Good handling

[DesertStorm]

I recently accuired a 2000 model with the 2.5 and a 5 speed. A few questions about street suspension. I have never "lowered" a vehicle until this one. Always gone up. Anyhow, i already flipped the rear shackles and got it sitting level. I have new rims and tires on the way, Nitto 555 extremes 255/35/r20. And 20x9 rims. I want this thing to stick to the road.

The plan, I dont have a rear swaybar, thinking of going with a 1" hellwig in the rear and upgrading the front to 1 1/8 or 1 1/4. I dont mind if it rides a little rough. Sound good? What type of shocks would be best for my app???

Next, i have 3.73 gears, now , i would like to throw a 4.10 gear in the back to get a little more out of the hole power. Seeing that i will be hitting the corners real hard would a open diff (stock) be best or a L/S rear diff? It aready spins the inside wheel when taking a sharp corner, that is lost momentum. Dont really like that.

Dont want to go any lower to the ground, give me some advice to make this thing like superglue in the corners.!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rat_ranger]

you could drop it 2 inches in the front and it would elp handling alot. 4/5 handles really good for a truck.

but for not lowering sway bars will help a good bit, leave the front one stock and add the rear, itll give you a little less understeer. and an l/s will make a difference but in slick conditions itll increase your chance to spin out. but really the new tires will make more difference than the diff with the power you have. I have yokohama S drives and can barely break a tire free.

for fun you can also get the hurst short throw shifter, it makes shifting more enjoyable with ALOT less throw and play in the shifter.

*edit* if you change the diff make sure to get thematching speedo gear. itll keep your speedo reading right.

[ILLEGALCONCEPTS]

The rear Hellwig bar makes a HUGE difference. I could tell as soon as I drove it in the parking lot. I replaced my front bar with a Hellwig bar too. Not as big as a difference but I'm sure it did improve it for the twisties. The truck does change dramatically from tock with the rear bar, so take it easy til you learn the differences. Without my cap on, it is very easy to kick the rear end out on quick s-curves. With the added weight of my cap, it handles better then I ever expected.

4.10 are great. Adding L/S to it even better. I am running a 28" tall tire and the truck really gets up and moving. You will be shifting more, but 5th gear is now usable. I would get the Hurst shifter to go with the gears, makes it a bit more fun. The throw is much shorter then stock. I had forgotten how sloppy the stock one was til I got my 95.

Don't forget shocks, I really like my KYB Mono-Max;s I have up front. Plus they don't hurt the wallet too bad either.

James

[DesertStorm]

thanks for the input. I dont want it any lower than it is, i am used to the rocker panels of my other trucks being 3 ft off the ground instead of 12". its low enough for now. i really just want something to handle well, i got the tires and rims put on yesterday and those nittos are like glue. i took it down a few good hairpins on a local road and it already handles way better than it did. need 2" drop shocks for the rear for sure, stiff from the stock shocks being compressed. but a 10" wide tire is way better than the 6" wide stocker. i do need more gear for blasting out of the corners a little harder and a rear disc conversion, for less fade. a work in progress.

[rat_ranger]

you can always do the brake upgrade I did and have 13in cobra brakes in the front and 12in cobra brakes in the rear. 90% bolt on, but it did cost almost 1300 for front and rear.