Topic: yota lift

[rsty1]

i have an 88 toyota pickup with ifs and 33s,im looking to get bout 3-6 inches of lift. im not a hardcore rockcrawler and am on a budget whats the best/cheapest way to go? 

[yotaneck13]

body lift would be the cheapest or find a used complete ifs lift just rember lifting ifs puts stress on ball joints and steering componets.  Been there done that i ran a 3 inch bl and cranked torsion bars for the longest time on my 90.  33's and 35's i went throush ball joints and idlers arms every other month.  even had idler arms snap at the bolt and that aint cool drivn down the road and your tires goe where they want. Pretty scary. IMO save your money and sas

[rsty1 [OP]]

thanks for the advice. im trying to avoid body lifts, ive thought about sas down the road but for now a cheap suspension lift should suffice any suggestions?

[daniresch]

The cheapest way would be to not do a IFS lift and slowly save for an SAS. 3-6inches is a lot for 33s keep yours truck as low a possible while clearing your tires.

[rsty1 [OP]]

i clear my 33s with no lift im thinking 35s so maybe i should just hold out for sas like you say. from what ive heard an sas swap can cost $2000+ is there a cheap way of doing it? could i just take the front end components from an 85 parts truck and swap theem onto mine?

[yotaneck13]

not exactly the axel yes can just be straight swapped under but there are so many things to do to the axel its un real.  as for suspension components youll need to find a set of springs. Frame tubes, bushings, shakels, spring hanger, hi steer, hydro assist (highly recomend with big tires), drive shaft mods. thoes are just the basics search around the site a bit and see some of the sas's in progress and finished and see what all it entales.  yes you can buy complete swap kits.  but if you have decent fab skills you can build your own for way cheaper. 

PS if you decide to buy stay away from TG (trail gear)

[THK Matt]

i say go Ball joint spacers and blocks in back. that will be plenty to clear a 35 man, i cleared 35s, no lift on an 87 xcab.

[yotaneck13]

blocks or shakels in back 1.5 inch bj spacer do put stress on thing up front tho

[GONZO97]

Just SAS nuff said, and do it yourself you learn more and can save money doing it as well, the most expensive IMO is the axel itself other than that you can do for around 1500 just need to know what to look for parts wise, mix and match to different suppliers etc

[THK Matt]

blocks or shakels in back 1.5 inch bj spacer do put stress on thing up front tho

so does 35s on a stock SFA. anything short of being stock will put stress on something. the whole (just SAS it, dont waste your money) is such a overplayed statement. not everyone wheels the same, some people want looks and a little extra room for a little bigger tire. which gets them by til they can eventually SAS. I think giving more correct and helpful advice is the best. not bashing every guy and tell him just SAS, etc. Id agree, IFS blows, but it has its place.

[daniresch]

why make the weak IFS suspension that much weaker? It is perfect for daily driving but not ment for trails. The people that want looks are asking the wrong forum.

[rsty1 [OP]]

im actually not very big into crawling, mostly mucky trails, deep puddles and the odd hill here and there. Im mostly planning on using this truck as my hunting/fishing/daily driver rig, plus im in high school and am on a very tight budget i dont have the time, money or know how to do a sas. I think ill go with rear shackles and bj spacers.
thanks for all the great advice.

[4RunnerChevy]

I think ill go with rear shackles and bj spacers.
thanks for all the great advice.

You will do alright with these.  I say why not, your young.  You will find out how far you want to go with the whole wheeling thing.  Do an SAS down the road if you start breaking crap.

[rsty1 [OP]]

thats good to hear. from what ive read on other sites, i was nearly convinced it wouldn't last a day with an ifs lift but im not that hard on my truck....yet

[Snowtoy]

IFS lift will hold up just fine, as long as you understand that you can't hit boulders stumps and logs at high speed.  I have been running an IFS lift on my '90 since '94, wheeled it weekly/monthly for 13yrs before building my '91 for the trail. The only components I have worn prematurely with my '90 are the idler arms, the ball joints have held up just fine, I have only had to replace them twice since I bought the truck new and it now has just over 195K miles on it.

The ball-joint spacers and 3"longer shackles(1.5") lift work pretty well, but you will have to realign the truck after the ball-joint spacers, so you need to factor that cost into your budget as well, also it is recommended to replace the ball-joints if they aren't new.  A ball-joint spacer lift w/ rear shackles will run you about $400(new upper and lower ball joints, 1.5" spacers, 3" shackles, front end alignment), plus more if you don't have the tools on hand to do the work yourself.

Body lifts aren't as bad as some people make them out to be.  A 2" or less lift is easy to install, and easy to raise the the bumpers to keep it looking original.  A 2" BL should run you between $100-150, you can get everything you need from 4crawler.com body lifts.

With clearing 33's now, and what your use/planned use is, I would go with a 2" BL and adjust the sheetmetal where needed to clear 35's.

[Rocksurfer]

go with the ball joint spacers and shackles for a quick easy lift. Avoid blocks over shackles. With the ball joint spacers you will be able to crank in the torsion bars more and if you trim the bumpstops or replace them with flat stops you can get even more. You are only talking about a couple extra inches though. I've done this before but I did also have Downey Offroad/Rancho torsion bars.

[jsimp]

not exactly the axel yes can just be straight swapped under but there are so many things to do to the axel its un real.  as for suspension components youll need to find a set of springs. Frame tubes, bushings, shakels, spring hanger, hi steer, hydro assist (highly recomend with big tires), drive shaft mods. thoes are just the basics search around the site a bit and see some of the sas's in progress and finished and see what all it entales.  yes you can buy complete swap kits.  but if you have decent fab skills you can build your own for way cheaper. 

PS if you decide to buy stay away from TG (trail gear)

 jwin.. but why stay away form tg? so far the canadian tg is one of the cheapest sites in canada

[rsty1 [OP]]

thanks for the advice. shackles seem easy enough but are ball joint spacers difficult to install? ill try to investigate on youtube a lil.

[toyodaaddict]

i didnt read the whole thread. just skimmed over it. i didnt see any one mention rears up front. using RUF to do a sas realy cuts down the cost. and they flat out work. dont know what the op's budget is but i would think if yer crafty you could pull off a sas for $1000 or even a little less

[Rocksurfer]

When you're on a budget $1,000.00 can be a lot of money, for $140.00 you can get the spacers and the shackles are maybe $100.00. So for under $300.00 you can get 2 to 3 inches.

Installation is pretty straight forward for the spacer, just back off the torsion bars, undo the top ball joint and pop them in. then reload the torsion bars to the disired height.

[rsty1 [OP]]

alright thanks.

[Snowtoy]

thanks for the advice. shackles seem easy enough but are ball joint spacers difficult to install? ill try to investigate on youtube a lil.

With the exception of having to cut a section of metal from the inner side of the A-arm(nothing structural) to clear the spacer, the BJ spacer lift is a straight forward bolt-in installation.  It can be done with basic tools a jack stand and a jack.  4Crawler.com ball-joint spacers has a complete instalation process with plenty of pics to, the rest of the info can be found in a factory service manual.  Here is a link to a '93 Toyota FSM, which will work for the suspension work on your '88.

[2manytoys]

A 20 ft stick of 3/8" x 1.5" steel is less than $30. You can build a bunch of shackles with that. Or find some scrap pieces and make a set.

All you have to do is drill a few holes. Do some scrounging and see what you can dig up. A lot of other wheelers may have some old parts they aren't using anymore they could hook you up with cheap.

I save a lot of my old but still good stuff to trade or give to guys with limited cash flow.

You're on the right track asking for advice here. A lot of very knowledgable folks on this and other forums.

Post on "Want To Buy" on the forums or Craigslist. You might find some deals.

[rsty1 [OP]]

thanks and those links helped give me an idea of what im up against

[Rocksurfer]

With the exception of having to cut a section of metal from the inner side of the A-arm(nothing structural) to clear the spacer, the BJ spacer lift is a straight forward bolt-in installation.  It can be done with basic tools a jack stand and a jack.  4Crawler.com ball-joint spacers has a complete instalation process with plenty of pics to, the rest of the info can be found in a factory service manual.  Here is a link to a '93 Toyota FSM, which will work for the suspension work on your '88.

What! You have to cut, I made my own and slid them right in.

[Snowtoy]

To clear the 1-1/2" spacers in the link, you have to trim about 1/2" strip of metal front the backside edge on the upper control arm.  This Pic shows the piece of metal that has to be cut away for clearance.  I tried to install them w/o cutting trimming the area, and the spacers wouldn't lie flat.  IIRC, I just made two cuts and bent the metal back enough for the spacer to clear.

[Hunterwarren]

Just SAS nuff said, and do it yourself you learn more and can save money doing it as well, the most expensive IMO is the axel itself other than that you can do for around 1500 just need to know what to look for parts wise, mix and match to different suppliers etc

So what parts do I need to piece together for a basic sas nothing crazy? If you could help me out that would be great I don't rock crawl and never had just mud but I would like to be able to do it if I wanted to