Hey I'm just throwing out a ? in hope to get a lead.

I want to ditch my t-bars and get a coil-over system.

What I want to know is if any of you X-men know of any websites where some pre-taco yota's have done this or anybody that has done this with an IFS set-up that has a t-bar setup.

Or if any of you personally or know of somebody that has done something similar I would appreciate it.

Thanks
Brian

Don't know about the front, but eventually I want to do a coil-spring conversion in back. Probably gonna run $1000, or thereabouts.

I would love to see this too. A nice trailing linkage setup with OME springs would do wonders for our trailworthiness.

Matt

Well as far as my rear flexing more I'm going to copy this guy:
www.geocities.com/yota82/rock_crawl_2000.htm
Go to the middle of the page and click on the pic that says"at least my suspension looks cool"
I'll probably do it this weekend. By cutting a leaf in half and connecting it to the frame and running it to the top of the shackle.
Should be cheap and easy, and should give me a few more inches of flex.

Otherwise I'm looking into retro fitting pre 96 pathy's rear 4 link coil system. These babies are really quite flexy even for stock.

Mobycat, no I definately want a coil-over setup. Just think Taco/4runner.

I want to ditch my t-bars altogether.

Or completely ignorant of the Toys...

Coil over is using leaf springs, as far as I was aware...and they don't use leaf springs in front, do they? No t-bars in back, as far as I know...

Correct me if I'm wrong...or interpreting what you are looking to do incorrectly.

Originally posted by an1malch1n
Well as far as my rear flexing more I'm going to copy this guy:
www.geocities.com/yota82/rock_crawl_2000.htm
Go to the middle of the page and click on the pic that says"at least my suspension looks cool"
I'll probably do it this weekend. By cutting a leaf in half and connecting it to the frame and running it to the top of the shackle.
Should be cheap and easy, and should give me a few more inches of flex.


correct me if i am wrong, but one has to wonder whether that is street legal. if you are going to do something like that, go for a revolver shackle, missing link or an orbit eye instead. all 3 are readily available designs with proven offroad capabilities and are street legal. either way you do know you are going to have to extend the diff breather and all the brake lines right?

even if that is street legal, it does not look very solid.

Originally posted by Mobycat
Or completely ignorant of the Toys...

Coil over is using leaf springs, as far as I was aware...and they don't use leaf springs in front, do they? No t-bars in back, as far as I know...

Correct me if I'm wrong...or interpreting what you are looking to do incorrectly.

you are thinking of spring over, there paul.

and this guy here has leafs in front. go to the page above and click on the link titled "I had a good line, but my clutch decided start smoking half way through"

Here is a new age tacoma with a solid axle swap up front. Maybe you could take some ideas away from it. http://128.83.80.200/taco/

Well then I was partly right... I was confused...and I was incorrect about the Toys...but I was thinking about newer ones. Guess it would pay to look at the damn web page... :bloated:

Regardless...I still want a coil spring in back some day.

Originally posted by Matt Peckham
I would love to see this too. A nice trailing linkage setup with OME springs would do wonders for our trailworthiness.

Matt

I've seen a setup like that on an old jeep and it was not very stable for him. The axle kept wanting to crawl up more on one side then the other and was very hard on the u-joints. I believe he went through about 4 joints in a week and half. Granted you can get a $hit load of articulation out of a set up like that, but it's not very safe.

:bloated: NO NO NO:D

You guys have me all wrong here, he he. I will try to explain:

1st off: Sorry, I drive a hardbody, so I apologize for posting in your forum. I know some of you are pretty clever and so that was why this was posted, plus I was hoping somebody ran into a conversion like this on the net somewhere

2nd Lets start with the rear leafs. It will only cost me 50 bucks and I really don't care if it is legal. CO doesn't do a "safety inspection" anyway. Also AC hasn't finished "testing" the revolver for the HB yet and I want a cheap and easy way to get some more flex for a while BTW I was told it is a 3/4 eliptical setup and I a guy I've been chattin with on the 4x4 board says he runs this setup and doesn't really have any probs. You still don't get near the flex of a revolver, kinda like a happy medium. Besides if it doesn't work or I don't like it I'm only out 50 bucks. As far as orbit's why???? I will wait for revolvers. This is just a cheap way to get flex and I'm well aware that I might have to extend the brake lines and breather tube. Again no biggie.

3rd (the most confusing and the reason I started this topic:rolleyes: ) The current tacos/4runners do not use t-bars in front. They use a coil over shock system. Spring over the shock itself. I can't think of a better way to explain it. But this is what I'm going after. I can't afford a Solid axle swap right now but I really want some height, approx 6". I can achieve this by "Stacking lifts" AC (which I currently have) with the Trailmaster 4" lift. The tm drops everything your entire front end, along with the T-bars. This makes it possible to have a combined 6" lift(twisting t-bars 2" & 4" of everything dropped). Also as a side note if TM or anybody else actually decides to do this type of lift you will be in the same boat (dropped t-bars). Anyway I want to keep the IFS, ditch the t-bars, and replace them with a "coil-over setup" with the combined TM lift and the right spring rate achieving 2 additional " of height.
Now just think of where your shock sits in between your a-arms. Now with the TM lift there is a huge ball joint spacer which will give me a lot more room(top to bottom). Now think of a sping that "wraps" your shock. That is what I'm going after, and totally get rid of the t-bars.
I also want to have a new upper a-arm fabbed up using a heim joint so as to eliminate the upper ball joint.
The trick is to somehow strengthen the upper shock mount and lower contol arm to now hold all that weight.

The sole purpose is to gain 6" of susp lift and get rid of the targets(t-bars) I would just rip those suckers off with some rocks if I were to leave them in. Also I don't really like body lifts. And there is many postive factors about having a coil and getting rid of the bars.

I hope I explained myself. Sometimes I know what I'm thinking I just am poor at stating it so I'm sorry for any confusion in advance. I'll go and try to find a pic of the current taco setup to maybe help clarify.

Hopefully this link will work

http://www.trailseeker.com/4x4/mods/4runner/pics/fabtech_fox1.jpg

I know I will not gain any travel, again just trying to get rid of the stupid t-bars.:D

Honestly, a solid axle swap would probably be cheaper.

Fabricating the new upper arm, and new lower arm is going to be expensive.
The stock lower shock mount is not designed to handle the stress of a spring, just the shock, so you need something new, or a lot of welding and fabbing.
Getting the right spring could also be a bitch. That Tacoma spring is very long (20+ inches), because the distance between the upper and lower arms is longer (much longer than previous t-bar Toyotas, and Nissans).

Interesting idea, but I think you will be disappointed in the end.
Your truck will sit higher, but you wont have any more wheel travel or articulation.

Correct me if I am wrong, but don't the new Toys use a Macpherson, not a coil over? I seem to recall this is the case and they achieve lift by several different methods thanks to this configuration. A four link, although possible, would be so expensive I agree with XOC on this one, you might as well go straight axle with a soft leaf spring setup for articulation. Then switch the rear to an axle under configuration and turn it into an accident looking for a place to happen. Just my HO.

The Tacoma uses a true spring around a shock, not a Mac Strut.

No this will be a ton cheaper. I've been quoted on a SAS for 6000+ and that's low balling it. That's with all parts and labor. I.e. Dana 44 from Bronco 76,77, steering conversion, brake conversoin, lug conversion, hub conversion. R&P, ARB airlocker, Custom springs by sway away,and this is just the tip of the ice berg.

The TM lift will provide the space necessary for the coil-overs.

The upper shock mount can be retro fitted with a shock hoop=strong enough to withstand the new spring.= not that expensive to fab up.

The LCA is strong enough. Ongoing debate over at 4x4 board. Think of all the stress that is put on with the t-bar at the corner of your LCA. The LCA will stay in place and a big beeffy shock mount welded in place of current location of shock mount.

I can get by without fabbing up a new UCA if this gets too pricey, but it would be nice to eliminated the upper ball joints altogether.

I'm willing to bet I can get all this done for under $1500, just by talking to a few shops already. Again I know I won't come up with ANY wheel travel. The only way anybody is going to come up with any extra travel is one of 2 ways or both. Lower profile bumpstops=stupid IMO and/or a complete porche 930 CV custom replacement=big big bucks.

a guy I met this weekend is doing an SAS on his Hardbody. he said it will run about 4000, a bit less, in the end.

I can see if I can get some more info from him.

Matt

Hello,

I am the guy Matt was talking about.

an1malch1n, you shold know me from 4x4parts BBS.

I am going insanely whole hog on my '95 XE KC. I am doing a dual axle swap along with coils spring/4 bar linkages. once I get it all built I will convert it to a height adjustable air over coil system.

To be quite honest, if you have some fabrication skills, and the ambition (the really hard part) you can do a leaf spring axle swap for ~$1000. for a coil system aka. the Early Bronco (Frankenfinder) you can look at $1500+

Mine is WAY up there with lots of wacky parts, and lots of fabrication. I am doing it all myself and have searched long and hard to find all of my parts.

Here is my overview so far:

Front D44 $300 From a Jeep Wagoneer so it is 6 bolt to begin with!
Rear Toy 8" $15 I have a few GOOD friends
Jeep TJ linkages $100
Gears 2@$200
Driveshafts 2@$250
Coil Springs (various sources) $250
Steel for Fabrication $200
New brake parts $150
New Shocks $300
2nd t-case $free Good buddy
mini driveshaft for 2nd case $100

So I am at $2315 in just parts.....

But when I finish (another many months and LOTS of money) I will have a truck that can adjust it's height 5" run 35" swampers and ramp ~1000 on a 30 deg ramp.


I personally wouldn't drop the money into the coil overs unless you intend on keeping the IFS forever.

Hey divinchi I recognize you alright.

Coming here to rain on my parade are you;)

Hey If you could get duplicate parts for me for the same price I could definatley pony up the money for that. No sweat, then save up for labor.
I basically quoted the "Frankenfinder" setup to some fab shops and the 6000+ number kept coming up. Actually that was the cheapest I could find.

BTW my welding = the strengh of duct tape. It will probably hold long enough to get you home but that's it:D

Are you just going to a bone yard and ripping out the pathy 4 bar or are you going to do a total custom?

I definatley want the adjustable coils, if your going to do it might as well do it right. It would be nice to control rebound, compression, damping, and height but that is going to be a few dollars.

The reason I was going to go with the Bronco because I was told you can get it in a Heavy Duty. Meaning 35 splines and beefier knuckles/bearing and so forth.

I don't know much about the wagoneer D44 so if you want to PM or email me and let me know the low down I would appreciate it.

I don't want to do leaf springs. I definatley would like coils on all 4 corners but until then I'm just getting creative till I can have enough cash for what I really want. You can blame XTC for all this, he's the one that got the hamster turning the wheel in my head.

But alas I'm back to square one. Hey if this looks to be fairly simple and cheap (coil-overs) then somebody has to pave the way right???

Personally I would save your money and not go coil over, as you dont gain anything.

Join a local club, I happen to be an active member in a Jeep club (no I don't own a jeep) Even if I didn't have the necessary fabrication skills there are quite a fewin my club that do, and they would be more than willing to help me out. This once again proves the old addage.....It isn't what you know, but who you know!! (and how much beer you can buy to pay them!!)


I am going to be running a full custom suspension. If I had the $$$ I would have bought the suspension pieces from a Range Rover(my daily driver) or Defender, but since I could get the Jeep TJ linkages cheap, I decided to go with them instead. I will just re-build them as necessary. The finished suspension willl be more like the Range Rover than anything else.