Trucks

>>15135140
>without a leveling kit

Heat up the rear springs with a torch and jump up and down on the tailgate. Mexican.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Quikrete-60-lb-Tube-Sand-115960/100318522

Crank your torsion bars, it will give you a slightly rougher ride but you'll be able to achieve the same thing as a leveling kit

File: Balance.jpg (36KB, 640x418px) Image search: [Google]

36KB, 640x418px

>>15135140

>>15135140
Load up the bed until it's level. Your ride will improve too.

>>15135577
On the GMT400s cranking the keys does the same exact thing to component wear and ride quality as installing a "leveling kit" per given lift amount.

>>15135577
>>15136829
If you crank the bars, get an alignment and some longer shocks. I had an 02 Ram with the bars cranked and the stock shocks topped out going over speed bumps.

File: 1464144837950.jpg (3MB, 2500x2091px) Image search: [Google]

3MB, 2500x2091px

On the topic of beating Silverado's into shape, I got a bit carried away last weekend and now my bed/cab gap is angled (pic related). There is no horizontal tilt and the bed still lines up nicely along the cab's rear window. Any easy adjustments that can be made to either tilt the back of the cab or the front of the bed up a bit? Maybe shimming the body mounts on either side? This is a bush truck and I have no intentions of making any money off of it in the future, I will likely be its last owner, so redneck repairs are welcome.

>>15137293
Longer shocks are not needed. the suspension's lower limit is the same, you're just moving ride height within the existing range of motion. This reduces downtravel which is most of the reason the ride is rougher.
To a lesser extent the angle of the control arm in relation to the direction of the force being applied to it essentially reduces leverage. This gets worse at an exponential rate which is why if you crank it up high enough to require cutting out the drop stops it still rides like shit even with them cut out.

>>15137428
If they're at the same height (which they appear to be) then you likely bent the frame.

>>15137428
Jack up under bend make sure it's stable then put weight on back end

>>15137456
This. Bend the frame back and then plate or box the section under the gap.

>>15136181

This. Put it to work as it was intended and you can have it level, or even squatting like a baller, 50% of the time.

>>15135391
>>15135425
>>15136181
>>15137501
>how can I improve front ground/tire clearance

>lower the back

Such useful replies.

>>15137444
Yeah, bottoming out (compression) is not a problem, what I meant was that the shocks would not let the suspension droop (de-compression) enough over large bumps. Not sure about GMT400s but on my truck I would have eventually broke the upper shock mount without slightly longer shocks. Just something for this guy to consider. probably not an issue if he just wants to run 31s or something.

>>15137456
>>15137467
Probably what I'll end up trying. I have hoist access tomorrow. I wonder if it would be easier to have it up on the hoist, make sure it's secured, bolt a winch to the ground underneath the ass end, and use the winch to pull down on the back of the frame. Probably more controllable than just stacking weight in the back and hoping I don't accidentally bend it worse in the other direction.

Not sure how much weight or force I'll need. Basically I hit a deactivation trench (big inverted speed bump) on a logging road at about 30 km/h, I also had 200 lbs of wood + my spare tire in the back.

>>15137694
I know what you meant. The drop stop limits travel, not the shock. If the shock limited travel then factory shocks would be too short for stock height as well. Ride height changes, but lower limit does not. Shocks are long enough for the entire range of motion, which does not change with crank.

File: Screenshot_2016-02-29-21-36-15.png (2MB, 1440x2560px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 1440x2560px

>>15137716
You said redneck repair...not I can use a lift repair.... you could put a come along on both ends of the frame

File: IMG_20141220_142535.jpg (2MB, 3264x1908px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 3264x1908px

>>15139081
That's an idea, although I don't have any comealongs as far as I know, maybe if I'm lucky somebody in the family will. Might be worth buying one just to have around anyway.

How about chaining the front end and ass end down and using two jacks to push upward on either side of the frame in the middle?

>>15137519
OP asked how to level the suspension height, not to lift it. Silverados are known for the rear riding an inch or 2 higher than the front.

>>15137454
This

WTF did you do?

>>15135140
spend the $50 and get some spacers for the front.

File: IMG_20151011_095832.jpg (1MB, 2000x976px) Image search: [Google]

1MB, 2000x976px

>>15142246
Failed to notice one of many deactivation trenches (big inverted speed bumps) on a logging road, hit it head on at ~30 km/h. Had a bit of weight at the front and middle of the bed (spare tire + couple hundred pounds of wood). So front end comes close to bottoming out and all of the weight in the bed shifts forward towards the cab, resulting in pic related earlier in the thread. Not the first time I've hit a deactivation trench hard in this truck, I've had the rear end catch almost a foot of air and come crashing down, but this is the first time it has actually caused a significant bend.

>>15141853
Leveling kits lift the front. He asked how to achieve that without spending the money on the kit since there are cheaper ways to do the same thing.

>>15142293
>spacers
>torsion bars
The fuck are you talking about?

>>15142306

If that alone caused your frame to permanently bend then people are right that american pickups are shit.

File: IMG_20151224_212941593-1.jpg (77KB, 768x1024px) Image search: [Google]

77KB, 768x1024px

>>15143137
>American trucks are shit because heavy abuse can bend a mid 80s truck frame
>Meanwhile, rolling resistance of the front tires is enough to bend mid 90s jap truck frames

>>15135140
carry a load like a real man.
or how about dont even fucking worry about it !?
its designed and built that way for a reason. why people want to go around molesting perfectly good vehicles because some artificial sense of retarded aesthetics is beyond me

>>15141795
Just think it through with what you have that's all I'm trying to do....all you are doing is bending a square tube

>>15143251

>Tacoma

You realise that a tacoma is so american they don't sell it anywhere else in the world.

>>15137716
Use a real frame rack, fucking around with winches and comealongs on a regular rack won't work and is obviously dangerous. You can do your pull in an hour at a frame repair shop and it's well worth the money.

>>15144345
>You realise that a tacoma is so american they don't sell it anywhere else in the world.
They sell trucks built on the same platform with with slightly different styling on the body panels under a different badge.

If you're going to refer to the Tacoma as a whole as American, then logically you must consider the Hilux American as well.

But you don't, because you bought into Toyota's marketing campaign. You think what they tell you to think.

>>15135140
2"drop shackles for rear leaf springs, cheapand easily done no cutting at all

File: 1462736645906.jpg (94KB, 812x806px) Image search: [Google]

94KB, 812x806px

>>15135140
>in the chat room

>>15144697
>the tacoma is a hilux

top kek

they sell both tacomas and hiluxes in my coutnry, they are completly different

File: asefasdf.jpg (1MB, 1600x833px) Image search: [Google]

1MB, 1600x833px

>>15144404
Yeah decided against fucking with the frame in our shop, it's such a small bend that we're just going to shim the body mounts to line up the panels a bit better and pretend it never happened.