'74 FJ40 - Soft Suspension (My hard top is never on) (1 Viewer)

[Taylor2708]

Greetings Ih8mud,
After 20 years of living in Vietnam, I'm heading back to Nashville to upgrade my '74 FJ40 (bought in 1995). I will be upgrading to 15 inch steelies and 33x9.5 Kenda's. I am researching 2" inch lifts and suspension packages. Pretty much all my driving is on road and I haven't had the hardtop on in 20 years. Can anyone suggest or have any feedback in a light/soft suspension setup? Most feedback on OME is even the "light" kits are heavy duty (understandably if your overlanding in the Aussie outback).

I found this post from @ryanwk628 and looks ok. Any thoughts much appreciated.

1970 in CT

Unbeknownst to me, my wife took this photo of me staring at the wiring diagram to put on her Instagram. I’m not on Instagram so I had no idea when someone mentioned it to me. I’m thinking this could be my new profile pic

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[Chungas Revenge]

Is your TLC staying stateside or are you taking it back to SEA?

 

[Taylor2708]

Is your TLC staying stateside or are you taking it back to SEA?

Hey Chungas - It will stay stateside. Would love to bring her here but Vietnam doesn't allow import of any car over 5 years old and has over 30k miles. Side fact: If you import a new car they have 300% import tax....

 

[Chungas Revenge]

Just going from my own experience. I used the OME and Bilstein setup. In the past it was under load with HT and assorted hunting and camping gear. No complaints at all. Recently, it’s been relegated to highway duty with no HT or significant load with the occasional excursion on a gravel road. Still no complaints. The OME is a 2” / .75” anti inversion shackle.

On good, well maintained roads/highway, it’s smooth as glass. on WV secondary roads (think war zone, lunar landscape) it’s “a bit stiff”.

Dobinson shocks seem to be a fan favorite here on MUD as well.

 

[ryanwk628]

Greetings Ih8mud,
After 20 years of living in Vietnam, I'm heading back to Nashville to upgrade my '74 FJ40 (bought in 1995). I will be upgrading to 15 inch steelies and 33x9.5 Kenda's. I am researching 2" inch lifts and suspension packages. Pretty much all my driving is on road and I haven't had the hardtop on in 20 years. Can anyone suggest or have any feedback in a light/soft suspension setup? Most feedback on OME is even the "light" kits are heavy duty (understandably if your overlanding in the Aussie outback).

I found this post from @ryanwk628 and looks ok. Any thoughts much appreciated.

1970 in CT

Unbeknownst to me, my wife took this photo of me staring at the wiring diagram to put on her Instagram. I’m not on Instagram so I had no idea when someone mentioned it to me. I’m thinking this could be my new profile pic

forum.ih8mud.com

Hey, glad my post could be of some help! My feedback is springs matter more than shocks for a soft ride and more expensive is not always more compliant. For example you could put tuned Fox bypass shocks on with the Rough Country springs I had and it still would have ridden like a dump truck for the same reason a 3/4 ton or 1 ton truck rides stiffer than a half ton. Same reason you wouldn't want extra capacity springs if you don't need them. Less load requires less spring rate to react the same amount of wheel travel. So much of suspension info I saw was track car stuff, and if you're just cruising these rigs you don't need trophy truck tech to keep the fluid cool. The advice I quoted from Downey regarding the rear shocks makes sense which is why I went with the cheaper softer KYBs in the back, you want to allow that spring to do the work of flexing out and absorbing the wheel movement. Skyjacker's shackle angles looked good in the article I linked, they had a good price and free shipping IIRC. They looked to have been painted as an assembly, but leaves need to be free to move independently which is why I took them apart and coated the leaves with dry graphite lube, I wanted to avoid the "break in" which probably amounts to separating leaves stuck together with paint. I dont have a lot of other examples to compare them to but I am happy with the value

I am running 33x10.5s and have a slight bit of rubbing on the front but I have an ARB bumper and 8274 with steel cable so that is a fair amount of extra weight. Even still it may not happen with a skinnier tire

 

[Taylor2708]

Hey, glad my post could be of some help! My feedback is springs matter more than shocks for a soft ride and more expensive is not always more compliant. For example you could put tuned Fox bypass shocks on with the Rough Country springs I had and it still would have ridden like a dump truck for the same reason a 3/4 ton or 1 ton truck rides stiffer than a half ton. Same reason you wouldn't want extra capacity springs if you don't need them. Less load requires less spring rate to react the same amount of wheel travel. So much of suspension info I saw was track car stuff, and if you're just cruising these rigs you don't need trophy truck tech to keep the fluid cool. The advice I quoted from Downey regarding the rear shocks makes sense which is why I went with the cheaper softer KYBs in the back, you want to allow that spring to do the work of flexing out and absorbing the wheel movement. Skyjacker's shackle angles looked good in the article I linked, they had a good price and free shipping IIRC. They looked to have been painted as an assembly, but leaves need to be free to move independently which is why I took them apart and coated the leaves with dry graphite lube, I wanted to avoid the "break in" which probably amounts to separating leaves stuck together with paint. I dont have a lot of other examples to compare them to but I am happy with the value

I am running 33x10.5s and have a slight bit of rubbing on the front but I have an ARB bumper and 8274 with steel cable so that is a fair amount of extra weight. Even still it may not happen with a skinnier tire

Hey Ryan - I also saw Dowry's post. Dude is prolific poster. I found this kit from Redline Cruiser: 2.5 Ultimate Lift Kit with Bilstein Shocks FJ40 Toyota Land Cruiser - https://redlinelandcruisers.com/shop/40-series/suspension/fj40-2-5-inch-lift/

Seems like the springs, which you highlighted, are built for light loads. Everything look good although I may request a KYB for the rear shocks. Not sure if I am being to picky or not. This post really helped man man cheers. My crusier has the original spring and the Ranch shocks (which are probably almost 40 years old. When I hot a bump on the road, the entire truck shakes and pull my steering. Not ideal!

 

[ryanwk628]

Hey Ryan - I also saw Dowry's post. Dude is prolific poster. I found this kit from Redline Cruiser: 2.5 Ultimate Lift Kit with Bilstein Shocks FJ40 Toyota Land Cruiser - https://redlinelandcruisers.com/shop/40-series/suspension/fj40-2-5-inch-lift/

Seems like the springs, which you highlighted, are built for light loads. Everything look good although I may request a KYB for the rear shocks. Not sure if I am being to picky or not. This post really helped man man cheers. My crusier has the original spring and the Ranch shocks (which are probably almost 40 years old. When I hot a bump on the road, the entire truck shakes and pull my steering. Not ideal!

He used to own a company that made some pretty sweet Toyota accessories like headers and conversion bellhousings, definitely a wealth of experience.

On that kit, I agree with their description that most kits are over sprung. I'm going to guess those are Pro Comp springs, which I also considered, we put some on my buddy's Ford and he is happy with them. I see they are back ordered at Redline so it may be quicker to piece it out yourself. There are a few places you could probably get free shipping. I got the shocks on Amazon because I could return them if they didn't fit (though I waited too long on my front Bilsteins.)

 

[70fj40]

I used Pro Comp springs and Bilstein shocks. It rides very well on the road and off. It certainly isn’t soft off road or on rough country roads but very happy with it.