5 lug 95.5-04 Lowering info for newbs

95.5-04 five lug suspension is all identical, with the exception of 95.5-97 leaf springs being 4" shorter than 98-04. Important when doing leaf spring mods, like looking for hard to find 3" drop Chassistech leafs, or using 4x4 leafs.

Websites get the year spans wrong all the time, and Belltech lists their coils for 96-02 V6 or something crazy like that. They fit all 95.5-04 trucks, but extra cabs get the full 2" drop from them while standard cabs only get about 1" due to the weight difference of the trucks.

Things to know...Chassistech doesn't make drop leafs for 95.5-04 trucks anymore, but 95.5-97 Tacoma can use Belltech drop leafs offered for 89-95 Toyota p/u since they're the same length. I just measured YankeeTaco72's pretaco leafs the other day.

The 2 most popular coils offered are Belltech and Chassistech, Eibach quit making them.

Keep your overall tire height in the 25" or less range.

Here are drop methods and parts available.

Quality shocks that are firm are always recommended

3 most popular shocks

KYB Monomax ($50 something per shock)
KYB GasAjust ($40 something per shock)
Pro Comp Toxic ($30 something per shock)

Mild Drop
#1. no b/j flip, coils & blocks (usually 2" coils and stock leafs w/ 2-3" blocks)

Mild Drop for aggressive driving
#1. no b/j flip, QA1 front coilover conversion & stock leafs w/blocks (usually 2-3" blocks)
#2. no b/j flip, QA1 front coilover conversion & 4x4 leafs w/all 3 leafs & overload.

3/4 Drop
usually ball joint flip & stock leafs w/blocks.
The foundation of all drops.

5/6 Drop
My favorite because it gets rid of all tire/fender gap, doesn't require any special mods other than a c-notch and rear fender trimming, and the leaf spring hangers on the frame don't hit on stuff too often.

#1. ball joint flip & 2" coil & 3" block with 3" leaf mod (either stock 5 lug pack w/leaf removed, 4x4 pack w/leaf removed, or hard to find Chassistech drop leafs) c-notch
#2. ball joint flip & QA1 conversion & 3" block with 3" leaf mod (either stock 5 lug pack w/leaf removed, 4x4 pack w/leaf removed, or hard to find Chassistech drop leafs) c-notch

6/7 Drop & beyond

Mods needed
longer upper control arms
front inner fender modification
deep c-notch
cross member notching (requires removing the bed)
rear fender trimming

coils required
have to be in the 3" range
can be stock ones that have been cut
can be aftermarket that have been cut
3" Chassistech

b/j flip, 3" coils, (or QA1 coilovers) leaf spring mod (3") and 4" blocks.

 

can we have pic in that order to see what you are talking about?

 

Question guys, and me and you have already talked a little about this beef, but I want to go with a 3/4 drop but I drive the piss out of this thing. Just wondering how the drop is going to affect the handling, ride quality and reliability of the suspension?

 

in what way do you drive the piss out of it? DD driving, auto cross driving, taking every turn in a neighborhood at 30mph driving?

 

Fast cornering, in the neighborhood and everywhere else. Sometimes at 30, bigger curves 60 or 70. Sometimes a little drag racing.

 

I'm at 5/7 and my truck handles great. Better than anything I've ever owned. It's standard cab, b/j flipped, Belltech coils, KYB Monomax, 4x4 leafs with leaf removed and 4" blocks. The biggest factor to great handling is low profile tires.

The truck rides on the softer side and not too firm because I use it every day, meaning I chose not to use my friend's Chassistech leafs because they just rode too stiff for me, and the 4x4's with leaf removed ride nice, so do the Belltech coils.

The truck can driven hard, but when driving them hard, you'll experience front tire rubbing on the front inner fenders unless you're running a size that doesn't rub. It's common, our front inner fenders are low, so tire height is critical.

If you really want to step up to great handling in front and have complete adjustability, soft to very firm, and be able to raise and lower the front a few inches, the QA1 mod is for you.

Drops

http://www.customtacos.com/forum/showthread.php?t=150998

http://www.customtacos.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=151589

http://www.customtacos.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=151295

http://www.customtacos.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=133156

http://www.customtacos.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=128624

QA1 coil overs

http://www.customtacos.com/forum/showthread.php?t=127841

 

if i dont notch the frame and i get a 4" block is bottoming out a big problem, or will it be manageable for a daily? would you say with lo-pro bumps and 4" blocks it would be 2" of travel?

 

With a 2" block and 4x4 leafs with blown rear shocks, I rode at 1.25" of travel on cut stock stops.
On low pro bumps, I rode at 2" of travel about.
My 4x4 leafs netted me 3" about. Middle pulled, 2wd overload sad face.

 

i need to find a way to get rid of my current wheels and get different ones without loosing too much money so i can get the 3/4 kit. Needs more low

 

So Brian, when u gonna come with that rear QA1 conversion kit with full detailed directions and pictures . Not everyone lives in CA and can just swing by ya know.

 

4" and low pro bumps will hit now and then. In the old days before I designed the low pro bolt on bumps, the only ones of their kind that bolt into the stock holes, I saw some trucks that had 4" rear drops, no notch, and had flip flops you wear on your feet zip tied to the frame. There were like 3 trucks at the meet that had this ghetto setup. 4" technically needs a notch, but 95% of DDing can be done w/o bottoming.

See pics below, they are 4" blocks.

The Streetacos bolt on 4-link racing kit for 95.5-04 trucks is available in a kit form currently and I've been taking deposits for a few months now. I'm 90% finished with the first one going to Canada, with 2 more kits to follow. When this first kit is ready to be shipped, I'll finally have a picture of the entire kit layed out. Shipped with instructions of course. It's 99% bolt on with the exception of 4 tabs on the axle housing.

Simple to install, and the bed needs to come off to do so. Your stock parts can easily be reinstalled thanks to no cutting or welding. It has about $900 in high end parts alone, is a fully adjustable full race kit that can be daily driven, and obviously isn't for everyone. Without knowing exact labor cost yet, it's looking to be about $1500 minus shipping for the complete kit. Cost is 2/3 parts and 1/3 labor.

 

Aww shit. I assume the QA1 coils for the rear are not included in that kit?

 

Nope...the rear QA1's aren't normally included in the 4 link kit, but can be no problem. It's definitely a pricey kit because the parts are top quality racing parts and they don't come cheap. And that's with no markup on my end. There's a good $900 or so of parts just to build it, and that's minus shocks.

You can get great handling with normal parts though too. I have the flip, 2" Belltech coils, 4x4 leafs, 4" blocks, KYB Monomax shocks and low profile tire/wheels and my truck hits the turns GREAT. Faster than I need to be going, that's for sure.

 

Concerning the 3/4 drop, the ball joint flip would give the 3" drop already?? Or will i need drop springs and shocks??

 

Nope, just get new coils

yes, just doing the bj flip in itself gets you 3". You don't have to get new springs or shocks, however it is reccomended you replace with stiffer shocks while you are under there.

 

Does anyone know how hard it is to do a ball joint flip? Or know of a link in detail of doing so?...thanks.

 

do you find a problem pulling a trailer with the drop?
my trucks dropped too but im not sure if pulling a trailer will put too much stress on the rear blocks etc...

 

5 lug is spring under axle so the stress isn't on the blocks, it's on the u-bolts. Streetaco's blocks and u-bolts are both high quality which means you wouldn't have to worry about them.

It all comes down to what you're towing. Being low and having weight in the bed, or on a trailer means you really should have some sort of assistance, like air shocks or helper bags if you're carrying a lot of weight. With trailers, you can always load the tongue light by shifting the weight toward the rear of the trailer if possible.

 

Ok new to this forum , I've heard and read of people using a 90-94 toy pickup rear end in a Tacoma to tuck wheel in the fender well because it's narrower than the Tacoma rear , so does anyone know how much more narrow it is and does it just swap over or are there little things that need to be done to get it to work ??? Any help would be great thanx

 

Depends on what year pretaco rear end you use.