ARB Bumpers & Suspension Mod

[matter]

I am the new owner of a 2011 FJ Cruiser and have been learning from many posts found on this forum.
I am looking to have an ARB Deluxe w/ Bull Bar front bumper installed. My next mod will be the rear ARB bumper. Will I have to beef up the suspension to compensate for the added weight? Right now the vehicle is all stock from factory.

 

[SWITAWI]

The short answer is YES, you will need more burly springs, and you can find the ARB/Old Man Emu (OME) full suspension kits for the FJ Cruiser in 'Light', 'Medium', and 'Heavy' variations. The Heavy setup is supposed to be for vehicles carrying the extra weight of aftermarket bumpers, winches, etc.

The long answer is that I've heard time and again how rough the OME Heavies are in an unloaded FJ, and there are several different suspension makers that make something for your needs.

We need mtbcoach and 1911 to chime in here as both of their FJs have been through an evolution of suspension components...

 

[Capt Sensible]

If you've got the money to do a ARB front and rear, you're probably not hurting for cash. So if you can swing it, I'd go with a nicer adjustable set up. The most common of the "high end" suspension setups that everybody raves about is ICON. But there's a bunch more, all with their own unique qualities they bring to the table. King, Camburg, Fox, RevTek, RadFlo, etc... By getting adjustable suspension, you can put your bumpers on, and adjust it to where you want it. And then when you add a winch, adjust it again. And when you add a rear swing out, adjust it again. As opposed to a fixed setup like OME, in which case you either have to predict what all you're going to add down the road and pick that lift up today, and suffer through it till you get all the weight on it. Or, buy what works for you now, and when you add more weight, remove your springs and put on new stiffer ones.

 

[1911]

The short answer is YES, you will need more burly springs, and you can find the ARB/Old Man Emu (OME) full suspension kits for the FJ Cruiser in 'Light', 'Medium', and 'Heavy' variations. The Heavy setup is supposed to be for vehicles carrying the extra weight of aftermarket bumpers, winches, etc.

The long answer is that I've heard time and again how rough the OME Heavies are in an unloaded FJ, and there are several different suspension makers that make something for your needs.

We need mtbcoach and 1911 to chime in here as both of their FJs have been through an evolution of suspension components...

I'm on my second suspension, but have personally installed another dozen or so at least on other people's FJC's. Here's my take on it:

You don't have to upgrade the suspension for steel bumpers, but you'd be far better off to. The stock suspension will hold up steel bumpers and only sag a little bit at first, but you will get bad front-end dive when braking and a lot more body roll in turns and sharp curves. The more weight you put on (winch, sliders, skid plates, etc.) the worse it will get and the more you will want a good lift with heavier springs. The ARB bumper is one of the heaviest out there BTW.

OME medium coils will hold a lot of weight. OME heavies are very stiff and will limit flex if you don't have a LOT of weight on them. If you want to spend more, then there are many fine coilover systems for the front and coil and shock combos for the rear. My personal favorites are Sway-A-Way and Icon. My own FJC has Icon (Donahoe actually) coilovers on the front and OME medium (895) coils and OME shocks on the rear. It's a very heavy truck and these have served me well for 120,000 miles including a lot of off-road. If were doing it all over again knowing what I know now from having installed all the others, I would buy Sway-A-Way or Icon front and rear, paying close attention to the coil spring rates to get them about what I have now.

If you've got the money to do a ARB front and rear, you're probably not hurting for cash. So if you can swing it, I'd go with a nicer adjustable set up. The most common of the "high end" suspension setups that everybody raves about is ICON. But there's a bunch more, all with their own unique qualities they bring to the table. King, Camburg, Fox, RevTek, RadFlo, etc... By getting adjustable suspension, you can put your bumpers on, and adjust it to where you want it. And then when you add a winch, adjust it again. And when you add a rear swing out, adjust it again. As opposed to a fixed setup like OME, in which case you either have to predict what all you're going to add down the road and pick that lift up today, and suffer through it till you get all the weight on it. Or, buy what works for you now, and when you add more weight, remove your springs and put on new stiffer ones.

The only thing I would clarify what Chris (Capt Sensible) said is that even the expensive rear coils are not adjustable, only the front coilovers are, so you want to pick the spring rate of your rear coils a little more carefully than the front, based on how much weight you will carry on and in the truck The good news is, the rear coils are much easier and faster to change out than the front coilovers (and much less expensive) if you end up not liking your first choice.

 

[Capt Sensible]

^^^True. I forgot about the non adjustable in the rear. Thanks Lee.


Personally, I went with the toytec ultimate 3" lift. Mainly because I'm not going to be doing any desert racing or uber rock crawling. I wanted something that would provide lift, give some better articulation than stock, hold up the weight I will be adding, and wont break the bank. I've had my lift on for almost a year now, and couldn't be happier. It does drive stiffer than stock, but... it's a truck, not a cadillac.

 

[matter]

As expected, the information on this forum is top notch since most of it comes from individuals who have "been there and done that."
When I mentioned to my mechanic that I was getting an FJ, he asked me if I was ready to embark down this road. Little did I know the meaning of his words!

From the replies to my question, it seems the first thing to address is the suspension before I pursue the heavier bumpers. Eighty percent of my driving will be on paved roads, the other twenty will be off road and limited to what can be found in the Northeast.

Time to do some homework regarding suspensions. As a newbie some of this seems monumental but certainly doable.
Thank you for sharing the knowledge.

 

[BMThiker]

I love my recent change to Icons up front. Still have OME medium on the rear. I've had OME heavy on the front for 4 years and the spring rate never did match the shocks, so I kept blowing the shocks. OME may have corrected this issue, but they only warrantied my kit twice and then said that they recommend the Medium Kit only for "heavy situations".

I ditched the front sway bar after a couple years while still on my OME kit and now that the Icons are on the front I hardly miss it. I would have bought Sway-a-ways, but they were on back order at the time and the Icons were on special at Metal-Tech earlier this spring.

 

[Corey]

OME heavy duty up front, and OME medium in the rear.

My weight up front never changes, but I have the ARB bumper and Warn XD9000 up there.

In the back the weight stays constant with a cargobox full of tools, and a few camping items, but then during camping season the rear and middle really get stuffed.

Even with all the extra added weight then, the medium springs in the back never sag more than when it is without the extra camping gear.

If I have to replace the fronts sometime, I might try the Icon adjustable.

My setup has been on too since it was installed down at ARB 12 5 2006.

 

[Southeast Overland]

I would go with a lift (and tires) before bumpers. I might upgrade to Icons in the front but I currently run OME heavies front and rear and they do me just fine. I had OME mediums in the rear but the addition of a CO2 tank, fire extinguisher, rack, awning, RTT and a pair of Jerry Cans at times was too much junk in my trunk. Overall, I'm happy with the OMEs and am not in a rush for Icons but they might happen down the line.