Can you tell if t he leaf springs are dead by looking at them?

[Zack1978]

Hello,
Thank you to everyone who has posted answers to my spring questions. Well I went under my 87 fj60 today, and I found the shock tube to be intact, and the shocks look fine (they should they were just put on in OCt). So I guess the culpret of the rough ride and alomst bottoming out must be the springs. Well I was looking at my 60 tonight, and I noticed that the rear springs have almost no arch in them. Thay are both as flat as boards. IS that a sign that they are shot? How hard is it to change the rear springs? Do I have to do the fronts at the same time?


thank you,
Zack

 

[silvercrusher]

if u change only the rear springs you will make the ride very wobbly. If the rears are straight or sagging they need to be replaced. If the rears are shot then the front is worse I would say because it takes the brunt of the weight due to the engine being above them. Do yourself a favor and replace them all while u are at it. Besides you may as well lift the old girl right ......................

 

[BRUIN4]

This is just my opinion,,,but here goes.

I have owned 2 fj 60's and 1 62, they all had different mileage on them and they all needed springs, which I did. Even the 60 with 70 k on it. My theory is that Toyota undersized the springs ( just) on these trucks and the weight of the truck, over time, flattened out the springs.

I hear people talk about having the stock springs re-arched, but old spring steel is old spring steel no matter what you do with it. You can try to add a leaf (make it a long one if you do) but my best advice is to ask at a real spring shop near you and see what they think, Check for a place that services heavy trucks, macks, oil trucks etc...they probably won't steer you wrong because they probably dont want to work on your 60.

I am running The SOR spring kit in my current 60, I am not as pleased with it as the OME kits I ran in my other Landcruisers. Although it seems more flexible, the OME kits were rock solid, OME also claims that their kits have a stiffer drivers side spring to prevent that cruiser lean.

Bruin

 

[Mike S]

Check out Dakar and Alcan springs. FWIW, I had this problem with my current truck, installed OME about a year ago, and Viola! better all around. Two thumbs up on replacing the whole smash.

M

 

[chitown40]

I'm running stock spring all around. When I got mine the rears were sagging. I picked up a set of long add-a-leafs real cheap and had them put in by a spring shop. They completely disssembled the spring packs and added them in and the truck site nice and level now. The ride is a little bouncy, but I'm due for shocks and I'm thinking that'll stiffen it up just enough to make it ride great.

 

[PabloCruise]

Alcan springs.

They will build springs to your specs...

 

[cruiser_guy]

When I replaced mine a couple of years ago you could see where the end of each leaf wore into the leaf above it. I tried the add a leaf route which lasted a year or so until the main spring snapped. Then I decided, no point in messing with the old springs and I put on a lift kit.

 

[hammer1]

i bought the set that CCOT sells. with the bushings and shipping, it was around 600 bucks.
they made the ride better, no doubt.
buy do yourself a favor, spend the extra 100 buck for OEM pins fro the shackles. cut the old ones with a sawz-all. your save HOURS of time
hammer

 

[GLTHFJ60]

The springs on my FJ are so flat in the rear that the leafs have bent off the clips that hold the leafs together. My rig is so rusty that I am evaluating whether or not I should spend the time repairing it or just scrap it. My truck also has that inherent LC lean, unfortunately. I will probably put a lift on it this summer.

 

[PabloCruise]

...spend the extra 100 buck for OEM pins fro the shackles. cut the old ones with a sawz-all. your save HOURS of time
hammer

I would skip OEM and buy greaseable pins and shackles...

 

[dogboy2]

Well I was looking at my 60 tonight, and I noticed that the rear springs have almost no arch in them. Thay are both as flat as boards. IS that a sign that they are shot? How hard is it to change the rear springs? Do I have to do the fronts at the same time?

shot?: sounds like it -- the only precise way to tell is to pull them and measure the free height and compare it to OEM spec
hard?: no, just labor intensive and you'll need some good tools
fronts?: yes, do the whole suspension at once including new shackle pins (opt for the greasable kind) and steering stabilizer -- may as well lift it a bit too if you plan on any type of wheelin' and if you do, you will have to trade those new shocks in for ones with longer travel

love our OME setup - huge improvement - and understand that the Dakar setup is comparable and a more budget friendly way to go

hth,
-dogboy- '87 FJ60

 

[GLTHFJ60]

And also if you plan on doing any wheeling, then you should consider going SOA. Much better off-road capabilities as well as four inches of instant lift.