Living in the Past
SILVER Star
I haven't own a passenger car in over thirty five years. All I can say is those Blisteins much be great shocks. In all the years owning FJ40s (since 1974) have never had one I felt drove close to a unibody car.
Is it supposed to be so rough?
- Thread starter rstoddard
- Start date
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I haven't own a passenger car in over thirty five years. All I can say is those Blisteins much be great shocks. In all the years owning FJ40s (since 1974) have never had one I felt drove close to a unibody car.
40’s have to be uncivilized, it is part of their charm and the reason they are more fun to drive than any number of off-road vehicles that are way more comfy and sophisticated.
Chungas Revenge
SILVER Star
I have several accessory catalogs for my FJ40, can you send me the link for the bevy of co-eds you used for ballast?
Sure thing…All I have is a part number.
Part # $$-$$-$$$$-$$. Last time I checked there was plenty in the catalog.
Hope this helps…….
- Thread starter
- #44
40s are not all rough but it will cost you some money to make it ride good.
Step 1.
Ditch the shackle reversal
Step 2.
Dobinsons IMS
Step 3.
33” tires on proper narrow 5.5-6” wide wheels at 30 psi
Enjoy.
Step 1.
Ditch the shackle reversal
Step 2.
Dobinsons IMS
Step 3.
33” tires on proper narrow 5.5-6” wide wheels at 30 psi
Enjoy.
POPO AGIE
SILVER Star
When I first learned to weld I converted the front to reverse shackle and that made a big difference in the ride. My Dad did not like the ride before I made the change.
- Thread starter
- #47
@graham5david Take. A look at the shackle photos below. Do they tell you anything?
pbgbottle
Forum Lifer
Mostly likely because you’re old. If you have owned it for 20 years ,Hahaha
I drove the crap out of mine when I was 20 now I find it quite bumpy bump bump. I am getting old and lazy I don’t even like shifting gears anymore. I never noticed the bouncy ride wen I was younger. This is one thing I always mention to somebody who wants to by a 40 series in their 50 plus ages. Not worth it not fun to drive. Hahaha. Mine is soft too and my tires I run almost flat to keep it rolling soft Mine is SOA. It can’t get any softer. It’s still bouncy. PS I didn’t read any other posts. Oops.
How about loosening spring pack clamps loosen shackle bushings and get soft shocks. , not much to make the ride smoother in these short wheel base rigs. Cheers
I drove the crap out of mine when I was 20 now I find it quite bumpy bump bump. I am getting old and lazy I don’t even like shifting gears anymore. I never noticed the bouncy ride wen I was younger. This is one thing I always mention to somebody who wants to by a 40 series in their 50 plus ages. Not worth it not fun to drive. Hahaha. Mine is soft too and my tires I run almost flat to keep it rolling soft Mine is SOA. It can’t get any softer. It’s still bouncy. PS I didn’t read any other posts. Oops.
How about loosening spring pack clamps loosen shackle bushings and get soft shocks. , not much to make the ride smoother in these short wheel base rigs. Cheers
- Thread starter
- #49
I noticed the bumpy ride when I was young too. I remember riding one road with a buddy and it was rocky and just torturous. That might have been when I was still running stock springs and shocks. I just thought that OME Shocks and Springs should give a smoother ride, even after 20 years considering the low mileage use.
If you want a comfortable ride, link it. Leaf can be good, but they are still leafs lol. Best riding leaf'd 40 i've been in has been @Godfather90, he's SOA, custom packs, and 39s. I know he has put a ton of work into that, though.
- Thread starter
- #51
What is “link it”?
- Thread starter
- #53
Looks like a nice project….. for the next owner that wants to plow thou$and$ more into a 45 year old vehicle with an engine that has nearly 200,000 miles. It doesn’t cost anything to let air out of the tires.
For sure lol. Its a nice quality of life upgrade for a wheeling rig / driver, but not great for restos. I like both, but each has their place.
They look strait up. They look stock length. Your shocks must be short eye to eye.
Out of curiosity, I noticed I have light load springs on the front (part no. CS001F) and medium load springs (part no. CS001R) on the rear. Is this an issue? The previous owner bought the front springs and one side of rear springs from Amazon and the other rear spring from a different vendor.
pbgbottle
Forum Lifer
Those lift springs always look brutally stiff to me.
the stock springs are a pretty nice ride. I always prefer to do a SOA lift. It can be done fairly easy and still keep the rig low
with very little modification this was my buddys $500 dollar beater
BJ42. He didn’t want to spend any money on lift so he did a SOA leaving everything in stock spec no cut n turn no shackle reversal nothing ,only welded on new spring perches and got his drive shafts lengthens well the front one shortened to fit rear and then the rear one retube to fit the front. and we clearance the yokes to increase u-joint angle. I sourced him a used high steer double arm for the steering And running 31’s. He drives the crap out of this thing no issues at all. Cost him new shocks ,reworked driveshafts
and some spring perches which we used the ford spring perches they are cheap. nothing fancy or that expensive. Just saying
some will say this is not the way to do it but it works and drives beautifully . Me myself I usually do prefer to do the cut n turn.
but his way works also And is a pretty soft ride. No real need to go the lift spring option unless you are only looking for a 2-2.5 inch lift or so. But 4+lift I would do a SOA best ride for a lifted crusier. But that’s me. Two pics stock ride height and SOA lift
,,
the stock springs are a pretty nice ride. I always prefer to do a SOA lift. It can be done fairly easy and still keep the rig low
with very little modification this was my buddys $500 dollar beater
BJ42. He didn’t want to spend any money on lift so he did a SOA leaving everything in stock spec no cut n turn no shackle reversal nothing ,only welded on new spring perches and got his drive shafts lengthens well the front one shortened to fit rear and then the rear one retube to fit the front. and we clearance the yokes to increase u-joint angle. I sourced him a used high steer double arm for the steering And running 31’s. He drives the crap out of this thing no issues at all. Cost him new shocks ,reworked driveshafts
and some spring perches which we used the ford spring perches they are cheap. nothing fancy or that expensive. Just saying
some will say this is not the way to do it but it works and drives beautifully . Me myself I usually do prefer to do the cut n turn.
but his way works also And is a pretty soft ride. No real need to go the lift spring option unless you are only looking for a 2-2.5 inch lift or so. But 4+lift I would do a SOA best ride for a lifted crusier. But that’s me. Two pics stock ride height and SOA lift
,,
I’m curious, is anybody done a SOA using OME 2.5” springs? I’m wondering what’s the feasibility of taking a couple leaves out to shorten the lift? My stock springs are long gone. My OMEs are broken in.
- Thread starter
- #59
@graham5david I don't understand. What angle should the Shackles have? What makes you believe the Shocks are short? Are you referring to the fronts, or rears or both? Are you saying the Shocks are preventing the Springs from arching?
@pbgbottle What is it about the OME Springs that leads you to that conclusion? You can't see very much of the spring pack in the photos.... it's primarily the shackles
77mustard40
SILVER Star
I'll answer that question having owned OME's, the springs are short which results in the vertical shackle angle in the pic. This results in less wheel travel and suspension movement, resulting in more impact in the seat of your pants. Longer springs result in the shackle being angled away from its mount to the frame, which allows the spring to flex.
For what its worth, I swapped my OME's for Skyjackers up front which resulted in an improved shackle angle and much better ride.
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