Hello all...I hope this has not been beat to death already, but i was wondering if the HellC products were worth buying? I really want to do a shackle reversal and spring over however i was thinkong this may be a small step in the right direction. thanks in advance for any input..
Should add...71 fj40 all stock except for 350/350 and looking at the HC 4" lift kit
you wouldn't want to spend money on a suspension lift if you're going to do a springover anyway. that would be way too much lift. most people use some sort of configuration of stock springs when doing the soa. take that money and use it for driveshafts or hysteer.
oh, and i don't know anything about the hell creek suspension, except they sell those about an hour from where i am. try search.
I was at the Southern Cruiser Crawl 2 weeks ago and heard good things about the hell creek lift kit. One of the best things I heard about is that they don't squeak like other lift kits for the FJ40. Also, the price isn't that bad.
I currently don't have a lift kit on my 40, but I am planning on using the Hell Creek lift kit when I do so. Mainly because of the good things I have heard about their product.
I just installed 2 1/2 Manafree springs on 2 40s and they ride like the frame is sitting on the axels (top off). We both built a box to hold 200lbs of sand in the back. They ride ok now. I will be replacing mine.
Made in the US of A and lifetime warranty! FWIW, in response to comments from MUD'ers, Tom recently modified the 4" lift spring packs to provide a better shackle angle. These are good people, and they listen to the concerns of Cruiserheads.
you wouldn't want to spend money on a suspension lift if you're going to do a springover anyway. that would be way too much lift. most people use some sort of configuration of stock springs when doing the soa. take that money and use it for driveshafts or hysteer.
oh, and i don't know anything about the hell creek suspension, except they sell those about an hour from where i am. try search.
Actually, I did what Toylet503 is thinking about. Eventually, I want to go spring over so I bought the HC suspension as an inexpensive solution until I get there.
In my case, I had a primarily stock 78 40 w/ 32x10.50” tires. To go SOA and raise the CG 5+ inches, I would want bigger tires. To get bigger tires then I want to; upgrade the PS, get lower gearing, upgrade knuckles and steering arms. To do all this at once would be a lot of $$$. In my case, I felt it would be safer to get the 4” lift and upgrade the smaller stuff as I go, saving the SOA for later.
I’m running the HC springs w/ slightly larger shackles, 4 degree shims in the front and stock drive shafts. The shackle angles on mine are not great but not nearly as bad as FF LC FREAK. Other than that, I think the springs are great. I have run Rausch Creek in Pa. twice since I installed them which is almost a 500 mile round trip plus wheeling. The truck has handled well both on and off road.
As mentioned above, call or email Tom Laher about the shackle angles. He was always very helpful with my questions
This will be a stepping stone and I would not use these springs with a SOA (the air is too thin up there!) but it would be nice to wheel as I do some of the smaller things ps, full cage, lockers etc before having to totally tear the thing apart.
I really like my HellCreek lift. You can see all my comments if you do a quick search.
Tom at HC educated me on shackle angle. What I had no idea about was the relationship of shackle angle to spring rate. The more angled the shackle, the higher (stiffer) the spring rate must be. The closer to verticle the shackle angle, the lower (softer) the springs can be. The key is having the best formula and I think Tom's is really good.
After a year with the 4" springs and 1.5" longer shackles and a couple of wheeling trips, I am very pleased with my ride.
My best advice would be to stick with the softer hydro shocks.
At $535 + $90 shipping to just about anywhere, a lifetime warranty, and made in the USA, I don't see how you can go wrong.
Should add...71 fj40 all stock except for 350/350 and looking at the HC 4" lift kit
