Im not new to building low rock crawlers. But now I want my stock daily driver 92 Toy 4cyl 4wd to be low low with out doing air bags. Ive searched this forum and everyone seems to show ideas and pics for 2wd. Anyone got any pics or frame work / suspension work to lower a 4wd. I origianally planned on putting a solid axle up front. But now im not sure. Plans Rear = C-Notch / spring-under / Lowering block Front = 2wd oil pan for clearance / C -Notch or Raise Frame/ Raise motor and drive train / Solid axle/ Spring under.... Anyone one have a lowered 4wd with ideas or pics ??? How do the full size 4wd trucks do it ??
Why do you want to lower a 4wd truck? It is cheaper and easier with a 2wd but I can still answer your question. If you are going to lower it, are you still going to use the 4wd? If not take out the front diff and axles. Take apart the outer CV joint and the guts in it. You will reuse that piece to plug up the hole so crap does not geting into your bearings. Keep the locking hubs on or us AAD hubs which is probably the best route. You can decrank your torsion bars and for the rear you have to relocate the springs under the axle and you will have to weld new leaf spring perches on it then you can use blocks to lower even more. Problem with slamming a 4WD is that when you lower it, the front suspension geometry is way off due to the design. It would be easier to sell the 4WD and buy a 2WD and have money left over from the sale. James
more work than its worth. Ur main issue is guna be the front end. Do the spring under, pull a leaf, add a block. front end is guna be tricky seeing as yota lowered the control arm mounts. So even a 4" drop in the front is guna yield the look of a slightly lifted 2wd. lol
I want to lower it cause I race motocross and It would be real nice to put a bike in the back of a lowered vehicle than a stock one. Since I already own a 4WD why not. It would be nice to use the 4WD but not mandatory. And it doesnt have to have the bumpers on the ground but lower than stock would be nice.
Prob try this before I SAS it... Thinking i can get more drop with a Solid Axle up front over stock IFS.. Wont have much up travel though.
I have no idea why you are set on doing all this work when there is easier ways. Use a ramp to get the bike in the back. Heck stock Toyota trucks do not sit that high. Or better yet, I would waste my time on a folding tailgate/bike ramp or a retractable ramp like that on a back of a Uhaul if you know what I mean. Now that would be cool, not lowering a 4WD! Do you have a picture of the truck? James
Already got a ramp. No pics.. Just a stock 92 single cab. I have have several lifted 4x4s... Now I want a lower one. Should be interesting. Parts are free, labor is nothing. Better than being stuck in the house. Gives me something to do. Just waiting on the steering setup to get here. Ill post up some pics of the progress so you guys can see.
well....... for starters you can crank down on torsions but thats gonna render a softer ride. for the rear you can flip the leaf mount pads to make it a sprung under style...... the front is gonna be ifs so i can assume you could do a spacer on the b/j's to bring them up. also..... a lower profile tire will get you closer to the ground. if you are that good at welding you could also do a body drop to bring the body down into the frame..... essentially, start thinking of everything you would normally do to lift a truck and get more ground clearance and flip it around and do the opposite. lift - crank up torsions.... lower - crank em down lift - body lift lower - body drop lift - bigger tires for more ground clearance lower - smaller tires to decrease ground clearance and so on........
don't listen to all the "why you wanna do that?" I think it's great anytime someone does something no one else is! 4wd is not just for offroad... or I think lamborgini would have made a truck... some of the baddest supercars are 4wd not 2wd... I use my 4wd just for bad weather... not offroading, and it's handy whenever you need to cross anything unpaved like a field or lawn etc anyway, I would start with the basics, flip the rear axle over the springs and take out a leaf spring in the rear packs, go to a 15" car tire like a 235 50 15, the tires drop it more than you would think and the ride is so much better on a passenger tire than a truck tire up front start with turning down the torsion bars and seeing if you can flip the balljoints(think the top you can but maybe not the bottom) but if I was serious about dropping it I think the best move up front is to Z the frame... you can get a few inches that way and not have to lose 4wd
here is my stock suspension 4wd with 235/55/15 tires it sits much lower than a 225/75/15 tire and there is a lot of room to drop it more...
Good ideas guys.. Never even thought about changing the tires size to make up the difference. Now to just put these ideas into play.
this guy did it with bags. it might give you a few ideas http://www.minitruckinweb.com/features/chevy/1004mt_1999_chevy_s10_4x4/index.html
Hey nice rims. I have the same rims. What's the story with them? Are they a Toyota product you think? The torsion bars are on the top with a 4wd and bottom with a 2wd. You know once a truck begins to get lowered it normally wants to go lower and lower and lower Don't forget about driveshaft angles.
Sh!t since u can weld u can always go and z the front end a bit. do it right and you could pull off a 2in drop up front with that.
Only thing I want to say is the 4WD part. you can't use it when you're on dry pavement. it'll bind up the transmission and your transfercase goes bye bye. If you can get some center differential up there... THAT'd BE SICK! that way you can use AWD on the autocross course. Anyway, other than that, keep up your new progress!
if you do a solid axle swap you can run leafs up front and do a leaf under setup with blocks that will still work with the steering if you can run the steering parts above the leaf springs. that would be pretty cool, functional, and original. and screw the why/do it different guys. do it your way and how you want to do it. afterall, it's your ride, not their's
