Thanks JWHnAtl. No I don't have ball joint spacers up front. It's a Trailmaster 4" lift, barely cranked up.

I've done the same swap...
A couple of comments:

1) Running 44044s up front - the truck doesn't sit level:


2) You'll need to modify the parking break to clear the springs a bit:



3) I'm running a soft-ride 1.5in add-a-leaf.. It's almost level. Long shackles in back are good, but they're not enough to correct your pinion angle, you'll need to shim.. I believe I used 3 deg shims.


Very flexible.. cheap springs.. ride great.. notice overall length increase - new mount point is in front of old spring:

http://lakebox.dnsalias.com/photos/1981%20toyota/fabrication/med/DSC03577.JPG

d_ginther@hotmail.com

**cough** Bob your bed **cough** <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

How did you modify the parking brake?

That's what we wanted to see. Nice work! It looks like you have the four leaf pack with the over load? If you take the over load off it'll ride a lot better, or at least mine did when I took the load spring out. Anyways, looks good, thanks for the pics.

That;s a CLEAN truck, i like it.

I am planning on doing the swap on my 87 runner very soon. Do I need shims to correct the pinion angle or will I be okay without them? Also I was only planning a BJ spacer on the front with the IFS do you think I will be level or will the rear be too high with the 3 leaf chevy pack? Thanks, Andrew

I'm going to a flat bed, with some rear seats as soon as I can find the time and the motivation to do so.

The spring pack gets too tall, so the parking brake drags across it. It's not clear in the photo, but you need to extend the arm that is on the drum brake. I simply welded on to it and drilled a hole for the pin. I believe that someone actually makes an extension.


What you need to understand about doing ANY lift:

1) If you lift, you just changed your pinion angle. The rule that I've heard is for every inch up, you need to rotate the pinion by 1.5 degrees. The rear isn't as bad because the angles are not as extreme. A bad pinion angle in back will result in u-joints that wear more quickly and inefficient power transfer.. Not a big deal.

2) The front is more problematic because you can end up with a very bad (unusable) pinion angle. If you shim the front - you'll screw up your default caster, which is what keeps your truck stable on the road. Not enough caster and you'll "death wobble" - the truck will be highly unstable, not drivable, and dangerous on the road... To do the SAS right, you need to cut and rotate the ends of the axle (see pirate4x4) - to get your pinion angle correct.. you'll need to reweld the spring perches also. It's a pain...

I'd recommend not shimming the front - that way your pinion angle might be bad, but you're not going to death wobble. Jess (high angle driveline) can produce some driveshafts that work well, but they will vibrate quite a bit and not be smooth above about 20mph...

email me if you've got questions.

d_ginther@hotmail.com

I did the Chevy spring swap using a 3 spring + overload pack and took the overload out so I have no problems with the e-brake cable. I didn't have to shim, my pinion angle was right on the money (about 2 degrees off in the rear, so while under power it should be perfectly parallel with the transfer case). There is no driveline vibration.

At first I used a double shackle setup, but after everyone got me worried about using double shackles I switched to a single shackle using the existing rear shackle hanger. The shackle is pretty laid back, but the truck rides fine and flexes good.

Careful... if people keep posting here we'll end up with the 4x4wire equivalent of the PBB FAQs <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

My parking brake cable is at least 3/4" above the spring pack at flat ride height. I didn't take a close look at it while I was flex testing, but I'll go back and take a look soon.

Still loving this Chevy springs:



Never seen the IFS flex that much <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/zombie.gif" alt="" /> In the back I am rubbing right tire on compression and the passenger droops until the shackle goes 90. Shocks barely have enough compression travel. Extension is okay.