Gotta do both to notice a gain.

The uppers are easy.
just have the jacks and stuff.
unbolt top.
Put the b/j mounts on the bottom side of the upper arms.
bolt top.
easy

 

O boy, now your going to have to go outside take pics and show some results

 

hmm....... im gonna be doing the flip here on the 89 soon..... maybe a short run through video would be a good update version of this...

 

Sounds good to me. Would probaly help out alot of people.

 

its what im thinking......

 

I think it would help out for a video but i did the B/J flip based off of solely from the post and it was quite easy.

 

pretty pleasseeee
I don't feel motivated to put it back to stock and do a B/J flip just for pics haha

 

will this work for a 1980?

Thanks!

 

jus did it to my 89... did the bottom n' stared at the top for a while n' figured iMight as well to that one too! haha forgot to measure exactly how much lower it got though

 

also when u turn your torshon bars to lower, use vega shocks, they are shorter. they work good.

 

anybody's truck started makin' noises after doin this?
sometimes when iMake left turns iHear a lil' *tok* sound.... anyone have an idea what it could be?

 

I just performed this very same ball joint flip on my '93 extra cab. I used SD yota's advise and placed a spacer between the arm and the ball joint... I used 2 washers (instead of 3) just to keep as much threads in the bolt as possible. This job -thanks to this thread, was amazingly easy. It took longer to find the torque specs for the "lower control arm to ball joint" bolts than it did to actually do the job. I also used a ratcheting strap to help pull the arm forward enough to easily slip the 2 strut bar bolts back in. I measured and got just over 1 inch. I am pleased with the drive too, it seems to have a little less bump steer now. Also, the front top of tire to fender is now almost level with the rear.
P.S. - the torque spec for the 3 bolts for the lower control arm to the ball joint is 94 ft lbs (thanks to the chilton manual and not the internet)
Thanks again for the most awesome tip on lowering the front end... i will post some pics of my truck "Little T" in the next few days. Also want to flip the uppers just to see if it will make it any lower.
P.S.S. -when I was taking my suspension apart, I found that one of the 2 bolts that attach the strut bar to the lower control arm was loose. After performing the flip -the Tocking noises that were occasionally heard before are now completely gone. So for the guys who have done this... make sure to check your work and or "torque to spec" is alway good advise.

 

Just another update. I went ahead and did the upper ball joints the other night, and after driving the truck and letting things settle a bit... I have gone a total of about 1 1/2 inches.
The uppers took less than 45min to complete the job (both sides), and that included all of the jacking up, jack stands, jacking up the lower control arm, cleaning the surface areas prior to bolting back up, and putting everything away when done. -Super easy job.
I drove it a day first on just the lower ball joint flip, and noticed it right away -both in driving and how much better it looks. I did the uppers last night (gaining the last 1/4 inch or so), and after driving it to work, around town, and home today... I have noticed it drives even a little smoother.
I do think that it is worth it for the simple reason that it was so simple to do and it did make even more difference.
So, since last week I have lowered the "Little T" and made an even bigger smile on my face.
As for the rear... this truck was my best friend's -Grandpa's old work truck and so he had the 1 ton -or heavy load springs put on it to haul around more weight. So this last weekend I removed the additional leaf in both rear leaves, leaving the 1 long, 1 short and the flat "load" spring, and put on 2 inch blocks. -Now after doing all of that it made the front look like it sits a little higher.
I have a complete 4-Runner clip (headlights, corners, grill, fenders, inner fender liners, etc), so the front measuring the same as the rear actually looks like there is too much gap on the top of the tire to the fender.
*After taking the advise from this original post and performing the flip, it looks even again across the tops of the tires to fender /front to rear, and the truck has a slight rake again.
It drives so smooth now, almost like a stock truck just with out all the terrible gap.
I love this "Little T" /Toyota Minitruck and can't wait to do more.
Thanks again to SD Yota and for all of everyones tips and advise... I couldn't have done it without this write up. Also, this is a way better ride than just turning the torsions. (pics coming soon)

 

Here is what the "Little T" is looking like now.

 

After seeing how easy this flip is, definitely going to do this! As of right now, all i have is cranked torsions to get it very low, and i've cut some of the bump stops, and its just barely off them, so needless to say, i'm lookng foreword to having a little bit of ride back into it, and staying low! Needless to say, i'll be flipping both top and bottom, only because there's a little extra gain in doing the top as well! Thanks a ton for shedding some light on this! if i would have known how simple this really is, this would have been the first thing i did to lower my truck!

 

If your just barely off your bump stops now then after you do this your going to have to crank your torsions back up or remove your bump stops all together.

 

Exactly, I plan on turning them back up, from what it sounds like the spring rate is better for the truck too closer to stock!

 

I have to say guys, what an excellent way to lower a truck. just an incredible idea! we really should write toyota a thank you letter (; And to anyone reading, i would really really recommend doing this before any torsion cranking, my wheels now rub agains the corner that drops for the air box and battery box. i imagine this could have saved me the work of cutting down bump stops as well!

 

^^^Before and after pics...or it didn't happen!!! LOL

 

Awesome write up SD Yota! I have heard of this but never seen one done. Thanks.