Leaf Springs mod

[sLcREX]

So my 4Runner has that typical sag in the rear, and rather than just add-a-leaf I was thinking of adding more leafs to the pack from another 4runner or Chevy along with the AAL. When reading up on the 63" chevy swap it seems that for the most part, people will weld in new hangers to the truck to accomodate the chevy springs, right?

So I wanted to avoid having to weld in new hangers and so I thought if I could just get the chevy leaf packs, seperate the leafs and then cut the lenght of them down just under the OEM top leaf on the 4Runner, the one that connects to the hangers and shackles, would that still give me the raise and ride comfort I'm seeking? That way I could retain the original shackle points, I know the chevy springs are slightly wider, so maybe some trimming by the u-bolts would be necessary.

I thought the same idea to cut down the lenght of them to fit right under the OEM ones with the 2nd gen 4Runner springs, since I understand those are a few inches longer as well? Though I dont know if they will help raise up the sag, but I think those are the same width, so it would save me a bit of work.

Basically since I dont know the geometry of the suspension that well, I'm wondering if by cutting the lenght of the springs I'm defeating the purpose of them? Am I only raising the rear because I'm increasing the pack's thickness, but the arch in the springs will remain the same, or will it help the arch? Will my travel be affected negatively? These are what I dont know what'll happen, and if I would just be wasting my time? In my reading up on spring swaps and tricks I didnt read anything about cutting springs to fit, so I thought I'd ask.

So any info on this will be appreciated, so I can get underway. Thanks

 

[I Lean]

2nd Gen 4runners use coils in the rear, so that won't help.

Chevy (and many other long springs) basically get their lift from the mounting locations moving--the leaves themselves are pretty flat, so they may not do anything for you other than add to the thickness of the spring pack. (which might be enough...how much are you needing to lift the rear?)

 

[ricsrx]

63's are long and may fit well under a runner, as Carl said, they dont add much lift but tons of flex. Check out Pirate, they have alot of pics and most are running very long shackles maybe to get the lift...
I have a set $50, they were to long for my truck.

 

[Chevycrew]

Another option to supplement your pack is some from an s10. They are spring under from the factory and have pretty good arch.

 

[sLcREX]

2nd Gen 4runners use coils in the rear, so that won't help.

Chevy (and many other long springs) basically get their lift from the mounting locations moving--the leaves themselves are pretty flat, so they may not do anything for you other than add to the thickness of the spring pack. (which might be enough...how much are you needing to lift the rear?)

Oh ok, I guess I read wrong where I saw they were leafs. But I'm only needing to raise about 2-3" in the rear to match the front. The way it is right now, when it flexes the tire stuffs into the wheel well pretty good, but I dont think it has all that much drop.

63's are long and may fit well under a runner, as Carl said, they dont add much lift but tons of flex. Check out Pirate, they have alot of pics and most are running very long shackles maybe to get the lift...
I have a set $50, they were to long for my truck.

I see what you're saying, makes sense if they are using the longer shackles for the height, but is that at all dangerous or less stable? You have what, the shackles or the spring packs?

Another option to supplement your pack is some from an s10. They are spring under from the factory and have pretty good arch.

This idea sounds like it would work better for me, so I might give this a try. Thanks

 

[sixstringsteve]

I've got some '85 stock front leaves I'll give ya for free. You can mix and match them with your current stack. It involves cutting springs though.

 

[sLcREX]

PM'd

 

[TRNDRVR]

Some info *link*

 

[sLcREX]

Sweet write up! Thank you

 

[Will3161]

I wouldn't put chevy 63's unless I did the whole conversion. Shortening the length like that makes them really stiff riding.

 

[sLcREX]

oh ok, well that is good to know. thank you

 

[ricsrx]

I have the springs,

 

[leorn]

It's kind of funny I bought some 7" lift springs (5" front) to make sure my rear sag was gone. I liked the result at the time. Now I don't care how it looks and I'm looking to reverse what I did several years ago to lower my center of gravity.

I totally understand though--there is no way in the world anybody would have convinced me to drive around with a saggy butt back then. Maybe its from being around all of the vegas prerunners for the past few years...

I should sell you my 7" lift 56" alcans and figure out something to do to replace them.

 

[sLcREX]

I dont think that I could do with 7" I'm just mainly trying to level the car out lol. But thanks though

 

[thenag]

On my Bronco I ran bastard leaf packs on the front and rear. Since it was Ford it was 3 inch wide leafs so I used all ford leafs.

I had, up front a main leaf from a 96 f350 and a secondary leaf from a 99+ super duty that ran the full length. In the rear I had a few different setups but the most recent was a main leaf from a 99+ super duty and miss matched other ford leafs.


In my experience;

Adding leafs usually won't get you any more lift. I got all my lift on the rear from doing a shackle flip.

The longer the secondary leafs are the better I have seen a leaf break right where the second leaf hits the first leaf.

When I added a full length second leaf in the rear my axle wrap got much better. (it was still an over powered heavy leaf sprung truck so it still had axle wrap)

I know more than a few guys with full size broncos that run a bronco main leaf with the eyes cut off as a second leaf on the pack.

One of the greatest appeal of Leaf springs is that you can "tune" them in your yard by just adding or subtracting leafs from your pack.

Of course the rust up here makes it so you have to buy new u-bolts, and be sure to re-torque them periodically after you install your new leafs.

Nathan
- pile of what used to be a bronco and a stock xj (for now)

 

[pELYgroso]

is your 'runner stock height or is it lifted? If your rear springs are pretty flat, adding one or two leafs under the main leaf and cutting them, as well as possibly a couple more under them (to have a good, even taper to the spring lenghts) will probably give you some of your arch back plus the 3/4 of an inch or so from the thickness of the springs -which could equal 2-3" of lift. If your springs are reeeally gushy now, the new springs may just make them a little less gushy and still be plenty flexy. If your springs aren't all that gushy right now, the new springs will stiffen them up even more.

when I built the spring pack for the front of my 'runner I thought I had them perfect, but I put them on and they were pretty much flat and way too soft, so I put a couple leafs in the middle of the pack and they were enough to give the pack the perfect arch and it still flexes great, but not too soft. it lifted the front about 3" w/ just the 2 springs. Now I need to add a couple of leafs to my 63" chevy springs in the rear because they're not quite as arched as i'd like, and sag a little.

 

[sLcREX]

Yeah the rear end is pretty much flat. Are you talking about adding chevy leafs to the rear or just any leaf with an arch? I hope to take care of this all this weekend, but we will see how it goes.

 

[Will3161]

ideally, you should just get 4runner springs, like a complete pack, from somewhere, then replace your whole pack. check to see if it levels out, if not, add a few more leaves from your old pack. the sagging issue is less pronounced as you progress thru the model years, as toyota seemed to figure out they needed stronger springs.

 

[sLcREX]

On my Bronco I ran bastard leaf packs on the front and rear. Since it was Ford it was 3 inch wide leafs so I used all ford leafs.

I had, up front a main leaf from a 96 f350 and a secondary leaf from a 99+ super duty that ran the full length. In the rear I had a few different setups but the most recent was a main leaf from a 99+ super duty and miss matched other ford leafs.


In my experience;

Adding leafs usually won't get you any more lift. I got all my lift on the rear from doing a shackle flip.

The longer the secondary leafs are the better I have seen a leaf break right where the second leaf hits the first leaf.

When I added a full length second leaf in the rear my axle wrap got much better. (it was still an over powered heavy leaf sprung truck so it still had axle wrap)

I know more than a few guys with full size broncos that run a bronco main leaf with the eyes cut off as a second leaf on the pack.

One of the greatest appeal of Leaf springs is that you can "tune" them in your yard by just adding or subtracting leafs from your pack.

Of course the rust up here makes it so you have to buy new u-bolts, and be sure to re-torque them periodically after you install your new leafs.

Nathan
- pile of what used to be a bronco and a stock xj (for now)

Thanks for your info on your experience with mix and match. I did plan on cutting the second leaf to just under the eye of the first one, and also why I planned on keeping the first leaf from the 4runner so I could keep it in the same location. I dont need alot of lift, so I think that just adding a couple of leafs to the pack will be what I need to get that level stance.

ideally, you should just get 4runner springs, like a complete pack, from somewhere, then replace your whole pack. check to see if it levels out, if not, add a few more leaves from your old pack. the sagging issue is less pronounced as you progress thru the model years, as toyota seemed to figure out they needed stronger springs.

Yeah mine is an 88 and it's pretty flat lol, but since the front naturally sits higher up, then the rear looks like it sags. And I think I'll be getting some 4runner springs tomorrow, not sure, I guess we'll see, but if so I'll post up my results and the pics.

 

[sLcREX]

So I finally did the rear spring install on my truck, I'm not so sure I'm happy with the results lol....

For starters, i was at the junk yard looking at different leaf options and I found some that were the same width, and damn near the same length as the Toyo ones, they were on a 88 Isuzu Pickup, and so they were spring-under so the arch was nice. So I picked them up and since they were off, the arch on them was pretty sweet, I thought maybe 2 of the leafs and I'd be set, but when I took off the springs from the 4runner they had nearly identical arches.

So I thought if I add 1 or 2 leafs to my pack I'll probably just end up with the same flat springs....so I added the 3 leafs from the isuzu pack minus the overload one. So now my spring pack was composed of 6 leafs and 1 overload. I had read that the secret to good height/flex is several soft leafs, instead of a few stiff ones, so I figured my 6 pack was gonna be good. I rolled it out of the garage and the lift is pretty big to me, more than I needed in fact lol.

I probably gained a minimum of 3" from this pack, and it's pretty firm. I crawled up on a rock to see it flex and the rear tire doesnt stuff all the way into the well anymore, probably because of the bigger pack though, and when driving the rear feels alot more firmer, and not as much squat over hard bumps. Not rough driving though, just firmer....

So now my rear end sits higher than the front, the front is at stock height, but I have my 33's that've been collecting dust waiting to be put on, I think that to avoid rubbing the 33's in the front I'd have to raise that up a bit. Sooo I was thinking of raising the front up an inch maybe to make the truck look more even.