What rig would I want next? Imaginary build - IFS 1st gen 4runner

Hit up Chad (SLCPUNK72 or something on here) He has had a few different first gen Toyota kits he has ran one of them even had sway away torsion bars so he will have some real good first hand advise. He also has his own suspension setup for them now.

He also has a basic daily driver ford ranger with a Long travel kit he built I know he would take you for a ride in it. IMO long travel is amazing for off road and can be set up to have great road manners also but Utah winters are hard on uniballs and make those high dollar shocks and bumps look like crap with all the salt. I would not build a daily driver with those type of parts just because of that.

Like it has been said to go fast in the desert is very expensive and from the sounds of it you don't even really care about going that fast. I would think a basic reservoir shock front and back with proper valvieng for your driving, some spring over deavers, sway a way torsion bars and air bumps on all 4 corners would have you able to drive at the speeds you want with the only compromise being a stiff on road ride.
 
deviant said:
Hit up Chad (SLCPUNK72 or something on here) He has had a few different first gen Toyota kits he has ran one of them even had sway away torsion bars so he will have some real good first hand advise. He also has his own suspension setup for them now.

He also has a basic daily driver ford ranger with a Long travel kit he built I know he would take you for a ride in it. IMO long travel is amazing for off road and can be set up to have great road manners also but Utah winters are hard on uniballs and make those high dollar shocks and bumps look like crap with all the salt. I would not build a daily driver with those type of parts just because of that.

Like it has been said to go fast in the desert is very expensive and from the sounds of it you don't even really care about going that fast. I would think a basic reservoir shock front and back with proper valvieng for your driving, some spring over deavers, sway a way torsion bars and air bumps on all 4 corners would have you able to drive at the speeds you want with the only compromise being a stiff on road ride.
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I'll hit him up to learn more. I don't mind a stiff on-road ride. Maybe I can get some nice adjustable coilovers for my tacoma for when there isn't salt on the road, then swap my OMEs back on in the winter months.
 
deviant said:
Your current truck with deavers in the rear with a bypass and air bumps and a LT front with air bumps would be my dream family rig if I had the money to build it.
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Well minus the snorkel :)

I had a 02 supercharged Tacoma I bought new and had for 6 years until my wife totaled it. I miss that truck so much and really wish I could afford another one.
 
Help me understand bypass shocks. How would they benefit me?

I hear a lot of guys going with deavers. I had alcans on my last doublecab, and I feel like my OME springs are every bit as good as the alcans. I have a buddy with deavers, but they don't seem much different from mine.
 
sixstringsteve said:
When I'm driving around town, the OME add-a-leafs beat me up. But when I'm camping with a load or people, it's perfect. I think a slight spacer up front would help me balance the truck out when i'm not carrying a load.

Air bumps may be the hot ticket.
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While I do not have an add-a-leaf, the ride is pretty harsh without a load with full OME all around, I can relate there.
 
sixstringsteve said:
Help me understand bypass shocks. How would they benefit me?

I hear a lot of guys going with deavers. I had alcans on my last doublecab, and I feel like my OME springs are every bit as good as the alcans. I have a buddy with deavers, but they don't seem much different from mine.
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The bypass has tubes at different stages of the stroke that will change the valving based on where the shock stroke is. This does a few things. They are externally adjustable so you save tons of time tuning them and can change the valving with just a allen wrench and a wrench. and two you can set your compression valving in stages so you can have the second half of your stroke much firmer than the first half giving you a better ride in the slow stuff but also have the shock work for the big stuff. You will hear things like 3 tube or 4 tube bypass every tube is an adjustment. Typically for a truck like yours you would use a 3 tube one for rebound and two for compression
 
Also deaver makes several different spring setups. They make a long spring under that will give monster travel with tons of down travel. I hear JD at midnight 4x4 is having some 64" spring unders built that are priced right and work great. This is coming from a V8 Toyota truck owner.
 
I've only seen your truck once in person, maybe twice. How did it do at speed on lockhart? I would love a suspension that would allow me to do 40 mph on lockhart, and 90 mph on the freeway without body roll.
 
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I have been on 2 trips with you driving this truck, but you should drive it. I have the ext. Fox coilovers with remote res. in the front, 2 in fox shocks with remote res. in the rear, and 4 in soft poly bumps in the rear.

I only wish it was supercharged, 5 spd transmission, and air bumps all around.
 
Does anyone have any experience with the blazeland kits? I like the coilover conversion they have, I think that could be fun. I can't get the thought of a 4runner out of my head...
 
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sixstringsteve said:
Does anyone have any experience with the blazeland kits? I like the coilover conversion they have, I think that could be fun. I can't get the thought of a 4runner out of my head...
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this is the first time I've seen those kits, first impressions are very poorly designed. Just from the looks, KPI is all sorts of wrong, and tires will scrub like crazy. I would run away


After a second look at your post, you are interested in the coil over kit thing... looks like its bolt on... I bet you will run into flex issues eventually with out some some or of bracing if you drive hard at all.
 
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KPI= King Pin Inclination... draw an imaginary line from the upper and lower ball joint down to the ground... it should land somewhere in the contact patch of the tire... Ill try and find a link that will explain it better...
 
As far as the 3.4l swap, are the body lift/hood scoop mods completely unavoidable? Can you mount the motor a little lower in the chassis?

and pt. 2 of my post: Steve I'd like you to drive my H3 sometime (paved road and dirt road), not to try and pursuade you into an H3 or even GM or not even to turn you away from Toyota) but solely for your opinion and review on it. You've driven and experienced a lot more vehicles of this nature than I have and I just am curious as to how it really compares to similar purposes vehicles, as my last handful of vehicles were full size diesel pickup trucks, a completely different world.

I have some plans in the works for medium travel and to ditch the torsion bars. Ultimately something along the lines of what HotRodDzl has on his Chevy.
 
I'd be happy to take your H3 for a spin sometime. I'm no expert, but I've owned quite a few rigs, and I like learning how different rigs drive. Who knows, you may convince me to get an H3. :)

From what I could see in my rear-view mirror, your rig didn't seem to struggle one bit on our last trip (but then again, it wasn't very bumpy at all).
 
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