[VT_Toy]

Anybody done an SAS with 3" or less of lift? Let's hear the details, and see some pics if you have them!

 

[zags]

You run into steering clearance problems with a low lift SAS and crossover steering. I would consider 4" a mininmum. You could make it sping-under though, hmmm. There you go. Make it spring under and no more clearance problems. The toy housing even has the passenger side pearch already. :idea:

 

[DRM]

Mine was close - about 4.5" of lift.... Mostly from drop front hanger, about an inch from the springs themselves up front....

 

[TNToy]

When I was planning my SAS I talked to Mark at Kongs4x4 about this. He said the same thing that Zags just did. With less than about 4-5 inches of lift (that would be a 3" spring... the shackle and hanger are usually good for an extra inch or inch and a half) you simply don't have enough room for the springs to compress before things under there run out of room. Usually it's the steering that poses the problem.

I'm sure you can make it work, but it will take some custom work, and you'd probably have to moving the steering box or swapping in a flat pitman arm of a box that swings backwards mounted BEHIND the drag link, or something similar to that. It would be neat to see someone try, though.

I take it you're attempting (wild guess here) to keep a current set of 33s and also avoid having to re-gear? That's the reason I wanted to keep it low. I ended up waiting an extra month and a half and saving the $$$ for a set of 36s and gears/lockers. I"m glad I did, but I still wish the 3" AP springs had been out, I'd gladly turn in my 4"ers for them. Lower is better. To a point.

 

[Booger Weldz]

if you build your lift into your drop hanger and shackle and use flat springs you can avoid the pitman arm/draglink hittin by moving the box forward about 2 inches and tilting it up a bit...

toy rears are pretty flat, i dont think roger brown or i have more than a 1/2" of lift out of our springs them selves and id bet a 2.5" hanger would clear the pitman arm with proper bumpstops...with a shackle 6" long your taking about 3"....???

i havvent had any coffee yet so im probably overlookinn something?:flipoff2:

 

[KLF]

Whose arms do you guys think require the least amount of lift and still get hi-steer?

I have OME springs (~2-1/2" of lift), I'll make the rest up with the front hanger and shackles. I want to keep it as low as possible to avoid inspection hassles.

 

[blutoylit]

Well I've probably only got 4" total suspension lift I'm guessing. I have 4" ap springs, ap shackle & my own custom hangers that have hardly any drop. After a couple years of wheelin the springs have settled some. I have my bumpstops set so the springs can compress flat but not bend backwards. Right now I've got exactly 3" of uptravel which is more than a lot of folks have so it's working for me. So I think a guy could get away with 3" of lift but probably not any less than that...HTH

 

[Im4yotas]

I'm guessing mine has about 3". Stock 51" rears up front, Chevy 63" springs in back. Got maybe 1" of arch at ride height in the front with 2 extra leaves in the pack. 2" drop hangar and 4" shackle under the frame give me the rest of the lift.

There is absolutley no room under there. I originally mounted my steering stab to the top of the axle housing, but the oil pan crushed it. Moved the stab in front of the draglink. The tie rod just barely rubs the front of the 3.0 oil pan. I should put a t100 pan in just incase.

That said, the springs are way too soft. I need to add 1 or 2 more leaves up front. That should give a little more lift, a little more clearance, and a little more spring rate. The front is so soft, the Chevy springs don't even bother to move when flexed up. Hopefully I can get another 1.5" higher, then lift the rear without adding leaves. Then maybe I won't have to tub the firewall for the 37's.

 

[Booger Weldz]

I'm guessing mine has about 3". Stock 51" rears up front, Chevy 63" springs in back. Got maybe 1" of arch at ride height in the front with 2 extra leaves in the pack. 2" drop hangar and 4" shackle under the frame give me the rest of the lift.

There is absolutley no room under there. I originally mounted my steering stab to the top of the axle housing, but the oil pan crushed it. Moved the stab in front of the draglink. The tie rod just barely rubs the front of the 3.0 oil pan. I should put a t100 pan in just incase.

That said, the springs are way too soft. I need to add 1 or 2 more leaves up front. That should give a little more lift, a little more clearance, and a little more spring rate. The front is so soft, the Chevy springs don't even bother to move when flexed up. Hopefully I can get another 1.5" higher, then lift the rear without adding leaves. Then maybe I won't have to tub the firewall for the 37's.

im thinking your spring center pins are so biased towards the front of the spring you rotating your pinion down by mounting the axle on the arch area of the front of the spring. having a short shackle compounds this as well as the drop hanger. i think you posted in another section regarding death wobble...maybe this is some of it?

your springs must be soooooooper soft. i run the 130# rears(the earlier/shorter models) with 2-3 extra leafs and they are SOFT. your spring leafs are 1 mm thicker, but they are also 3-4" longer...

 

[larryboy]

i used negative arched stock toy fronts on the luv ,used toy push/pull steering because nothing else would clear and i had to get to work.

best option=ditch the leaf spring and go aerostar coil.....imo

 

[Wilson]

I'm somewhere in there. I have 1.75" of clearance between the tie rod and oil pan and a little over 2" of clearance at the pitamn. I put bumpstops in to keep things from getting beat up (after smiling a tie rod). Running F150's with a 2.5" AAL swapped in the place of the second leaf, no drop from the front hanger and a 4.5" shackle, under the frame.

 

[DRM]

im thinking your spring center pins are so biased towards the front of the spring you rotating your pinion down by mounting the axle on the arch area of the front of the spring. having a short shackle compounds this as well as the drop hanger.

Bingo.

 

[Im4yotas]

yep. That's why I threw a shim in. I tried to explain this in greater detail in the other thread. Maybe I'll get a picture during the day to show you what I mean about the shackles.

Here's a pic from when I was putting the front end together. This spring pack sits almost flat now, and you can see the center pin where the jack is.


Note: If you plan on running this low of a lift, and have a 3.0 V6, you NEED to move the axle forward 2"+. The back of the tie rod rubs the front of the pan with the axle 2" forward.

 

[VT_Toy]

So it sounds like anything less than 4" is going to be custom/coils.

I've been wondering because I like to keep things as low as possible. Many SAS trucks just look too tall, even some that I've seen in person. Especially if it's for daily driver use.

Any problems with oil pan clearance? I guess it'd be the same as a stock solid axle Toy, right? The only difference between a stock solid axle toy and a later one is the frame arch for clearance. I'll have to peak under my '82 that still has stock springs and see how it looks.

 

[Raptorman57]

I'm using rears up front with stock wranglers to help back them for a little lift. I was shooting for 4" of lift. I think I honestly got most of my lift from hanger's under the frame and shackle up front. Here's a picture with my old 33" tires. I'm going with 36" when the money tree in the back yard starts to produce again. There's more pics of how I did mine at the link in my signature below if you want to check them out.

 

[turbo4runner]

crosover

I have about 3.5 and my steering hits the frame without much effort. I would sugest going regular crosover not high steer and notching the frame and or bending the draglink for clearence. Ott makes a pitman arm that would work good to keep the springs off of it that has less droop than the modified stock ones.

 

[ChopSuey]

So let me get this straight. There won't be any clearance issues using the rears with a few extra leaves in the front. Don't flame me, I'm plannin on get a Toy in a few months so I'm doing my research now. TIA.

 

[TablerockToy]

Ive got almost the same set up as Im4yotas. 51" rears in the front but with 3 leaves added, Still way to soft but about 3 1/2" of lift. However I did my spring hanger a little different. Mine is 2" drop but it is also 2" forward, then i redrilled the the spring pearches back 1" to end up moving the axle 2 1/2" forward. Had to move the steering box forward about 1 1/2" I think. And It just clears the 3.0 oil pan. Im running a 38x12.5 sx with no fire wall tubing. But Ive only got 3 or 3 1/2" of up travel at the shocks. I have to beat the seam flat and cut the fenders. the rear is chevys for now (all pros setting in the garage waiting) but like Im4yotas said the chevys do nothing till the front is allmost maxed out! But thats half the fun, working on the truck tryin to get it like ya want it!!

CJ

 

[Im4yotas]

OK, I just got a good pic of it's ride height on the street. It's taller than it was, cuz I just slapped on some 37's

 

[Im4yotas]

And this is how flat those rears are with a Rancho AAL and an extra toy 2nd leaf.