Took my funky Fj60 / 13bt diesel rig and installed a belton kit the other day...
After talking with Greg at GScruiserparts it seemed like the Belton is a very respected suspension in Australia, Asia, and Canada. I wanted a suspension for daily dirt road driving since I live 4 miles from any pavement and the cruiser will take some beating regularly.
OME was my first consideration but the price was prohibitive. The Belton kit suggested retail is $1800 cdn. Much less than the OME for a kit said to be nearly as good.
I started the install a couple of nights ago and had most of the rear dismantled before too long. I had never done a suspension install and after about 2 hours of dinking around with how to get the springs hung I decided to give up for the night and call someone in the morning. Well, the next morning after talking with Greg he walked me through the process and about 2 hours later the rear was installed. I had a little issue with the anti-inversion shackle and the exhaust; when the shackle would come forward the anti-inversion pin would contact the exhaust. I had to cut the exhaust and modify the bend and then decided to bring it out the side under the left rear quarter panel.
The front went well the next night, about 4 hours total. Had some stuck solid spring pins that needed cutting but for the most part everything went well.
Overall the lift added about 4-5" over what I had and 50mm (2") over stock. Folks said the ride would be pretty stiff at first. I put about 500 lbs of mustard seed in the rear to help break things in. The first drive was fantastic. I hit every bump and washboard I could find that day and it drove better than anything I could have imagined. The sway problem I had before was drastically reduced. It use to be rather unstable at about 70 mph and raised my concern.
Here are some pics before and after. I'll have detailed write up of the whole process coming soon for the tech section.
After talking with Greg at GScruiserparts it seemed like the Belton is a very respected suspension in Australia, Asia, and Canada. I wanted a suspension for daily dirt road driving since I live 4 miles from any pavement and the cruiser will take some beating regularly.
OME was my first consideration but the price was prohibitive. The Belton kit suggested retail is $1800 cdn. Much less than the OME for a kit said to be nearly as good.
I started the install a couple of nights ago and had most of the rear dismantled before too long. I had never done a suspension install and after about 2 hours of dinking around with how to get the springs hung I decided to give up for the night and call someone in the morning. Well, the next morning after talking with Greg he walked me through the process and about 2 hours later the rear was installed. I had a little issue with the anti-inversion shackle and the exhaust; when the shackle would come forward the anti-inversion pin would contact the exhaust. I had to cut the exhaust and modify the bend and then decided to bring it out the side under the left rear quarter panel.
The front went well the next night, about 4 hours total. Had some stuck solid spring pins that needed cutting but for the most part everything went well.
Overall the lift added about 4-5" over what I had and 50mm (2") over stock. Folks said the ride would be pretty stiff at first. I put about 500 lbs of mustard seed in the rear to help break things in. The first drive was fantastic. I hit every bump and washboard I could find that day and it drove better than anything I could have imagined. The sway problem I had before was drastically reduced. It use to be rather unstable at about 70 mph and raised my concern.
Here are some pics before and after. I'll have detailed write up of the whole process coming soon for the tech section.
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