Ok its time to bring the site back to life so here we go lookin for input and opinions on the build.  heres what the truck is working with right now.  its a 87 toyota with a 85 front end sas conversion.  new motor that is running right finally.  gotta 5 to 1 t case with a high clearance skid plate and mount.  rockin the lock right out back with 5.29s.  open up fornt with 5.29s.  gotta the allpro flat bed conversion with the fuel celll from blue torch.  rockin 35 12.50s on mickey thompson wheels.  front ends brakes have been upgraded  along with the hysteer kit. 

So its winter here in indiana and that means its time to break out the heater and start working in the garage so heres the plan for this year.  the body is gonna come off once agian and gonna put custome leaft springs in the front to acheive about 4" of lift.  and when i mean custom i am talking about the rears springs with some other springs addded in what ever gives me four inchesw there is a couople of different set ups lol.  but in doing this i am also gonna move the front axle up 1 to 2 inches.  at the same time the back suspension will be seeing a 5" lift from our friends at allpro who might have dicked me on the shipping but still love them lol.  also i am using longer springs for more flexation and that is a word for those of you trying to figure that out you can look in the off road dictionary lol.

the frontend is also gonna see a complete rebuild kit tired of the leaking birfs all over my garage but toyota does make a killer axle lol.  also gonna throw a line lock on the brake system in an attempt to do away with the shiznitty e brake.  this is also gonna coem in handy when i put the next and most kill point on.  o yea were gonna throw a rear driveshaft disconnect on yep front burns here we come.  so what you guys think about the plan. lol

You're going to love the sping over setup. It'll ride really squishy and soft on the street, so don't expect to whip through the neighborhoods, taking tight turns anymore. " align="absMiddle" border="0" src="/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/green/emoticons/smile.gif" />

When are you going to post some dang pictures?!?!

Danny - here's how you post photos... http://www.4x4review.com/Forums/tabid/97/forumid/46/postid/18519/view/topic/Default.aspx 

I went ahead and posted them though.

It's looking REALLY good my man! Can't wait to see some more photos, and definately some action shots!

Rick

Here are the last 2

Looking good, Danny!!!

As far as the shock angles go... You can't really "look" at the angles and see if they are right or wrong, it's really all about the math and taking measurements. Here's an article we did on this...
http://www.4x4review.com/Features/Tech/BeAGeniusShockAbsorbers/tabid/307/Default.aspx

In particular, read this paragraph, and the paragraph above it that shows the effective dampening rates of shocks when mounted at an angle (it changes greatly)...

How long?

Size really does matter here. It is very important that you use a shock that is the right length and has enough travel in both compression and rebound to dampen the axle it is connected to. In the easiest of all situations, the shock is mounted straight up and down. The measurement is fairly easy. Measure the distance from the suspension bump stop to surface that it makes contact with, and add a ½" for compression of the bump stop. This measurement is your compression travel. Now measure from your upper shock mounting point, to the lower mounting point. For explanation purposes, lets say that the distance from the bump stop to the contact surface is 5.5" and we add a ½" we now have 6". Lets also say that the distance from the top mounting point of the shock to the lower mounting point is 14". Given these two measurements it is easy to see that you have a difference of 8". This 8" measurement is the length of the shock body you would need to control travel, measured from the mounting eye to the top of the shock body, and not limit suspension travel. In this situation you would actually have approximately 8" of rebound or droop travel in the shock and 6" of compression travel.

This is when things get tricky, essentially what you need to establish first is the angle you are going to mount the shock. This angle then needs to be compared to the angle of the suspension when it cycles. Again for explanation purposes we will say that the suspension cycles nearly vertically. Now we will say that due to space limitations you need to mount the shock at a 30 degree angle leaning forward of the axle. First lets say that the suspension travels 6" vertically until it contacts and compresses the bump stop as stated in the first example. Next you will need to measure your two mounting points, for explanation purposes lets say this measurement is 12". Your difference is now 6". Now is where things get a bit tricky. The easiest way to determine the length of shock you need is to cycle the suspension from its loaded resting point to the point were it compresses the bump stop. With the suspension compressed again measure the distance from the upper and lower shock mounting points. Again from explanation purposes only lets say that the total distance between these two points is now 9". You can now see that as the suspension cycles through its 6" of compression travel you are only using 3 inches of shock travel, 12" original measurement minus the 9" you now measured. This means that a shock with a measurement from the lower shock eye to the top of the shock body of 9" would not limit suspension compression or rebound for this application.

Measuring Shocks at an Angle

This is when things get tricky, essentially what you need to establish first is the angle you are going to mount the shock. This angle then needs to be compared to the angle of the suspension when it cycles. Again for explanation purposes we will say that the suspension cycles nearly vertically. Now we will say that due to space limitations you need to mount the shock at a 30 degree angle leaning forward of the axle. First lets say that the suspension travels 6" vertically until it contacts and compresses the bump stop as stated in the first example. Next you will need to measure your two mounting points, for explanation purposes lets say this measurement is 12". Your difference is now 6". Now is where things get a bit tricky. The easiest way to determine the length of shock you need is to cycle the suspension from its loaded resting point to the point were it compresses the bump stop. With the suspension compressed again measure the distance from the upper and lower shock mounting points. Again from explanation purposes only lets say that the total distance between these two points is now 9". You can now see that as the suspension cycles through its 6" of compression travel you are only using 3 inches of shock travel, 12" original measurement minus the 9" you now measured. This means that a shock with a measurement from the lower shock eye to the top of the shock body of 9" would not limit suspension compression or rebound for this application.