogs so I can get an a close idea how much weight. And after talking to the guys over alcan a bunch of times its really the only way to go cause you can get just about what your wanting.

[blackdiamond]

just rears for now. mostly trails, well its a hunting truck too so its on the street but not on highway. got pics on here just look under first truck build by motoracer

Nice truck.  I think you'll be very happy with a set of Alcan springs, just make sure to carefully answer all of their questions and ask any questions that you have.  It's really difficult to perfectly match new springs with existing springs, but they are good at Toyota's.  You should be able to get a fairly flexible spring and maintain some load capacity as well.

[LDcrawler]

It is so worth the money to go with Alcan if you are planing on keeping your truck.  You weigh your truck and then take a few measurements and they are helpful at that stage.  I couldnt believe how sweet of a ride my Alcans were over running Toyota rears up front.  i did that for a couple years and with a 4.3,  if you dont get the right spings it will dip way too hard when your are on the trail