Howdy from CO

[Thadeus_Rex]

I've been lurking for a while, asked some questions here and there. Got lost in Toyota Land and then found my way back into a KJ.

It all started when I was a wee boy with an 05 libby limited 4x4 at 100k ish miles and drove the **** out of her for 5 years across the country multiple times and ended our time together at 185k miles.

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Me and the boys out at China Lake CA

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Always did love old blu.

Then I found myself back in Toyota Land with a 2013 Tacoma... for less than a year

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And then I found myself back into a KJ! Still deciding on a name but it's an 02 KJ Limited 4x4 with 178k miles with a new engine from Jasper roughly 3k miles ago. I'm trying to un-f*ck this KJ because dad let the son go a little wild with modifications without doing too much research. Still has 3.73 gears but rather large tires on 17in rims and wheel spacers UGH! Has LED headlights and foglights, will probably switch the fogs for ambers.

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Day I bought her.

Measurements from center of wheel to fender: Front is 22.5 / 23in, rear is aboot 22in. Not entirely sure what they did but everything looks stock underneath but who knows. I'm no professional.

Scored some OEM wheels from local yard but would I be better off just regearing and rocking the same tires with different (correct) rims? Tire size: 265/65R17

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First snow of the new year. Also, happy new year!

-Thad.

 

[tommudd]

Regear
4 cylinder gassers have them stock
but I would get wheels that actually work well without spacers
Pictures of the front and rear suspension we can see what type/brand it is, hopefully not a spacer lift , but bet it is if some kid had it done

265-65-17 is about the same height as the 265-70-16 or 245-75-16 that a lot run with 2.5 inch lift

 

[Thadeus_Rex]

Thanks for the input! I only have some pictures of the front right now... I'll grab pictures of the rear suspension when there's light.

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-Thad.

 

[tommudd]

Either a Daystar spacer lift
or
an Older Frankenlift from ALLJs ( boulderbars.com )
does have the longer Teraflex bumpstops so that is a plus
Check your upper and lower ball joints soon

Rear pictures of springs may let us know what it is

 

[Thadeus_Rex]

I have those now! I'm not sure I like the ride quality, sounds like things are binding up with minor flexing and I'm not a huge fan of that.

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Thanks for the insight Tom.

-Thad.

 

[tommudd]

Dang spacer lift with stock length shocks in the rear , so assume from there that it is a Daystar spacer kit which will give you a terrible ride. Plus wears out upper ball joints in front easily
Plus your upper bumpstops are gone as well , more than likely from all the bouncing around

 

[Thadeus_Rex]

Hooray! Moving forward, I'm planning on replacing rear shocks with the 04 dodge dakota dbsb rear... I think that's right. Written down somewhere. Springs will be OME 927s in the front unless I'm planning on doing a bumper but that's a lot of work... 948s in the rear I thinks. Probably grab some JBA UCAs.

Until I can actually get all that good stuff, I'll be replacing the UCAs, rear bumpstops and rear shocks with the longer ones. Would I be better off just living with it and replacing it all at once so I don't wear out new components with a **** lift?

You had mentioned the 4cyl gassers came stock with 4.10 gears. Does that include the front differential? Would it be easier to do a rear axel swap and steal the front differential to get 4.10 or to just migrate internals?

Also, should I migrate this to the members journal section?

-Thad.

 

[tommudd]

Weak springs will wear out shocks faster due to working them harder, I would wait
Yes 4.10s came front and rear , had to or there would of been serious issues with different gear ratios
Its easy to swap the whole rear diff the way I do it, takes me 30 minutes or so
front is a little harder but not bad , do not follow the service manuals , they call for like 5-6 hours, can do front and rear in less than that with some small tricks

 

[Thadeus_Rex]

Well Tom, knower of things, would you be willing to share the tips and tricks? I'm more than willing to take a trip to Ohio.

 

[Johnny O]

Weak springs will wear out shocks faster due to working them harder, I would wait
Yes 4.10s came front and rear , had to or there would of been serious issues with different gear ratios
Its easy to swap the whole rear diff the way I do it, takes me 30 minutes or so
front is a little harder but not bad , do not follow the service manuals , they call for like 5-6 hours, can do front and rear in less than that with some small tricks

More info proving Tom needs to write a book!

Also, welcome!

 

[tommudd]

Well Tom, knower of things, would you be willing to share the tips and tricks? I'm more than willing to take a trip to Ohio.

Tips or tricks ?
Rear is easy jack up remove wheels, shocks ( bottom bolts only ) then lower control arms, upper tri link, ( I remove the whole bracket,) remove calipers /rotors
Slide out one out, new one in and reinstall everything
Front , again brakes, CVs , coilover shocks, ( bottom bolts ) 3 brackets on the diff , then the two bolts up front, run them part way loose, then cut them off , have two 3/8 Grade 8 bolts ready for install ( the bolts are in the wrong way from the factory, installing them back in the other way hurts nothing and that way you do not have to loosen LCAs etc in front