Are my leafs shot? (1 Viewer)

[Hammer45]

I’m pulling the engine on my ‘89 FJ62 to well, do a lot. My front leafs look flat and there is only 1 3/8” between the bottom of the bumpers and that top plate on the front axles. When I hit a bump it sounds and feels like I’m bottoming out. Can anyone tell me what that stock clearance should be? I don’t really wanna get a lift and have to mess with extending brakes and such. I’m hoping stock springs or at most 1” of lift will get me where I want to be.

 

[Thechief86]

That does sound kinda clapped out to me, but you may get by with just better shocks. My stock springs had 389k miles and still didn't bottom out. I kept them in case I decide I want to SOA later.
I haven't seen any springs with less than 2" of lift for the 60 series, but the 2" OME springs ride really nice and give the car a nice stance. Over time the new springs will break in and leave you close to stock height with a nice, soft ride.

 

[Hammer45]

That does sound kinda clapped out to me, but you may get by with just better shocks. My stock springs had 389k miles and still didn't bottom out. I kept them in case I decide I want to SOA later.
I haven't seen any springs with less than 2" of lift for the 60 series, but the 2" OME springs ride really nice and give the car a nice stance. Over time the new springs will break in and leave you close to stock height with a nice, soft ride.

Hey you win the Attaboy prize! 120 views and one response. very much appreciated. @cruisermatt is checking out the parabolics from terrain tamer and said he will give me some feedback in a couple of weeks to compare with OME on his rig. Man I was hoping to not spend a ton for this part of the project. I suspect a shackle reversal is in order as well.

 

[Thechief86]

Hey you win the Attaboy prize! 120 views and one response. very much appreciated. @cruisermatt is checking out the parabolics from terrain tamer and said he will give me some feedback in a couple of weeks to compare with OME on his rig. Man I was hoping to not spend a ton for this part of the project. I suspect a shackle reversal is in order as well.

If you're looking at parabolic springs and shackle reversal, you'll end up a lot higher than stock, but I bet it'll ride really good, and should flex well off the pavement. If you want to go cheap, you can always do an add a leaf with your stock springs, and get some good shocks like Bilstein 5100s. That is the plan for my Tacoma with 250k miles.

 

[Hammer45]

Yeah at this point I’m mainly looking at options from the learned as I sit on my can and read the FSM and all these threads about pulling engines and transmissions and h55’s and such. Seems like the best time to do the suspension as well. I feel like I need to enter a concussion protocol after hitting a bump in the rig as it is now!

 

[OSS]

Normal

in 1990 I went to a Toyota dealership to check out the all new FJ62. I took a close look at stuff underneath the vehicle and clearly remember noticing the height of the front bump stops above the axle housing landings. I was very surprised to see that there was at most - 1-1/2" of down travel before the bump stop hit its landing. My memory thinks that there was less than 1 inch down travel.
BRAND NEW VEHICLE.

New FJ60/62 used the front bump stops extensively for suspension. Its how they were designed.
As lame as that may seem - you're experiencing the WHY right now, 30 years later. The front springs never flatten out because they're never stressed much - because the bump stops take all the hard hits.

With all that said, when I bought my used FJ60 instead of the new 62, I changed the springs to 2" lift springs and I was much happier how it took the bumps with the new springs.

 

[Hammer45]

now is some sage scale knowledge @OSS! That is good to know. would you say shackle reversal is necessary as well? seems like a crazy design as is but i suspect there is a reason.

 

[Pighead]

Back in the day, maybe 30 years ago, I had my 55 springs re-arched at my local blacksmith/spring shop. They would even add a leaf if you wanted. Might be something to look into.

 

[Hammer45]

Back in the day, maybe 30 years ago, I had my 55 springs re-arched at my local blacksmith/spring shop. They would even add a leaf if you wanted. Might be something to look into.

I have been reading all the suspension posts and read that you did that in a prior post from years ago! I guess 35 yrs of holding up this truck comes with a cost and I’ll prolly just quit whining and spend some money. Do you have an opinion about shackle reversal?

 

[Thechief86]

Shackle reversal is great, but is an automatic 2” lift in the front, and doesn't make sense unless you want massive flex or don't have clearance for a huge engine and SUA but don't want to SOA.
If you're trying to stay close to stock height and love your soft springs, you could shackle reverse in the front, add a leaf in the back, and have a 2" lift or so, and it would probably ride great with good shocks.
I had intentions to do the Man-a-fre shackle reversal for more axle clearance with my Cummins swap, but haven't done it yet, after a couple of years and over 30k miles.

 

[SteveH]

I replaced all the slippers (plastic pieces between leaves) while doing spring work years ago on my FJ62, and that greatly improved the ride. If you're taking apart the spring pack to do an add-a-leaf, you might as well do this while you're in there. I don't know if Toyota still sells these plastic pieces. This won't affect the lift, however, so that's another issue.

 

[Hammer45]

Just to keep you informed of the plan, Rick at Man_A_Fre spent a few minutes explaining the height difference between the various lift options and shackle reversal and such. I think i'll go with the 3" OME and call it a day. Hope to get the engine, trans and transfer out the front today. d

 

[Thechief86]

Just to keep you informed of the plan, Rick at Man_A_Fre spent a few minutes explaining the height difference between the various lift options and shackle reversal and such. I think i'll go with the 3" OME and call it a day. Hope to get the engine, trans and transfer out the front today. d

SOLID choice. I did that with mine and have had several folks comment how nice my 60 rides, despite its Spartan and derelict appearance.

 

[Hammer45]

SOLID choice. I did that with mine and have had several folks comment how nice my 60 rides, despite its Spartan and derelict appearance.

View attachment 3849134

Nice!

 

[Mark W]

That does sound kinda clapped out to me, but you may get by with just better shocks. My stock springs had 389k miles and still didn't bottom out. I kept them in case I decide I want to SOA later.

Original, decades old FJ60 rear springs will not hold up the the added stresses of being utilized in an SOA configuration. They will be S curved very soon under anything other than taking it to parking lot 'car shows" level of usage..

I suspect a shackle reversal is in order as well.

Back in 1998 you could not be in the Cool Kid's Club at Cruise Moab if you were not sporting a shackle reversal. Over the years, the gee whiz factor has faded and most recognize that there are as many detriments as there are benefits to an SR. Personally I think the downsides outweigh the upsides.

Mark...

 

[franklin40]

my experience is that shackle reversal works best for higher arched springs that when they compress actually move the axle backwards. with stocking flat springs they don’t really add any advantage as the axle doesn’t move as much. in fact with a flat spring the shackle at the front will move in as the spring flexes or droops and the axle actually moves backwards (the sipped reason to do the shackle reversal on the first place) because the spring is actually gaining arch. so it’s counter productive for real flat springs. it also decreases approach angle a lot of times with the real low hanging brackets.

i love my 2.5 OME springs with the stock shackle position. it’s not a harsh ride at all

look at your spring pack. if it’s stock and real flat i bet you e got a broken leaf or two!!

 

[Hammer45]

I ordered the OME yesterday and 3/4 of the springs arrived today! d

 

[Pighead]

Original, decades old FJ60 rear springs will not hold up the the added stresses of being utilized in an SOA configuration. They will be S curved very soon under anything other than taking it to parking lot 'car shows" level of usage..

Mark, does that apply to all decades old rear LandCruiser wagon springs, or is it 60s only?

 

[Mark W]

Mark, does that apply to all decades old rear LandCruiser wagon springs, or is it 60s only?

In my experience, any SOA we did with factory springs would loose a LOT of whatever arch they had left very quickly once they were subjected to the increased stresses of the new configuration. None of the front springs developed the S curve (the fronts do not see as much rotational loading as the rears) nor did the rears of the '40s and '55s. But the rear springs in the '60s and '62s always did.

Mark...