Long: Noob with a new 80. Lift...Engineering marvel or backyard hack? You decide.

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VacMan

VacMan

10 Year
Joined
Jan 13, 2012
Threads
29
Messages
330
Location
Temecula, CA
Hey all,

I've spent the last few months on the hunt for the right FZJ-80. I wanted a vehicle with 7 seats, 4wd and capable of pulling my boat and trailers, taking the kids to the desert and snow, etc. My buddy has an LX450 and after checking it out I knew I wanted an LC. Luckily there's no shortage of Cruisers to look at here, but the combo I wanted (leather, lockers, some service history, decent color, etc.) took a while to find. After searching and driving all over socal I ended up finding mine 20 minutes from home.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p92/timrmoore/cruiser/2012-02-21_16-52-37_877.jpg

I come from the BMW world and I'm a big forum user so I really appreciated the amazing FAQ you guys have put together here. Thanks to all the threads, I already knew what I wanted to do (and needed to do) to my cruiser before I even owned it. I'm fairly savvy when it comes to wrenching and rebuilding so I was looking for a Cruiser with good bones to dial in to my specs.

The ad said it was lifted on new 315/75/16 (~35"), lockers, well-maintained grey leather, and had a laundry list of PM done to it. New fluids in diffs/trans/power steering/motor/etc. I could see the trans had been apart and it looks like the head has been off as well. The interior is in terrific shape with only a small tear in the driver's seat and soft leather all around. The PO had treated it with leather conditioner several times. Beyond some odd quirks like the antenna, a non-functional alarm and a power seat that will go forward but not back, it was in amazing shape. The lockers engage and so does 4L.

After I drove it I started looking around the suspension and discovered that someone had created their own lift for the front. It has a huge spacer welded into the front on the upper spring perch, a corresponding plate welded in where the control arm meets the frame and what look to be extenders for the swaybar. It has what looks like factory springs and what I assume is a longer front shock and bumpstops to account for the increased overall length of the assembly. The rear suspension looks close to stock although it may have a spring spacer in the back.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p92/timrmoore/cruiser/2012-02-21_16-53-35_80.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p92/timrmoore/cruiser/2012-02-21_16-53-43_810.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p92/timrmoore/cruiser/2012-02-21_16-54-02_562.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p92/timrmoore/cruiser/2012-02-21_16-54-12_603.jpg

I got it for what I consider a good deal based on the 7 other Cruisers I drove and found for sale in my price range. It's solid, clean, no squeaks or rattles, and short of an annoying noise from the front axle when you're on or off the throttle (time for rebuild) around 45mph, it drives great. I'm sure it has stock gearing but that really doesn't bother me and it has fairly mushy handling that I attribute to the lift. That's OK though; I have other cars if I want to corner or go fast. :)

I plan on using it primarily on pavement, sand and snow so I don't need hardcore suspension. If it wasn't for those welded in plates I'd just order a complete 2.5" lift and solve the problem that way, but I'm hoping for some direction from you all on what I can do with the suspension as it sits. I honestly would just lift the rear to get rid of the brodozer look, but I'm concerned about the safety of this setup. On pavement it drives great but I'm sure it'll suffer in the rough stuff.

I have lots more pics and will happily post more if you need them. However, this post is long enough already. Any and all advice is appreciated! I'm not going to break the bank modding it but have enough set aside to do the suspension and order a decent bumper for it.

Thanks,

Tim
 
I'm not a fan of the front spring spacer, but a spacer is pretty benign.

Now that front radius arm drop... I would make sure that box is really strong and the welds are solid. A failed radius arm would be a bad day.
 
Does not look to hack but it is not removable
The welds do look a little suspect
What do rear upper perches look like?
 
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The coil spacers, i would not be very happy about.... all that extra clearence with no gain in flex, ride quality, or travel...

the lower control arm mounts, if they are welded properly, straight, and are dropped no more than 2 or 3 inches however are a perfectly acceptable method to retain suspension geometry so long as you remember they are lowered when you are around rocks!!

Id leave the LCA mounts, cut those spring spacers out and buy you some OME springs and have your caster checked

How much lower are your LCA mounts?
 
Thanks for all the quick replies! Uploading more pics to photobucket as we speak.
UWdave said:
I'm not a fan of the front spring spacer, but a spacer is pretty benign.

Now that front radius arm drop... I would make sure that box is really strong and the welds are solid. A failed radius arm would be a bad day.
Click to expand...
It is boxed with a notch cut out for travel. It looks seriously robust but I'm no expert. Uploading some pics now.

kidglove13 said:
Does not look to hack but it is not removable
The welds do look a little suspect
What do rear upper perches look like?
Click to expand...
Rear looks stock, although there are some rinky-dink spring spreader? (looks like the opposite of what Honda kids use to clamp springs together to lower their cars) in between the coils. It doesn't look like they're doing much but might raise the rear a bit at the cost of ride quality.

MojoRisin said:
The coil spacers, i would not be very happy about.... all that extra clearence with no gain in flex, ride quality, or travel...

the lower control arm mounts, if they are welded properly, straight, and are dropped no more than 2 or 3 inches however are a perfectly acceptable method to retain suspension geometry so long as you remember they are lowered when you are around rocks!!

Id leave the LCA mounts, cut those spring spacers out and buy you some OME springs and have your caster checked

How much lower are your LCA mounts?
Click to expand...
That was my thought as long as the LCA mounts don't affect the geometry of the new lift. I want the minimum lift to clear the tires which I like and are brand new. :) The inserted piece is just under 3" from weld to weld.
 
Unfortunately the PO did the LC equivalent of cutting the springs in a BMW to lower it. Not a great method of lifting a rig.

As others have said, remove the bloody front spacers (and rears), and install a proper set of springs. Plenty of choices out there with OME, Ironman, TJM, etc.

The front radius arm drop is disturbing, and definitely needs to be checked that it is a sound and solid setup. Is it just me, or does the hole look to be larger than just the bolt diameter? You could return this to stock setup, essentially cutting out the drop-bracket they installed. You will still need to correct for caster, but there are better bolt-on and press-in solutions, based on the level of lift you go with.

Not even sure if the shocks are long-enough for the lift...that would need to be confirmed.

Otherwise the rig looks great. Hopefully you will not find any other "creative" solutions which the PO did to it in the past.

:cheers: and welcome to Mud.

Steve

P.S. You will be amazed how much better the 80 rides with a proper lift.
 
 
FWIW the PO bought it this way and drove it for 15k miles according to Autocheck. Supposedly the guy before him did all the mods and owned several LC's from 40's on up.

Thanks for all the help and warm welcomes!

Tim
 
I would ditch the rear springs and put in some aftermarket lift springs and looks like shocks to match. The front....I would get a plasma cutter and cut all that stuff of IMO. No point in lift that doesnt give you better ride and articulation. If you are going to get the Crusier feaver and do mods to this truck you will only want to do a proper lift at some point....might as well be in the beginning....Ask me how I know...Wasting a lot of time and money doing suspensions in one truck 5 times until I liked them...mostly old 4runners.
 
2012-02-21_16-54-02_562.jpg


:eek:



maybe for a mud buggy on tractor tires but not on anything of mine that would ever see street travel.
 
The front spring space and front sway bar drop, no big deal. As others have said, no extra flex or travel, but it's not harmful. People run spacers all the time if they need more height but not longer springs (myself included).

The front LCA drop....that would scare the crap out of me. That is NOT the proper way to drop that down, and even though it's boxed, it's not going to be particularly strong.

I would grind off the entire mount (including the original one) and then either fab and weld one in similar to the original, or get an original mount and weld it on. The original mount is welded partway up the frame on the inside, effectively that mount is only welded to the bottom of the frame (since they hacked it up). Plus some of those welds look suspect to me, doesn't look like they got good penetration on some of them.

The rear "spring spacer" is a real kludge. Not really dangerous, but not a good way to space the spring down. I would ditch that.
 
Not a fan of what's been done to this truck. For all the effort they have gone to, a set of springs & castor correction would have been the safer option. Personally I'd be removing all the dodgy stuff & fitting a quality lift. Even the rear end is questionable. Not unsafe, just not the done thing. How woould your insurance go if the LCA mounts let go & they were found to be unsafe etc. I know over here in Oz you'd be wiped like a dirty arse.
Cheers, Mike.
 
scrowley said:
I would ditch the rear springs and put in some aftermarket lift springs and looks like shocks to match. The front....I would get a plasma cutter and cut all that stuff of IMO. No point in lift that doesnt give you better ride and articulation. If you are going to get the Crusier feaver and do mods to this truck you will only want to do a proper lift at some point....might as well be in the beginning....Ask me how I know...Wasting a lot of time and money doing suspensions in one truck 5 times until I liked them...mostly old 4runners.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I already planned on suspension work before I saw this hack. I have coilovers on my M5 so I'm very familiar with travel, spring rates, proper matched damping, etc. and doing it the right way once. If it wasn't for the welded in bits I'd have already ordered the 2.5" OME and been done with it. I don't have the knowledge or skill to chop them out and put the correct stuff back in. I'll have to go to an LC specialist for that. Any suggestions, socal people?

zrheard said:


:eek:



maybe for a mud buggy on tractor tires but not on anything of mine that would ever see street travel.
Click to expand...
That's how I feel. The cuts on that piece make me wonder what else was done with that level of attention to detail.

Ebag333 said:
The front spring space and front sway bar drop, no big deal. As others have said, no extra flex or travel, but it's not harmful. People run spacers all the time if they need more height but not longer springs (myself included).

The front LCA drop....that would scare the **** out of me. That is NOT the proper way to drop that down, and even though it's boxed, it's not going to be particularly strong.

I would grind off the entire mount (including the original one) and then either fab and weld one in similar to the original, or get an original mount and weld it on. The original mount is welded partway up the frame on the inside, effectively that mount is only welded to the bottom of the frame (since they hacked it up). Plus some of those welds look suspect to me, doesn't look like they got good penetration on some of them.

The rear "spring spacer" is a real kludge. Not really dangerous, but not a good way to space the spring down. I would ditch that.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the feedback. I agree with your assessment, especially the rear spring spreaders. I actually laughed out loud when I saw them.

stinky said:
Not a fan of what's been done to this truck. For all the effort they have gone to, a set of springs & castor correction would have been the safer option. Personally I'd be removing all the dodgy stuff & fitting a quality lift. Even the rear end is questionable. Not unsafe, just not the done thing. How woould your insurance go if the LCA mounts let go & they were found to be unsafe etc. I know over here in Oz you'd be wiped like a dirty arse.
Cheers, Mike.
Click to expand...
I agree. I certainly don't want to be wiped like that. ;p Thanks for the feedback.
 
stinky said:
Not a fan of what's been done to this truck. For all the effort they have gone to, a set of springs & castor correction would have been the safer option. Personally I'd be removing all the dodgy stuff & fitting a quality lift. Even the rear end is questionable. Not unsafe, just not the done thing. How woould your insurance go if the LCA mounts let go & they were found to be unsafe etc. I know over here in Oz you'd be wiped like a dirty arse.
Cheers, Mike.
Click to expand...


Exactly this ^^^

Springs aren't very expensive and caster plates aren't very expensive, shoot, for that matter poly spacers are cheap too...it should have just been done properly. Now you have a cut up truck that's going to need new framerail-side LCA brackets. It currently may be safe....maybe not. Hard to tell unless it breaks, then it's too late.
 
THat looks like a nice clean cruiser, other then the rubbish suspension work. Although it at least has a high comedic value.

I would ditch the front spacers and rear spreaders :lol:

Contrary to what others say I think the drop bracket is structurally sound enough. Although to avoid people laughing at you I would pretty it up. If you want to replace it with a MAF type bracket you could cut off the rear part that bolts through the tranmission crossmemeber, and weld the entire bracket to the chassis, using the old original bracket as reinforcement. That way it will be plenty strong, and won't interfere with the crossmember should you ever need to remove the transmission.
 
I would remove the rear "coil adjuster" and look for a 2nd gen (early 90's) 4runner spring spacer. it "should" fit as they can use the FJ80 rear springs for their lifts. just do a quick search on ebay, they have many sizes available for cheap.
 
girraffe said:
I would remove the rear "coil adjuster" and look for a 2nd gen (early 90's) 4runner spring spacer. it "should" fit as they can use the FJ80 rear springs for their lifts. just do a quick search on ebay, they have many sizes available for cheap.
Click to expand...

I think they use the front springs in the rear.

Anyway, you can buy spring spacers build specifically for an 80 at various sources. No reason to run a 4 runner one.
 
That is a nice clean LC and congrats on finally finding one that fit your criteria. With that said, if I had kids I would not drive this truck with them in it as it currently sits with these suspension "mods"
 
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