FJ with Lift Ride differences.

[oldcentury76]

I know there is alot of threads with Lift types and opinions on different styles... But has anyone driven different FJ's with different lift options. I drove an FJ stock, and an FJ with the revtec lift. The stock was much better riding (as expected) but I was not impressed with the revtec spacer lift. It was a tad stiffer but seemed to track at higher speeds. I would like to go with a "real" suspension lift but there are a few options... Camberg, OME, Donhoe, etc. What to chose??? Any one want to weight in?

 

[JonB]

You are more than welcome to come by All-Pro and drive mine anytime. I will put the ride quality of our Walker Evans Racing adjustable coil-overs up against anybody's.
With 12 way adjustable valving on the shocks you can fine tune the ride to your own personal liking or the amount of cargo you happen to be carrying at the time. It's as simple as turning a knob on top of the remote reservoir.

 

[FJ Cruiser #8]

hey jon how much for the total setup? the wheels,tires,lift?

 

[JonB]

hey jon how much for the total setup? the wheels,tires,lift?

You are probably going to spend about $3600 for the set-up I have. Most of that is the beadlock wheels and BFG tires. Our complete front and rear suspension with adjustable valving is $1575. The Walker Evans beadlocks are very nice and are probably the strongest wheels on the market today. I've always been a big fan of BFG tires. You can certainly find less expensive tires but your tires are your link to the road (or trail) and I wouldn't skimp there. Besides I won 3 rockcrawling national championships and 1 world championship with BFG tires so they have a customer for life. LOL

 

[oldcentury76]

If only I lived near SoCal. I live in Sacramento. Too bad. Thanks for the offer.

 

[woody]

I'd be surprised if anyone has had seat time with more than 1 or 2 of the many lift options out there...your best bet may be to attend one of the Toyota or TLCA events attended by the FJ Cruiser Trail Team...GSMTR had a couple lifted FJC's at it, and more will keep showing up as more folks start lifting them.

besides, if yer like me, you'll lift it once and then immediately change it...lol My FJ40 almost never hits the trail with the same setup twice in a row, and I'm already working on tweaks on my 80 as well....pathetic, I know....

 

[oldcentury76]

Yeah I was thinking that I might not get too much first hand experience from people but I am looking to gather information before I jump. I guess it is the engineer in me that need to get some technical info. Also it is my daily driver so it has to be somewhat practical....

 

[bulldog-yota]

You are more than welcome to come by All-Pro and drive mine anytime. I will put the ride quality of our Walker Evans Racing adjustable coil-overs up against anybody's.
With 12 way adjustable valving on the shocks you can fine tune the ride to your own personal liking or the amount of cargo you happen to be carrying at the time. It's as simple as turning a knob on top of the remote reservoir.

Sounds very interesting. Do you have any pics of the rear setup? I have seen the front, but nnot the rear. Are those rear shocks rebuildable or do they need to be replaced? (I assume they are expensive with remote res and adjustment).

Thx

 

[TisilverFJ]

Yeah I was thinking that I might not get too much first hand experience from people but I am looking to gather information before I jump. I guess it is the engineer in me that need to get some technical info. Also it is my daily driver so it has to be somewhat practical....

My fj is also my DD. One of the MANY reasons I bought it was to use it for light offroading/camping with my family during the summer. With only limited money and being a new truck I wanted to keep the stock ride as much as possible. My first thought was Revtec(sold out). Then I talked to www.toyteclifts.com. They also make alum. spacer lifts. After talking to them we decided for my needs to try OME. Running new OME springs all around with stock front shocks and an alum. top plate spacer. New rear OME shocks.
Offroad it has been great. Onroad the rear is to stiff for daily driving. Currently waiting for new custom rear springs to be made. They will have the stock spring weight with an additional 2 1/2" to the length.

Did the fj w/Revtec lift that you drove also have different tires? Because that too can make a big change in ride quality. I have Goodyear MT/R's (which I don't like for DD) and they wonder on road and stiffen the ride alot. Like jonB said go with BFG's (all terrains). I liked these better than my MT/R's both on and off road.

Sorry for the long post. Just giving a reason why I went with what I did.

 

[oldcentury76]

Yes the FJC had BFG All Terrains.. I felt like they would trac on bumps in the road.... But I guess i am being a bit picky. I used to drive a 98 4runner and it would trac all the time and it was stock. Now I drive a 98 Lexus GS400 (the 4runner got wrecked and got a suburban for the wife and kids.) I must be getting used to the LUXURY of the Lexus....

 

[RiverWalker]

You are probably going to spend about $3600 for the set-up I have. Most of that is the beadlock wheels and BFG tires. Our complete front and rear suspension with adjustable valving is $1575.

Do you use the A arm kit and longer brake lines with your conversion? Can you tell me what is the advantages or disadvantages of using reservior coil-overs for lifting the FJ? What exactly does the $3600.00 get me? I am up here in British Columbia with a shiny new FJ that is crying out for some great mods. I am interested in lifting the FJ and putting bigger boots under it. The problem is what and where to get them.

 

[JonB]

Do you use the A arm kit and longer brake lines with your conversion? Can you tell me what is the advantages or disadvantages of using reservior coil-overs for lifting the FJ? What exactly does the $3600.00 get me? I am up here in British Columbia with a shiny new FJ that is crying out for some great mods. I am interested in lifting the FJ and putting bigger boots under it. The problem is what and where to get them.

I do not have the upper control arm kit on mine. Our 05-06' Tacoma arms fit but they are not needed on the FJ because of better geometry from the factory on the FJ's. Also the way we engineered our upper shock mount the springs do not hit the inside of the arms or the sway bar. Some other manufacturers did not consider this and that's why you have to remove, replace, or relocate the sway bar with thier coil-overs.
The advantage to using our 12 way adjustable compression valving reservoir is so that you can taylor the ride to your liking or to the load you are carrying. When we worked with Walker Evans in developing this shock we started with these adjusters so that we could dial in the valving for the best handling and ride quality. They then took the shocks backed and dynoed them on their shock dyno to find out the what the exact valving was that we had them adjusted to. This is the valving we then put into our non-adjustable shocks. But because not everyone carries the same weight, has the same driving habits, or even has the same preference in ride feel the best solution is to offer them adjustable too.
Of that $3600 only about $1500 was in front and rear suspension. The rest was with the beadlock wheels and BFG tires.

 

[Noisycow]

Jon -

In order to sell stuff, you have to cater to dumbasses with stupid questions .. so here I am ... lol ...

Are the beadlocks on the Walker Evans wheels real, or just for looks (like the American Racing rims)?

With the 285's - not the monster 35" - and say 3" of lift, how tall is your FJ - from pavement to top of the roof rack - I have only 82" to play with - garage.

Could you explain further the advantages of the Walker Evans Coil setup over just a 3" body lift like the Revtech? I understand how longer springs work with improved downforce when a wheel is 'high' - if I am saying that right.

I have more $$ than brains, so if I scheduled a makeover at your shop - lol - bumper, winch, rock rails, lift, WE polished wheels, 285s, the whole shooting match - could it be done in a couple of days -- talking this summer - not right away - I know you guys are swamped getting the initial bumpers done and out.

 

[Noisycow]

Google is a wonderful thing. I am now educated on Beadlocks. Allpro's Walker Evans rims are the bomb. Even street legal. For street-only setups that want to pimp, I like the Weld rims. (One guy had the WE wheels - running almost flat 7lbs pressure - over giant rocks and the tires stayed on the rims - very impressive)

Walker Evans - w/ Beadlocks that are 'real' but street legal ... or maybe not real LOL ...

Weld Wheels for posers - chrome - low maintenance - no alum polishing/maint-