Well to clear the 35s i had on the truck we put a main leaf from a 4" superlift pack into my Downey 3" springs, as well as jacking up the torsion bars a little bit up front and it rode horribly. I knew something had to be done about it.

Decided to go with the chevy springs and i was able to locate some at a local pick-n-pull for $15/spring! Only thing was i had to pull them myslef. Took me about 5 hours because the bolts were rusted tot he bushings and it took a lot of hammering to get them off. Plus, i only had wrenches and no ratchets because I had forgotten them at the house.

Heres a pic of with the truck on 35x12.50 BFG A/T on 15x10 Aluminum wheels (no leaf added yet, and just front lifted)...


Leaf added...


Final stance after the chevy springs and the same tires are now on my 15x8 Cragars that my 33s were on...



We used Trail-Gear rear shackle mounts for the rear and Ballistic Fab Front mounts that are made for Chevy Springs. The front mounts are absolute BEEF. A U-Bolt flip kit has been added as well as a 2* shim under the leaves to raise the pinion angle a little bit.

For my shocks i went with Rancho RS5000 with 12" of travel and 30" overall length. I think i should have went with maybe a 10.5" travel shock that was a little bit shorter, because these are really long under there haha. I mounted like this / \ Made my own cross bar and welded bolts to them. Bought some lower shock mounts from TG for the axle tube.











These springs can go much further than that. that is where i had to stop because the left rear tire was getting too far into the fender. I need to hurry up and weld my bumpstops on so i can prevent them from going further up and let them droop like crazy.

 

That 4runner is monsta!!!
My dream truck!!

 

Great work and awesome looking 4runner!

 

thanks guys, i been working on getting this way now for 5 years. Theres always something to change and improve

 

That's hella funny, literally 5 minutes before i made that thread i googled toyota to chev 63s and looked at a few pictures of your runner haha i like it

 

haha hell ya dude, i need to do a little bit of work on my fenders to get the 35s to stuff without scrubbing like crazy. One of the best mods so far.

Thanks a lot man, i like the rugged look of yours too.

 

Yeah im concerned now looking at yours because i need my ass end to sit a good amount higher than stock to clear my 37s. i dont really want to go to town with a cutting wheel on my brand new bed you know?

 

Well, you have a truck and the back end is a lot lighter. Also, my shackle angles are pretty severe. You could probably make the shackle a littler more vertical and get a little more heighth that way too.

 

You would be much better off mounting the shocks more vertical and lower on the axle. With the reduction in damping force you're getting from the angle, and the soft chevy springs, you've gotta be getting body roll like crazy.

I was gonna say your shackle angle looked a little steep, but if it still stuffs all the way, then more power to ya.

 

Nice work! What kind of welder did you use? I'm gunna guess one that plugs into a 120 volt, the welds look kinda cold...looks good other than that!

 

TC, i was worried that i was going to get a bunch of roll too, but it isnt bad at all. It feels very stable going down the road and they dont bounce around very much.

At first, we were contemplating whether or not to move it back, but it ended up working perfectly for me. It actually moved the axle back 1.5". I made some plates to bring it back to the middle so i would not have to chop the back of the fenders.

89silverpu, it is a Chicago Electric from Harbor Freight. 120A 230V - (http://www.harborfreight.com/welding...der-55250.html). We ran wires from our laundry room, takes a great big ol' plug. Their in there super hot, i can assure you that! We made a couple passes to ensure they were good and in there.

BTW, your truck is looking great man, keep it up

 

Hey Brandon,

I realize this is an old thread but I was searching around for 63" Chevy swaps and came across yours. That truck is sick and is exactly the look I'm going for. I want to eventually SAS my 87 runner but I would prefer it still sat relatively close to the height of yours. So you have the 63" chevys in the back and a 1.5" BJ spacer up front and that's it for lift?

 

i also have downey 26mm torsion bars, but it isnt too bad because i have the bumper and winch to weight it down in the front. these springs are so incredible and flex very well. i took it to River Rock ORV and it performed increidbly well. i softened the front and put the 33s on it for offroad. worked flawlessly.

 

Does that bumper weigh more than stock? I would have guessed it weighed less than stock. I could see the winch adding weight. Did you run that winch and bumper with the stock torsion bars? I'm just curious if I really need them. I really want the 63" chevys and a ball joint lift up front but I don't want to cut corners.

 

o yes, much heavier than stock. this one is around 75lbs iirc. Unfortunately no, i have only runt he bumper/winch with the 26mm bars. i hear you dude, i would look into the 23.4mm OME bars if youre going to change TBars

 

looks awesome! nice 4runner man! oh and nice bumper too

 

Your ride looks great!!! how does it ride on the street? as in hitting bumps, pot holes, body roll?

 

thanks guys, took awhile to get it to where it is. it actually rides really well on the street. with TBs relaxed a little bit and the chevies out back, it is a decently comfortable ride for me. i dont have a sway bar on the front, there is a little bit of body roll, but you get used to it and learn how to drive it without being all over the place.

o and gets 20mpg too .....when the engine isnt blown

 

did you use the stock shackle location?

 

yes we did, i cant remember the final measurement that we went with, but you can see in this picture where the frame has been painted black. that is where we cut off the stock mount...looks to be around 4"-6"