Steve's '94 Toyota x-cab mild build

[Coco]

Your Tacoma made it to Moab, and you sold it

 

[sixstringsteve]

My tacoma wasn't one of my last 3 rigs

After an the accident it was never the same. After a $7k repair bill it still had a shimmy down the freeway. I loved that truck, but I couldn't handle a shimmy after all that, so I sold it.

 

[01XJ]

Your rig looks amazing Steve! You do some amazing builds, this truck is making me want a toy but the wife says no! that i have to keep the jeep for a while that i get rid of cars to much

 

[sixstringsteve]

thanks man. It's a great rig for sure. Now that I have a press we'll have to do your suspension bushings one night.

 

[sixstringsteve]

well, now that the springs are settling in I have some more tweaking to do. I lengthened the front shackles an inch, which helps give it a little more uptravel, and now the shackles don't bottom out on the frame.

The springs are still too soft. I'm getting more body roll on turns and big bumps. And the front springs still bottom out from time to time. I need about another inch lift up front, and another inch or two out back.

 

[iamsparticus]

I just put in used trail gear 3 inch springs minus two leafs per pack on my rig, it sits 2 to 3 inchs higher and now is perfectly level im impressed with the springs.
Steve how many leafs are in your front pack? If you want to lift the front just a little i have one of the really short leafs you can have i through it in my other leaf packs when i needed about a inch and it seemed to do the trick

 

[sixstringsteve]

I've got 6 leaves plus an anti-wrap right now. Two of the leaves are about twice as thick as the others, but they still don't lift it more than 1/2"

I agree, a set of used 3" TG springs would be perfect. Or even half the leaves from a 3" TG spring to mix in with my mains. I think I want to keep the RUF main leaf because it locates the axle about an inch farther forward than the TG springs.

 

[iamsparticus]

yeah i liked the RUF's i had in the front but i just re-drilled the TG pack it wasnt as bad as everyone said the first pack took me like 2 mins the second one i had to work at because my good bit wore out. Or just run a used TG 3 inch Pack and drill your perches to push the axle forward, i dont think you have as much of a problem with oil pan clearance as i have which is why i didnt just drill the perches

 

[sixstringsteve]

I'd rather drill the leaves than the perches. We'll have to see what I can find in the way of 3" lift springs. I've also got some 2nd gen tacoma rear leafs that I'm tempted to mix in.

 

[iamsparticus]

mixing and matching springs can be good or a huge waste of time if i were you steve id just find some TG or the like and put them in with redrilling if needed and be done

 

[sixstringsteve]

I've got a wanted ad out for TG 3" springs. no luck so far. So since I have the taco leafs I'm going to try it since it's free.

 

[iamsparticus]

free is good, if you want to redrill some springs i can help you

 

[sixstringsteve]

thanks. I've got a pretty big drill press. We'll see how it goes.

 

[81yotalove]

i have no personal experience drilling leafs but i have read that the old hole now becomes an easy point to break one. are you worried about that? or have you drilled a pack and not had an issue? just curious thats why im asking. may do it to my rear pack. thanks steve.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I worked out a trade with sean at low range. I'm giving him my old tg bumper for some front 3" TG springs. I'm trying to decide if I want the HD springs or the stock 3" springs. I don't have a heavy motor, but I do have a camper shell and an extended cab, which makes the truck weight a lot more than my old 81.

I think you're right Quinn, I could see drilling another hole that close creating a weak link. But I'm not too worried about it. I'll have to take some measurements to see exactly how far back the center pin is compared to the RUF. What i may end up doing is splitting the 3" pack and running the ruf top 2 leaves and the TG bottom 5 leaves. WHo knows. It'll take some tweaking, that's for sure.

 

[81yotalove]

I would do the latter. Seems lots of people have mixed rear mains for the top and aftermarket springs on bottom with great results. A couple that come to my mind quick are rockcrawlintoy on his yellow first gen and kiyul4130 on his 3rd gen before he linked it. what are your plans for the rear now?

 

[sixstringsteve]

I'm not sure what I'll do in the rear. I have two easy options:

1) buy TG 3" rear springs and relocate my hangers

2) lower my rear shackle hanger and keep the chevy springs. I'd put a 2x2 square between the frame and the rear shackle hanger. That'll give me the ride height I need. I'll probably go this route for simplicity's sake. plus it'll make the pinion angle about perfect.

 

[ozzy702]

I'm not sure what I'll do in the rear. I have two easy options:

1) buy TG 3" rear springs and relocate my hangers

2) lower my rear shackle hanger and keep the chevy springs. I'd put a 2x2 square between the frame and the rear shackle hanger. That'll give me the ride height I need. I'll probably go this route for simplicity's sake. plus it'll make the pinion angle about perfect.

Nothing wrong with either approach. For what it's worth I have 3" TG springs front and rear and the rears don't flex worth a darn even with a leaf removed. They're nice springs but under my truck way too heavy. You could always 3 link it...

 

[sixstringsteve]

nah, I"m sticking with leaves. I had a 4-link on my last rig, and I just like leafs for some reason.

I'm hoping the TG 3" fronts are stiff too, cuz I'm getting a lot of body roll right now.

 

[ozzy702]

nah, I"m sticking with leaves. I had a 4-link on my last rig, and I just like leafs for some reason.

I'm hoping the TG 3" fronts are stiff too, cuz I'm getting a lot of body roll right now.

I don't notice much body roll on mine although I haven't driven anything else in awhile.