Minimum lift & softer suspension

[LandCruzrNY]

Looking to get some ideas about my cruiser.

Currently have delta arms, delta panhard and 3" or so heavy ome lift. 35's. I have arb drawers, 4x4 labs rear bumper only, arb front bumper with a winch.

I want to get a stock height or 1" lift suspension and go bact to 33's.

I would like minimal lift and a much smoother softer suspension. Tired of feeling the railroad tracks beat me up.

I have read through a lot of the suspension thread and I'm more uncertain.

I am looking for thoughts and ideas.

 

[JoeCova]

What specific coils are you currently running from OME?

So there are a couple of coil options I think in the FAQ that give spring rate, length etc (e.g 861/862). It's hard for us to really know what your experience is and what "softer" would be for you.

If you are looking to get it really dialed in then you should try to get the corner weights for the cruiser then leverage that to determine ride height and coil spring rate and pair that with a shock specifically tuned for the corners and coils.

EDIT: The 861/862 coils may offer a mild lift (1") but with the added weight may sit right around stock then pair it with some tuned shocks or go with like a standard Nitro or bilstein.

 

[LandCruzrNY]

What specific coils are you currently running from OME?

So there are a couple of coil options I think in the FAQ that give spring rate, length etc (e.g 861/862). It's hard for us to really know what your experience is and what "softer" would be for you.

If you are looking to get it really dialed in then you should try to get the corner weights for the cruiser then leverage that to determine ride height and coil spring rate and pair that with a shock specifically tuned for the corners and coils.

EDIT: The 861/862 coils may offer a mild lift (1") but with the added weight may sit right around stock then pair it with some tuned shocks or go with like a standard Nitro or bilstein.

OME heavy with slee heavy in rear. It's a very firm ride. Need to read on how to get corner weights. No iidea there yet. Tuned shocks might be better? OME doesn't seem as good as they once were.

 

[Fj80oregon]

Call cruiser outfitters they will get you dialed. @cruiseroutfit

 

[77mustard40]

Hey not trying to “talk you down” but I love my Dobinsons VT146 coils and IMS shocks. 3.5” of lift, smooth as butter and tons of travel.

You’ve got a lot of chips into those DVS arms so maybe there are some better riding options at your current height that won’t have you spending a ton to come back down.

 

[Pascoscout]

Biggest ride upgrade for me was going from 2" shocks to 2.5" shocks with adjustment. My set up is similar to yours (drawers, bumpers winch etc). I run Icon 3" springs up front and Dobinsons VVT 3.5" in the rear. It rides pretty nice for a 25 year old truck.

 

[bug616]

I’d suggest starting by weighing your truck

 

[samc2447]

Get Dobinsons variable rate coils and upgrade to IMS shocks. I've installed dozens of that setup. Smooth like butter.

 

[LandCruzrNY]

Hey not trying to “talk you down” but I love my Dobinsons VT146 coils and IMS shocks. 3.5” of lift, smooth as butter and tons of travel.

You’ve got a lot of chips into those DVS arms so maybe there are some better riding options at your current height that won’t have you spending a ton to come back down.

I have loved this ride for a while. It's getting harder to get in to the cruiser for me, and the wife. Just not loving the lift and the firm suspension is just too much for me.

Biggest ride upgrade for me was going from 2" shocks to 2.5" shocks with adjustment. My set up is similar to yours (drawers, bumpers winch etc). I run Icon 3" springs up front and Dobinsons VVT 3.5" in the rear. It rides pretty nice for a 25 year old truck.

Yea, that makes sense. I need to lose some height, and make for a smoother ride. I'd like to go across the railroad tracks and feel like a cadillac. Hmmm, that may be pushing it, but you get the idea.

I’d suggest starting by weighing your truck

I think you're right. Where's the best place to weigh a cruiser? Just overall weight, or ?

I'm covinced that I need to lose height and get a much smoother ride. Feel less of the road imperfections.

 

[LandCruzrNY]

Get Dobinsons variable rate coils and upgrade to IMS shocks. I've installed dozens of that setup. Smooth like butter.

Any chance you know the part numbers for that? When on the Dobinsons site I see a lot of coils and when I click on them I see variable rate, but still too many options to decide. IMS shocks are the best? I saw adjustable ones, but I don't want to adjust ever, really want to set it and forget it. I saw this but doesn't seem like I need all that. Dobinsons 1.75" up to 2.5" MRR 3-way Adjustable Lift Kit for Toyota Land Cruiser 80 Series 1990-97 (Build Your Kit) - DSSKITMRA3 - DSSKITMRA3. If you had part numbers for minimal lift that would be great. Thank you

 

[jonheld]

No one mentioned tires. Most 35" tires have an E load rating. Very stiff sidewall meant for heavy loads. Changing to a D or a C load rated tire will dramatically improve ride quality. If you stay with E, lower the tire pressure to keep your fillings.
I will also add that getting rid of the OME spring/shock combo and going with Ironman (or really ANYONE else) was a huge upgrade in ride comfort.

Stay OEM rubber as far as shock bushings and suspension bushings. Keep away from poly as they will stiffen the ride.

 

[Broski]

Height, and ride are two different things
Your running some of the stiffest springs on the market.
Also when running bigger tires you don't need to air them up to what the door jam says, a bigger tire need less air do a web search for a tire chart.

 

[JoeCova]

I have loved this ride for a while. It's getting harder to get in to the cruiser for me, and the wife. Just not loving the lift and the firm suspension is just too much for me.

Yea, that makes sense. I need to lose some height, and make for a smoother ride. I'd like to go across the railroad tracks and feel like a cadillac. Hmmm, that may be pushing it, but you get the idea.

I think you're right. Where's the best place to weigh a cruiser? Just overall weight, or ?

I'm covinced that I need to lose height and get a much smoother ride. Feel less of the road imperfections.

Scrap yard, gravel pit, local waste recycling or landfill, landscaping/rock quarry etc.

I took mine to a local landfill and mine came out to 6000 and in close to 50/50 so rough corner weight is 1500.

Some shops have auto scales where you can actually weigh the corners as well.

There are a couple threads on 80 series weights and what their mods are that can help you guesstimate

 

[LandCruzrNY]

No one mentioned tires. Most 35" tires have an E load rating. Very stiff sidewall meant for heavy loads. Changing to a D or a C load rated tire will dramatically improve ride quality. If you stay with E, lower the tire pressure to keep your fillings.
I will also add that getting rid of the OME spring/shock combo and going with Ironman (or really ANYONE else) was a huge upgrade in ride comfort.

Stay OEM rubber as far as shock bushings and suspension bushings. Keep away from poly as they will stiffen the ride.

Yes, my 35's are E load rating. I was considering going back to Michelin Defender LTX/MS in a 285/75/16, but that's still load class E.
I intend to get rid of OME spring/shock along with the Slee heavies. I hadn't considered Ironman, but perhaps I should. IMS still?

Height, and ride are two different things
Your running some of the stiffest springs on the market.
Also when running bigger tires you don't need to air them up to what the door jam says, a bigger tire need less air do a web search for a tire chart.

Yes, they are stiff, and on there way out of my cruiser soon. And ditching the 35's too. Oddly enough, my pressure was at about 35 on them, so softer. Rated for 65. On Saturday they looked a little too low, so I put them up to 50. That was a mistake. Got a wobble between 40 and 50. So I immediately put them back down to about 40 and that resolved everything. Just can't run them aired up. They'll be gone soon.

 

[ChaseTruck]

I can offer a tiny tidbit:
Simply replacing the front OME shocks with Dobinsons IMS monotube shocks (so, not the adjustable kind; for 0-3” lift) on our ‘93 made a huge difference in off-road (e.g. dirt roads) ride quality. Front springs are used J, rear are probably some sort of OME, lift is 2” measured at front bump stops, single battery, Slee short bus, HF12k winch, E-rated 315/75R16 MT tires, 40psi on the road,15-18psi on the trail. I haven’t gotten any further since I’ve been distracted by the other vehicles in the fleet, and the ‘93 does what I want it to do. I’d like to move on to softer springs all the way around, but it seems many folks who get low lift springs had to find out that the lift is quite a bit higher than advertised. I can’t have that since the garage door is the limiting factor…

 

[ZackR]

Dobinsons 1.75" variable rate springs, Dobinsons shocks, 285/75/16 Toyo AT3 (E load) tires @ 32psi and the ride on mine is nice and smooth.

 

[jonheld]

Yes, my 35's are E load rating. I was considering going back to Michelin Defender LTX/MS in a 285/75/16, but that's still load class E.
I intend to get rid of OME spring/shock along with the Slee heavies. I hadn't considered Ironman, but perhaps I should. IMS still?

Yes, they are stiff, and on there way out of my cruiser soon. And ditching the 35's too. Oddly enough, my pressure was at about 35 on them, so softer. Rated for 65. On Saturday they looked a little too low, so I put them up to 50. That was a mistake. Got a wobble between 40 and 50. So I immediately put them back down to about 40 and that resolved everything. Just can't run them aired up. They'll be gone soon.

FYI, I daily at 28 to 30 psi on my 315 Toyo AT3s. If I'm loaded for a trip I'll go up to 33 or so. If im pulling my M416 with stuff I'll go to 35.
Each tire is load rated for more than half the entire weight of the truck.

 

[jonheld]

As far as Ironman goes, I've had their 4" springs and foamcell pro shocks on 2 different 80s. That was before they changed manufacturing locations and product lines. I have no experience with what's out there now.
I'm happy with the ride, lift height, and off road flex, so I can't justify changing it up.

 

[Pascoscout]

No one mentioned tires. Most 35" tires have an E load rating. Very stiff sidewall meant for heavy loads. Changing to a D or a C load rated tire will dramatically improve ride quality. If you stay with E, lower the tire pressure to keep your fillings.
I will also add that getting rid of the OME spring/shock combo and going with Ironman (or really ANYONE else) was a huge upgrade in ride comfort.

Stay OEM rubber as far as shock bushings and suspension bushings. Keep away from poly as they will stiffen the ride.

This is a really good point. @LandCruzrNY what pressure are you running? I keep mine around 35 PSI with my 35's.

 

[RubyCruiser]

@LandCruzrNY Came across this thread in doing my suspension upgrade research. What did you end up with and did it give you the ride you were looking for? I’m in a similar situation but with all stock components and looking to do a stock height replacement, which should give me some lift to fit 295s. Dobson stock height variable rate springs and IMS shocks are what I am thinking. Also consider same springs but just going OEM Tokico shocks — heard they work just fine for a fraction of the cost and if not intending to go hard off-road.