First Bought a UZJ100: 1998 LX470, 198K mi. Failed AHC. Suspension Advice Needed.

[jLB]

If I'm reading this correctly, you're planning on having your wife drive this vehicle.

I'm sure someone will step in and disagree, but I'll point out again that from my experience, unless you're planning on adding a substantial amount of weight in the front, the OME torsion bars are over-sprung, just as the AHC bars are under-sprung without the rest of the AHC system. If I were putting a wife in an otherwise stock 100 series (w/ LT tires), and wanted a good chance at wife approval, I'd stick with the OEM torsion bars, OEM shocks, maybe drop back to some 865 rear springs and keep the front to 20.5" or less.

Spend a little time reading through this thread before you spend your money:

100 too stiff after OME medium lift

It may save you some time and money, by not having to redo your solution again.

 

[MauiUZJ]

@jBL Duly noted, get back on comfort course... This is supposed to be the wife's vehicle.

Even Bone Stock, a Land Cruiser is a very capable machine for me to play with when I drive.

Looks like many of the posters In that thread think the stiffness is in the OME shocks...

Some are running OME springs/ tb's with fox's & others and say ride is smooth and good.

More reading to do. On page 3 so far.

As the wife's truck it is intended to be the kid ready family adventure vehicle. Hopefully family adventures to including more and more camping in 4x4 only areas as the kids are getting big enough to enjoy the outdoors.

My wife generally only drives one day a week without me... Friday thru Sunday I will drive her & the kids in it.

Need to find the balance for Wife approval of on road ride quality, & keep enough of the the height she likes for perspective ( I like height too for clearance), without breaking the bank.
To quote her,"Jungle girls like their trucks to ride up high"...

I was advised by one of the vendors I messaged about used OEM torsion bars not to use them in a lifted application....

Your suggested setup if I'm following is OEM TB's, OEM shocks, <20.5" up front, & 865's in the rear (I missed the rear shocks). Guess that will drop the rear an inch or so to around 21". Reducing the lift & increasing the "plush factor" which is probably a good thing in "Her Lexus"....

Do OEM shocks have enough extension for ~21" ride height springs in the rear?

@labcab's advice rings true. Stay OEM until ride quality degrades due to weight added, then upgrade suspension as needed to compensate at that time.

You may not get to the armour or drawers when you though you would, but you will live with the ride every day you drive.

I was leaning toward stock LC parts up front until I found that the rear springs were another inch higher & I read I should keep front and rear within 1". Then I got the email from the vendor telling me he recommends OME TB's for a lifted vehicle.

I Was hoping to avoid buying rear springs too right off, if I could. Maybe someone will want to trade 865's for 860's....

More reading to do before parts purchasing begins.

Leaning toward stock LC parts up front again...

Thanks jBL

 

[MauiUZJ]

Happy new year all.

Yesterday had to pick up our big girl, then her sisters had to go, so I took them all out, in spite of torrential rain squalls that kept passing by. Had water flowing down the road at the end of the driveway half an hour after the previous squall Passed by.

We were low on supplies and dog food, so we hit Costco while we were out.

Truck suspension felt better especially in the rear with a full Costco run, 5 passengers, and a full tank of fuel.

Hit a couple of new potholes under the water that was flowing down the road that could have knocked a filling loose. The front end feels like the shocks are filled with concrete if you hit a pothole.

In spite of this, it was the kind of day that made you very glad you were in a Land Cruiser....

The highway was closed for miles in either direction near our house when we tried to return home due to land slides, rushing water, & flooding, so we had to go upcountry and drop down on little jungle roads. Glad the water wasn't over the old bridge. Boulders, water, & downed trees were strewn about.

You know it rained hard when the water subsides and the asphalt has been rearranged.

Typical winter storm....

Thinking that underarmour and a moderate lift are not overkill for some on road days out here. Think of how much more fun it is to drive over down tree limbs than to drag them off the road....

Didn't have a chance to stop for any shots of the worst of it, but here's a few photos from near home.

View attachment 1375145

View attachment 1375209

 

[Ninja Cruiser100]

Geez.

 

[MauiUZJ]

On MUD a member has used AHC shocks, R springs, & globes w. 60k on me for $300 plus shipping...

Another member has used LC torsion bars $200 shipped, & springs (waiting on price). Then ~200 for LC OEM shocks.

Could be the price for going back to LX or LC OEM may be about the same.

Going to read up on flushing & servicing the AHC. To get an idea of how hard reinstating the system would be...

 

[MauiUZJ]

After several conversations with my wife, & plenty of bouncing on jungle roads, I have decided to not only heed everyone's advice (esp. You @jLB ) about going with Stock LC parts up front, I am going to take that theme even further so that I can get this truck comfortable enough to call it a Cruiser ASAP, & without any potentially debilitating delays.

So the very next iteration of my suspension will be simply All non-AHC Land Cruiser . I'm going with the used springs, & TB's, and 4 new OEM shocks. This will be the easiest on the budget right now, as I just bought the truck outright, & have to baseline it to prevent problems after 200k of minimal care, or neglect, depending on how you look at it. All the fluids need to be changed, the cracked radiator replaced, coolant hoses, & heater hoses & T's, etc... Front end needs to be lubed/ serviced, and one axle needs to be replaced, and the list will go on....

With LC parts, it will ride as good as a stock Land Cruiser, which will be a Very Nice Upgrade, and it will be straight forward to implement. I am thinking of adding 20mm or 30mm rear trim packers to raise the rear end a little, and as was suggested, Air Lift helper springs in the rear for when I am loaded up, or towing.

I had Air Lift's in my 80, & they were great. I installed them as I literally arrived in Northern NM riding on the rear bump stops, we were so loaded down. The truck rode level after the install, and I never needed the pressure to be above 30 psi. I do not think this setup will be near as high or firm as the 860 rear springs are now, but they are too high IMO for everything else if the front is at or near stock LC height. The truck is unbalanced right now IMO. I have been jokingly calling it "the half assed 3" lift"...

At the minimum required pressure of 15psi, I do not think the air lift's will decrease travel in the rear off-road by enough to notice.

I will index the front TB's to stock LC height, and then see if I want to raise the front 10-20mm with the adjusters, or not...

Then it will be time to start exploring the back side of the Island In comfort on-road, & enough clearance for the moderate off-roading back there. Since the running boards are already pretty scratched up, I can tear them up worse until I can replace them with a good set of step sliders.


I have read many good things about how nice AHC rides, and my Wife talked to her Cousin that had a 1999 LX470 new, and so the longer range plan is to keep the AHC components I have, and buy a set of working takeoff AHC shocks & rear springs, so that as time and money allow I will be able to reinstate the AHC with a set of new globes. After the AHC works again, and the kinks are all worked out of it, hopefully I get to a third suspension iteration with the AHC suspension 2-2.5" Lift as seen in this thread.

2-2.5" AHC Lift Using King Coils & Shock Spacers

That is the dream suspension for this truck and it's planned role of Wife and kids transportation during the week, family off-road adventure machine for me to wheel on the weekends, and of course one of it's most vital roles as "The Truck that gets us home no matter what the tropical weather is doing, through hell or high water..."

Thanks all for your input,

Aloha

 

[ffl3883]

After several conversations with my wife, & plenty of bouncing on jungle roads, I have decided to not only heed everyone's advice (esp. You @jLB ) about going with Stock LC parts up front, I am going to take that theme even further so that I can get this truck comfortable enough to call it a Cruiser ASAP, & without any potentially debilitating delays.

So the very next iteration of my suspension will be simply All non-AHC Land Cruiser . I'm going with the used springs, & TB's, and 4 new OEM shocks. This will be the easiest on the budget right now, as I just bought the truck outright, & have to baseline it to prevent problems after 200k of minimal care, or neglect, depending on how you look at it. All the fluids need to be changed, the cracked radiator replaced, coolant hoses, & heater hoses & T's, etc... Front end needs to be lubed/ serviced, and one axle needs to be replaced, and the list will go on....

With LC parts, it will ride as good as a stock Land Cruiser, which will be a Very Nice Upgrade, and it will be straight forward to implement. I am thinking of adding 20mm or 30mm rear trim packers to raise the rear end a little, and as was suggested, Air Lift helper springs in the rear for when I am loaded up, or towing.

I had Air Lift's in my 80, & they were great. I installed them as I literally arrived in Northern NM riding on the rear bump stops, we were so loaded down. The truck rode level after the install, and I never needed the pressure to be above 30 psi. I do not think this setup will be near as high or firm as the 860 rear springs are now, but they are too high IMO for everything else if the front is at or near stock LC height. The truck is unbalanced right now IMO. I have been jokingly calling it "the half assed 3" lift"...

At the minimum required pressure of 15psi, I do not think the air lift's will decrease travel in the rear off-road by enough to notice.

I will index the front TB's to stock LC height, and then see if I want to raise the front 10-20mm with the adjusters, or not...

Then it will be time to start exploring the back side of the Island In comfort on-road, & enough clearance for the moderate off-roading back there. Since the running boards are already pretty scratched up, I can tear them up worse until I can replace them with a good set of step sliders.


I have read many good things about how nice AHC rides, and my Wife talked to her Cousin that had a 1999 LX470 new, and so the longer range plan is to keep the AHC components I have, and buy a set of working takeoff AHC shocks & rear springs, so that as time and money allow I will be able to reinstate the AHC with a set of new globes. After the AHC works again, and the kinks are all worked out of it, hopefully I get to a third suspension iteration with the AHC suspension 2-2.5" Lift as seen in this thread.

2-2.5" AHC Lift Using King Coils & Shock Spacers

That is the dream suspension for this truck and it's planned role of Wife and kids transportation during the week, family off-road adventure machine for me to wheel on the weekends, and of course one of it's most vital roles as "The Truck that gets us home no matter what the tropical weather is doing, through hell or high water..."

Thanks all for your input,

Aloha

Hi

I have a 99 LX470. My suspension accumulators and left front height control are bad. I am thinking about conversion to land cruiser shock. My local indie shop quoted me $1200 for parts and labor. Is that a reasonable price ? How does the ride feel with land cruiser shocks ?

Thanks

Fliu

 

[Snowrydr01]

Hi

I have a 99 LX470. My suspension accumulators and left front height control are bad. I am thinking about conversion to land cruiser shock. My local indie shop quoted me $1200 for parts and labor. Is that a reasonable price ? How does the ride feel with land cruiser shocks ?

Thanks

Fliu

I havent done the conversion but based around a 90/hr shop rate for indies i dont think thats too far off but i would check if that includes removing all the old equipment or leaving the it and just replacing tbars, spings, and shocks.

I would image that all new OEM equipment would be somewhere in the $600 range for parts. Id be surprised if quoting software they use gave anything less then 8 hours of work for just the suspension even without removing the old AHC stuff and tidying it all up