Suspension Tech Questions!

First off I'm an adult, and I work in the automotive industry, I've been working on cars my entire life. I just need some pointers because there aren't cross references for anything out there. I have a 89 B2200 extra cab, 18" Nissan Titan rims, perfect offset, good solid drop with the torsions cranked and the lower ball joints moved to the bottom of the lower control arm and blocks in the back.

I'm looking to find out if there are stiffer torsions that will work in the front. I'd like to run a better shock up front, create a new upper mount, but I also need a little bit heavier duty front spring. The stock torsion is way too soft for my aggressive driving style. Will the 4x4 torsion bolt on? Are there "pre-runner" torsion bars out there available still for the 2wd truck? Can I use torsions off another truck that will bolt up without major fabrication?

On the rear, I've been very hesitant to notch the frame because I enjoy getting full use out of the bed. I am however sick of the axle banging around and blah. Maybe I am old, but screw it I want a decent ride in a healthy static drop truck, and I know it can be done. I'm considering doing a 2 link and re-arching the stock leafs. I'd also like to know if there is a heavier duty leaf that will fit? I'm going to do a notch and it should only barely invade the bed floor, I may even be able to just flatten the bed floor at the frame and pumpkin to get the space I need. I'd really like to get the suspension stiffened up as I use it as a truck, and right now the suspension bottoms out on everything.

I'm not trying to lay frame, I'm not going to bag it. I want it to handle well and ride decently. I don't mind stiff but I hate bottoming out the suspension.

Any help with vehicles to grab parts from, what will fit, or some good solid suspension suggestions would be great.

I don't specifically have the answers you are looking for but I do recall a build thread that sounds very familiar to what you are wanting to do. I believe the early parts of this tread deal with the suspension mods and the later parts are on the increadable motor that is in this truck. Hope this helps.


From page 6 of the above link....
[quote="NYTRDR24"]thx bro, it's lowered, got 3" belltech leafs in the rear, and the 3' djm control arms in the front, re-indexed t-bars, and a set of qa1 coilovers in the rear, along with belltech sway bars front & rear too....it is sitting a little taller in the front because there isn't an engine in it yet, same with the rear, no fuel in the fuel cell...not to mention the 18" motegi's with a 40 series tire are 26" or so tall (didn't want to throw the speedo off too much, but you can buy a speedo gear from mazda to correct it) I did get my pop's to stand on the front x-member and put some other misc weight in there to get it close to the weight of the motor & fluids (when I shipped the engine to be cryo treated, it and the crate came to 300 lbs) and I adjusted the t-bars to where the front will sit right on top of the tires to have a nice raked look, as for the rear, I just put the coil overs on, and haven't set the springs up yet as I haven't had any fuel in the cell to know how that extra weight is going to affect the ride height other than making it sit lower, so once the engine gets in, I'll fill the cell, and adjust both the coil overs in the rear & t-bars up front till I get that nice hot rod raked look....once I get a little more money, I'm gonna put a set of coil overs up front, and loose the t-bars, and will also make a link & tab to go on the lower control arm (like is on that black yota in the sept issue of m/t), so I can get rid of the stabalizer bar that runs from the control arm up to the front frame rail (it is interfering with the belltech sway bar up front when I have the truck on the jack stands, and the suspension is at full extension, the sway bar, and the strut rod rub just ever so slightly...)