New member - BJ74 suspension questions

[sodafeld1]

it was an excuse to upgrade brakelines to ss braided with a better joining system, I used Hel brand. I like the motive power brake bleeder, amongst one of my best tools, gets used very often, even to flush clutch system after doing the brakelines. Buy brake fluid bulk box. Old brake fluid is an excellent paint stripper too.

lspv got a good clean and service, bit of adjusting and testing by checking how much my rear drum pads were wearing.

There is a good section on diy steer alignment here on mud, could argue just as good or even better than paying a shop to do it. Once figured out, can do it anywhere, anytime.

The money you save in wages to someone else goes to good shiny parts instead. You won't regret this journey!

 

[acto74]

I agree. For some of the work, my friend and I can handle that together. If I have questions, I will definitely come here and search for answers or advice.

After the suspension upgrades, the next thing would be new tires and probably new rims and then weld to make our own side step bar (still debating if I need one). From what I read so far, 255/85r16 tire size with 16x6 offset 0 rims is probably the setup i will go for. no fender flares on my BJ74.

 

[JuanJ]

Hello,

I am a bit late to the party.

Choose Dobinsons and do not look back. A bit expensive but worth every penny.

Regarding shackles and bushings, I would not mix brands. The perceived savings are not worth on the long run.

OME and Dobinsons bushings are designed in such a way that they somehow distribute wear evenly. However, they only do this trick when mounted on OME/Dobinsons shackles. Otherwise, they wear unevenly and end up deformed or broken, ruining the ride in the process.

Other bushings, including Toyota, wear unevenly as well.

As mentioned above, I would take the chance to replace brake lines to allow for the extra height. A caster correction and an LSPV adjustment are also necessary.





Juan

 

[sodafeld1]

I am still wondering if casters are necessary. I didn't use them for 45mm lift in front 65mm in rear. I posted a question upon casters here on mud recently, they are usually used for extended shackles apparently. I did not go extended, but anti inversion is a good design so went with them.
I wasn't after lift but wanted better weight carrying capacity without sagging springs. Got a bit of a lift anyway.

I have original bashed up side steps, whilst handy for getting in and out or perching from the car. They sure are in a strategic place to cop and hold lots of mud from the front wheel drive. Have to clean often if you don't want them to rust.

I would estimate that not many cruiser use the rear drum brakes much, the front discs are so much more effective. It is good to observe regularly drum pad wear to see how effective they are.

 

[Felde]

At 2 inch lift no Caster correction is necessary on a BJ73/74. At least I didn't need it.

I would estimate that not many cruiser use the rear drum brakes much, the front discs are so much more effective.

I consider this a dangerous assumption. Good braking is all about controlled though efficient braking. In detail: It's about keeping the ability to steer while braking (we have no ABS!) and keep the back under control!
This is what the LSPV is for. With too much braking on the front / LSPV out, the back locks up and becomes uncontrollable. You also lose the contribution of the rear brakes to the overall total braking force. The front can't compensate for that. You will brake harder, your front locks, too, and Santa takes you for a sledge ride.
How do I know? When I did my lift, I at first didn't get the rise for the sensing spring right. I compensated for the nominal lift, but forgot about the sag the old springs had. LSPV was kind of permanently engaged, still. This caused most braking force to go initially to the front. And I exactly experienced above mentioned behavior. In a narrow turn, when I had to brake a bit harder, I slid straight ahead into the botany.
Learning one for @acto74: Measure your hight before and after lift and correct the sensing spring by the actual lift.
I did this then but braking was poor, still. I learned: The LSPV setup is actually a matter of millimeters / half turns on the adjusting screw.
I couldn't believe how sensitive this clumsy looking mechanism actually is.
Learning two for @acto74: LSPV needs cautious adjustment after the lift. You can't get it right by just rising the sensing spring mounting by a measured amount.
I know, there is a controversy discussion on the LSPV, and some people even delete it.
I gave my experience here, which clearly is pro LSPV.
If you need advice on how to adjust LSPV in practice, I'll gladly explain.

Regarding Side Steps, I'm undecided myself.
I have side steps. Yes, they catch a lot of mud from the front wheels and you need to clean them often in order to prevent mud to pile up and promote rust of the side steps as well as the rocker panel.
I took mine off recently, as I'm in the process to preserve my underbody. And I learned: If the side steps don't catch it, mud and stones fly all over the place and beat your doors. So, I like my steps...
What I particularly don't like is the way the original steps are mounted. The original mounting in the rockers are 6mm bolts only! Way to small to actually stand the stress of somebody standing on the steps or even rocking the vehicle on the steps (like often seen in bogged situations).
As a result, one bolt sheared off. I'm not in favor of welding them on either. I need to do some research on alternative mounting solutions.
Cheers Ralf

 

[sodafeld1]

At 2 inch lift no Caster correction is necessary on a BJ73/74. At least I didn't need it.



I consider this a dangerous assumption. Good braking is all about controlled though efficient braking. In detail: It's about keeping the ability to steer while braking (we have no ABS!) and keep the back under control!
This is what the LSPV is for. With too much braking on the front / LSPV out, the back locks up and becomes uncontrollable. You also lose the contribution of the rear brakes to the overall total braking force. The front can't compensate for that. You will brake harder, your front locks, too, and Santa takes you for a sledge ride.
How do I know? When I did my lift, I at first didn't get the rise for the sensing spring right. I compensated for the nominal lift, but forgot about the sag the old springs had. LSPV was kind of permanently engaged, still. This caused most braking force to go initially to the front. And I exactly experienced above mentioned behavior. In a narrow turn, when I had to brake a bit harder, I slid straight ahead into the botany.
Learning one for @acto74: Measure your hight before and after lift and correct the sensing spring by the actual lift.
I did this then but braking was poor, still. I learned: The LSPV setup is actually a matter of millimeters / half turns on the adjusting screw.
I couldn't believe how sensitive this clumsy looking mechanism actually is.
Learning two for @acto74: LSPV needs cautious adjustment after the lift. You can't get it right by just rising the sensing spring mounting by a measured amount.
I know, there is a controversy discussion on the LSPV, and some people even delete it.
I gave my experience here, which clearly is pro LSPV.
If you need advice on how to adjust LSPV in practice, I'll gladly explain.

Regarding Side Steps, I'm undecided myself.
I have side steps. Yes, they catch a lot of mud from the front wheels and you need to clean them often in order to prevent mud to pile up and promote rust of the side steps as well as the rocker panel.
I took mine off recently, as I'm in the process to preserve my underbody. And I learned: If the side steps don't catch it, mud and stones fly all over the place and beat your doors. So, I like my steps...
What I particularly don't like is the way the original steps are mounted. The original mounting in the rockers are 6mm bolts only! Way to small to actually stand the stress of somebody standing on the steps or even rocking the vehicle on the steps (like often seen in bogged situations).
As a result, one bolt sheared off. I'm not in favor of welding them on either. I need to do some research on alternative mounting solutions.
Cheers Ralf

Gosh! I am so sorry, I didn't mean to convey and dismiss the rear brakes as not serving much point, they ARE important! Just I assume that not many older landcruiser rear drum brakes would be regularly observed along with the lspv. Yes, a dangerous practice. I have owned 5 pre 1990 cruisers all secondhand, on all of them, the rear drums were in a bad state when I got them.
No intention to express that rear brakes are not important. I agree, without rear brakes, you rely on the front brakes too much, inviting too much excitement.
It took me a few goes adjusting to get the lspv working with the new springs, it is good and most worthwhile. My writing is no good obviously..just some folks here on mud have stated they ditched their lspv..I like it and rebuilt it. I kinda like drum brakes too, as they last yonks if well adjusted. Many folks I meet in day to day life who work on their cars, simply hate drum brakes, so they avoid touching them.
Disc brakes work much better tho...

 

[sodafeld1]

Gosh! I am so sorry, I didn't mean to convey and dismiss the rear brakes as not serving much point, they ARE important! Just I assume that not many older landcruiser rear drum brakes would be regularly observed along with the lspv. Yes, a dangerous practice. I have owned 5 pre 1990 cruisers all secondhand, on all of them, the rear drums were in a bad state when I got them.
No intention to express that rear brakes are not important. I agree, without rear brakes, you rely on the front brakes too much, inviting too much excitement.
It took me a few goes adjusting to get the lspv working with the new springs, it is good and most worthwhile. My writing is no good obviously..just some folks here on mud have stated they ditched their lspv..I like it and rebuilt it. I kinda like drum brakes too, as they last yonks if well adjusted. Many folks I meet in day to day life who work on their cars, simply hate drum brakes, so they avoid touching them.
Disc brakes work much better tho...

it is good to regularly observe the wear on rear drum brakes.

 

[acto74]

Thanks for the tips. I will definitely measure the before and after for the lift. I am sure i will be asking more questions and also search on this forum when the suspension kits arrive.

Just curious. Anyone here change their rear drum brakes to disc brakes on the 70 series?

 

[sodafeld1]

i have not but, someone here has for sure

 

[acto74]

I am searching on the forum here and reading the posts. And yes, some did this conversion before. Thanks.

 

[sodafeld1]

shouldn't you be asleep? morning here!

 

[acto74]

Almost 13-14 hours behind you guys. So it’s evening here.

 

[Felde]

Almost 13-14 hours behind you guys. So it’s evening here.

Hey,
read between the lines you are somewhere in a place other than USA. Would you mind sharing where you are?
Maybe with a nice pick of your rig and surroundings?
Would appreciate that.
Cheers Ralf

 

[Felde]

@sodafeld1: Sorry for having misinterpreted and overstated your comment. I think, we are on the same page.
I'm always surprised how little some people know and care about their brakes (LSPV, adjusters and stuff) but still fiddle around with it.
As seen from my little story, I had to pay some lessons in that class myself.

 

[acto74]

I am in Suriname at the moment. Moved here from USA a few years ago. I will post some photos up later.

 

[sodafeld1]

@sodafeld1: Sorry for having misinterpreted and overstated your comment. I think, we are on the same page.
I'm always surprised how little some people know and care about their brakes (LSPV, adjusters and stuff) but still fiddle around with it.
As seen from my little story, I had to pay some lessons in that class myself.

all good , I was a bit grumpy this morning. But I go down to my bush block tomorrow, that makes me happy.

 

[acto74]

Similar to where I sometimes go also. But ours is not as fancy though.

 

[sodafeld1]

Similar to where I sometimes go also. But ours is not as fancy though.

View attachment 2888438

Suriname would be really interesting and socially confronting. But after a bit of travel when younger, I know Oz is very lucky, for now..

 

[acto74]

Yes I have also done quite a bit of traveling around the globe when younger. Now I am here for business. But it happens that I need some off-roading capable vehicles and Landcruiser to me is an obvious choice. I have used new hilux, Ranger but in my experiences and other people’s experiences here, nothing compared to the older Landcruiser. It’s stronger and more reliable. And no electronics is a big plus. On some roads, my previous hilux or newer prado need to use 4wd and it still struggles. And I just drive the Landcruiser through the road without engaging 4wd with ease. But with that said, I am planning to put winch on my trucks because it can get really muddy and any trucks will still get stuck.

Then the older Landcruiser starts to grow on me and most importantly I was able to brainwash my wife to drive older vehicles. Haha. So I try to expand my “collection” more. After the BJ74 and LJ71 (my wife drives it when the roads are flooded when raining due to poor sewage system), my next one will be a 76/77 or a 80 series. Depends on which one I can find first.

 

[sodafeld1]

The older hilux were excellent pre 1990, choice of the taliban! My mate's old hilux is hitting 600000kms and that is petrol, virtually always off road. But hilux ceratainly has lost the 'unbreakable' title.

I worked in the APY lands, desert in the centre of oz for a while, troop carriers were the dominant vehicle, police, fire brigade and community centers. They are capable. Can't really call the roads, roads out there. Hard living. The pitjantjatjara people revere toyota, looking at all toyotas as brothers, sisters and cousins salvaging parts from each.

There is a guy here who does outback tours, not sure what he is using but he does his own work on a newer tojo. His choice would be well informed.

Good luck with getting anything post 1992 I reckon, personally speaking. An injector service costs $70-100 each for indirect injector but up to $600 each for a direct electronic injector here, and they don't last as long. Big business mining just get the new cruisers and virtually throw them out when done as a tax ride off. Can even get fully electric troopys, all throw away components, older driveline is the same though.

I pull out all electric components I don't need and can run without battery once engine started.

You did well converting the wife!!! I married a city girl.