leaf spring vs coil spring

[crushers]

if you have the complete LJ frame and axles then your tub will bolt right on.
you will have to modify the front clip mounting points on the frame for your HD front clip, no biggie.
of course the engine, rad and tranny mounts will need to be moved over to the new frame.
run the dobinson lift springs, they are WAY better than the Dakar OME set up. talk to Mike at westcoastcruisers, he had a couple sets last time i checked. get the caster kit at the same time.
if you want better articulation then go with longer arms and panhard. make sure the shocks you buy are longer than your full droop and compression. shocks are NOT stop links.

33s fit easily on the LJ in stock setup and 34-35 skinnies work with the 2 1/2" lift (and the 33s still look great with the lift)

 

[Gib009]

really, and how many LJs have you driven off road?

None, but i have heard on numerous occasions on other forums and websites that the LJ's have a bad design which is very limiting in both its ability to flex and its ability to be modded to get any decent flex out of it. Thats why i said i was PRETTY SURE because i have never had any personal experience with them. And i have seen pictures of these cars flexing and my leaf sprung cruiser flexs much better with just the swaybar off. After all this is a public forum and i can share my opinion with the guy asking the questions. Or should we all stop posting so everyone can only have your opinion?

 

[crushers]

wow, a bit sensitive are we?
so you can post up an assuption but no one is allowed to question it... okie dokie.

he was talking a minor lift, not a "Hey, lets go do Rubicon" lift.

personally, i do not give really care WHAT anyone does, it is their money, their rig and their time.

but

poor advice i do care about and i will challenge. if you can not handle the challenge without taking it personal then ... up to you.

 

[Gib009]

poor advice i do care about and i will challenge. quote]

Thats what im going on about. I was giving what i thought to be good advice. I dont believe good advice is to mess about with body swaps and engine conversions and coil conversions and all the messing about trying to keep the heavy duty axles with the rest of the coil setup for the sake of a little more travel of which you can obtain much more easily in a leaf setup. Not taking anything personally i am just stating there is more than one opinion on the subject

 

[crushers]

Quote:
<cold taco>
how big of a difference was the driving between the two?
Naturally I assume that the coil springs offer a better ride,
end quote.

Quote:
<lynchmob>

Im considering combining parts from a BJ70 and an LJ70 to make a coil sprung BJ70. Id probably use the rear from a BJ70 and possibly the front axle from the LJ.

I have a BJ70 project with a rusty frame and the possibility of getting an LJ frame/axles
end quote

both were asking about ride quality between the two models BJ70 and LJ7*. since you are giving free advice about something you know nothing about, then what kind of advice is it?
the LJ78 has a Dakar lift on it already and it rides damn smooth, smoother than a 70 with a dakar leaf setup. how do i know? cause the LJ78 is one i used to own, wheel and the wifes DD. i also have owned a number of BJ70s over the years and know them quite well.
the LJ71 frame that lynchmob is looking at will probably be the one from Steve since he posted up he had one for sale...even if it isn't is not important in this discussion. since lynchmob is swapping BECAUSE OF A ROTTED FRAME then why go back to a leaf system and have to change out the front cross member, front spring mounts, rear sping mounts, shock towers etc etc?

neither are talking sticking big muds on and wanting extreme flex.

in reality if you want extreme flex then you will have to completely rework either suspension.

now after all this debating, a leaf system can flex well but it needs tweaking. and a coil suspension rides very nice even in bone stock condition.

if you really want your imput to carry weight then go buy or borrow a LJ and go for a drive in it down a rough road, then take a stock BJ70 down the same road at the same speed. you will be changing your view.

in the end, i really do not give a rats butt about what lynchmob and coldtaco end up doing. i just hope they stick a thread up about the build so we all can follow along.

 

[lynchmob]

Hey Wayne (your pm box is full),
Who is it that has an LJ71 frame? I did a quick search and didnt come up with it.

I was looking at AU because my brother is importing an HJ47 soon.

Thanks, Chris

 

[crushers]

yah, it is now empty.
Steve Tetu at Extreme bends right above you.
i sold a LJ71 frame and axles to a bloke in Edmonton for $1500 so if you can get one for under $2000 that is in good shape i would consider it. he also has a real clean (so he says) body on it...

 

[Gib009]

im not arguing the fact it will give a better ride i stated that in my first post. I simply was saying that if he was doing it for a combination of off road ability and a better ride then he is doing alot of work for not much gain, he would be better off doing a custom linked setup which would be just as comfy and could flex much better offroad. And at the end of the day both are still trucks and i cant see there beingng a huge gain in comfort anyway. Even brand new trucks with IFS and coils dont ride that great

 

[roscoFJ73]

The LJ/RJ did have pretty crap suspension for coil. It didnt articulate very well and wasnt up to load carrying.
It might hve been passable for weekend wheelin,but not much else
Never drove one but was a passenger once on a fishing trip to a secret spot and I was not impressed with the Bundeeras ride.

Dobinsons began making aftermarket suspension for them almost as soon as they were introduced as they knew the factory setup was crap.

I know you can always make a coil ride better than a leaf sprung vehicle, but Toyotas 1st coil attempt was not brilliant.

In oz the heavy duty cruiser was $5000 more than a light duty but for some reason the more expensive BJ70 and BJ73 out sold them many times over until the LD sales fizzled away to nothing and they were quietly dumped in 91.
The last batch even had the Bundeera stickers removed to help people forget what they were buying.

 

[crushers]

interesting post Rosco,
were the Oz boys expecting the same "work it like a truck" mentality as the HD LC did?
not saying what you posted is biased, i am saying i wonder why my experiences on/off the road was drasticly different.
public opinion spreads quickly and can kill a market. so you get a bunch of guys treating the LD LC the same as the HD LC spouting how crappy it is and it isn't long before everyone, even though they never drove one, has the same opinion.
Dobbinsion makes a kicking suspension for the LJ, much nicer than the Dakar OME setup.

 

[OinkOinker]

you are dense,

now i believe you are getting personal! lets play nice boys...

 

[crushers]

edited...

 

[Hulsty]

I dont think the physical toughness of the truck was a problem over here, I know of lots of people using bundys still and they are coping ok with 33-34'' rubber, diffs blowing occasionally. I guess one major issue has been the bloody 2LT and underpowered 22R.

What was the price of a SWB GQ compared to a bundy? they were probably direct competition with the GQ being much superior IMO, 5 link rear, 4.2L motors and HD TOUGH! This would have conspired to the end of the bundys

 

[pradocruzer]

Any modifed landcruiser works well. If you have any questions about lifting a 78 coil sprung truck just ask.
Mine flexes great. I get 17 plus inches of rear tire flex at the cost of serious modifications. I don't want to get caught an arguement so if your intrested in serious flex on 78 coiled cruiser just ask.

 

[pradocruzer]

Oh buy the way, trailing and leading radius arm soild axle set ups suck. Here is a picture of a dobinson 4 inch lift on stock suspension set up. This set up has 8 inches of wheel travel. The other set up is a six inch lift on a three link with 17 inches of wheel travel. You do the math.

 

[lynchmob]

This is the 78 I found while searching. Nice work.

So the 3 link setup would probably help a lot even with the lower lift springs. Looks pretty straight forward too. Did you just cut the frame mounts on the front end of the arms and move them forward or did you make new ones?

 

[pradocruzer]

I cut off and welded the radious arm mount 8 inches forward and used 2 inch 1/4 wall dom tubing to make the new arms. The reason I used the stock mount was that it was two inches wide and I could fit a hiem and high misaligmnent spacers in the factory mount. I went to Balastic fabrication for these. You could use any size coils on a three link and gain great flex. All this is easy to do as long as your exhaust has been changed th exit out the drivers side and dosn't cross over the frame because then you wont have the room on the frame for the crossmember for the third link. I will be turning the front radius arm suspension to a three link but not yet because I think my truck will be great off road but suck on road. I still use if for the family.

 

[Shummezz]

Hi Guys, just wondering, how hard would it be to fit axles from a leaf sprung troopie to a coil sprung Bundera? I'm interested in the disk brakes all round, stronger axles and free floating setup in the rear. Anyone done similar?

 

[tommybj73]

hey mate,i have a lj78 and a bj73, thinking way back to when they were both factory i would say the lj was slightly better on road,off road the bj had better flex than the tight 3 link set up in the lj,now days the bj is king in every area as it is the favorite child

personally i like the leafs as the bjs ones are set up very well but im sure if i really wanted to i could get the lj going pretty swish

this is a completely bias opinion as i hate everything about my lj78

 

[dare]

Hi Guys, just wondering, how hard would it be to fit axles from a leaf sprung troopie to a coil sprung Bundera? I'm interested in the disk brakes all round, stronger axles and free floating setup in the rear. Anyone done similar?

I'd look at converting your current diff to fully floating axles (a few companies make kits for this) and thus disc brakes with chormolly axles. The kits use the front spindles on the rear which IMO is a superior setup the the standard fully floating landcruiser rear end. Whilst fully floating axles certainly have their advandages I don't believe stock FF axles are really any stronger than their semi floating cousins, they have an engineered in weak spot and they are the same size/spline as the SF axles.