Looks great. I love the KM2's. I drove my SAS Toyota on the streets for 3 years and it did great. With how low it is the cops should leave you alone. What does it measure from ground to frame under your door? With your shackle angle you should have alot of droop up front but I wonder if it will compress too easily. Let us know how it works. Once again, great work.
Steve's '94 Toyota x-cab mild build
- Thread starter sixstringsteve
- Start date
sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
yup, rears up front, with a frenched front hanger and short shackles.
sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
It will probably compress too easily, we'll see. I could always go to a longer shackle if it gave me problems. It measures 22.5" right behind my front shackle. I'm quite pleased. It doesn't look very low in person, but it doesn't look sky high either.
I wish mine was a little lower but oh well. Are you going to run 10" shocks or are you going to cut through your inner fenders and run something longer?
sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
What's your frame height?
I was planning on running 12" shocks, I fit 12" shocks fit on my '81, so I assumed they'd fit on this. Do the 3rd gens have issues running 12" shocks?
My frame height is 26"(If I remember right). I have 10" bilsteins up front. My tires are larger and measure just under 37"(36" Irok bias ply). I have AllPro 4" leaf springs up front. If I had 12" shocks I think that they would be my bumpstops. Although the 10" shocks I am running up front may be limiting my down travel. I Lean has the shock hoops on his 4runner going through his inner fenders because of this problem.
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81yotalove
Member
I finally registered on this board. Great work, loving the looks of the truck. The 3rd gens are really growing on me.
Few things to add just food for thought really. Being really low is cool and all but in my opinion a little higher frame height and have more up travel in the front is going to make for a nicer ride. With my 22re and current ride height i have 3.5 inches between my tierod and oil pan, still maintain a 24inch frame height with 35's which will go down a little when I add armor and a load in the bed. I would like to think my frame height is still pretty low. So just for an estimate your only going to have 1.5-2 inches on up travel thats going to make it a rough ride I think, I would add a leaf up front like your thinking. Also get some soft bumpstops so when you do hit them they actually soak up the bumps unlike a lot of the solid poly ones. This is why I think so many people bend toyota axle housings, not enough travel and hard bumpstops.
Also what are your plans for lifting the rear? I know you went with chevy's which are flater than the fords. I dont have much experience the chevy's but I would probably drive it a bit and see if the rear is to soft then add a leaf if it is. If it a good spring rate change up the shackle hanger/length of shackle.
I would get different wheels before adding wheel spacers because it will increase the distance from the pivot point to the wheel mount surface, which is called scrub radius and will make it harder to steer. Plus with those 7.5 wide wheels your tires are really going to ride on the center.
Keep up the good work. I'll be following.
Few things to add just food for thought really. Being really low is cool and all but in my opinion a little higher frame height and have more up travel in the front is going to make for a nicer ride. With my 22re and current ride height i have 3.5 inches between my tierod and oil pan, still maintain a 24inch frame height with 35's which will go down a little when I add armor and a load in the bed. I would like to think my frame height is still pretty low. So just for an estimate your only going to have 1.5-2 inches on up travel thats going to make it a rough ride I think, I would add a leaf up front like your thinking. Also get some soft bumpstops so when you do hit them they actually soak up the bumps unlike a lot of the solid poly ones. This is why I think so many people bend toyota axle housings, not enough travel and hard bumpstops.
Also what are your plans for lifting the rear? I know you went with chevy's which are flater than the fords. I dont have much experience the chevy's but I would probably drive it a bit and see if the rear is to soft then add a leaf if it is. If it a good spring rate change up the shackle hanger/length of shackle.
I would get different wheels before adding wheel spacers because it will increase the distance from the pivot point to the wheel mount surface, which is called scrub radius and will make it harder to steer. Plus with those 7.5 wide wheels your tires are really going to ride on the center.
Keep up the good work. I'll be following.
sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
glad to see you signed up Quinn. I'm going to get it drivable and see what needs to be tweaked from there. We'll see how it turns out. I really like the low ride height, especially for DD duties, so I'm going to try to avoid lifting it if at all possible.
The rears are 3-leaf chevies. I can raise them by changing my shackle hanger. Since I plan on adding a sleeping platform in the back, I plan on adding another leaf to the chevies, so I can get a bit more lift and load capacity.
The rears are 3-leaf chevies. I can raise them by changing my shackle hanger. Since I plan on adding a sleeping platform in the back, I plan on adding another leaf to the chevies, so I can get a bit more lift and load capacity.
THSDragoon
I have a new Trooper :D
- Location
- Orem Utah
hello again everyone. i know i havent posted recently, but i didnt think that you would get rid of the little side kick so fast! i figured that you would keep it for a while and use it a bit more for off road. but like someone here on the site said once, '...always has the next 5 builds in mind.' this is a perfect example of that. i like it.
sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
I'll measure the exact amount of uptravel tonight, then I'll have a better idea of what I'll need to change.
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sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
thanks, it finally feels like it's close to being drivable. Hopefully I can get the steering box mounted without too much grief.
Cascadia
Undecided
- Location
- Orem, Utah
I went out to Steve's during lunch today to get his opinion on a few things but I was more interested in his truck. It looks amazing! It is way better looking in person than in the pics. Nice work Steve.
PS, I forgot about the mustache. I did it as a joke and keep forgetting about it. Thanks for not making fun of me. Ha.
PS, I forgot about the mustache. I did it as a joke and keep forgetting about it. Thanks for not making fun of me. Ha.
sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
I think the mustache is hot. You were interested in my truck, and I was interested in you and your incredible mustache.
TJDukit
I.Y.A.A.Y.A.S.
- Location
- Clearfield
Well the internet here sucks right now and I can't see the pictures but by the looks of your updated avatar that thing is looking sweet. Good work Steve, maybe you'll have this one long enough for me to see.
Cascadia
Undecided
- Location
- Orem, Utah
I swear I was just there for the truck.... I should have entered mustache march though. I think I would have won. It's only about 3.5 weeks old.
. I should have entered mustache march though. I think I would have won. It's only about 3.5 weeks old.
sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
you definitely would have won.
sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
Ok, I have 1.5-2" of uptravel before the spring flattens out, and 2.75" before the tie rod hits the frame.
I'll probably end up adding another leaf up front, but I'm going to drive it how it is first and see if it poses any problems. I'm guessing 1.5" of uptravel is plenty for a daily driver, it's the washboard roads at baja speeds that'll be a problem. No worries though, it's way easier to add lift than take it away.
I'll probably end up adding another leaf up front, but I'm going to drive it how it is first and see if it poses any problems. I'm guessing 1.5" of uptravel is plenty for a daily driver, it's the washboard roads at baja speeds that'll be a problem. No worries though, it's way easier to add lift than take it away.
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