5 inch tough country with incorrect pinon angle

im currently looking for solutions for a project truck. I had the driveshaft lengthened about an inch too long. The pinon angle is also wrong..the rear diff needs to point higher in the air. A larger block with a higher degree pinon angle should solve this. I'm also looking at re arcing the rear leafs to add a couple inches. My issue lies in adding lift to the front. I've seen a few threads that don't recommend an adjustable coilover with a diff drop, as I would need to drop the diff further. My other option is to have the driveshaft shortened. I would rather add lift. I'm not really trying to deal with a straight axle conversion either.

 

Added lift should solve the issue of the driveshaft being too long. Right now it bottoms out.

 

Your already at 5 inches right? How are you achieve this in the front?

Since there isn't really any reson to have a truck lifted 5 inches.... Shortening the driveshaft and going to a simple 3 inch lift, like a bilstein or OME setup or if you have the money a set of coilover for the front, and then get an aal or a new leaf pack in the rear will sovle all your problems and future problems. And it's much more practical.

 

Too late, I bet OP already cut the crossmember and tossed it. Going back to 3" lift would require re-welding the OEM crossmember... by then you should just SAS

 

So it is a drop bracket lift? Well then I have no idea what to tell you cause it's not done right in the first place. Any more lift is just going to cause problems on top of the problems you are going to incounter, plus your truck is just going to ride worst.

And people on here mentioning don't go with a diff drop with a coilover is just with a standard coilover and no drop bracket. They suggest not to do it because it's doesn't do anything as to help with the cv problem. The only thing to help is less lift or if you blowing boots all the time... Boot slid mod.

Guess just go SAS lol.

 

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the tough country 5" is a DB. With that setup, the front diff should already be dropped so CV angles aren't an issue (actually one pro for running DB vs coilovers), but yeah there is no turning back after a drop bracket lift is installed.

OP should be able to run coilovers if all of the suspension is dropped. I believe most DBs use a bigass spacer between the top strut perch and the coils. So essentially you have a stock setup, as far as front suspension geometry is concerned. You should be able to add some adjustable coilovers without any issues, and adjust them to 2" of "extra lift" to get you where you want. You shouldn't need a diff drop with 2" of lift.

Make sure you measure from the bottom wheel lip (or the center of the wheel, whichever you prefer) to the bottom of the fender flare so you have a benchmark after you install your coilovers, in order to know your before and after lift ride height and make adjustments accordingly. My rule of thumb, however, does not involve much measuring and involves adjusting the lift just so the inner CV boot is close to, but not, rubbing. This takes more time (jack up truck, adjust, drive around the block, check CV boot angles, repeat), but lift height limitations mainly revolve around the CV boot rubbing more than anything else.

 

I'm going to try the adjustable coilovers on it. I already have them. It's not going to be a daily driver. We have serious 4x4 roads here so I wouldn't mind having 7 inches of lift. Im going to give the adj. coils a try and see what happens. I was just curious if anyone had experience with running adj. coils with a drop diff. Lift? Worse case I can shorten the drive shaft...which was the recommended solution. I know you 3 inch guys won't like it ,but I'm also considering a body lift

 

Sorry. I meant drop bracket not drop diff.

 

Are you serious???? I don't care if you live in the worst terrain in the world. Unless your sas you don't need anything more then 3. A drop bracket lift will do NOTHING to help you in a off road situation anyway. you still have stock travel and stock ground cleareance. Its just for looks bud. But to each there own!

 

Not to argue, but the larger the lift the bigger the tires you can run. My 97 has a 2" adj coil setup. I'm running 265 75 16s. It goes most places, but there are roads I'd rather not take it on. Yeah, SAS is probably the way to go but I'm running with what I got. Im working out the problems with the lift. A couple more inches and a 6 degree block should put my driveshaft where I want it. You need to go up quite a bit to run 35s. I'm looking at running 33s comfortably with 7". Icon coils and SPS upper controls. You don't know what the lava roads look like here, so I'm not sure why your trying act like you've seen it all. All I wanted to know if anyone already had experience with adding an adj. coil setup to a drop bracket. I have no desire to do a SAS

 

There's a whole thread on here with people running 35s on 3 inch lifts its is for second gens though. May need a body lift. The drop bracket is doing nothing helpful. Yes you can run bigger tires but like I said, 7 inches isn't going to help from a off road perspective at all.

And is it a road or a trail? Cause it can't be much of a road if you need 35s lol

 

I guess it would be considered a trail. I call them lava roads. I'm not sure why you have such an issue with drop brackets? They lower your suspension geometry to accommodate larger tires. Very well. I pulled my cv axle out on a trail here in my Tacoma with the 2" lift because I didn't drop the diff. Bent the snap ring right off. The clearance is necessary. Tires are the only thing that gives your suspension clearance. Im not a big fan of running big tires with tiny lifts. I'm sure a lot of cutting is envolved to run 35s on a 3 inch lift...why would you even want to do that? 33s don't even fit properly on a 3inch lift.

 

As far as drop brackets go, they have stock clearance if you use stock tires... But only to the bracket. The center of the truck is 5" higher. This is awesome for going through rivers. As far as the travel goes, I'm using a SPS upper and icon extended travel coils( if they fit.. Which was basically the question I asked)

 

Im not a super huge fan of drop bracket lifts myself. I understand the front end is lacking ground clearance and travel...but thats it, just the front bracket.....lets think of a high centering situation, the 3 inch guys are stuck bigger than shit on a water barr where as the DB lift guy goes right over it and on with his day without issue.... i find where the DB really sucks is in ruts and super rocky terrain where you cant drive over the rock/obstacle with your tire and have to straddle it, where as the 3 inch guys will do much better! Again not a fan of DB but you cant say they are useless for an offroad application.

Edit** Ahh... lava rock you just beat me to the point.

 

Lava rock, on your lift are spacers utilized and the stock sized shock and coil still present? I assume so beings your wanting to use a coilover to gain a bit more lift. I know on a fabtech 6" DB setup for example, you couldnt use a coilover to gain anymore because the shocks are replaced with super long ones without the use of any spacers. Only way to get more lift in that situation would be to toss some top plate spacers on there...

 

Wow! Nice to see this rather than how high and what's the best economical lift for ". OME, Bilsteins, Fox, Icon, King? What size tires, what kind oil? What about the rear end?

Props OP, but I call BS.

 

Spend some more time on here OP, do some research, don't just listen to your buddies or do what everyone else is doing in your area. You will see why drop bracket isn't the way to go. Not for a off road oriented truck.

I've got 33s. I cut a tiny piece of plastic and they for just fine. Don't even have a 3 inch lift.

Screw it I'm done lol

 

I can already see the axle wrap with those big ass lift blocks. Ive seen the flex in some of those drop bracket lifts and id never trust them offroad.

 

I have a buddy who used to have an 05+ taco with a drop bracket lift and OME coils. Didn't have any issues, except for a driveshaft vibe. I think it was because the rear axle wasn't shimmed right.

I think he was running an AAL too, to level it out, instead of using a bigger block.

FWIW I fit 33s on 3" lift just fine. But since you have lava roads then you probably are from Hawaii. Y'all do your trucks differently over there, and I've gotten over hating on your style. I would run 35s with that amount of lift though!

 

The tuff country just uses a spacer.