LUVTruck.com

I have a 1980 Luv 4x4.
I have straight axles from an early 80-83 yota to install.
I am looking for advice, tips, info, & guys who have been there done that, and are willing to share
that experiance with me.

I have done one on an s-10 and helped with a toyota SAS. what do you want to know? there is a lot to take ito consideration, do you want it for strictly offroad, or is it going to be a pavement princess or a mud bogger (yuck!) from there you can decide how much travel you want the suspension to have, how high, and wether or not the suspension will be stiff or soft. There are tricks with a toyota setup (springs) to push the axle further forward for better approach angle, make sure to take into consideration your steering geometry also. How you are going to mount it is entirely up to you, just make sure it aligns with the rear suspension for tracking issues. Go to trailgear's website, or marlin crawler, those are good starts and can give you an idea of what to look at in your design.

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"I'll take 'The Rapist' for $1200 Alex..."
"That's 'Therapist' Mr. Connery"

Thanks for responding. You seem to be pretty knowedgable, I was hoping I would hear from you.
this is going to be dailey driver, weekend wheeler. Nothing real exterme. At this point I dont even want to lift it much.
Just want to run 30's - 32's Is ther a kit you know of for this application?

no kit that i know of, the first luv i had was solid axled (not by me) but from talking with my dad they used to have a "kit".... "back in the day" that would let you install a divorced t-case to your stock setup and then the rest was up to you. I am leaving in the next few minutes for a good portion of the day, but i will stew over your dilema and get back to you with what springs/stuff "I" think you should run I have a few ideas that would keep you low and flexy and still kill the streets!...

_________________
"I'll take 'The Rapist' for $1200 Alex..."
"That's 'Therapist' Mr. Connery"

Thanks I appreciate your time, im fixin to leave myself. Ill check back this evening to see what you came up with.
I am also installing a 4.3 in this truck.
I type kinda slow I apologize for that
Later

SO a day late and a dollar short...

Ok, So I think what i would do, is... and let me preface this with... you will be able to probably clear 33s VERY easily after the SAS... if not 35s... mainly because without running SUA (spring under axle) in the front and rear you won;t ever be back to the original height of the truck. But no t to worry as i have a fairly tall truck over what i used to have (stock s-10) and i feel more comfortable at tipping it to 40 degrees than i ever did when it had IFS and was low to the ground.

So my setup for you would be, your front yota axle (of course ) and a yota rear( i assume that's what you meant in your first post) as far as rear springs go, I think a simple SOA would be PERFECT) that alone gains you 4" of lift, plus maybe do a 2" shackle lift (2" longer shackles) these are easy to make (just made a set last night in about 1 1/2 hours). I would keep the stock raer leaf springs because after playing around with the leafs on the trailer bed i made, they seem to be REALY nice and soft. OH which btw, I did the SOA on the rear of mine and came up with a way to do it without cutting and relocating shock mounts...AT ALL . So i will take some pics and give some details as to that if you want. plus doing that makes the U-bolt clearance way better. And that should cover you ass

As for the front. There are a couple options:

There is always the classic Rancho 44044 lift springs, which MIGHT lift it a bit to high, (always hard to tell until it's setup.) They are expensive if you buy brand new, but i am sure you can pick a set up for $150 from some one going to coils or doing something else.

A lot of my friends run toyota rear leafs up front, this pushes the axle about 3" full inches further forward on the springs from a stock toyota location, and sits you at a fairly decent height (about 2" over stock toyota height if install on a toyota). but that setup is great for approach angle, i personally think it gives it a nice look, and it keeps the tires out of the back of the fenderwells. PLUS, lol, the soft ride and did i mention they're flexy. I have a set of wagoneer rears with a few chevy left springs mixed in, they're long and flexy. and to cure a lot of the roadtip when cornering, I ran dual nitrogen shocks at the two front corners. it REALLY helps, it gives it really great road manners. and offroad it doen's hinder the flex of the vehicle, like putting a sway bar on would... *barf*
Cost of yota rear springs: $50 from the right person

A couple more spring options would be:

-stock wagoneer 7 leaf fronts. ($75-$100). good and flexy like the yota setup, i would compare these more to the rancho 44044s.

-Any Marlin Crawler/Trail Gear/All Pro leaf springs you can find a good deal on, I would HIGHLY suggest getting Trail Gear over any of the other brands though, they are Usually the cheapest and from what i have seen, break in very nicely and allow for mucho flex, they all give specs as to the "elleged" travel they provide, which i would trust the numbers minus a few inches so you aren't dissapointed when you dont get those numbers. But a 2" lift spring from any of those guys would be perfect for what you are doing.
Cost: $150-$350 depending on what you get and where.

Another determing factor of your height, is where/how you mount your SFA to the frame and how long your shackles are/height of springs/etc. So these are things to consider when setting it up. Look on T.G. or M.C. or A.P. websites also for ideas on front spring hangers, they are use the same simple design, VERY easy to make, PLUS i think you can just buy that separate from the kits from them...

I am sure i am missing stuff again, but that is a good start i hope, anymore questions just shoot.

_________________
"I'll take 'The Rapist' for $1200 Alex..."
"That's 'Therapist' Mr. Connery"

Hey BoonieBuster
I really appriciate the imput. I am pretty dumb when it comes to lifts. So what is an SOA?
If I go with the setup your reccomending how will it effect my steering? Will I have to modify that?
Do you know if my stock drive lines will work on the yota axles, or do I need the yota drivelines as well?
I am very interested in the pictures of hanging the rear axle without mods. I would like to keep all mods as minimal as I can
because of money and skill level. I am going to be tearing this truck down to the frame real soon, im hopeing by next Sun if not before.
I will take all the help I can get...and again thanks for your help so far...

boonie buster if that is ur reall name. lol i have a yota 80 im goin all out on need advice bout the axles im planning on goin with dana 60 in the front and correct me if i spell this wrong corbolt 14 rear out of a chev one ton under my yota im kinda interested in the rear srings for better angle approach however would it work with the dana 60 front. have multiple questions i could go on forever would be grateful if u could give some advice. i know wrong truck for this site but i saw wat u had to say and was interested. its gotta be moab readdy by labor day

Glad i can help!

SOA = Springs Over Axle, meaning basically that, the leafs springs sit on top of the axle. SUA = Springs Under Axle.

I am not very familiar with the steering on the luv, I can't remember if the steering box is on the inside or outside of the frame and wether or not the pitman arm is aimed towards the front or back of the truck. You will probably have to have a custom made drag link (connecting rod from the pitman arm to the steering knuckle on the yota axle, I would highly suggest a High steer crossover kit, or a similar idea(google search for it, should bring up some good pics). they're $300 through T.G. you MIGHT have to relocate (push forward) your steering box if you do the yota springs the way i suggested. or you can maybe get away with a different spring setup and not have to move it at all, you might however have to get a different style pitman arm, maybe a drop pitman arm. Your front d-line will probably not work as it's made for IFS and virtually has no travel length, if you can, try and get the yota d-lines, expecially the front one, but they're flange style ends, i am not sure what is on the luv, you might have to change yokes on the t-case. Maybe you can do some teset fitting of your luv d-lines to the yota flanges, etc. to see what works and doesn't, there is a good chance they wont work at all, the rear will probably have the best chance of work (luv d-line fiiting yota rear) but make sure there is enough length in the d-line that it won't fall apart under flex or full droop of the rear suspension after the SOA flip.

Just out of curiousity, where are you located???

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"I'll take 'The Rapist' for $1200 Alex..."
"That's 'Therapist' Mr. Connery"

(it's not my real name ....SHHH! ) Yes the flipped yota springs would work, but depending on your motor and t-cases/gearing you're using, it might be wise to go with something a little stiffer, to prevent axle-wrap. and it's a "corporate" 14 bolt. I am running a set of rancho 4" lift springs for a chevy suburban in the front of my luv project with a dana 44 front and 14B in the rear. (these springs are another option for you RickyT) but they might be a little stiff for your setup RickyT depending on your engine, I have a chevy 350 so it has some extra weight to "soften" the springs up, along with taking a couple leafs out of the pack, I have a friend with a CJ6 that runs these springs and gets a TON of flex and kept the pack complete, so i am hoping for a nice soft flexy ride (i would suggest these for you Tyler5 )

Ask away man! glad to help, it just helps to engrave it into my skull a little further

_________________
"I'll take 'The Rapist' for $1200 Alex..."
"That's 'Therapist' Mr. Connery"

Alright Booniebuster
Thanks for the info. I will be back in touch with many more questions when I get this underway.
In the mean time you gave lots to think about. Id still like to see those pictures when you get the chance. I will be tearing this truck down to the frame this weekend, if all goes according to plan. Ill be doing alot more research as I go along, and taking alot of pic's. I dont know how to get the pic's up on here, but im not ready yet anyway. Ill cross that bridge when I get to it.

Oh yeah, I live in Prineville, OR. Right smack dab in the middle of Oregon...

boonie buster is there a way that we can talk idividually about my rig

Ya, PM me and give me you email addy:wink:

_________________
"I'll take 'The Rapist' for $1200 Alex..."
"That's 'Therapist' Mr. Connery"

Hey all im new to this but i was lookin to do the same swap with mine i was just wondering how yours turned out and what tire size you would run with the toyota springs in the front and the SOA on both. Im not worried about clearance in the back as i have no bed but i was wondering about the front, i would like to run 35's.