IFS Suspension and Questions.

[DanSocal619]

I have a 88 22re 4runner and i'm new to the 4runners, as well as ifs. This truck is my daily driver and will be until i get back on my feet. I work at a machine shop were we scrap alot of different metal, so with that being said i get my material really cheap. The previous owner has the torsion bars cranked all the way up.

Reasons for me not going sas is because i have a debt from college (graduated 2 years ago), and dont have much of the time to do it. So please don't say to sas it because that will come later on. I want a smoother ride, more travel and ground clearance. I was told to stay away from body lifts.

I want to do some 2 1/2" Ball joint spacers, and a diff drop. I'm unsure if a ball joint spacer is for travel only or if it will give my truck a lift at all.

Questions i have,
1. Does ball joint spacers give you a lift?
2. Does anyone have the measurements/link to help me make my own ball joint spacers?
3. how much of a diff drop should i do?/need to do? (if you know)
4. How do i make my own diff drop bracket?
5. Is there any other way(s) to achieve what i am looking to do without replacing major components?

Thank you in Advance!
Dan

 

[mxdubbs]

I personally would stay away from BJ spacers. Back when I had my 3rd gen pickup I thought about everything from bj spacers to full on long travel. Because it was my daily driver I needed it to be reliable. So I ended up just upgrading the shocks to billies. That truck went through hell, I took it on trails with the local jeep club, jumped it all the time, took it through sand woops, hit 2 trees, a cattlegard, backed into the garage and shot the poor thing.

I would do shocks, 31's and leave it at that.

here is my old truck for reference.

 

[DanSocal619]

I dont think BJ spacers would hurt but whats your reasoning behind why to stay away from them?

 

[mxdubbs]

you should be fine with bj spacers. just relax the torsion bars a little bit. The only reasoning I have against them is the added wear on cv's, but since your getting diff drop kit it wont matter. That and the fact that most people that get them assume they have LT.

I would just buy a kit from wabfab, there really cheap.

 

[KidVermicious]

I have a 88 22re 4runner and i'm new to the 4runners, as well as ifs. This truck is my daily driver and will be until i get back on my feet. I work at a machine shop were we scrap alot of different metal, so with that being said i get my material really cheap. The previous owner has the torsion bars cranked all the way up.

Reasons for me not going sas is because i have a debt from college (graduated 2 years ago), and dont have much of the time to do it. So please don't say to sas it because that will come later on. I want a smoother ride, more travel and ground clearance. I was told to stay away from body lifts.

I want to do some 2 1/2" Ball joint spacers, and a diff drop.

No such thing. The biggest ball joint spacer on the market is 1.5 inches. Anybody advertising a 2.5" ball joint spacer will have fine print telling you it's actually 1.5 and you have to get the other 1 inch from cranking your torsion bars, which you already know is bad for the ride.

Questions i have,
1. Does ball joint spacers give you a lift?

Yup, 1.5 inches. Or less, if you get a smaller spacer. You'll gain uptravel and lose downtravel in equal amounts.

2. Does anyone have the measurements/link to help me make my own ball joint spacers?

I don't, but if you have the ability to mill aluminum then it shouldn't be hard. Take your pattern off the ball joint.

3. how much of a diff drop should i do?/need to do? (if you know)

You don't need a diff drop. If you're worried about wear and tear on the CV shafts, delete the ADD and convert to manual hubs. If you already have manual hubs, then don't sweat it. If you do decide to do a diff drop, be aware that this will bring your CV shafts into closer alignment and will take your front driveshaft out of alignment.

4. How do i make my own diff drop bracket?

Diff drops for the 1st gen IFS consist of a pair of spacers and some longer bolts.

5. Is there any other way(s) to achieve what i am looking to do without replacing major components?

What exactly are you trying to do? You don't need lift to DD the truck, and you don't need lift to fit 33x10.5 tires, so I'm not sure what the goal here is. If you're just using the truck to get around town right now, then I'd leave it completely stock. If you're looking for mild lift for wheeling, I'd recommend a set of light duty OME springs in the rear, a ball joint spacer from 4Crawler in the front, OME Nitrochargers all around, then relax the torsion bars until the rear sits just slightly higher than the front. Delete the sway bar and don't worry about the diff drop. It'll ride much better than it does now on pavement and on dirt, and won't cost you too much. If you're lifting for appearance, then it doesn't matter much what you do as long as you're happy with how it looks. A body lift would be fine for that purpose.

It's not easy to get big lift out of the torsion beam IFS setup. If you're looking for more than 1.5 to 2 inches of suspension lift, you've really got three options - a bracket lift, a longtravel IFS setup (see Total Chaos or Blazeland), or the SAS that you've already ruled out. All of those are overkill unless you plan on seeing significant dirt time.

 

[KidVermicious]

I would just buy a kit from wabfab, there really cheap.

I would spend money with 4WheelParts before I give WabFab another dime, and I hate 4WheelParts.

 

[DanSocal619]

No such thing. The biggest ball joint spacer on the market is 1.5 inches. Anybody advertising a 2.5" ball joint spacer will have fine print telling you it's actually 1.5 and you have to get the other 1 inch from cranking your torsion bars, which you already know is bad for the ride.

I would be making my own ball joint spacers... but if 1.5 is like that max then i will make 1.5

 

[DanSocal619]

What i am looking to do it get a smoother and more ground clearanced ride when offroading. with some travel... Its just my brothers did a trail that the bottomed out on a couple times. and i just want to be offroad ready without blowing lots and lots of moneey