mdb4879

Hey everyone, new member here. My name is Matthew and I'm from North Alabama. I've got a 1986 Toyota Pickup which I plan to LS swap (one of these days). Right now it's just in the planning phase and will probably be a couple years before I take action due to changing priorities, but I intend to keep this truck for life so the swap will happen some day.

I've been gathering bits and pieces of information and have a pretty good idea of what I'm going to do, but I have a couple questions that I'd like some experienced opinions on. The truck will primarily be a daily driver that will see some drag strip duty and possibly some light to medium towing. I still want to use it as a truck (hauling parts and scrap) so it won't be lowered much if at all. I've had 1200lbs in the bed before and intend to still be able to do it again.

My first question is should I 4 link the rear or not? From what I read the 8" rear end in my truck is unbelievably strong for what it is, but I hate drum brakes (there aren't any options to convert to discs) and the cost of a limited slip is more than I care to spend when I can get a Ford 8.8" for $250. That being said, I intend to swap in an 8.8" rear end from an Explorer. I'm going to convert to coilovers in the front, so I only feel it's right to convert the rear as well. I don't know much about drang racing or 4 link setups in particular, but I was doing a little reading and came across someone saying 4 link suspensions aren't suitable for vehicles with proportionally light rears (trucks). So for anyone who has experience with it, would I be better of 4 linking the rear with coilovers, or building caltracs for my leafs and getting better shocks? If I stay with leafs I won't go away from the stock leafs. If I'm going to change from the stock leafs I'll just 4 link it anyways.

My next question is what rear end ratio should I try for? I'll most likely be running a 26" tall tire, so I figure in order to get the same gearing as a Silverado with 3.73's I'd need a 3.24FD. Iirc, the Explorer 8.8" came with a 3.27, 3.55, and 3.73, with the 3.73 being the most common (not sure on that, though). I'll be running a 4L60E, so with the 3.73 1st will top out at 44mph and second at 83mph at 6500rpm with a cruising rpm of 2480 at 75mph. A 3.27FD will net 50mph in first, 95mph in second, and 2170rpm at 75mph. My math could be a little off as I've gotten different numbers doing it myself versus using calculators, but this should be close. The truck should weigh around 2800lbs, soi think I could run 8.0's with a bone stock 5.3, which is what my friend's C5 Z06 ran, so anything faster than that is just a bonus. I'd also like to retain my gas mileage, which I don't think should be too hard. I get about 24mpg in town and 19mpg on the highway with my 22R with a Weber 32/36 and no overdrive. 3000rpm at 75mph drinks gas in that truck.

My plan for a motor is as follows:

LM7
long tube headers/X-pipe/Flowmasters (not sure on size yet)
Cam (dependent on whether I want to by a higher stall converter or not. 220r with stock stall, maybe a 224r if it won't push too much. Bigger, more matched to a power number I want if I get a 3200 or 3500 tall)
Tune

I might go with a different intake later on down the road if I get tired of the truck intake or if it doesn't fit under the hood. I may buy an aluminum block and build a second motor out of the truck in the future, but I doubt I will. If I do, I don't plan to ever make more than 500whp in this truck, and I'm sure 400whp will be plenty (don't we all say that then end up being wrong? Lol). I also know the 5.3 with my above mods won't make that power to the wheels through a 4L60E.

Any thoughts or suggestions? All advice is appreciated, thanks.

DW SD

I installed this 4-link in my '51 Ford.

I used an excel - based 4-link design tool to optimize the design I found on the 4x4Pirate site, which works really well. I wanted the truck to handle well, not unload under braking or acceleration based on weight transfer or rear steer too much (think of a skateboard trucks and how they steer the board).

You can't just wing the design and hope for the best. Lots of things to design for. But with a good flat surface to reference (flat garage floor for me), the excel design tool, lots of measuring, you can build one that works great. Mine has an incredible ride vs. the leaf springs I replaced. I also don't get the axle wrap I once did with the leafs.
My truck is reasonably balanced front to rear (55% front, 45% rear) and weighing 3250 lbs wet. Engine is pretty much behind the front axle and low (Holley 302-2 pan 6" off of the ground) and battery is behind the rear axle and also mounted low. (fabbed battery box on the frame rail).

And I since installed a large fuel tank (cell) in the rear behind the rear axle - 32 gallons. It rides and handles and hooks very nice. I used Viking double adjustable coil-overs. Those for the whole truck were about $850 with all the hardware. In my view, that was some of the best $ I've spent.

Here's some background on my 4-link project.
http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/13...all-51-f1.html

I have a 285 / 40 / 18 tire.

I have a 6L80 and 3.5 gears in the 9". With the L92, first gear isn't usable without smoking the tires, but with an LSD and 285s on the back and pretty soft compounds (150-sh) it hooks up well in all other gears from a rolling start. I don't drag race, but do enjoy romping on it from 10 mph or so. It gets to 100 quick. If I change the center section, I'd probably copy what they do in the corvette - around 2.8 or 3.0 to 1.

1-kwik-6

In process of pretty much same build right now.. 89 2wd Toyota, lm7, 4l60e, ford 8.8, used a fast 92 setup and it clears hood by about 6-8 inches. Kinda doubt a truck intake would clear

Slick68

iTrader: (7)

Possibly looking to do an LS swap in an 86 Nissan 720 in the future. I wonder if there's any similarities.

ls2wdyota

​​​​​​​I am also in the process of a 2wd yota swap