Rockhound's Offroad Adventures
Doing more stuff to the little gray truck, T-2                                                                        Marlin Spring Swap

    I bent my rear springs because I never put axle snubbers on to limit the stuff (spring compression). So, since my truck was leaning to the right, I could buy another junkyard set of springs and build another combo pack, or...I could pop for a set of aftermarket springs. I loved my Frankensprings, but they didn't quite have the ride height I was after, and I was running lift blocks in the rear.

A birthday present from my wife. The way to this man's heart, is through his rock crawler.  Front and rear springs with a bag of bushings, a front spring hanger with gussets, shackle hangers and rear spring perches. All available at, and provided by Marlin Crawler.

Getting ready to change out my Frankensprings for some Marlin Crawler 4" lift springs.

Look past the U-bolts, the spring is bent.

Cheap blocks don't hold up well to the abuse..

The tire and wheel assembly is removed, notice the shackle angle. New springs should have the same shackle angle, with more spring arch and shackle further back. Marlin's 4" springs are longer than stock and longer than the S-10/Sonoma's I have in this picture.

While I have the axle out, I plan to cut the stock spring perches off, clock the rear diff, ( rotate the axle housing to bring the pinion flange higher off the ground) and weld on the new perches I got from Marlin.

 OK, the rear axle is completely disconnected and out. The new springs are on the floor. I wondered if I could get away with bolting on the new springs without going through the trouble of relocating the shackle hangers.

Here the new springs are bolted up. It looks pretty good.

Uh-oh. With the weight of the truck on 'em it's not looking pretty good.

 I bolted in the springs and installed the axle, only to realize, you DO have to relocate the shackle hangers. Notice the shackle angle.  The springs are so long they push the shackles, in the stock location, too far back. As soon as I moved the truck, the rear springs flattened, the shackles pushed out and stopped against the bottom of the bumper.

The instructions say to relocate the shackle hanger back 2". That means you have to relocate the shackle hangers back 2"!

   A little grinding, a little cutting.   

Grind the area smooth to mount the new shackle hangers.

Looking up at the bottom of the frame, toward the rear bumper.

Positioning the new shackle hangers back 2", puts them right up to the inside edge of the rear bumper.

I already have the front spring hanger relocated 6" forward, required for the Marlin springs, from the previous setup.

           Alright, let's try again.            

  Re-positioned the axle under the new springs.

Snug up the u-bolts. I'll wait till the wheels are back on and the truck is on the ground to tighten fully.

\Ready for the front?

Old combo spring pack.

To keep the axle positioned 1 1/2" forward of stock, where it was with the old springs, this front hanger needs to be welded on.

 These springs are coming out. Nothing wrong with 'em, and they flex like crazy, I just wanted a matched set.

These banana shackles from Sky's were necessary to allow for the length of the Toyota rear springs mounted up front.

O.K. Friday after work, got the wheels off, truck is on jacks, the axle is supported. Time to start pulling the springs.

Pull the bolt from the stock spring hanger.

Unbolt the spring from the shackle.  

Pull the U-bolts.

By Friday night I had the springs out and one hanger cut off.       

Saturday, I'll finish the project.

Next Morning.

Saturday morning I cut the other hanger off and ground the bottom of the frame smooth. With that done, I positioned the front hanger. The square tube is held flush to the front edge of the stock frame spreader.

Even left and right. 2 3/8" from the frame rail.

    It's not pretty, but it holds. I'm getting better at welding.

 Drivers side  needs this plate welded on to the spring perch for these aftermarket springs. Stock Toyota springs are left and right specific. Marlin's are the same arch and spring rate for either left or right side application. The drivers side spring perch is actually a little lower on the axle than the perch on the passenger side. This plate compensates for that.

These springs aren't as long as the old pack, so I swapped out the shackles for an old set of All Pro's I had.

New springs bolted in.

Sitting pretty nice.

This is the ride height before the Marlin spring swap...

And after. Not a dramatic difference, but it probably raised it a couple inches. Next stop, The Hammers.

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