Old man emu CS009r (1 Viewer)

[BlueCruiser84]

Hey guys,

I’ve searched but the information either isn’t here or buried beyond my search abilities.

It seems the CS009r is a pretty common addition to these old trucks, but I’m having a hard time finding information on removing leaves for minimal lift. Installing the springs as they come appears to give between 2.5”- 4” of lift depending on how saggy the original springs were. I don’t want that much.

Ideally, I’d like to be about 2” taller than I am right now. That will put 4” between my factory bumpstop and the frame pad.

So post up your wisdom or experience on removing leaves or mixing stock leaves with the OME pack. If no one has done this before, which I would find hard to believe, I’ll use this thread to document my own trial and error.

This is as far as I’ve gotten. Old springs out sitting on the floor beside the new. I’m definitely removing the short overload and I was considering removing the 4th leaf from the top or replacing it with a factory leaf.

 

[Buckums]

subscribed.... in the same boat.

 

[BlueCruiser84]

@GeoRoss

care to chime in with some kind of description of what you’ve done and where it put you height wise?

 

[ntsqd]

Some discussion about this on page 5 of my build: Builds - '88 4runner (ntsqd)

I have not done much with it, too busy driving it as I sold my alternate semi-DD. The replacement is getting close to usable as a semi-DD, so I should be able to get back on this.

 

[BlueCruiser84]

Welp, I’ll agree with ntsqd. Removed the short OL spring and mounted the springs and set weight on the axle. Right out of the box they lifted the rear about 4.5”. I went from 3” between tire and fender to 7.5”. I have the hardtop, no spare tire, and the back is empty. All I’ve done is set the weight on the springs, but I can tell this is too tall. I’m going to remove the shortest non OL spring and see what happens. I feel like a may need to replace it with a leaf from the OEM leaf pack to maintain spring rate - maybe not though.

Pictures just cuz.

Before

After

 

[liveoak]

I would bolt it down, put your spare in it and whatever else you would likely carry and drive around for a few months to see where they settle. maybe it's just the angle of the after pic, but it doesn't look that bad.

 

[BlueCruiser84]

I would bolt it down, put your spare in it and whatever else you would likely carry and drive around for a few months to see where they settle. maybe it's just the angle of the after pic, but it doesn't look that bad.

It’s the picture. I was shooting for 5” between tire and fender which would give a slight forward take. The gap in the picture is 7.5” which is too raked for me.

 

[pappy]

I agree with Chris. Run it. I bet it settles.

 

[ntsqd]

Mine hasn't settled much in the couple of months that I've been driving it with the normal load of spare, tools, recovery gear, etc. that all stays with the truck. I'm still planning to pull the shortest leaf. I rather dislike driving like this. I badly need to get it aligned, so that needs to happen soon.

 

[BlueCruiser84]

I don’t believe it will settle 2.5”. I have NEVER had leaf springs settle more than a half inch or so. I keep the top off all summer and typically drive around empty. Even loaded up for a trip will be max 300 lbs of stuff in back - I pack light.

I’m going to pull the shortest leaf and see what happens. Maybe tomorrow. I’ll be sure to post some pictures.

 

[BlueCruiser84]

I pulled the bottom 3 leaves out of the CS009r packs and replaced them with the long overload from the factory pack. This dropped me about 1.5” and relaxed the shackle angle a little. I’m going to bolt it back together and run it around town this way for a week or so and see how it feels. I’ve got new bushings, a ubolt flip kit, and lower shock mounts to go on but I don’t want to install the new ubolts until I have it right.

Here’s some pictures with the leaves removed/swapped.

 

[yotadude520]

Looking good man! What size tires are those? It's got a good stance.

 

[BlueCruiser84]

Here it is all bolted together. Tires are 295s on 16” wheels. Not the sure the width or backspacing but they stick out a bit. I think the front is stock height IFs. That’s the bottom 3 OME leaves pulled and replaced with the factory overload leaf.

 

[joseywales]

It’s sitting pretty level in the last pics. How is the ride? Are those 33 x 12.50s you’re running?

I’m going to have to look and see what springs are in mine, and measure the wheel opening height. I’m pretty sure mine is about as level, but I don’t think there was 4.5” of lift gained. There are stock/light load and heavy load options from OME, but both only claim 2.5” over stock. You must have had some serious sag.

 

[Manhattan]

I think you nailed the height and stance.

 

[BlueCruiser84]

Went on an impromptu wheeling trip and the first ever for me in this 4Runner. First impression - the lack of “flex” on these IFS trucks is seriously hilarious. A locker is almost a must if you don’t want to bump/floor even the most minor obstacle. That said, careful line choice and driving can make up for much of the suspensions shortcomings. Here’s how it sits after about 15 miles of fire road and some very mild wheeling. It has about 150-200lbs in the back. The shackle angle looks great.

 

[GeoRoss]

@GeoRoss

care to chime in with some kind of description of what you’ve done and where it put you height wise?

Sorry for the delay.

I put the CS009R light duty rear springs on in July 2016

Measuring from the center hub to the fender:

Prelift: PS 18 1/2"
DS 18 1/4"

Post Liftr: PS 22 3/4"
DS 23 1/4"

The ride was super stiff. I loaded about 575lbs of concrete bricks for about 3 months too. The ride was much smoother, but who wants to ride around with concrete pavers?
Post lift +575llbs:
PS 21"
DS 21"

After removing the pavers and a year post-lift there was no change in lift hight. I removed the lowest overload leaf. Ride quality was much better, but almost no change in lift. 3 1/2 years post lift and 18,000 miles:
PS 22 5/8"
DS 22 3/4"

I'm still sporting a pretty good stinkbug and my shackle angles are not that great. I may delve into your hybrid pack option. I'm waiting for the 225/75 R16 tires to wear out before I do something different.

 

[ntsqd]

I've lost track of what I've taken out (likely documented in my build thread), but it is still all OME leaves and it is not that high in the rear. Just measured it the same as GeoRoss to see how it compared.

21.5" DS
21.25" PS

No massive weight in the rear, just my normal 4x4 gear.

 

[joseywales]

Sorry for the delay.

I put the CS009R light duty rear springs on in July 2016

Measuring from the center hub to the fender:

Prelift: PS 18 1/2"
DS 18 1/4"

Post Liftr: PS 22 3/4"
DS 23 1/4"

The ride was super stiff. I loaded about 575lbs of concrete bricks for about 3 months too. The ride was much smoother, but who wants to ride around with concrete pavers?
Post lift +575llbs:
PS 21"
DS 21"

After removing the pavers and a year post-lift there was no change in lift hight. I removed the lowest overload leaf. Ride quality was much better, but almost no change in lift. 3 1/2 years post lift and 18,000 miles:
PS 22 5/8"
DS 22 3/4"

I'm still sporting a pretty good stinkbug and my shackle angles are not that great. I may delve into your hybrid pack option. I'm waiting for the 225/75 R16 tires to wear out before I do something different.

View attachment 2169370

I’m 99% sure you got the heavy springs somehow. Mine have less than 20,000 on them, I have zero weight in the back, zero stinkbug, and zero issues with how soft and comfy the ride is.

 

[BlueCruiser84]

I think Geoross got the correct springs. He just didn’t lift the front. His lift height experience pretty much matches mine.

I’m pretty much at 21” even center of hub to fender lip with these modified spring packs.