Bent Suspension Brackets - HELP!

[BlackCat]

BlackCat, Please provide addition pics, especially a view directly from the side so I can determine if I want the slight lift in the rear. As mentioned above this is my wife's car. She wants it back exactly the way it was before this fiasco. I like it...just need to be sure she's not going to freak when she sees it. Thanks again to everyone here for your input.

Mine netted me me roughly 1.25 inches of lift. I used springs from a Trail Team Edition FJ. The REAL benefit is how much better it rides with springs instead of bags. It's night and day difference.


It's slightly less tall in the back now than it would be with the factory airbags in the "high" position. This is one of my truck when it still had bags and the back was raised to high.

 

[Zarasa]

In my case, the FJC springs provided 1/2" of lift over the air suspension at Normal height. Depending on your wife's attention to subtleties of a 4x4, she may not even notice.

She has a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical chemistry and a photographic memory so she's going to notice. And as mentioned above the woman is quite attractive. And she gave birth to my two beautiful amazing boys. And she likes putting 200K plus miles on a new car every ten years instead of making me go out and lease her a new one every three years. As you can see I pretty much hit the jackpot in the dating lottery 15 years ago.

Anyway she's angling for a new truck at this point and probably deserves it, but I need to get our GX back on the road first. I will probably go with the FJ springs you used rather than the slightly more aggressive ones BlackCat has installed. Would you mind providing a part# or letting me know which years FJ they fit so I can track a pair down this weekend.

 

[little_joe]

Seems the difference is I had used FJC Trail Team springs from a 2010. I can't explain why so much difference between mine and his. Frankly I thought it rode like crap so I ditched them anyway. They're in my garage, cover shipping and they're yours.

Does your wife have a twin? (j/k, happily married here for +20 yrs)

 

[Zarasa]

Thx for the offer little_joe. I'll take them...especially since they're only going to be in there temporarily for a year or so. But to be clear what will be the impact on rear ride height? I'm slightly confused...are you saying these are the same as BlackCat's set up, but you didn't like it so you switched to something else?

 

[BlackCat]

Thx for the offer little_joe. I'll take them...especially since they're only going to be in there temporarily for a year or so. But to be clear what will be the impact on rear ride height? I'm slightly confused...are you saying these are the same as BlackCat's set up, but you didn't like it so you switched to something else?

Mine are also from a 2010 trail team FJ, so your rear height will be identical if installed correctly.

 

[Zarasa]

What springs are you using now that you're happy with?

 

[BlackCat]

Who me? I'm super happy with my trail team FJ springs. I'm not sure why the other poster was unhappy, I think it rides 100% better than the stock s***.

 

[little_joe]

To be clear, it rode just ok with those springs. The axle would hit the bumpstops on modest dips and bumps. I have my 3rd row removed, and when I loaded up with any minor load (e.g. to go camping, weekend at the beach), the rear squatted and regularly hit the bumpstops. I used the MT conversion kit and there's no way to screw up the install or install them wrong. Sorry to muddy the waters, and again I cannot explain the variance in results - other than I had used springs from an FJC that was actually wheeled, where others bought new springs.

 

[BlackCat]

Hmmmm, weird. I've pulled almost 1,000lbs and had the back of my truck completely loaded with riding and camping gear and have never once hit my bump stops. Mine barely, if any, sagged at all. And they can absolutely be installed wrong, the spring pigtail is supposed be facing the caliper when done correctly. Not sure how much of an impact it would have, but you probably had some worn out or high mileage used springs in yours.



Fully loaded with FJ springs. It's also night and day difference when you compare a 4Runner spring and an FJ spring side by side. The FJ springs are SO much more beefy.

 

[The Great Him]

either 4runner or FJC springs and buy a set of air lift or firestone air bags to go inside the springs to handle any added weight like for camping or a fully loaded vehicle for vacations...

2003-2011 Toyota 4 Runner 4WD - Air Lift 1000 Air Helper Springs [REAR] [60809] | $81.63 | SD Truck Springs | Leaf Springs, Helper Springs and Suspension Parts

2007-2015 Toyota 4Runner - Firestone Coil-Rite Air Bag Helper Springs (NO-DRILL) [REAR] [4135] | $104.65 | SD Truck Springs | Leaf Springs, Helper Springs and Suspension Parts

 

[Zarasa]

BlackCat, little_joe, I'm going to try a new set of the Trail Team FJC springs and hope it works out.

Him, I'm going to get as far away as possible from air in my suspension as I can. Unlike you all, I was dumb enough to replace the air springs and the pump in our GX three years ago and now here I am again.

 

[Zarasa]

To be clear, it rode just ok with those springs. The axle would hit the bumpstops on modest dips and bumps. I have my 3rd row removed, and when I loaded up with any minor load (e.g. to go camping, weekend at the beach), the rear squatted and regularly hit the bumpstops. I used the MT conversion kit and there's no way to screw up the install or install them wrong. Sorry to muddy the waters, and again I cannot explain the variance in results - other than I had used springs from an FJC that was actually wheeled, where others bought new springs.

What are you using now that you're happy with?

 

[little_joe]

What are you using now that you're happy with?

I got coils made to my specs by Coil Spring Specialties in Kansas. They took 3-4 weeks and cost was close to most aftermarket springs. Very happy with them.

 

[BlackCat]

BlackCat, little_joe, I'm going to try a new set of the Trail Team FJC springs and hope it works out.

Him, I'm going to get as far away as possible from air in my suspension as I can. Unlike you all, I was dumb enough to replace the air springs and the pump in our GX three years ago and now here I am again.

Ya, I bought new ones vs his used ones. Also, the airlift bags are a great idea, The Great Him and I discussed it months ago when we both did our coil conversions. The bags simply go inside the coils that you can manually inflate to level the rear end if you have a bunch of weight back there. It's an easy and cheap install and only needed when towing or carrying a lot of weight. You'd still have your coils and temporarily fill the bags. We both have them.

You can always add them after the fact if you decide you want them. There's no need to install the bags at the same time you do the coils, but it would save some time.

 

[Zarasa]

BlackCat, If I specify that I want rear coil springs that fit a 2010 Trail Team FJC I'll end up with the right part?

 

[BlackCat]

Yes. I ordered mine from Oreilly auto parts, but I can no longer find them on their website to give you the info. They were roughly $75 and are made in America.

 

[little_joe]

Yes. I ordered mine from Oreilly auto parts, but I can no longer find them on their website to give you the info. They were roughly $75 and are made in America.

Why did you never mention this before? You didn't use Toyota springs - do you know what brand they are, what their spring rate is, etc etc? I don't doubt
they work for you, but all this time I thought you were using Toyota factory springs. Not that it matters to me, but to others it can be very misleading - they may go w/ Toyota FJC springs and get very different results (as I did), which is really not cool.

 

[BlackCat]

Why did you never mention this before? You didn't use Toyota springs - do you know what brand they are, what their spring rate is, etc etc? I don't doubt
they work for you, but all this time I thought you were using Toyota factory springs. Not that it matters to me, but to others it can be very misleading - they may go w/ Toyota FJC springs and get very different results (as I did), which is really not cool.

there should be no assumption that any aftermarket replacement part would yield different results. They are, after all, designed to be a direct replacement. So whether you get them from Napa, Carquest, or Toyota, as long as you're getting trail team edition FJ springs you should be fine. There's no reason to assume otherwise. I mean, it's not like I've been hiding the fact that I used rear springs from a Jaguar or something totally random, I'm using a set of trail team edition FJ cruiser springs I just so happened to buy from Oreilly's that have the exact same height, coil thickness, and spring rate of the OE Toyota springs.

 

[little_joe]

there should be no assumption that any aftermarket replacement part would yield different results. They are, after all, designed to be a direct replacement. So whether you get them from Napa, Carquest, or Toyota, as long as you're getting trail team edition FJ springs you should be fine. There's no reason to assume otherwise. I mean, it's not like I've been hiding the fact that I used rear springs from a Jaguar or something totally random, I'm using a set of trail team edition FJ cruiser springs I just so happened to buy from Oreilly's that have the exact same height, coil thickness, and spring rate of the OE Toyota springs.

Really faulty logic, equating any $RANDOM aftermarket part with OEM. - it is well established aftermarket replacement parts often differ from OEM specs (and in the case of Toyota, often unfavorably). This comes up over and over - $50 cv's etc etc, It's like saying you got FJC shocks, but neglecting to mention you bought them from an auto parts store and failing to mention whether they're Bilstein or Monroe.

When this comes up in subsequent threads, be sure to mention this salient fact about the springs you used so others can make an informed decision. The times I've posted, I've always stated exactly what I used so there is no ambiguity.

Again, I am not knocking your decision, this is for the benefit of others reading this thread or having this come up in a search.

 

[The Great Him]

Really faulty logic, equating any $RANDOM aftermarket part with OEM. - it is well established aftermarket replacement parts often differ from OEM specs (and in the case of Toyota, often unfavorably). This comes up over and over - $50 cv's etc etc, It's like saying you got FJC shocks, but neglecting to mention you bought them from an auto parts store and failing to mention whether they're Bilstein or Monroe.

When this comes up in subsequent threads, be sure to mention this salient fact about the springs you used so others can make an informed decision. The times I've posted, I've always stated exactly what I used so there is no ambiguity.

Again, I am not knocking your decision, this is for the benefit of others reading this thread or having this come up in a search.

yeah most aftermarket companies that sell to parts houses typically do not make as many variations as a dealer will... go look at all the coil options at a dealer, they should have at least half a dozen different part numbers for the same coil on a 4runner, i know when i was first lifting my 4runner and trying use the TRD coils there was over 20 different coils just for the front coil, all dependent on the package the truck came with, ie sr5, limited, 4wd or 2wd, v8 or v6.... so yeah ordering a part from an auto parts store that says it will fit is not the same as OE part. my bet is they make one coil and say it will fit all FJCs or 4runners because dimensionally it will fit, but it wont have the same spring rate as the origonal trail teams or TRD coil and the would have put a different coils on depending on if it had a tow package or not... so you really can not compare an aftermarket "oem replacement" coil with a true OE coil.