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Toyota front springs???

Z71paramedic

Z71paramedic

Wait....What???
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Ok, so I bought some skyjacker 6" toyota leafs from a guy on craigslist a while back because the spring length was the same as first gen's and the spring width was less than 1/4" off. I figured the softness of the toy spring would actually help ride and considering I'm just running a TPI 350 it won't be too heavy or anything (correct me if I'm wrong already). So I went to put them in yesterday along with the 1" zero rate and longer shackles from Kert and found three possible issues with these springs. First is that the bushings that are in them are a smaller OD for the eyes of the springs than the tuff country 4" that are in the truck now. Toyota = 1 1/4" bushings and Tuff's = 1 1/2". Second the bolt holes through the bushings are 5/8" on the Toyotas and 3/4" on the Tuff's. The third issue is that total width of the bushings (with both installed in the springs) is 2 5/8" for the toyota's and 3 1/2" on the Tuff's. This last bit was the only one that really worried me. Now my question is, does anyone know of a bushing that would be the right width, but fit the smaller spring eyes and be able to use the larger bolts? Or am I stupid for trying to use these and should I just resell them and buy springs for the truck?

I'm just looking for anything to not cost twice what I thought it would initially because shipping is effin killing me!:doah:

I went ahead and still installed the longer shackles and zero rates on the old springs yesterday. Here are a few pics...

IMG_0388.jpg

IMG_0384.jpg

IMG_0386.jpg
 
If I'm seeing the final issue correctly, the complete bushing/spring eye setup is quite a bit narrower than the Chevy setup? For testing purposes, I'd put a solid spacer between the Chevy spring hanger and the bushing (looks like maybe 1/4" on each side of the bushing?).

That way, you could keep the bushings pressed tightly into the spring eye and prevent side-to-side looseness. Put that same thickness of spacer on the shackle side of the spring also to prevent them from angling inwards and seeing weird side-loading.

I'm sure if you scour the Daystar or Energy Suspension catalogs you could find a bushing that would more closely match this application.


:usaflag:
 
Good call Greg, I'll try that out. You think there is any issue to using the smaller diameter bolts? Like I've said before, I'm not planning on wheeling this thing hard at all, but I don't want it to have any questions of safety. I'm just trying to save a little coin on at least some parts of the build.
 
You could either use a drill bit to open up the Yota bushings for the larger Chevy bolt, or maybe just cut down the Chevy bushings to fit the Yota dimensions.

It's hard to tell exactly from the photos and description, but some combination of those two set of parts should get you there. The main thing is avoiding slop in the bushing in any direction, and honestly I'd use the larger bolt option for safety margin. You DON'T want to lose a front spring bolt at highway speeds....

:usaflag:
 
i wonder what the spring rate difference is, your rig has gotta weigh more than a toyota, no?

might be that someone makes poly bushings that size too, but there goes more money. i'll second Greg's idea to cut down the bushings, that's the best way to go
 
Have peek at this website to try and find some bushings to fit.

http://www.suspension.com/4-bar.htm

The bushings you want are half way down the page. The BX429 ones. They are 1.250 OD. 3 inches wide and accept a 9/16 bolt. You will have to make spacers for each side the bushing to fill in the extra space. IIRC DIY4X has spacers for this.
 
bronc3buster842001 said:
Have peek at this website to try and find some bushings to fit.

http://www.suspension.com/4-bar.htm

The bushings you want are half way down the page. The BX429 ones. They are 1.250 OD. 3 inches wide and accept a 9/16 bolt. You will have to make spacers for each side the bushing to fill in the extra space. IIRC DIY4X has spacers for this.
Click to expand...

wow, you're my hero!:bow::bow: I'll be ordering those tomorrow. 36 bucks is worth trying the yota springs that I already have to see if they'll do before I go spending close to 600 on alcans... Thanks man!!!
 
paramedic, How did those springs end up working out for you? how do they ride?
 
Actually I haven't put them in yet. Once I found out that the bushings were the wrong width I put my old springs back in. Since then I ordered the new bushings, but also bought a 60/14ff. I should be able to pick up the new axles this week sometime, so I figured I'd just take everything apart once, instead of doing the springs now and the axles later.

I'll let you know how they work out once I get there, but the truck is completely disassembled right now. I'll start by seeing if they'll support the truck period, then we'll see if they ride ok. I'm hopeful though!:thumb:
 
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