Inclined FJ80 (1 Viewer)

[willorge]

Hello Guys,

I have my FJ80 1993 here in Ecuador which is inclined to the LEFT. A few months ago, the old owner who sold me the rig, told me to go to the shop from his friend as the new shocks and spirals had arrived (Part of the deal). So, I did. I admit I never noticed if the rig was inclined or not back then. So, I was getting EIBACH 3" Spirals installed, and Pro Comp shocks. I don't have the specifications but I'll do my best.

Any way. Ever since the installation, maybe a month or two later according to me not before, the rig is inclined to the left. Every day I notice this perhaps getting WORSE, maybe its just me. Any way. I am tired of this and I need to know what options or what could be wrong. I took it to TOYOTA once as they owed me a service, and had every part of the suspension tightened, adjusted, and everything seemed to be the same.

Its been like 4 months since then, and still like this. Today I gave up. I pulled out everything from the car, and measured the separation from the RIM edges to the fender and had HUGE differences. Excuse my cheap drawings and pictures. Measurements in CM's, not Inches. Look at the level it shows the thing to be totally inclined.

FRONT: There is a Difference of about 4cm in the front inclined to the left
REAR: There is a difference of about 5.5 cm in the back inclined to the left

Any thoughts, ideas? Thanks you

PS: No, its not the tent, It was like this before the tent


Pic 1: The Level on the center console. Means car is totally unlevel to the left,

Pic 2: The Level on the trailer hitch .

Pic 3: Note the car incline

Pic 4: Left Separation from rim edge to fender

Pic 5: Right Separation from rim edge to fender

 

[willorge]

More pics

Pic 6: Front Left

Pic 7: Front Right

Pic 8: Maybe hard to tell the incline

Pic 9: Excuse my cheap drawing

 

[MrMikeyG]

Could it be something annoyingly simple like springs that are left/right specific on the 80 series that got installed on the wrong sides? Or front/rear got goofed?

 

[gummycarbs]

"Cruiser lean" is common, but yours looks extreme.

I don't know about Eibach springs, but the common Old Man Emu lifts will specify driver and passenger side assuming it's a right-hand drive vehicle, since they're Australian. Were your springs installed on the wrong sides?

OME Lifts discussion for the FAQ

This FAQ deals exclusively with an OME lift. There are other lifts provided by Slee, and Man-a-Fre. Links for those lifts are included at the end of this FAQ. One of those lifts might better fit your application. OME is the most widely used and so we will focus on that for this discussion...

forum.ih8mud.com

If necessary, you can use spring spacers to raise the low side. I have Nolathanes up front and they've been fine.

 

[jfz80]

I’d agree with above and a pretty Common install mistake. Gas tank and driver are on left side of that truck. It gets the taller springs.

 

[willorge]

Thanks guys. I told the guy who installed these the exact same thing and he "slapped me" and said. "NO! How dare you, im not that dumb".... first signal he may be..... LOL.

Second off I personally went under the car and got the P/N for all the springs and well, they are all the same, but what you all said is exactly what I thought. I even thought he built the FWD on the LEFT and the AFT on the RIGHT but yesterday I saw they all have the same numbers, BUT I INSIST, this is the most logical. Look at this. Im emailing EIBACH today.

They LOOK different in the sale ad, but mechanic insists that they are same, that the springs don't look different in rela life. (I never got to see the kit to be honest)

Now these springs had the same numbers on all four of them, but perhaps there was an order for them???

 

[leonard_nemoy]

This was discussed in another post, the eibach springs are uniform and do not specify driver vs passenger.

If it were me I would toss the eibach springs and throw some iron man or old man emu springs in there and call it a day.

 

[willorge]

This was discussed in another post, the eibach springs are uniform and do not specify driver vs passenger.

If it were me I would toss the eibach springs and throw some iron man or old man emu springs in there and call it a day.

Good god, thanks for that info. I have to look for that forum thread, even though I did try.... but funny you already heard about this. The thing is I live in Ecuador and getting new springs and selling this is a problem a real hassle. I'll have to look at this and see how much a replacement costs.,

 

[leonard_nemoy]

Eibach lift kit

I would like some feedback if anyone has used this 3in lift kit springs and shocks from Eibach?

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[gummycarbs]

I live in Ecuador and getting new springs and selling this is a problem a real hassle.

I'd just add spring spacers on the left side. Eibach is a respectable spring manufacturer, though it sounds like this particular kit wasn't well thought out.

 

[alia176]

according to the hand drawn picture above, the front passenger side is higher than the front driver side by 4cm. The driver side should always be a little higher than the passenger side due to extra weight for fuel and a driver (left hand steering wheel vehicle).

This is what I'd do:

Swap the front passenger and driver springs
Fill the fuel tank to 100% full
Sit behind the steering wheel.
Have someone else take the height measurements

After all that, we can re-visit this issue to see what has changed.

 

[willorge]

Eibach lift kit

I would like some feedback if anyone has used this 3in lift kit springs and shocks from Eibach?

forum.ih8mud.com

Thanks Leonard

I'd just add spring spacers on the left side. Eibach is a respectable spring manufacturer, though it sounds like this particular kit wasn't well thought out.

Perhaps the most economical and fastest solution. Any suggestions on brands sizes or just whichever? Will adding spacers (THEY NEED TO BE HUGE and different sizes on each point) cause any problem or counter effects?

according to the hand drawn picture above, the front passenger side is higher than the front driver side by 4cm. The driver side should always be a little higher than the passenger side due to extra weight for fuel and a driver (left hand steering wheel vehicle).

This is what I'd do:

Swap the front passenger and driver springs
Fill the fuel tank to 100% full
Sit behind the steering wheel.
Have someone else take the height measurements

After all that, we can re-visit this issue to see what has changed.

Makes sense, a full swap... see if it fixes something,, and then new measurements from the inside. Will get to it then and update you all soon

 

[leonard_nemoy]

Goodluck man

Maybe call eibach and see what they say, maybe you got the wrong springs?

 

[willorge]

Goodluck man

Maybe call eibach and see what they say, maybe you got the wrong springs?

Eibach Replied,

"Stefano,

Due to variations in ride heights, tolerances and corner weights on the factory vehicle, some lean will occur when installing the lift springs on your vehicle. The Landcruiser is known to have some lean from the factory so its not unusual to hear this. The Pro Lift spring kit uses the same spring on either left or right side, so they are not side specific.

I’ll forward your measurements to our engineering department to take a look at them, in the mean time, can you please forward pics of your vehicle that shows the lean.



Best regards,



David Cortez | Technical Support/Sales"

 

[willorge]

And now this reply.

"Stefano,

Going through our installs we did here at Eibach, we did see some lean on the vehicle, but its much less than what you have on your vehicle. I would doublecheck to make sure the front and rear track bars are properly preloaded. Incorrect preload can cause some bind in the track bars and cause lean, so that’s the first thing I would check. Did you replace any control arms or control arm bushings?"

Which are the track bars?? and how do you preload them?

 

[gummycarbs]

Any suggestions on brands sizes or just whichever?

Like I said, I have Nolathane spacers in the front and they've been fine.

THEY NEED TO BE HUGE

Not really. Looking at your photos, you're at 2" difference in front and 1-3/8" in back. I would order a 30mm front and 30mm rears (looks like rears are only sold in pairs). NLT-REV168-0008 front, NLT-REV170-0008 rear, from SummitRacing.com.

 

[gummycarbs]

Which are the track bars??

People call them Panhards around here. I have no idea what they mean by preload, other than the fact that the rubber bushing will be under some torsion following the lift. You could loosen and then re-torque each end of the Panhards if you want.

The front looks like the gold-colored bar in this photo, except yours won't be gold or have adjustment nuts on it:

The rear looks like the bar going from left to right at an angle in this photo, except yours won't be attached to a Delta bracket:

You're probably going to want one of those Delta brackets, by the way. Or an Emkeith if you can weld. If you go look at your vehicle now, your rear axle is probably shifted to the right. The fender flares hide it to some degree, so you may not have noticed.

 

[clx16]

Only thing i have to add....as @gummycarbs covered better than myself is to also check and make sure the springs are sitting in their brackets properly. If they are not turned to the correct position they can add height to one side or the other .. i would be checking the passenger side (lado derecha)

hehe not my photo... but an idea?

 

[-Spike-]

I’d agree with above and a pretty Common install mistake. Gas tank and driver are on left side of that truck. It gets the taller springs.

according to the hand drawn picture above, the front passenger side is higher than the front driver side by 4cm. The driver side should always be a little higher than the passenger side due to extra weight for fuel and a driver (left hand steering wheel vehicle).

FWIW, weight is not a factor in why stock and most aftermarket 80 springs are longer on one side. The axle spring perches are taller on the right side due to the location of the differentials, so that side uses shorter springs. This information is wrong, please see post #49.

@willorge While your springs may be identical side to side, they shouldn't be front to back. One set should be considerably larger in circumference. Maybe I misunderstood that part of your story.

 

[White Stripe]

Loosen all the bushings and re-tighten with vehicle sitting on the ground. Track bar bushings and trailing arm bushings.