First I wanted to state that I did not post this in the "Offroad tech" nor the "General Vehicle" as this will be for all around truck performance, daily driver needs, and with any suspension related questions my Yota falls within this year/generation area. I hope this was correct for the mod's, I apologize if not. I'm long winded on my post's so there is a quick sumary at the bottom of my questions!

My truck has been a project for myself and I've loved every minute of it. However I'm not a hardcore offroader, nor do i have a need for a SAS (yet, just give me time). But I do love hitting the trails and the ability to go camping and have some fun offroad when the chances are there. Well if you check my sig you can see where I currently stand with my truck and her performance.

Now I've been researching a lot lately (Thanks WaskillyWabbit, and many others here, as well as many other forums) as to what I need to do next for my needs, and now I not only have more questions but am looking for some first hand experiences with some of this stuff. So let's begin.

Tire's
Currently running 31x10.50 15's. My 265/80 R16 are no longer, blew 2 of them out on the freeway.

Lift
2" body lift

Front Suspension
Stock, currently have SkyJacker shocks rated for Vehicles with upto 2" of lift.

Rear Suspension
I currently am stock other than the Sky Jacker shock's rated for vehicles with upto 2" of lift.
I have downey longer shackles, just not installed!

Gears
open diff 4.10's

My Plan's and questions

Tire's
I'm looking at the BFG 33x12.50 15's or 33 x10.50 15's All Terrain's. I don't see to much mud but want good performance on and off road, (the Super Swampers were just too good a deal to pass up.)

Front Suspension
Sticking with IFS, I have sway-a-way HD T-Bars I'll be putting on
Low Profile bump stops
Looking at going with the BJ Spacers, 1.5"
plan to switch out the Sky Jackers to Bilsteins 5125's. Should I go with 10" or 12"? Or how can I measure to be most accurate?

Rear Suspension
Can't decide between the 63" chevy swap
or
Wabfab or AllPro's 3" rear leafs.
Switch out the Sky Jackers to Bilstein's 5125's, but again 10" or 12" of travel?

I'm not looking for any more lift but for more flexibility (haha I know I'm still IFS) but a little bit of lift wont bother me. Now I realize that this will lead me to extend my brake lines also. Should I just go for one of the rear lift kit's and be done with it? Are these kits more designed to mate the rear up when the front has been SAS'd? Now I have the Downey longer shackles, should I use them with stock leafs?

Gears
I plan on regearing to 4.88's since I'm looking at going to a 33" tire.
Should I contact Zuk and have him do the gears? Can I do this myself? Or I saw that RobinHood150 has a set of 4.88's for sale, would this work for me?

Armor & Misc
Rock Sliders
Front custom Fabtech Lightbar, modified for added support
BudBuilt skid's or Custom skid
Idler arm brace
IFS Truss brace

So as you can see I'm just trying to get a more rounded IFS truck. Granted stock would suit my needs but this is a learning experience and a way for me to relax. I want to make her a very capable rig without getting to far over my head mechanically. So to summarize my questions:

Questions
1.) Tires = BFG 33x12.50 15's or 33x10.50 15's AT? Should I look at MT's or maybe another brand? DD and light to moderate trail use.
2.) Besides the BJ Spacers, what else can I do up front?
3.) Rear suspension, 63" chevy swap or the 3" leafs? Do i use the Downey Shackles?
4.) IFS Truss - welded or bolt on?
5.) anything I missed keeping her IFS?

Here is a great example of my current goals, thanks to 4crawler linking to it from his site....http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/hottoy/west/ My thought's are to get a bit more flex with the BJ Spacers and rear leafs.

 

Look at Schaeffer's truck that is featured this week as a template. Get locked and armored and you can go all over the place. If you can bring yourself to accept your 31's or even drop down to 30's you're almost there already. Do all the armor stuff you have listed (except I don't know anything about that lightbar). Put an Aussie in the rear or an ARB if you have the dough. Think about an Aussie in the front if you have manual hubs, or an ARB if you have the dough. If you just have to have 33's you will need some lift and a regear and therein lies some real $$$. Not sure why you want the HD T bars unless you plan on carrying some big weight up front ie bumper+skids+winch. I'd try to return them or trade them on something you really need. Also not sure about 10-12" bilsteins in the front. Where are you going to get all that travel from?

For the front I have BJ spacers and they work well but if I had it to do over again I would skip it. I spent a fair bit of $$ on the front end and still want SAS when all is said and done. With these older trucks you get in there and realize you ought to replace some maintenance items while you're at it. In the long run I replaced BJ's, TRE's, control arm bushings, and added the IFS truss and idler arm brace along with the BJ spacer's. IIRC I spent in the neighborhood of $500 which would have put an Aussie in the rear with labor included and an install kit if I chose to go that route or put me well on my way to locking both ends with lunchbox lockers.

For the rear I think the Chevy springs will be too much lift. Think about a custom Alcan spring pack. And for flexy you could have them throw in those orbit eye joints but I don't know much about them or if there are drawbacks. Maybe someone who knows can chime in. I have the 3" Downey's on mine. I got them solely on price and for now they do what I want them too which is resolve my trucks saggy butt. I think they do fine for wheeling but others have said they wear out quickly. We shall see.

Anyway for what you say you want to do with the truck, I would personally stay with 31's, lock both ends and buy as much armor as I could. Maybe get the HD Tbars if you bumper and winch up in the front. Then go wheel the piss out of it.

 

Thanks for the input, and I should clarify why I have some of these items and what my plans are.

I WANT 33" tires as I have front fiberglass fenders that are flared out. The 31"s just don't look right in there. I have these fenders as my stockers were trashed when I got the truck. I found a sweet deel on them and picked them up for $100 for both sides. Then the guy gave me the fabtech light bar. This WANT for the 33"s has prompted the need for the regearing.

I plan on modding the light bar so it has more support and functionality than it does stock. This will give me a practice run at some welding. I plan to add braces from the hoop section into the frae suport by notching the hood in tt points, then adding support from the base of the bar to the frame. It's all in my mind at least!

The HD T-bars are for when I do get the winch and bumper. I needed something to help with the added weight, but they are not installed yet, as I don't have the winch and bumper.

I agree that the rear leafs and chevy's may add more lift but I'm trying to weigh out my options. I keep reading how the Chevy's provided a better on road performance than stock, plus they excel offroad for their price tag.

As for a locker, I haven't needed one yet, but that's only from lack of time on the trails and level of trail difficulty. I know I will need one in the (near) future, but how close I am not sure.I definetly will be getting the armor!

More input please. Help me make the best decision's I can here. Spending money hurts but I need (ok want) to do this stuff.
-=Morphine=-

 

Armor, lockers and 33's and you'll be able to go more places than you should take a truck you care about what it looks like. Believe me, I know...

Return all the lift stuff and use the money for lockers. Gear install is basically free if you do it at the same time as lockers. 4.88's are good if you've got manual trans - otherwise, I would lean to 5.71 if you've got an auto.

I would HIGHLY recommend AGAINST the heavier tbars. The LAST thing these trucks need is a higher spring rate. My truck is difficult to get to full stuff because it starts lifting up before you hit the bumpstop.

You can fit 33x10.50 with no lift and no rubbing. You get all the ground clearance and traction of the 33x12.50 without all the fitment/wear problems.

I would install the low profile bumps - I'm thinking about doing that myself. I think you get almost as much benefit, without a lot of the downsides of the BJ spacers. (If I did BJ spacers, I would uncrank the tbars to lessen the preload and get them to stuff better...)

I also need to measure for shocks, as I think they are a limiting factor currently. Take the shock out and measure from the upper to lower mounts as you manipulate the suspension between full stuff and full droop.

 

Totally understand about the 33's. I want 'em too. In my head though I know I don't really need them yet. All my wheelin troubles have been about traction, not clearance. (I suppose when I get better traction then I'll start having clearance problems) It's just that this is where it gets spendy. If you're gonna regear you HAVE to take advantage of the diff teardown and put in a locker at the same time. Thats just the way these projects add up. Like TC said too, I cranked down my stock t bars as far as I safely could after the BJ spacer install to try to maximize articulation.

EDIT: and here is a link to what those orbit eyes are supposed to do http://www.alcanspring.com/orbit-eye.htm
Again, don't have any real world knowledge about them personally.

 

Reviving this dead thread on Halloween and my leaf spring search. WOW!! Those orbit eyes are sick!