OEM Front Coil Spacers Installed (11 Viewers)

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How dumb would it be to double stack OEM shock mount spacer?

Also, can someone kindly link a reputable aftermarket option?

Bolts on top hat won’t be long enough. You also risk bottoming out shock, although could be fixed by dropping bump stop
 
@lx200inAR

That ebay link is broken for me.
That was a different thread. Took me a bit to figure out what was wrong. I linked to the sellers store. They have 20/30/40mm spacers. Looks like the longer ones even come with new strut top studs.

THis is a direct link to the 40mm, if you search “other items” they have more options.

 
I'm confused about this. Isn't the lower collar just raising the spring without actually compressing it and therefore not adding preload?

In my ISF I have aftermarket ohlins coilovers where you can actually add preload, but this is because they have independent preload and height adjustments. Raising the lower collar on the ohlins actually compresses the springs (adding preload) without raising the car.
I found the answer to my conundrum. Preload refers to compression of the spring before vehicle weight is added. So the inside spacer does add preload. It shouldn't affect ride quality much if any. With the load of the vehicle, the spring is no more or less compressed with or without the spacer, unless the new shock position affects ride. I'm not sure how linear shocks are through their stroke.
 
I found the answer to my conundrum. Preload refers to compression of the spring before vehicle weight is added. So the inside spacer does add preload. It shouldn't affect ride quality much if any. With the load of the vehicle, the spring is no more or less compressed with or without the spacer, unless the new shock position affects ride. I'm not sure how linear shocks are through their stroke.
I don’t believe AHC springs are linear, so changing preload does change the effective spring rate. I dont know if that applies to the OEM LC springs.
 
How dumb would it be to double stack OEM shock mount spacer?

Also, can someone kindly link a reputable aftermarket option?

Bolts on top hat won’t be long enough. You also risk bottoming out shock, although could be fixed by dropping bump stop

Also at some point you are pushing the limits of what the CV will tolerate when fully extended.

There is some evidence that our axles are a lot less strong when the suspension is fully dropped out with increased travel. A few videos have been posted of axles popping with very little torque on them.. but at the limit of droop travel with modified suspension.
 
Also at some point you are pushing the limits of what the CV will tolerate when fully extended.

There is some evidence that our axles are a lot less strong when the suspension is fully dropped out with increased travel. A few videos have been posted of axles popping with very little torque on them.. but at the limit of droop travel with modified suspension.

Thanks.

It would definitely include a diff drop but my normal lift height is still only 1”. Wont be pushing for anything crazy on this truck for a long time in regards to off road and my concern remains in the 4lo extra high range.

Shock mount top studs have a good .5” in them.



1645056367038.jpeg


Im trying to make a game plan and just cry once here and install myself for the short .5 mile to the alignment shop (trident trucks) by my house.
 
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I found the answer to my conundrum. Preload refers to compression of the spring before vehicle weight is added. So the inside spacer does add preload. It shouldn't affect ride quality much if any. With the load of the vehicle, the spring is no more or less compressed with or without the spacer, unless the new shock position affects ride. I'm not sure how linear shocks are through their stroke.

Its a “pseudo” preload that would act more like a stronger progressive rate in full compression. With the current coil, you can sit in low without issue once shock is depressurized.

For example during a full AHC bleed, you can see where it settles at zero shock load. My 285s on a +25 offset tuck perfectly into the wheel but not much room to play. Next time i flush, i will see how close to compression limiter bumps i can get.
 
Thanks.

It would definitely include a diff drop but my normal lift height is still only 1”. Wont be pushing for anything crazy on this truck for a long time in regards to off road and my concern remains in the 4lo extra high range.

Shock mount top studs have a good .5” in them.



View attachment 2928037

Im trying to make a game plan and just cry once here and install myself for the short .5 mile to the alignment shop (trident trucks) by my house.
With no spacers, you have a good .5", which is 12.7mm. Put the 10mm spacers in there and you only have 3mm remaining threads, which roughly agrees with my memory of having them on my rig.

Toyota likely designed all of this to work together as a system. Meaning the studs are long enough for a single spacer and enough remaining thread to make the fastening system strong. Usually 2-3 threads.

Diff drop seems like a band-aid to me. People are doing very difficult trails with stock suspension travel. 10mm spacers add roughly 20mm of travel.. add much more and you are having to layer on more band-aids (diff drop, thicker bump stops) for no more travel, only marginally more ground clearance.. which arguably should be addressed with protection anyway.
 
With no spacers, you have a good .5", which is 12.7mm. Put the 10mm spacers in there and you only have 3mm remaining threads, which roughly agrees with my memory of having them on my rig.

Toyota likely designed all of this to work together as a system. Meaning the studs are long enough for a single spacer and enough remaining thread to make the fastening system strong. Usually 2-3 threads.

Diff drop seems like a band-aid to me. People are doing very difficult trails with stock suspension travel. 10mm spacers add roughly 20mm of travel.. add much more and you are having to layer on more band-aids (diff drop, thicker bump stops) for no more travel, only marginally more ground clearance.. which arguably should be addressed with protection anyway.

Thanks, i will never even go off pavement at this rate! LOL
Maybe a 15mm is a good compromise...
I couldn't get the tape measure to the lowest point of that nut anyway since i didn't want to get my hands any dirtier for a quick pic.
So the grading is actually a fair bit closer to the camera.

I guess this begs the question that what really is the droop limiting factor with AHC.
It cant be the shock. In the rear undoing its link allowed further travel. But why would T choose that component as the limiting link when that is the most sensitive?
Is there something to the AHC shock that includes protection for travel overextension?

Also, why would the spacer size double effective travel augmentation on AHC?
I understand why that would happen on normal suspension but it doesnt make sense in my mind on AHC.



Maybe everybody should just buy an LC afterall, there so many unknowns here.

I tell yall what, when i do pull the front corners apart, i will measure spring compression at least.
 
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Thanks, i will never even go off pavement at this rate! LOL
Maybe a 15mm is a good compromise...
I couldn't get the tape measure to the lowest point of that nut anyway since i didn't want to get my hands any dirtier for a quick pic.
So the grading is actually a fair bit closer to the camera.

I guess this begs the question that what really is the droop limiting factor with AHC.
It cant be the shock. In the rear undoing its link allowed further travel. But why would T choose that component as the limiting link when that is the most sensitive?
Is there something to the AHC shock that includes protection for travel overextension?

Also, why would the spacer size double effective travel augmentation on AHC?
I understand why that would happen on normal suspension but it doesnt make sense in my mind on AHC.



Maybe everybody should just buy an LC afterall, there so many unknowns here.

I tell yall what, when i do pull the front corners apart, i will measure spring compression at least.


These questions are really no different for the LC.

Both LC and LX factory setups have the shocks as the droop travel limiter. For both the front and rear axles. Don't take that as them being weak and sensitive. They are thoroughly designed for this requirement and will be validated to handle it. Aftermarket suspensions are often not developed as a system, or will not be as thoroughly developed for all corner cases. That's why there's commonly integration issues or perhaps shortcuts like wrong bushing washers, clearance issues against bump stops or control arms, hydraulic line clearance issues, extreme weather handling, etc. Or shocks are race parts and assume things like limiting straps.

Spacer size vs travel at the tire is due to motion ratio. The tire is at the end of an arm, that travels the furthest at the extents. As opposed to to the midpoint of the arm for example.

Don't get too caught-up in suspension parameters like specific spring rates, travel, etc. It's often far more important how things are integrated and tuned, rather than specific features. The magic sauce that makes parts greater than the sum of parts. The reality is there is tons of aftermarket suspension in the wild that ride like crap. Compared to the development that has gone into the factory setups (that can also ride like crap when taken too far out of it's intended application). A shiny shock with lots of tuning options is a tease of potential out of reach. Setup by layman consumers, is not going to result in a finely tuned machine. Given the number of variables, even pros need time to develop, test, and repeat before landing on final calibrations.
 
Thanks, i will never even go off pavement at this rate! LOL
Maybe a 15mm is a good compromise...
I couldn't get the tape measure to the lowest point of that nut anyway since i didn't want to get my hands any dirtier for a quick pic.
So the grading is actually a fair bit closer to the camera.

I guess this begs the question that what really is the droop limiting factor with AHC.
It cant be the shock. In the rear undoing its link allowed further travel. But why would T choose that component as the limiting link when that is the most sensitive?
Is there something to the AHC shock that includes protection for travel overextension?

Also, why would the spacer size double effective travel augmentation on AHC?
I understand why that would happen on normal suspension but it doesnt make sense in my mind on AHC.



Maybe everybody should just buy an LC afterall, there so many unknowns here.

I tell yall what, when i do pull the front corners apart, i will measure spring compression at least.
Teckis made a lot of good points up there. But one more about the spacer.

The only room you have for a spacer is the stud above the nut. Even with a spacer the nut still has to be there.. so the total length of the stud doesn't mean much.. only the length past the nut. With 1/2" there your spacer needs to be less than that thickness.

If you stick a 15mm spacer in there the nut won't fully engage over the stud and it will weaken the system.
 
Well boys, I was originally quoted a ridiculous $735 for the spacer install from my local stealership.
I called them today again today to speak with the service manager and he could not be bothered to call me back.

I called another dealership, and was quoted $475 out the door!

On top of that they are taking care of the TSB 0209-17 free of charge and I am booked for this Saturday!
Super pumped and just wanted to share.
 
That was a different thread. Took me a bit to figure out what was wrong. I linked to the sellers store. They have 20/30/40mm spacers. Looks like the longer ones even come with new strut top studs.

THis is a direct link to the 40mm, if you search “other items” they have more options.


There's several variations of the Tundra lift spacer. Given lots of shared architecture, should work on the cruiser. Something like this would be pretty easy to install. Like a wheel adapter rather than a spacer.

Amazon product ASIN B0796QDVBG
The unanswered thing is still clearance for shock length at full droop compression. I think this is manageable, by installing a larger spacer on the stock bump stops to constrain uptravel. Maybe start with a 1/4" spacer on the bump stops. Flex the coilover without spring, flex installed with fork lift, or jump the truck to find max compression. Then with a rubber band or grease witness mark on the shock shaft, we can start understanding how much clearance there is for shock length, and take down the bump spacer.
 
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There's several variations of the Tundra lift spacer. Given lots of shared architecture, would likely work on the cruiser. Something like this would be pretty easy to install. Like a wheel adapter rather than a spacer.

Amazon product ASIN B0796QDVBG
The unanswered thing is still clearance for shock length at full droop. I think this is manageable, by installing a larger spacer on the stock bump stops to constrain uptravel. Maybe start with a 1/4" spacer on the bump stops. Flex the coilover without spring, flex installed with fork lift, or jump the truck to find max compression. Then with a rubber band or grease witness mark on the shock shaft, we can start understanding how much clearance there is for shock length, and take down the bump spacer.

Someone has to do it!!!

Wonder if we will have AHC hose connection angle issue with the added recess?

If only i could use your garage lifts :)
 
Someone has to do it!!!

Wonder if we will have AHC hose connection angle issue with the added recess?

If only i could use your garage lifts :)

Just looked for you.

I already have the LC spacer in (that's 10mm?? thick)

There's about another 10mm of clearance before the flange of the hydraulic line bracket may contact the coilover bucket. There's a good chance the bracket can clear past the bucket, and there's another 10mm of clearance before hydraulic line itself will contact the bucket.

The 2" lift spacer I posted is spec'd at 1.3" or 33mm. That may be juuust too tall.
 
Just looked for you.

I already have the LC spacer in (that's 10mm?? thick)

There's about another 10mm of clearance before the flange of the hydraulic line bracket may contact the coilover bucket. There's a good chance the bracket can clear past the bucket, and there's another 10mm of clearance before hydraulic line itself will contact the bucket.

The 2" lift spacer I posted is spec'd at 1.3" or 33mm. That may be juuust too tall.

😬, I volunteer as tribute!!!

Gonna get 20mm and cross fingers.

Can the resident forum losers kindly point me to the highest quality diff drop kit?

@grinchy you are the product link wizard i think you should start a webshop lol, you always have the best items researched!

Im gonna forgo UCAs for now because i cant figure out how one is supposed to reliably mount the sensor arm to them or if you have to rig up a bracket.

I also need some clean suspension fluid…
 
😬, I volunteer as tribute!!!

Gonna get 20mm and cross fingers.

Can the resident forum losers kindly point me to the highest quality diff drop kit?

@grinchy you are the product link wizard i think you should start a webshop lol, you always have the best items researched!

Im gonna forgo UCAs for now because i cant figure out how one is supposed to reliably mount the sensor arm to them or if you have to rig up a bracket.

I also need some clean suspension fluid…

Good man! Taking one for the team and heading into uncharted waters.

As backup, maybe get the stock LC spacer to have on hand if it doesn't work out.

Here's a pic of mine to show what kind of thread is left with the stock LC spacer fitted. For other exploring this, Toyota uses taller flange nuts. Perhaps a standard nut could be used and will grab enough threads with a mythical .75" spacer?

1645139294778.png
 
Good man! Taking one for the team and heading into uncharted waters.

As backup, maybe get the stock LC spacer to have on hand if it doesn't work out.

Here's a pic of mine to show what kind of thread is left with the stock LC spacer fitted. For other exploring this, Toyota uses taller flange nuts. Perhaps a standard nut could be used and will grab enough threads with a mythical .75" spacer?

View attachment 2928912

That is less than I expected from my visual…

Thats one oem 10mm???
 

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