Suspension

Part 1 - Original suspension mods, Skyjacker

Part 2 - 1/2 ton chevys in back - stock rears up front

Springs

Originally I had been debating whether to get Alcan's, I ended up going with the 5" Skyjacker's (a little tall) which I had heard from a friend the packs were made up of more leafs, and thinner leafs than most other spring packs, and they were good quality springs. Well that same buddy owns a Cruiser, and Skyjacker does make the Cruiser spring packs with more leafs than stock, but not the p/u springs. But anyway, since I already bought the springs, and I don't yet own a money tree, my plan is to try to get all the travel out of these springs as possible.

Original setup

• 5 inch Skyjacker springs-front and rear. (Springs far too stiff, will eventually modify to make more flexible).
  • Front main leaf measures 46" as apposed to 45" stock spring eye to eye.
  • Rear main leaf measures 48.25" as apposed to 47" stock spring eye to eye.
• 1" Body Lift, to give the front 33's a bit more room
• All-Pro 1.5" longer than stock front and rear shackles to accomidate the longer than stock Skyjackers.
• Poly-Urethane body mounts
• Rancho 9012's monted on Ford shock mounts in front (Ford part # E5TZ*18183 A).
• Rancho 9012's adjustable shocks-front and rear
• Rancho steering stabalizer (single)

After installing the new springs I found they were longer than the stock springs. The front springs are 1" longer, and the rear are 1-1/4" longer than stock. Therefore, the stock shackles are not long enough to allow the new springs to travel to full bottom out, or worse "S" shaping a spring on compression. Yikes. I purchased All-Pro's extended shackles (1.5" longer than stock for the front and rear axles), and installed those...

I haven't checked the new articulation yet, but it should be enough to allow the springs to bottom out. I will be testing this soon.

The front springs are flexible enough, I may take the #2 leaf out, because it is very thick and replace it with a few stock leaves. But the rear pack is too stiff. The rear won't bottom out completely even with a full load. The rear overload leafs will be the first to go, they are about twice the thickness as the others. This will probably give too much wheel hop, but I need to test without them and maybe throw some of the stock leaves in there as well.

05/2001Well I took out the front and rear overloads. It is sitting a good 1 - 1.5" lower. A lot softer over the bumps in the road now. A little too loose in the turns but o'well, didn't buy the truck for its handling capability. Articulates a lot better too

Shocks

There are a few good Rancho guides out there, but I like this one...

http://www.off-road.com/toyota/tech/shocks/

When I installed the Skyjacker's I put Rancho RS9012's in back, assuming I would eventually change the stock mounts. And when I put on a reverse U-bolt set up I was forced to change mounting locations. I have seen others mount off the round tube off the frame but it was too far away from the axle. So I used some 1/4" thick, 2" square tube from the top of the right frame rail to the left and welded in place. This fit perfect with the 1" body lift, I did have to notch the 'body fold down tabs' a bit. I then cut the bottom of the square tubing out in the middle, about 10" from side to side. Then drilled two holes, (from front to back) to mount the 9012's to, which fit in the space perfect (this didn't happen by accident, this tubing was choosen because the shocks fit perfect to the inner diameter of the tubing). I mig-welded some U-shaped brackets to the axle an 1.5" from each spring to mount the other end of the shocks. This has allowed full travel of the springs with the 9012's.

In the front, after making some measurements, I installed the longest 'loop/pin' type Rancho 9000 avaliable which I thought would allow full travel of the springs, the RS9009. And again, I was planning on making some mods, either extending the upper shock mounts higher, or cutting the mount off, and fab my own. Well, I found out through my articulation tests that these shocks, even with new upper mounts will not give me all of the travel the Skyjackers have to offer. So, now I am going with the Ford shock mount idea, and 9012's for the front. They only cost me like 8 bucks each. I couldn't believe it. The guy at the parts counter even said, 'The steel is probably worth more than that.' I have welded them to the frame and they work perfect. With the 1" body lift no fender cutting was necessary.

11/2004Well, haven't updated in a while. Back in the early part of '02 I put new front and rear springs on;

Front
• Modified stock rear springs in the front. Used the spring pack plus a few leaves laying around kens shop. Benefit - this automatically relocates the axle 2" forward, since the center pin is only 20.5" from the front eye, as apposed to the stock front spring that was 22.5" from the front eye.
• I also welded a 2" drop hanger on the front
• still using the same shackles, 1.5" longer than stock.
• Still using the Ford shock mounts up front witht the 9012's. Even though the axle is moved up 2 inches they are still straight up/down enough. Should cut and reweld them though.

Rear
• Chevy 1/2 ton 63" in the rear. Mounted the front spring hanger, (3.5"x3.5" square) 11" forward of the stock spring hanger. 2"(?) blocks to give a bit more clearance, and help even it out with the front. These things are nice and soft!
• Using Hanna Quality shackles, we didn't do the "double shackle fad!" Don't know exactly how far back we put the hanger for the rear shackle, but it's right behindthe stock shackle hanger.
• Still using the square tube in the back for the "/\" shock stance. But even with the shocks on 5 the chevys are too soft. Granted the "/\" is probable 45* even when not flexing, so I am not getting the full use of these shocks. Whould like to go with Bilstiens or Poly Performances BBCS's which are specifically valved for this vehicle.

date last updated 11/04