1990 Toyota Pickup 3.0L V6 Suspension Upgrade

[tanabell]

Hey!

I'm not new to Truck Camper living, but I do have new-to-me truck and camper that I'm renovating over the next month.

I have 5 weeks and 2k saved up to turn my 1990 3.0L Toyota Pickup and 1972 Perris Valley Camper into a solid, waterproof, drivable home.
Does anyone have good experience upgrading the suspension on this type of truck?

I'm on a budget here and don't want to just drop a million dollars on an Old Man Emu kit, though they seem ideal. I am /not/ interested in airbags.

I am considering the following combo: new coils, added leaf spring or helper leaf, sway bar, and timbrens.

Thoughts? Advice? I've driven 200 miles with the camper on the truck as is and she can handle it, just not that well.


Thanks in advance!
T

 

[windy]

Add a leaf (approx $350). Whatever you decide, do it one step at a time. Do one thing then see how it works before adding something else.

 

[ntsqd]

I'd avoid add-a-leafs. Ultimately they will either break you or the springs.

Fabrication ability/availableness?

Top end suspension for the rear would be to transplant some of the 63" long GM truck rear leaf springs. Subtract leaves until you get what you need for load carrying capacity. They're better than the OME rear springs under my '88 4rnnr. Add Bilstein 7100 dampers (remote res if you go fast in the dirt, otherwise w/o works fine) with the 275/78 valving.

Front is torsion bar and I don't know what to suggest there. My 4rnnr is the same lay-out. As an experiment I added some of Roger Brown's upper ball-joint spacers on the premise that I could get the desired ride height w/o having to crank as much pre-load into the t-bars as I would w/o them. Seems to be working, front end is a bit more supple than it was. FWIW I've got it set at what the FSM says is stock ride height. I have a set of 7100's for the front, too, but it is a commitment to install those and there's no going back.

 

[CoreyTrevor]

Not related, and sorry in advance but...

I hate to do this to you, but if you don't already know of that engine's (3VZ-E) very well known reliability issues, you might want to look into this. It can get really expensive.

I know personally two people who had head gasket failures but also a third (2WD) that went over 200k miles with no problems. You are also going to be working the engine very hard, which probably won't help.

Sorry, but I thought you deserved to know before starting to throw money at the truck.

 

[tanabell]

First, responding to CoreyTrevor. No worries man, this was a pretty big concern of mine before purchasing. I've mostly owned late 80s 22r 2.4 motors in the past.

I gave this 3.0L engine a pretty thorough inspection before picking it up. The headgaskets were recalled in the early 90s and, luckily, I have detailed maintenance logs for the truck dating back to it's original purchase. They took it in to have the headgaskets done right after the recall and have also had the timing belt replaced twice, most recently at 59,600.

This truck has just 101k on her and definitely has some issues as a result of sitting for the last 5 years. But, overall she's quite good.

 

[tanabell]

Thanks. I've been curious about what other types of leaf springs I could find from a totaled car in the region, because that seems like the most cost effective way to go about it. So, 63" GM rear leaf springs? Any particular years to look for?

Re: fabrication: I don't have personal access to a shop, but I might be able to find a place nearby that does custom stuff. There's a place that mostly builds Suzuki buggies and do random/fun suspension stuff. I was thinking I could endear myself to them and talk them into doing something simple for my truck. From how the 200 mi drive felt, it seemed like I needed to lift the bed up and to have some side-to-side stability.

Regarding "adding a leaf" versus "an add-a-leaf"...? Are you advising against a "helper leaf"? Or just advising "upgrading the leaves"?

 

[CoreyTrevor]

That's good to hear you have all the maintenance history and that the gaskets have been done. That should give you some peace of mind.

If the engine ever does go, you can always do a 3RZ or 5VZ swap...

 

[JHanson]

I agree about add-a-leafs. Too often they add stress risers in the existing spring pack for which it was not designed. Better to replace the entire pack.

I don't think you'll need to do anything to the front springs; Toyota's front ends tend to be too stiff anyway, to this day.

And no to Timbrens. You want proper springs, not glorified bump stops.

 

[ntsqd]

Understand that going the GM 63" route is going to be an iterative solution, you may not get it quite right on the third try....

Donor trucks start in the late 90's (to be safe). I'd try for a 1/2 ton as the donor. A 3/4t will work, but you may find yourself removing the shortest leaves or shortest two leaves from each spring once they're under the truck. Suggest flipping their over-load leaf upside down.

I used WFO's 63" install kit: https://www.wfoconcepts.com/pr/63-leaf-spring-hanger-Kit/3203/19732/19730

 

[bimmeryota]

A complete refresh of the front end with new ball joints tie rods, control arm bushings go a long way in tightening up an old suspension. You cans stick with stock torsions if you’re not going bigger than a 32” tire but go hd on shocks (bilstein or kyb mono max)Those torsions are pretty soft so a sway away or ome would be ideal but not absolute unless you romp it off road. Rear to save some money can do add a leaf but money is better spent on the right spring pack for the weight you’re carrying with a matching non reservoir shock.