Suspension idea

So I got to thinking the other day about upgrading my suspension on my truck. I want to achieve two things from doing so, better ride quality and I’d like to be able to run 33” tires. I am on a cheap budget sense I am a full time student and only work part time. So that rules out buying the toytec ultimate lift right now or anything along those lines. So I got to thinking and I have read a lot about guys putting 63” chevy leaf springs under their yotas. With Chevy leafs I think you have to move your front mount forward and that kind of stuff, but then I heard about a few guys running F-150 springs and not having to move anything around at all. So my thought is run some F-150 springs in the rear of my truck ( if they do not lift it enough for 33’s then run an add a leaf also). Up front I would run some OME coil over springs or something similar just depending on the price. And for shocks as bad as I want Billy 5100 probably just some from the local auto parts store. I have not checked prices on all of this yet but I’m thinking I can get all the parts for pretty cheap!

Now I know this is not the ideal setup but I think it would workout pretty good for for the time being until I can ungrade to something more desirable!

 

yeah ome coils with 5100 in the front is the best you can do on a budget in my book.

 

why add the f-150 springs? you can get an aal for your truck for 75 bucks.

I did AAL, and 5100's all around for $440 from wheelersoffroad.com

your prob not gona get much cheaper than that, and you'll fit 33's like that too!

 

Thats what I would like to do but my rear springs are shot! And I didn't think you could or should add an AAL to a leaf spring pack that is flat.

 

I like your mind set , think outside the box a little & who knows what kind of results you get when playing around with diff. concepts & ideas.
Too many guys here think that unless their susp. or lift mods come from the few big offroad suppliers & fabricators, that any of these mods you do are a fail. I disagree, as long as any alterations don't result in a safety or truck damaging issue I say go for it.

After all thats how alot of now successful after market fabricators got that way, trial & error or R&D is a friendlier term I guess.

I have 1st gen. Tundra adjustable 5100's on my truck, the only one on this whole forum it seems & I love'm , but I'm willing to bet if I had made a thread looking for input before I put'em on I would have gotten flamed with the usual " Go to Toytec,AllPro, DownSouth, etc; ) Nothing wrong with those guys just sayin' unconventional thinking can yeild great results IMO....

 

mine were pretty flat and the all helped them get some arch back, it got rid of my axle wrap for the most part, and lifted the truck nicely I would do it again.

 

Try em out! It might be a new trend. measure them first you may need to change a shackle or upgrade to 5125's or 5150's depending on the arch.

Good luck!

 

Well what got me thinking about this was that I have a buddy who has a 80 something 4 runner that he sased and put 35's on and he ran the Chevy leafs and they seem to flex really good and it rides really good. I have not measured my leafs or an F-150 leafs yet, but I am going to look into this further and see what I can figure out!

 

I just picked up this set up for under 750 & I'm going with 33"/12.5"x15's
I'll let you know if I have any rubbing issues.
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1st-gen-tacomas/112771-just-bought-my-lift.html

 

What size aal did you get? Did the lift from it go down at all with the shell on?

 

forget the add a leafs, been there, done that, they suck

a quick, cheap fix? Pick up some coils from the junk yard and put them between the axle and frame, using the bump stops to hold it in place.

I found a 2008 Jeep Cherokee that somehow got split in half...grabbed the springs off it and put them on the truck. I ended up cutting them down until I got the perfect ride height. The performance is WAY better than the add a leaf and after 4 months it still at the same ride hight, the add of leafs flatten out.

best part is the springs really help rear traction, no bouncing, and excellent load performance.

I did a half yard of top soil, the rear end only dropped 2" and was cool enough to hit the interstate!

Here are the pics of the mod

 

and on the front went with billie 5100 on the second notch (1" lift), used the original springs, awesome performance!

I got 3" from the back and 2" on the front, so 1" rake, PERFECT ride, even better with load!

 

thats a pretty good idea lol cheap rear coil conversion... i may be hittin the junk yard soon my unexpectd bro rake is killin me

 

at least zip tie em down or something

 

haha, I know right

been meaning to, but on my test drives I hit a couple big speed bumps at 35mph, got the front and back off the ground, they stayed in place! so I never through it necessary

to get them to fit, I had to use a jack between the frame and leaf, removing the tire and jacking the truck, was about a 1" short of fitting without a spring compressor, so I'm not too worried about them coming out