Rear suspension Fab Idea

Well the other day I was looking through craigslist
and I found a good deal on some all pro 5" lift springs.
So I liked the springs BUT I definitely don't want 5 inches of lift!
my truck sits pretty level and I want to keep it that way, or pretty close.
So I had the Idea that maybe I could set it up so the Springs went under
the axle like the long travel set up. But not really sure what it would take to create this. maybe at the simplest use a u-bolt flip kit but not flip it?
(if that makes sense), and then just weld on some some shock mounts to the axle,with some longer shocks, bump cans and shackles? just an
idea and I wanted to see what you thought hopefully you have some
tips, advice, input, concerns, complaints, etc
just let me know what you think!

BTW: its a 2004 prerunner.

 

what are you looking to accomplish?

 

Installing a longer/taller leaf pack without the lift but getting extra travel

 

bump?

 

Even with the axle mounted under the springs your shocks are still going to limit your travel unless you punch holes in the bed.

And this^ you would have to move the spring perches to the bottom of the axle as well. You can't just move the axle under the spring with a U bolt flip kit.

 

In general, you cannot gain extra travel if you keep the stock mounting points/equipment unless you go with a super soft spring rate. But if you go with a softer spring rate, you will lose weight carrying capability and accelerate wear if you decide to carry stuff in the back of your truck bed. For example, a long travel leaf pack (f55,f67, 50T) all require longer mounting points than stock to allow for additional flex when combined with an extended shackle but load bearing weight goes down.

One possible way to gain more travel would be to play around with the shackle, but of course this would not be bolt on application. And your stock shocks would be too short and you have to reweld your spring perches on the axle. In short, if you want usable travel, it will cost a good amount of money and pretty soon your rear suspension will be full custom lol.

 

Maybe shock hoops? was thinking I could get away from
putting shocks through the bed because there wasn't enough travel to require that...

and for the spring perches how tough would that be? straightforward welding new ones on? or more complicated?....

 

You might be able to get away with just re welding the spring perches on the axle and also the shock mounts on the frame. It might give you decent travel.

 

Check out RuffStuff http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=14

 

ok thanks for the link! I checked out the SUA perch they had and
it looks like I would be able to weld that on without to much trouble...

 

This is what I mean with the shock hoop.




Edit: now that I look at them are these on the front?
I just googled some pics of toyota shock hoops..

 

Yeah no problem man

 

what do you think about the shock length?
goal would be to get as long of a shock as possible
in there without cutting the bed i guess...

 

Theses are on front axles

 

I thought so! I just edited my post.. damn..

 

Not necessarily the longest possible that might cause more problems. Really when building custom suspensions you need the materials so you can measure for your shock length.

Say you have this your leaf springs measure out from the top of the bump to the frame at 6" you need to make sure your shock is mounted so that it has an up travel of 6 1/2 or more. There is so many factors that come into play when doing a custom suspension I'm doing mine and it's making me trying to plan everything out.

 

Makes sense! I will have to actually set up The SUA with the perch and so forth before i can even Take a Guess at my shock length... Im just concerned
about the height and what I need to make the SUA work under there to determine if its a possible Project.

But so Far the list for the SUA would be:

the perches in the link you gave

the springs, I figured the 5" lift springs would keep ride height even if they were under the axle?

U-bolt flip kit?

Probably new shackles.

does that sound about right?

 

you cannot mount the shock outside the frame rails on an 04 tacoma, the tires will rub the shock and full bump.

 

Yeah I saw that