I got stock LC100 t-bars and springs for my LX, looking for thread on what's next?!

[offroadkid]

A fellow LX owner gave me a set of stock LC torsion bars and springs he was going to use on his rig, but went with an OME lift instead.

I searched for threads about installing these on a LX as I'm tying to see what I will gain with the swap, what adjustments I need to make, (if any) and how the ride will be affected?

If there is threads that someone knows of, can you post them or maybe someone can answer my questions in this post?

So far it is stock with just 285's but I plan on front and rear bumpers and sliders eventually.

I read somewhere that i will get a slight lift with the LC suspension? But then I read about some spacers for the rear shocks that will get me 2"?

What's the next step after installing the bars and springs? I have the TechStream, do I need to use that to adjust anything? Or is it not a good idea to add it until I start adding weight and armor?

A big part of the decision to get the LX was the AHC and AVS as my wife was not a big fan of the (tippy) ride in our 97 with 35's and lift! She really feels so much more comfortable around corners in this rig and I like the ability lower it when loading our older parents and raise it when clearance is needed for exploring.

I've been told that if I add the LC bars and springs I will notice a loss in the AVS, but not too much, still better than a vehicle without. Will I also loose the ability to lower the rig since it has stiffer suspension?

Thanks in advance for reading my questions!

 

[jLB]

The way that I am reading this, it sounds like you want to just replace the AHC springs/torsion bars with the non-AHC springs/torsion bars, but plan to leave the AHC system in place, on a vehicle that is more or less "stock". Is this correct?

When most people on this site talk about swapping AHC springs/torsion bars with the non-AHC springs/torsion bars, they are talking about replacing a failed/failing AHC system.

There are a few, that have swapped the AHC springs/torsion bars with the non-AHC springs/torsion bars, after they have added considerable weight, trying to get the AHC pressure back into spec.

If your AHC is working, the pressure is currently "in spec", and you're not carrying a lot of extra weight, what are you hoping to gain with the non-AHC springs/torsion bars?

 

[ihadmail]

Adding the LC torsion bars and springs to a stock LX is not a good idea. They are way too stiff and will remove almost all of the ability of the hydraulic shock to do it's job of dampening bumps.

A good plan of attack would be:
Check AHC neutral pressures, adjust within spec if necessary.
Add your bumpers.
Swap in the LC torsion bars, if you've maxed out the LX bars, and adjust to proper AHC neutral pressures.
Use 80 series rear springs, or there are King springs available for the LX. This will bring your rear pressure back within spec after the added weight.

There really are a lot of options on how to achieve some of the things you've mentioned you want to do. The shock spacers you read about are used to return the travel of the AHC shock to it's normal range after performing a sensor lift.

 

[offroadkid]

Thanks for the replies! Yeah, I'm not wanting to remove the AHC, just was able to score some LC springs and bars for free so I wanted to know my options and if I needed them now, or if I will need them after the armor gets installed down the road!

 

[hoser]

I searched for threads about installing these on a LX as I'm tying to see what I will gain with the swap, what adjustments I need to make, (if any) and how the ride will be affected?

You will gain load capacity... and probably add a bit of lift. If you swap springs/t-bars without any added cargo weight, you might experience a harsher ride... probably undesirable.

If you just install the rear 'non-AHC' springs w/o any sensor adjustment, your rear AHC pressure will read low and the ride will be underdamped/bouncy. Adjusting the rear height sensor to the correct pressure range will allow the damping force actuators to do their job of 'damping' and the adjustment will also result in some lift. You can add more lift with a spring spacer (and accompanied sensor readjustment).

The shock spacers will not affect lift. They are used to retain the up/down shock travel ratio. i.e. hypothetically, let's say the stock 'shock' has 8" of travel, 4" of up and 4" of down. Then you added 2" of lift, you'd be at 6" of up travel and 2" of down travel. By adding the shock spacer, you are changing where the shock operates. Adding a 2" spacer will bring you back to 4" of both up and down travel (while lowering bumpstops so you don't bottom out shock on compression). Same principle on the front suspension.

If one loses the ability to go into LO mode, I suspect either the AHC pressure in N is too low already or perhaps the vehicle is too light for the given springs. If one loses the ability to go into HI mode, either the front, rear or both shock pairs do not have enough up-travel. Readjust.

HTH