lift questions (1 Viewer)

[Guest]

Has anyone every looked into doing a coil sprung axle setup on an FJ40? I've done a lot of reading about SOA (most of which I didn't understand ???), but I've never heard of anyone trying a coil setup. Coil sprung solid axles are very popular with the 4Runner crowd I hang out with - is it possible with FJ40s.

If everything else remained the same, does a SOA result in any noticable lift?

 

[woody]

SOA with stock springs = about 5-6" lift.

Niner has front coils on his....very flexy....

 

[Jackson]

Niner has front coils on his....very flexy....

Really?  Hopefully he'll chime in then.  Until then, do you know, are there any steering/handling issues with a front 4-link setup? I did a search, but only found bits and pieces of info - seems like on-road manners are poor with the coil setup.

Advantages/disadvantages of coil sprung vs soa?

 

[woody]

Coil = harder to get links right, more expense, tougher to dial in ride height and coil rate. Triangulated 4-link is tough to fit with oil pan, 5-link is easier.

Mannerisms on road can be dialed in...just gotta play with spring rates, swap bar options, etc to get right.

 

[Niner]

My 4 link is actually a 5 link. I use a panhard bar for locating the axle left and right. the trick to this style of link suspension is that you need to make sure the steering link is the same length and runs parrallel to the panhard bar. this almost eliminates the bump steer issue because they travel the same arc. The only time this doesn't work is when the wheel is turned sharp, which when traveling on the road doesn't happen unless going slow. I used spring buckets out of a '66 to '77 early bronco and built the bottom portion on the axle since I use the scout 44. I also made all the bars the same length so that one spare should be sufficent. I have only bent one once in 8 years, not a mechanical failure but a driver error

 

[Gumby]

I am planning on FJ80 style front coils. The 80 control arms mount at two points to prevent the pig from rotating around the axles, so you don't need the extra two links of a four link. There is a panhard for side to side movement. It looks very easy and not too expensive. Good fabricating skill would still be a must.

 

[Slowerthanu]

Jackson, not to be a whiner, but if you have not grasped the mechanical side of a SOA suspension then I dont believe you are ready to tackle or trust anyone with a coil setup on any vehicle (I know I am not and I do all of my own work sans welding).

I would look into the SOA setup, it is truly easy in comparison to a coil setup, will clear 35inch tires w/o a problem and will provide excellent flex.

 

[Jackson]

Jackson, not to be a whiner, but...

Actually, I agree with you completely. I've been reading back posts and gathering up as much info as possible. Some of it is kind of spotty, but I think I'm getting a handle on things. I only asked about the coil setup becuase I know more about it from the 4Runner guys.

When the time comes, I agree that a soa will be a better route for me. But I still have a lot of reading/learning to do in the mean time.

 

[rusty40]

spring over is a good way to get some height but it definatley does have to be done properly

my buddy did his and he reused his spring perches which was not a good idea in his case becuase they sheared right off

so just remember when doing a soa lift get new spring perches, u bolts and maybee even leaf spring centering pins