1995 FZJ80 Intro

[LK80]

Hi all - new to the forum and cruiser world. My previous rig (still have it) is an 87 Toyota Pickup and I finally snagged a cruiser after looking for several years. I'm located in Mesa AZ.

The cruiser I found is an 1995 FZJ80 on 35's with a dobinsons 3" MRR Lift. I preferred to buy stock but I could never find anything in good shape in stock form around me. The previous owner also put a pretty large body lift on it which I would like to remove as soon as possible.

Question: How hard would the lift be to remove? I've found that a 1" lift seems to be the norm if people even lift the body at all. Should I replace the body mounts? Anything I should look out for that may make removing the body lift a challenge?

Any advice is sincerely appreciated.

 

[NeverFinis]

Welcome.

Right Hand Drive?

That body lift.

I would keep the 3" Dobinsons, and see how much real lift you have without the body lift pucks. Those shocks probably won't work with a 1" lift.

 

[LK80]

Yes this one is right hand drive.

I know...this body lift is atrocious. I want to drop it immediately.

Good to know about the shocks, I'll find the PN and reach out to Dobinsons to see what fitment entails.

After I drop it I'll be looking at adding sliders if anyone has input. Or I'm sure that's been asked 100 times before and I can do my own research

 

[efjayatee]

White Knuckles offroad sliders

 

[BILT4ME]

Most people don't do body lifts.
Buy factory Toyota body mounts and hardware because they last a long time. You can get Toyota parts from www.partsouq.com for great prices, even with the tariffs.

Most people do a 2"-2.5" suspension lift because that's the max before you start fighting lots of driveline vibration issues.
I see you already have caster plates and that's very common, just the degree of what they are may be unknown.

Look for part number tags on the springs to determine what and who they are. Due to the color, they look like Dobinson springs because they are the same color as the ones on the box in another post of a Dobinson lift as well as the fact you have Dobinson shocks.

What is your intended use of the truck? 35" tires can be run on a fully stock truck if you're not looking to do much articulation. 2.5" suspension lift can easily deal with 35" tires. Please read up on this to confirm.

White Knuckle Offroad sliders are very nice and are easy installation. I ordered mine with only a 10° angle instead of the "normal" steeper angle. This makes them a bit flatter to use more as a step and it's easier to get your hand between them and the body to wash it. These are not designed with a body lift in mind.

It also appears that you have about a 2.5" suspension lift and possibly an aftermarket sway bar on the front. The spacer blocks between the sway bar and the mount is what is telling me that.
A couple more pics under the truck and from the rear would help more to determine what you have.

You have the factory rear spare tire mount that many people are envious of.

The PO has removed the rear bumper fascias and wrap around plastic around the rear corners that cover the frame.

The body lift will not affect the Dobinson's shocks at all.

It looks like whoever did the overall work took their time, as they installed longer rubber flaps in the fender wells to cover the extra gap between the body and frame.

Looks like you will need to lower the front bumper to get it back to a correct height if you remove the body lift. It looks like he maybe changed the mount points to get it to better align with the body because the gap at the front fender seems much les than the body lift indicates.

Very nice looking truck!

 

[LK80]

Thank you for the info! Truly appreciated.

Here are some more photos underneath that I have on my phone. I can snag some more if needed.

The white knuckle sliders look great and they seem to hide those goofy cats on the the side of the truck. I appreciate the 10° fallout.

 

[efjayatee]

I would suggest to install a Delta panhard lift bracket to level the panhard back from the lift. Will help drive straighter.

 

[Hystart]

Slee and Delta make good stuff. All depends on what you are going to do with the truck. Big lifts mean drive line trouble, Big tires mean even slower!

 

[Saito]

Looks like your exhaust might need rerouted over the frame rail in the back there. That’s where it’s supposed to go. Might not be a problem where it’s at, but it also might be if you flex it out at all. . .