my toyota pickup is too low!

[roger_27]

hey, I just got a used 1981 2wd toyota pickup longbed for free, because its trashed up good. but the point is, Im trying to fix it.

anyways the front sits low... REAL low... it sits so low that the tires rub the top of the fender well making it scrape really bad on turns..... well I was wondering how I can change the height... i mean it doesnt even have coil springs. how did the P.O. even lower it??? I am so confused.. I replaced the shocks... but that didnt help. there is absolutely no coild spring of any kind.. the chilton manual doesnt show one either.. so i guess it doesnt use one..so why does it sit so low?? what could make it do that??


also I noticed that the chilton manual shows that the lower A-ARM is UNDERNEATH the spindle. from what I see on this truck, the spindle is UNDERNEATH the A-Arm.. it looks fine to me, but the chiltons diagram is different so now I am confused... anyways any help is appreciated. I am a whiz with the wrench, but I only work on 70's American cars.. so this bewilders and confuses me. just seeing that there was no spring in front made me take a step back like "what!?"

any help is appreciated!

[GregoryM]

Clue to "whiz with the wrench": torsion bars. Also the lower ball joint has been inverted to lower the suspension even further.

[madtodaimax]

My 1994 truck has the same problem, but its probably not as low. I dont know much about the truck, but it had a good engine. The suspension, the leaf and front, look completely stock. I was also wondering what the owner did and how to raise it to stock height.

P.S. Anyone know how i can put a tach on this 1994 pickup with the 22R(E?) engine. It is the fuel injected model.

[toyota_s_runner]

you guys might want to check out www.customtacos.com

[2toytrucks]

Roger 27, Look again at the front suspension the spindle should be between the upper "a-arm" and the lower control arm (lower is pretty much straight alot different from upper). The torsion bars might be worn out, but more than likely the previous owner loosened the bars to lower the front end (taking the preload off the bars).

To raise the front end, jack up the front so there is no wieght on the wheels, follow the torsion bar from the lower control arm back to the frame crossmember. There you will find a long bolt (24mm head) with some lock nuts, tighten those bolts until you get the ride hieght you want. Just make sure that both bars are adjusted EXACTLY the same, an easy way to tell is count the threads from the locknut to the end of the bolt. Best of luck! 2toytrucks

[roger_27]

thanks alot 2toytrucks and toyota_s_runner vbmenu_register("postmenu_582674", true); ! I got the answer I wanted minus the sarcasm! I usually hang out at chevytalk.com for help with my chevys (1979 chevy pickup, 1959 chevy impala), but with the recent purchase of this toyota I wasn't really sure where to ask these kinds of questions!. As you see that was my first post. however I'm still not sure if this is the right place to ask these kinds of mechanical tech questions about my pickup though, it seems everyone wants to talk about the '05 tacoma.

would this be a good resource to come back to?

thanks again for your help I really appreciate it.