Victor

So my cruiser coils showed up yesterday. I was wondering. Can I use the rear shocks in the front since they are a little longer? Then I would only need to get rear shocks. I know I know but the curiousity motivates me.

Twinkie

What you need to do is find a shock application guide like Skyjacker's an d lookup the specs of a stock rear shock, and compare that to say, the 8052's I used on the front.

Victor

Well I'm all installed now. I had run just the Cruiser coils in the back for a couple of weeks because I ran out of time on the day I installed them to put in the BJ spacers. I put the BJ spacers today. Its perfect. Slight rake in the front, great ride. I'm sure I could turn the torsion bars some more but mine are tight as it is.

Anyone else have tire rubbing with the upper A-arm? I'm going to get some sort of temporary spacer - I think they sell them at Pep Boys. I know I'll go with 1.5" spacers later when I go up in tire size but just thought it was odd that a stock width tire would rub.

jht3

so after having all the parts for this sitting in my attic since july '04, i FINALLY got them installed today:

bj spacers
cruiser coils
rancho 5167 / 5009 shocks
15x8 rock crawler wheels w/ 3.75 backspacing
33x12.50 trxus mt's

took a good bit of weight to balance the tires, but they all zero'd out eventually w/ various amounts of weight. alignment worked out, but had to do it twice on the hunter machine as it was pretty far off the first time. i now have ~.01 toe-in, ~.5* negative camber, and ~1.5* positive caster (from memory, the printout is in the truck)

disconnected the panhard, sway bar links, speed sensor and brake lines from the axle and still had to use spring compressors to get the coils in. everything else went together as expected. i still need to extend the panhard mounts and fiddle w/ the LSPV to get some braking power back.

wheels clear all the front end components. 16" measured from the fender openings to the top of the wheel at all four corners (slightly more at the drivers front to account for my butt). so far no rubbing up front, but i haven't gotten it crossed up hard yet. i've previously trimmed for 33x10.50 TSL's w/ only downey coils, so with a bit more trimming/pounding and i'll probably be ok.

hardest part about all this was dealing w/ the improperly sized lower shock bushings. i made it work, but does anyone have the right dimensions or part numbers? i forgot to measure, but the fronts require a sleeve and the rears don't.

Jay351

After ordering my bj spacers a few months ago, I finally got them in. Still need to go for an alingment though. Also junked my sway bar, very comfertable ride now, seems a bunch better

elripster

Since your alignment is already out, why not give shot at aligning it yourself.

http://www.sdori.com/SDORI_Alignment.htm


Frank

Jay351

I would, but its snowing and I have no undercover area to work in

I had printed off your instructions before we did the spacers too.

Victor

I picked up 1/4" spacers at Pep Boys. A must with 16" wheels with stock back spacing. I've given the front a couple weeks to settle before I play with the torsion bars.

The passenger rear corner of the truck seems a little high. I'm debating whether that means I need to crank the driver side a torsion a little (the front is a little high on the passenger side too) or if I need to drop the passenger side torsion a bit. I lean towards loosening torsion bars instead of adding more tension.

WCorbett

stock wheels are 15" up to '96.

Twinkie

Sig says he's using 2002 Sport wheels...

elripster

You can adjust your torsion bars now. They settled many years ago when the truck was first driven off the lot.

The bars do not get tighter when you raise the truck, they get looser. The twisting force is a function of two things, the weight of the truck and the angle the a-arm make with the ground. The truck does not get heavier when you turn the adjuster. The angle, however, does increase which shortens the effective lever arm thus lessening the torque on the bar. That's why the ride gets stiff when people just crank up the bars. It's not that they are tighter, it's that the suspension has less mechanical advantage twisting the bar so the suspension flexes less which is generally bad.

To level the truck, simply measure from the frame, anywhere in the front but use the same spot on each side, and adjust until the front is level.

Frank

Victor

Thanks Frank. So going up to level is not bad. Cool.

And yes I'm using 2002 Sport wheels - but this applies to anyone using 3rd gen and newer 16" wheels as their backspacing seems to cause the tire to hit the upper A-arm. I'll get proper wheel spacers when I get back from vacation. I have stock width tires (albeit a little taller) so this could affect anyone using a wheel with this backspacing.

elripster

I'm sure you have seen it but if not there are instructions on alignment on our site. It's handy (and less expensive) to be able to do that yourself when you are playing with front end heights.

Frank

Victor

I had the alignment done Sat along with the steering relay rod recall. I have to get it done somewhere else or by your instructions - they set the toe and didn't touch the camber. My truck looks like an old v-dub with the tires pushing out at the top.

elripster

That has to be frustrating. To contrast, the dealer down here did an excellent alignment on my truck with spacers during the relay rod recall. We both have '94 4runners. Some alignment techs are so lazy it's pathetic.

You could take it back and have them explain why thousands of other trucks identical to yours get aligned by dealers like that all the time and they are somehow having an issue with it.

Or just use the instructions, I do that.

What dealer was this?

Frank

Victor

Hoy Fox in El Paso. I had them go an alignment a couple of years ago and they did an excellent job. Seems like this time they just wanted to get rid of me since I didn't bite on the idler arm from them.

Victor

I adjusted the alignment myself. Driver side is straight up and down, pass side still needs a little more adjustment but is a lot better than before. Truck now has a very slight pull to pass side but caster is much improved - no strange wobbling sensation at highway speeds and the steering wheel now self centers much better.

shancerlelby

first time poster long time reader of this thread but hey has anyone ran the 4" pro comp lift shocks in thea rear with long side cruiser coils? part # 326513 they are the 3000 series 4 runner 4" lift rears.

sleaz22xx

What do you guys think about running LC in the rear/ BJ spacers AND SAW tbars up front? I understand that i could relax the t bars i good amount to even out the front and the back(no rake please), and i can get some good flex, but is this gonna make for more front end slop for onroad use? Is it even neccesary for me to use the SAW tbars?
Thanx in advance.

Victor

I don't think that would be a great idea. The SAWs are designed for extra weight like a heavy bumper and winch would add. If anything they maybe they might hurt articulation? I know guys with the heavy front have complained of porpoising (spelling?) over bumps and that the SAW bars helped control that added weight. Try it without those bars first and see what you think before you throw down the cash.