Leaf Springs, Air Bags... COILS?... smooth ride?

[woytovich]

I'm starting to think about springs for my 66 FJ45LV.

This truck will be 99.9% street driven with very occasional dirt roads. It will not be a heavy wheeling truck or a rock crawler. It will OCCASIONALLY be loaded with gear and/or pulling a small trailer. I will want approximately a 1-2” lift over stock.

I wanted your thoughts on a plan for custom (Alcan probably) springs that would yield the maximum smooth ride comfort on the street and highway with the possibility of handling the OCCASIONAL load/trailer duty. I am not against air bags to handle the overload if that is the best way to go.

mark

 

[woytovich]

No one has anything to say about this...?

How about coils? Would it be "worth it" to upgrade to coils and if so how would you go about it?

 

[Delancy]

Consider coil overs?

If going to the trouble of linking, can't see why coil overs wouldn't be a better option than coil/shock combo.

Have you seen the thread with the 40 frame with 80 suspension?

Might be a consideration, too, simply due to availability and expense to acquire parts, since OE stuff should be cheap and a definitive upgrade to leafs.

I ordered Alcans for the '76 Pig with the express criteria of 2" lift and best on road ride quality possible, that'll be dampened with Radflo's.

Can't speak to how well they do, since still sitting on shop floor, but they are still leafs so don't anticipate a plush ride, anyway.

Personally, if I were going to build for DDing an earlier again ( plan to DD the '76 Pig ) I'd explore either swapping to an 80 suspension, or swapping bodies to an 80 chassis.