Mt with 8-10" coil overs?

Hey I've been looking at icon et coil overs for my 95.5 and I am having a hard time ordering the kit because as soon as I get them on I'm going to want to go LT... so goodbye icons.

So my question is has anyone run a 8-10" coil with custom mounts, uca, stock lowers and strap the crap out of it for a MT setup that could be upgraded to LT without buying new shocks?

Custom mounts I'm thinking of will only work with this weird MT setup (maybe) to get the shock body high enough to allow max stock up travel. They will also include a shock to shock brace.

Thanks

 

I haven't seen anyone do that on here. Just save save save and buy parts used and you'll have a lt setup before you know it

 

It has been done. If you run anything other than a Sway Away you'll need to cut the stock coilover bucket or the lower arm to fit a standard shock... The problem is that you will have a generic shock with generic valving and generic spring rate and your ride could be not what you expect. When you purchase a replacement coilover you are paying for that companies R&D time to get the proper size coilover, the proper spring rate and proper valving...

If you can fabricate your own mounts and you like to tinker with valving/spring rate this isn't a bad option. If you are not a part of that 1% then your best bet is to find used oem replacements which you can in turn sell again when you upgrade to a front kit.... Or just save your pennies and do it right the first time.

http://toyota.off-road.com/trucks-4x4/project/project526.html

 

Not gonna work. Only way to do custom mounts up too would be to remove the shock tower

 

The sway away mounts seem like a decent alternative to what I'm thinking. I'm looking at 2.5" x 8" performance king with remote reservoir. But will I need 10"?? If so the sway away mounts will limit my up travel because of fully compressed length of the 10" king.

I'm not going full LT right off the bat because it's my Dd right now and probably after to. Also the funds aren't there for a full LT but MT is in the budget.

 

Just buy some used stock replacements then sell them for the same price when you buy coilovers for long travel. It is 100% not worth all the work to mount them on stock length arms then have to redo all of it with extended arms.

 

Where i live there is absolutely nothing for a used market. So its new out of the usa or nothing but shit spacers. I don't mind doing the custom mounts it would be a fun little project, even if I would have to start over when I go LT.

So why 8" on some and 10" on other LT setups is the difference worth making my mounts or go with the sway away

Also I'm new to LT tucks... so bare with me.

 

Its not really a little project to mount them haha. Especially if it is your daily driver and it can't be down for long. Look at my build thread for reference.

Some LT kits require 10" coilovers instead of 8" because they cycle more wheel travel. I originally bought 8" coilovers for my truck and realized no matter where they were mounted, I couldn't utilize all of the wheel travel without jumping up to a 10".

 

Unless you move the lower mount out further on the LCA you're going to have to get some super light springs as well - they're designed for a different angle.

It doesn't make any sense to hack up your dd if you're going to be experimenting with this. MT will be fine until you can afford a used LT kit with coilovers. There's a Camburg kit on CL locally with coilovers and secondary shock hoops for $3500. You should put your location on here under your personal details (follow the menu at the top of the screen You>Personal Details) so that people know where you're at and give you better advice in case any local deals come up.

 

Honestly if you can't afford LT currently, don't try to piece meal it. You're just gonna end up spending more money in the long run trying to do it a piece at a time. Save up, buy it a part at a time, have some patience. Buy your LT kit. Buy coilovers. Buy the correct gussets. Install all at once, enjoy.
Otherwise you're going to be trying to bump and strap and modify to fit LT coilovers and like it was said above, your valving is gonna be all over the place and the truck is gonna ride like shit

 

You would need heavier springs.... farther out on the lower=lighter springs.

 

Good call lol

 

I have done what your trying to do using a Sway Away" Coilover on stock suspension , did it work yes. Would I do it again at all NO. It was a super pain in the ass. You end up stuffing this huge shock in little space and if you get remote resi shocks how I did the hose does not fit well in the stock upper arm. Your only option is to sell those current shocks and go with 8" shocks and a long travel kit. Most of the kits out there for our 1st gen trucks are going to use a 8" shock. If you plan to do some extreme offroading but I mean extreme youll end up spending 4K or More for a kit that requires a lot of work to install and use a 10" in that case. But many can do very fine with a bolt on kit like chaos with 8" shocks. Don't try to piece it together you will regret it I have tried. If you plan on running King 2.5x8" as mentioned in a stock setup and get it all working you will lose travel I'm sure as the shock body compressed length is too long and the stock setup only cycles so far.

 

Did you use stock uca or an aftermarket one? What style of hose did you use 45° or 90°?

King oem performance 15.325 compressed 19.5 extended.
King performance 2.5x8 16 compressed 24 extended.

Would you gain that extra 0.675 on the difference in the upper mounts?

Also would the 2.5-3" of pre load (strapped 2.5-3" for cv angle) on the 8" not make up for the difference in spring rate.

I'm still on the fence for this setup. Also thanks whitetoblack a custom mount would be a little more than the little project I was thinking. Forgot the uca mount was apart of that shock tower...

 

I used the oem arm. A really small 90 degree fitting. That 8" shock is measured from eye to eye you would still have to add roughly anywhere 1"-1.5" of length because of the top mount however big it is made. Trust me youll regret it.

 

THIS. I know saving for LT can seem like forever, but man it rides so well when its installed as intended instead of messing around with all sorts of items in the interim. I know everyone is in a rush to get LT when they choose to go that route, but is there anything pressing that you have to have your rig modified on the front end before going LT? I went with OEM coils before LT cause at the time I didn't think I would man up enough for LT, but afterwards I would of just bought LT to begin with. No need to create steps in what you want if you don't have to.

 

33" tires and old saggy stock coils... it works but parking at Wal-Mart I need more room to turn than a 4door 1ton dually with a 36' camper on.

I'm certain the screaming and yelling will start as soon as this post goes up. Maybe a spacer to get my ride hight back so I can park without rubbing is going to be my cheapest option for a temporary solution. The LT is what I want and a botched up MT by what everyone is saying isn't going to be much better than a spacer... that being said it would still be nice if someone would make a pre LT kit that gave some ride improvements similar to a MT but didn't waste your $ on shocks and control arms that are no good for any LT setup.

 

Just cruise Craigslist for some first gen take offs that are in better shape. You can get them for almost free with the right deal.

Bilstein 5100's or just some OME coils are pretty cheap so I'd imagine you wouldn't lose much if you buy them and sell them used.

Btw even if you buy all used parts and do all of the work yourself you will be spending at least 5-10k on parts so a few hundred now to get your truck to drive right shouldn't be making or breaking your lt plans if you plan on funding the whole project.

 

Honestly bro, this isn't a honda civic lol. You really do get what you pay for in these trucks. Cheaping out, you are generally not going to get the same performance as the guy that spent the money to do stuff right and buy the quality things. Yes there might be alternative shocks you can buy that are cheaper, but in the long run most people have found that they dont get the same quality.

Save up your pennies, wait until you can go full LT, and enjoy. Unless your truck is gonna fall apart today, wait.