Well, I went to the junk yard around here looking for either Chevy S-10 or Mazda truck rear spring but to no avail, no nothing there. Anyhow, I saw some ProComp AAL's for only $43 and was wondering if anyone has ever used these or know of anyone that has. How is the ride, stiff or soft? I am trying to raise my 4runner rear sag and I don't want to go over $200 to fix it.

As soon as I fix the sag, I am going to buy the Roger Brown 1 inch body lift. What tools do I need and how long would it take to do this 1" BL for a rookie wrencher such as myself?

it will ride stiff. the pro comps are short aal and are thicker on the stock leafs. however, i like them. it solved my sagging issue on my 4runner. i just had to crank my t-bars a little to leave the 4runner out.

as for the body lift, you need atleast a floor jack and common hand tools (sockets, wrenches, a philips, etc). air tools are nice since it helps to break the body bolts loose. it's an all day event especially since this will be your first one. take your time.

and btw, good luck.

Actually, it may NOT be as stiff as your sagging leaves are right now if you are currently riding on the overloads. I have used the short procomp aal and it worked great, but a longer aal is better because your main springs may get kinked by a short aal.

I'd avoid cranking up the torsion bars unless they are sagging too and you are just going back up to stock height in the front.

I just posted up an impression of the skyjacker softride AAL that I installed. Link
I got a bit of a discount but you'd still pay well under $100 and I love them, the ride is softer now.
-John

Thank's for the heads up peeps! Where should I look to order longer AALs. I saw the ProComp AALs on pepboys.com. By chance, if I do get the ProComp AAL and it raises the rear a little higher than the front what would you recommend me doing to level my 4runner if you say don't crank the T-bars?

It shouldn't raise the rear that high if it is sagging. I now have both a long rancho aal and the short procomp aal and my rear sits slightly higher than the front unladen. But when I throw all my camping and wheeling gear in the back it levels out.

Many people do crank their t-bars and swear by it. But then a lot of people complain about their IFS sucking because it won't flex. I'll bet there is a big overlap between those two populations.

A little bit is probably ok to get it leveled out, just remember to go get an alignment after you do it. But cranking them too much will only limit your flex offroad even more. This is not a result any added stiffness per se, it has to do with the geometry of the suspension. A greater angle between the control arms and the ground (away from parallel) reduces the force vector trying to twist the torsion bar.

If your rear end is sticking up way too high, you may want to try removing one of the stock leaves from your pack and see what happens. Also, the aal will settle down over time. You could always put the leaf back in if it settles down too much.

Oh yeah, I'd have some extra U-Bolts on hand... It seems like I blast the threads off of one or two of them every time I r&r my springs.

*I used the Rancho AAL kit on my 87' a few weeks ago. Assend was sagging pretty good and the short leaf kit lifted it up a little higher than stock. Looks good to me with the slight forward rake, not like its one of them 70's chargers or anything where the driver sees pavement out the windshield because the tail is so far in the air. Prior to install the springs were laying flat on the helper...now they look great. And contrary to some people saying they would settle and sag- these havent dropped any yet. Total investment $38, profit: wife liked it and has stayed off my back with other issues...priceless.
~Darin <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/baby.gif" alt="" />

Where did you order the Rancho AAL and is the ride comfortable? I don't see myself wheel too much but I do do it from time to time. Cranking the T-bar 1inch shouldn't be bad on the street right?

I just bought the Pro Comp AAL last Saturday. I got them at 4Wheel Parts. $30.13 including tax! I put them on Sunday. The little bit I did drive my Toy it didn't seem to change the ride at all. Before I started, I measured from the frame in front of the wheels to the ground. I got 1.5" lift in front of the wheels. I know, I should have measured from the bottom of the bumper! Anyway, I now have 7.5" between the top of my tires to the top of the fender opening at all 4 corners! I will test it this weekend on some dirt roads and see what the ride is like.