2nd Gen rear suspension quandry...

[4Rescue]

SO, first off, sorry for all the new threads with no build thread but well, I'm going up to Seattle and going to be bringing back my 2nd Gen 1KZ-Te "project" here end of next week...

BUT, I have some questions for yall about the rear suspension of the 2nd gen and what I should do with it. I'm very familliar with what's back there -vs- my 1st gen, but I'm REALLY considering doing a rear leaf-spring swap not only to keep it simple but to give it more capacity/durability for towing/hauling etc.

My question is, are there "buletproof" rear-link options of the 2nd gen that would let me leave the coils in and just run either air-bags or "overload" shocks??? I like the idea of the coils and the ride they give, BUT, I'm used to a leaf-sprung rear end (read: I'm not scarred of the "lessened" ride quality) and I KNOW that a longer set of OME (possibly 60-series springs???) springs will handle the loads and make lifting that much easier w/o hassling with longer control arms/track bar and coils etc to lift the 2nd gen in it's stock form. The trucks gonna be sitting being worked on so at that time I'd like to just get it fitted the way I want it and be done with it. I'm not ooking to screw around and fiddle with the rear-suspension and I'm not a hard-core crawler, so I'm not looking for "slinky" as much as I'm looking for "planted" while towing and hauling.

What would you do??? and other then the Leaf-swap, what are some good "HD" options for the rear end of the 2nd Gen??? I know there are several options and plenty of ways to lift the 2nd Gen's, but what's the best solution for load and towing stability???

Cheers

Dave

 

[4Rescue]

Wow... not a single opinion huh??? Very strange. Oh well, guess I'm hacking it and putting leaves in the back.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

The 80 Series rear coils (rear only) will work on the rear of your 89-95 4Runner. Stock 80 coils result in roughly a 3-4" lift, obviously lifted 80 springs are going to lift the 4Runner even more so. I have customers running the 1" 80 lift coils for 5-6" lifts on 4runners. We have clean pairs of the take-offs if your interested.

 

[AxleIke]

What kind of towing? I know air bags can work okay, but honestly, I'd do leaves. They really are a better suspension for that.

My third gen, which has the same set up, tows light weight stuff okay, but heavy trailers are ridiculous. I tried towing a second gen with my third gen on a flat bed, and it was a nightmare.

Honestly, my .02 is, if you are fine with ride from leaves, put them on, and forget about it if you plan to tow heavy stuff. Lighter weight stuff, I'd not even bother with the bags.

FWIW, you can pretty easily hit a 3" lift on those trucks without screwing with the suspension geometry.

 

[Clay]

I'd stick with OME 901hd springs personally, if you are only going up a couple inches you shouldn't have to worry about anything else except maybe shocks, and you could spend money on other things that would be more useful.

Just my $.02.