The 1987 Toyota desperately needs body work, there are rust holes that I can almost fit my hand through. But if there’s one thing I really dislike in an old truck, it’s to have the back end sagging so much that it looks lower than the front end. That’s just about how this truck was when I got it, so fixing that was appearance job #1.
I thought short of getting new leaf springs, the quickest way of doing the job would be shackles. They’re simple metal brackets that the truck already has, the new ones are longer, so it raises the truck up a little or a lot. I chose a little, when the tools are loaded, the difference isn’t much. The two pictures below were taken at slightly different places, that’s enough for the ground slope to distort what I did. The top (before) picture doesn’t really show how much it was sagging.
As for the work, the first side I took off was a LOT more difficult that the second side. The trick is to get a jack between the leaf spring and frame, in addition to the jacks used to lift the truck. this allows the bolt/pin parts to be aligned for easy removal. The difference being something like 3 hours vs. 15 minutes. Really. I also painted part of the roof a dull blue, to create a visual line that eliminates that dumb white domed up look.
Think about how the Lord Jesus restores a man; he doesn’t merely do the superficial. In the Bible, the book of Isaiah, chapter 28, it talks about learning Line upon line, precept upon precept; a little, and a little more. Read it for yourself, it’s amazing how something written thousands of years ago is still relevant.