Rear Leaves up front

[tbd85hilux]

What are the pro's and con's of using a set of Toyota rear leaves up front? How much lift will this afford? I'm not really concerned with streetability either... I tow mine to the trail.

Paul G.

[BeaterToyota]

Pros:
cheap
moves axle forward a bit
flex well

Cons:
You can't use just a stock pack; you'll have to mix a second set of springs into a stock pack.
??


Terry (Knucklehead) has 'em on his '85 truck. Maybe he'll post up.

[tbd85hilux]

"You can't use just a stock pack; you'll have to mix a second set of springs into a stock pack."

What do you mean? do I halfto add them to a stock set of front leaves?

And how much lift does this afford? Steering linkage issues?

The reason that I ask is I have 2 sets of rear leaves here at the house, 1 set from an 83 and a second set from a 87. I also have a set of fronts from the 83 as well. So I was wondering if I could mix and match and get a little lift for the front. Maybe enough that I could do a ubolt flip and run crossover steering... vs the factory setup right now.

Paul G.

[BeaterToyota]

What do you mean? do I halfto add them to a stock set of front leaves?
Exactly. The rear springs up front will be too soft and also not give as much lift on their own. Mixing a couple leaves from a donor pack will stiffen them a bit and give more lift.

With crossover steering this should work fine, but it won't work with stock steering because your axle moves 2" forward.

Terry is wheeling at Rausch Creek this weekend, but I'm sure he has some good info about how he did it.

Here is a FAQ about rears up front: http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=265669

[fourwd1]

I used leaves from 3 pairs of Toyota 2WD p/u rear spring packs I had lying around. Cut them down progressively shorter like a normal pack. Started with 5 leaves, but it was waay too soft so I added a 6th. Still a little too soft but flexes well. Probably 4" of lift from them, 2WD Toyotas are SUA, so I think they had a little more arch.