The Old Wood Hauler: 1983 Toyota 4WD Build/Restoration
- Thread starter Derek24
- Start date
Dwill817
Toyota Fanatic!
Haven't driven it yet.. I will today and I'll let you know.. I gotta bleed brakes and tie up a few odds and ends like that today..
I didn't expect to have a bad shackle in the front but I'm gonna flex it a bunch and see if the spring will maybe settle a little and make it somewhat better. If not, then I'm gonna take my top two leafs from my old rear pack and replace the top two on the OME.
I also used 89-95 rear springs and had to move the rear hanger.. It was a lot of extra work but those long springs seem like they're gonna be nice
I didn't expect to have a bad shackle in the front but I'm gonna flex it a bunch and see if the spring will maybe settle a little and make it somewhat better. If not, then I'm gonna take my top two leafs from my old rear pack and replace the top two on the OME.
I also used 89-95 rear springs and had to move the rear hanger.. It was a lot of extra work but those long springs seem like they're gonna be nice
Derek24
Explorer
One side down! What a PIA it's been removing the leaf springs bolts. I'm breaking the factory seal from 31 years ago so it takes a little longer to remove. But I got one side down. After the springs and shocks are in I'm diving into the knuckles and inner axle seals to rebuild.
Dave Bennett
Adventurist
Love it 
Stone_Blue
Adventurer
You might check out banana shackles @ www.BudBuilt.com
Mountainhound
Explorer
About lift these been thinking real hard about getting an 83 so been doing alot of reading on lifts and what I found is working best (at least what i've come across so far) is chevy 63" out back then moving back to front also changing rear axle for a 90's???? axle it's wider. Now supposedly guys are getting great ride and great flex. Loving the build.
Derek24
Explorer
Yeah there are a lot of different styles of lift configurations you can do. All depends on how much work you want to do and what your plans are for the truck. For me, rock crawling is not my thing, too slow. Also this is a work truck/DD/expo/weekend warrior. Got the lift all on, sits up nice now. Starting on the knuckle rebuild.
Derek24
Explorer
Got it all back together. Rides really nice and drives great even with swaybar removed up front. Rebuilding the front axle is one messy long job. Hope I don't have to go back in there again. There's one large speed bump by my house I hit all the time at some speed, soaks it up much better but I hear a clunk sound, so I'll have to track that down. Other than that I love the look and ride.
