i am wanting to swap out my spindles for something newer, so I can buy drop spindles. i havent found anyone who makes drop spindles for 72-78 hilux, so i figured I would swap for 84-94 front suspension? is this do-able? anyone?

 

The whole suspension wont swap. You wouldnt want torsion bars and a dinky front crossmember anyways. If you flip the lower balljoint upside down 85-95 spindles should work. I haven't actually done it. The LCA would need a little grinding and a brace plate for safety at the BJ mount. The spindles would get flipped side to side from stock late model orientation, because hilux steering is behind the crossmember. But doing that should make it work. You will also gain a vented brake rotor which should keep the heat down much better. My rotors always get super shiny. I think im on them too hard lol

 

Thanks man. I am going to source some new ball joints and some 85-95 spindles and give it a go. if it looks feasable, Im gonna go ahead and spring for 85-95 drop spindles and actually do the conversion. =)

And dear God, i need vented rotors. Ive spent about 120$ now on brake part replacements, new rotors, pads, etc. even using organic pads with everything lubed up i still get squeal sometimes and it drives me nuts. Brake upgrade is FOR SURE on the list of things to do lol

 

Im with ya on the stock brakes being junk. I think my rotors are shinier than my wheels are. I have test fitted a 12.6" rotor with a 4runner caliper inside 17s and they fit. Whenever I get some late model spindles I will adapt them on. I think the rotor bolts to the outside of the hub on those instead of the inside like the old ones. Makes putting new rotors on from other stuff easier.

 

I do remember on my 76 the hubs bolt to the inside of the rotor, which doesnt make a lick of sense to me. Either way, those brakes gotta go. i cant believe they let em roll off the assembly line like that... I mean, seeing how they werent made in the states back then, and being right after Vietnam I doubt they were very welcome here at the time either. I feel the trucks were a hard sell back in the day, and i would have thunk theyd have put more energy into stuff like mechanicals...

 

Light duty. And look at the comparable domestics. Tiny brakes, many still drums all around. The engine was far superior to domestic motors with the overhead cam and aluminum head. The brakes work but 35 years later there's so much better to compare it to we feel kinda screwed.

 

Did this work? Were you able to upgrade to drop spindles and later model brakes?

 

I know right? They kind of left us hanging on this...

 

Some fab work would have to be done. The lower BJs wont bolt up. And cross referencing on rockauto the actual BJ looks like it has a different bolt pattern.

if the taper is the same then the OE should work. The lower will have to be made to work