OME rear heavy spring problem (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Threads
229
Messages
793
Location
East York, Canada
I bought a set of 1 year old OME heavy springs from a fellow MUD member. He had bought them from Iron Pig Off Road and had used them on his HJ60 for roughly a year.
I installed the front leaf springs on to my HJ60 without any problems.
Upon installing the rear leaf springs I noticed that things didn't look right. The rear axle housing was now set back at least a couple of inches. The axle housing is now not centered in the wheelwell. I thought that I had installed them backwards so I removed them and re-installed them flipped around. Now the axle housing was again not centered but was too far forward!!!
How can this be??
I ended up putting back my original springs back on the rear.
The previous owner had them on the same truck but for some reason doens't fit properly on mine. Now before someone makes the suggestion that maybe my leaf spring mounting bracket oin my truck had been moved at one time by a previous owner the answer to that is no. Everything on my truck is as how it came from the factory.
Now what options do I have with these springs? I was thinking that I could carefully measure where the centering pin should go and drill another hole on to the leaf springs and moving the pin forward. Would this a bad idea?
Any help or suggestions would be welcome.......
 
Pics?

Almost sounds like you have a set of springs that are not from a 60 series. What shackles do you have for them?

:meh:
 
You could redrill your springs, people do it all of the time when they are making custom spring packs.
Pics would help, also measurements of the springs would help out too.
 
I didn't take any pics of the OME springs installed on my truck. But trust me, the axles was set back a coupld inches one way and a couple of inches the opposite way when the spring was reversed.
I'll have to get measurements of the distance of the centering pin to the spring eye center.
In the meantime does anyone know what these measurements for a OME heavy rear spring should be?
I too thought that maybe these springs are for another model Land Cruiser. But the previous owner had them on his HJ60......

I'm using the OME anti-inversion shackles, spring pins and bushings that I also got with the springs.
 
Definitely give us pictures. They do not sound like they're for a 60. Show us pictures of your frame as well.

EDIT: too slow. Measure between your shackle hanger and fixed mount on the frame, then between the eyes on the spring and report back.
 
I compared my original spring with the OME spring and saw that the OME spring was longer in length between spring eye to spring eye and it had a much greater arc than the original spring. The location of the centering pin was also further back compared to the original spring.
I'll have to post pics tomorrow.....
 
Do you have any pictures of the other guy's truck? It is possible he had a modification to the spring mounting locations.
 
No pics of the other truck. As far as I can remember he was parting it out so most likely its long gone.....

But here's another thought I had about the other guy's truck spring mounting point being modified, as it did cross my mind. Does OME make custom length springs? I don't recall that they do. So if these springs aren't for a 60 series then what do they fit on to?
There were markings on the OME springs which did correspond to heavy 60 series springs which makes this more puzzling!!
 
I believe the springs should be longer than stock, otherwise when they are given a greater arch they would be too short.

I would go back and put the springs on correctly, i.e. military wrap by the spring pins. Then I would make sure your rear driveshaft isn't stuck and not compressing enough to allow the axle to move back into place. IIRC, some folks had to use ratchet straps to wrangle the axle back into place to fit properly. Once everything is bolted up and weight is on it everything should move back where it is supposed to be. It just might require some finessing.

All of the above would be bunk though if the springs were for a different spec vehicle. Double check the spring part numbers.
 
As mentioned previously I did try installing the springs both with the military wrap in the spring pin end as well as in the shackle end. In either case the rear axle was either too far forward or too far rearward in the wheelwell.
As well the part number that was on the spring matched the part number of OME heavy spring packs....
 
Take the zerk out of the slip joint on the driveshaft so that it will slip forward better. Put the springs on with the military wrap to the spring pin end like the man said.
 
As mentioned previously I did try installing the springs both with the military wrap in the spring pin end as well as in the shackle end. In either case the rear axle was either too far forward or too far rearward in the wheelwell.
As well the part number that was on the spring matched the part number of OME heavy spring packs....

Ok, I'm not trying to be a smartass here, but lets do some deductive reasoning:

The numbers of the spring packs match up to the appropriate numbers for a FJ60.

You said that the spring and shackle hangers have not been modified from stock.

Therefore, the axle position should line up properly. The driveshaft is all that should be remaining attached and thereby is what's stopping the springs and axles from aligning properly.

Pull the zerk so it moves freely. If you or the p.o. overgreased it over the years it could be locked up from moving properly.
 
No it's not that the driveshaft is preventing the axle from lining up. I'm able to move the axle to wherever I want. It's the position of the spring cntering pin on the springs are in location that when the axle is centered over the pins the position, or alignment, of the axle is either too far back or too far forward.
In other words with everything bolted together it appears the wheelbase has been either lengthened or shortened.
 
Seriously Just take some pictures, that way we can see if your mounts are in the wrong place and so we have a better idea of your situation, did you get a chance to measure the differences between the springs, stock and new?
 
Hi All:

I've have had to "wrangle" lifted leaf springs into place before. Trying to locate a heavy-load and lifted leaf spring (with no weight on it) onto the axle tube can be a bear! :frown: :mad: :crybaby:

It takes some combination of jacking/lowering the springs (i.e. the frame) while maneuvering the axle assembly to get everything to line-up. Yes, it can be a real PITA!

Good luck!

Alan
 
Actually it looks like the other cruiser must have been a HJ60 on a 62 frame, because the 62 springs are longer. By the way, the guy I bought my HJ60 from, had bought a new one himself, but that was a 62 with a diesel.
 
FYI.. I have a 1986 FJ 60 with the OME heavy / heavy springs front and back. The front installed fine as well as the rear. My driveshafts are stock and the locations of the axles still permit the use of the stock driveshafts. Everything bolted up and works. The wheels look to me to be very close to the center of the wheel wheel...

Posting pictures to the board will help you get the answer.
 
Actually it looks like the other cruiser must have been a HJ60 on a 62 frame, because the 62 springs are longer. By the way, the guy I bought my HJ60 from, had bought a new one himself, but that was a 62 with a diesel.

If 62 springs are longer, they aren't longer by much. I had 62 springs on my 60 for years before I went SOA and the springs centered the axles perfectly.

In short, I have no knowledge of the 60 and 62 springs being different other than in leaf count.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom