Heavy's or medium's for front of a diesel 60 ?

[toynut]

I am biting the bullet and putting in the ome dakar full kit in my 85 bj 60 i am wondering as most of the info i find is for fj's , would i be better served with the medium or heavy springs up front and what about the rears heavy's i asume , stock 3b no plans for long range tank or winch .

 

[lshobie]

Depends on what you are carrying on the front and back. If you never really carry a load in the back then go medium or you will end up with a hard ride. If you have bullbar and winch then go heavy on front, if not go medium as well.

 

[toynut]

the dakar rear heavy's are a dual rate spring for 0 thru gvw rating so i would use them i see no need to go with a medium rear being they would offer no better ride unloaded and a poor ride loaded , the front is my main concern .

 

[roscoFJ73]

Get the heavy's all round . If you are not going to be carrying a heavy load,remove a leaf from each pack.
When the springs get old you can put the leaf back in.
There is little weight difference between the BJ/FJ/HJ.

I dont think the dual rate spring will articulate quite as well as a normal leaf pack

 

[cruiser_guy]

I do not think that the 3B is any heavier than the boat anchor known as a 2F. Those 2F engines are HEAVY and 2 holes bigger than the 3B!!

 

[lshobie]

Good call Rosco.

 

[fjbj40]

On my BJ62 I put light on front and rear, original OME, 2 1/2 years ago...she still is sitting level( little high in the rear) and smooth as the day I put them on...actually no sag whatsoever. The improvment over the original setup was incredible. I carried about 1000 lb combined on the top and in the back this summer and no bottoming at all...still rode smoothly.
HTH'S, Daryl

 

[goldchaser]

Toy nut im in oz and ive got a fj60 and a hj61sahara,12ht motor,just had to drop that in,anyway the fj has a great set of springs on it,i think there opposite lock comfort springs,they must be about ten years old and have hardly sagged at all,shackles still sit nearly vertical,about 2-2.5 lift,im selling the fj si i thought I might change the springs over before hand,I pulled all the springs off the fj then put the fronts on the hj61,lowered it to the ground and they just flattened out,it was sitting at about stock sagged height,I was surprised,so I had to put the bloody things back on the fj,I changed bullbars over to prior to this so you cant blame anything but the difference mainly in motor weight,just a word of warning to ya about the diff between petrol and diesel ones.
cheers goldchaser

 

[roscoFJ73]

I changed bullbars over to prior to this so you cant blame anything but the difference mainly in motor weight,just a word of warning to ya about the diff between petrol and diesel ones.
cheers goldchaser

I did a swap from a 3F to a 1HZ and the uspension didnt change at all in height or ride .My standard duty springs springs were about 3 yo
Maybe your 10 yo springs were borderline.
As far as I know all the aussie spring companies make one spring for all engines

 

[goldchaser]

Yeah I know what ya saying rosco and to some extent you maybe right,how heavy is a 12ht?I know how heavy a 3f is so I thought it should have been ok,fj had duel batts too,hj hasn't yet,I reckon a little bit of both,little bit of extra weight and spring age,couldn't leave them on there though.

goldchaser

 

[roscoFJ73]

Yeah I know what ya saying rosco and to some extent you maybe right,how heavy is a 12ht?I know how heavy a 3f is so I thought it should have been ok,fj had duel batts too,hj hasn't yet,I reckon a little bit of both,little bit of extra weight and spring age,couldn't leave them on there though.

goldchaser

The 12HT is probably the heaviest diesel they made,but the difference couldnt be more than 75 kg,so if you sat on the front of your FJ they should flatten out like you got a 12HT in there

If it was really a lot heavier Toyota would have given them a different spring pack.

 

[goldchaser]

Geez roscoe im not that overweight!

goldchaser

 

[Gold Boy]

heavy - so what if you get a bad ride

 

[sandcruiser]

your best bet: call ARB and ask. They've got great tech support.

If you have a bullbar &/or winch &/or 2nd battery you will probably find that the heavy springs work better for you.

After about 5 years on our heavy fronts, I'm about to add another leaf before I re-install my winch. As-is with the bullbar it is fine, but could be a tad taller. With the winch, I think it'll prefer the exta umph.

But it also depends on how heavy you load your rig- remember that when you drive downhill and brake, it shift a lot of the weight from the rear forward, compressing the front springs. Over 5 years or so, that adds up.

 

[crushers]

i would say order heavy and remove leaves till you get the ride you want...
this way you can add a leaf back in should your needs change...

 

[Tapage]

go heavyes all around ..

 

[Jan-78FJ40]

go heavyes all around ..

yes, heavy all around. I put Dakar heavies on the HJ60, and it rides great.
j