You "can" use your stock shocks for the timebeing...if money is tight. Keep in mind you can probably get rancho 5000s for approx 100 bux for the pair... these are an entry level shock, but MUCH better than the shocks fabtech supplies.

As far as the aal is concerned, call Steve at Calmini. He will set up with the right stuff. I used an aal for an exterra... it is the 2pak aal. (2 extra leaf springs).

Balljoints can be bought at Napa. I believe the ones you will want is for a hardbody 4x4. They will bolt to the fabtech uca with 4 bolts.

The prices will be similar. Keep in mind tho, that the "fabtech" balljoints were/are shit. I had to replace those really quick. Go with a Moog HB balljoint, and you should have no problems.

With all that being said, I hope it helps.
As a sidenote... Lifting a 2wd truck will make you want bigger tires. I strongly recommend that you do not go bigger than a 31" tire. You will loose alot of power with the 4 cyl and stock ring and pinon gearing. A 30" tire will probably be best if you are concerned with power loss... if not, go with a 31x1050, and you should be ok.

Also, Im concerned about my brakes, they are not the greatest as is. How are they with the lift?

Ive already been planning on doing the h233b, or is it h223b? I can never remember. I want the option for a locker and also for the many more gearing options. Keep in mind I also have a damn a/t. How hard would it be to switch to a m/t? How would that weigh against benefits?

I got a crappy email response from calmini. Is the phone a better option?

resize that avitar... waaay to big.

Call Steve at Calmini.

Brakes are fine.

H233b swap. There are a few headaches related to that, but I don't feel like going into detail right now,

Keep the a/t.

Sorry, thot it was smaller. Is that a better size?

Why do you say keep the a/t?

I am sure it will be alot of work, and an unnecessary expense to swap into a manual. You will need a clutch, new tranny, and all the necessary hydrolics to make it work... prolly a different brake master cylander. You will need a clutch master and slave cylanders. Not to mention the pedal and whatever other hardware you would need.

Thank you for all your help. You have provided me with valuable info and saved me months of searching endless forums.

Oh btw, I have a flex pic too. Its poseur-ific.



I dont have the toolbox anymore, and I have new slightly larger BFG tires

I have one more question then Ill stop bugging you, for now. I suck at manipulating photos. Is this a reasonable expectation? Should I expect more/less? (The one on the bottom is "post-lift")

That looks about right, I guess.

quote:

Originally posted by Greg Ahaszuk:
Keep the a/t.

What he said. Just be sure to freshen up the fluid every 15K miles or so.
If you do, you better your odds of getting more than 200,000 miles+ life out of it- before overhaul.
There's plenty of examples of AT's that die before 100,000 miles. Just neglected, old ,overheated fluid being the culprit.

Many folks have added a cooler for the AT. It helps.

There's more to it than just overheated fluid.
Bypass the stock cooler completely. It clogs easily and starves the rear planetary gears of lubricaton. Gears don't like to mesh for long when they are dry.

I had debated about the tranny cooler, but I wasnt sure if I was gonna do the m/t swap, so I didnt want to spend money on a part that I wouldnt need.

Can I do the tranny flush and install the cooler at the same time? I used to work at a dealer and we had a machine that hooked up to the cooler lines and used them to power flush everything. Could I use that machine on this tranny?

Are you interrested in the lift kit? I have a coupla things I want to put on ebay soon, and this may be one of the items...

I dont have the fundage right now, it would prob be better for you to put them up. Ill let you know if I get some $$ to burn soon though. Thanks for thinking of me first