OME Springs on FJ55

[Sixty's Guy]

After noticing the massive difference between the driving comfort of my 60 compared to my 55 I did a bit of research on springs available in Aus.

Dobinsons, Terrain Tamer and Belton all make springs for the 55 here and all are more expensive than OME springs. Also each manufacturer makes only one set of springs, whereas OME make three sets for the 60 - light, medium and heavy.

These are the measurements that I have found doing research on the net;

Front - total length - Fixed end - Shackle end
FJ55 - 1100mm - 550mm - 550mm
FJ60 - 1100mm - 550mm - 550mm

Rear - total length - Fixed end - Shackle end
FJ55 - 1200mm - 600mm - 600mm
FJ60 - 1220mm - 565mm - 655mm

This would need new spring hangers and fixed pin mounts, but it would be nice to have all the suspension to be 'standard' Landcruiser as in bushes, springs, shackles, shackle pins etc.

Food for thought............

 

[rsbcruiser]

No way! You can get 55 springs in Aus.. Another reason to be envious of you guys and your Cruiser stuff. The length info you posted is very informative. I myself am trying to deal with the same issue. One thought is that the 55 ought to ride about the same as a 60. If your springs are rusty betweeen the leafs then they wil stick everytime they reach a static state. Therefore, the roughness you feel is the surface of the leafs switching from static to dynamic friction (sticking). The change in friction modes causes a momentary rigidity that produces the roughness you feel. (Of course, I am not taking into account the original spring stiffness or their current metallurgical condition) I myself am considering adapting a set of 60 springs to the front of my 55. Therefore your info is very helpfull to me. Doing the swap will require either welding new 60 spring perches to my current axle or moving the spring mounts outboard and a 60 front axle. Hmmmm, time to munch some thought food. Thanks for the grub Sixty's guy. Oh and a side note. I put Rancho 9000 shocks on my 55 (adjustable). The front I have set at 3 (average damping), the back 1 (light damping). These settings are for comfort on pavement. Hel[ed some but still rough.

 

[Sixty's Guy]

Hi, no worries about the info. Would new spring perches have to be used? I thought that only new shackle hangers and fixed pin mounts would have to be welded to the chassis. Did I miss something?

The OME Dakar springs have the friction pads in them as well as having the three different spring rates, making for a great ride. The others are a lot more expensive (AUD prices);

Dobinson - $1024
Terrain Tamer - $1082
Belton - $770
OME (FJ60) - $650 - approximately, haven't confirmed this

Will also have to pay freight on the other spring brands whereas there is an OME shop in the next suburb. Also the others only come in the one spring rate. The money I would save by using OME Dakar springs would go towards paying for the mounting hardware. Mounting hardware will cost will cost about $440. Welding is no issue - I'll tack them into place and get the welding shop next to work to weld them properly.

I will probably install Bilstein shocks as well. Very happy with them on my 60.

 

[Grease Cruiser]

Hi, no worries about the info. Would new spring perches have to be used? I thought that only new shackle hangers and fixed pin mounts would have to be welded to the chassis. Did I miss something?


I will probably install Bilstein shocks as well. Very happy with them on my 60.

The only reason to change the perches would be if you were using 60 axles which are wider than the 40/55 axles. In fact, you would not really be changing the perches, you would be outboarding the springs, to accept the wider perch placement on the axle.

Bilsteins are the way to go.

You might also look at 75 springs.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/fj55-iron-pig-preservation-society/203518-ome-fj55-suspension.html

I am running OME HZJ75 springs on my 55. I had to move the shackle hanger on the rear springs back 5" (approx 130mm). The front springs bolted in but moved the axle forward just a little. I had to filp the spring around so the military wrap part of the spring is on the shackle side.

I'll probably end up doing a shackle reversal on it and move the axle back to the original location but for now it works. I've got 2,000+ miles on the OME springs and they ride great.

In case you were wondering, I have a 1978 FJ55 that has the 18mm spring pins and shackles like a 60 series. All I did was cut the rivots and move the hanger back and weld it back on.

I take it your 55 has the 14mm spring pins and shackles? I would suggest buying separate OME bushings that have the 14mm hole and putting them in the OME 60 or 75 springs. I think that would work.

Good luck.

 

[rsbcruiser]

OK Sixties guy, I could be wrong about having to use 60 spring perches with 60 springs. My understanding is that 60 springs are wider and that they have a different size alignment pin. Also, 60 axles are wider by 3 inches so switching to them would suggest that you will have to hack the 60 axles or go wih a 60 back axle to match. Let me go back and reread this thread. Probably misread something.

 

[rsbcruiser]

Ok, went back and reread everything. Grease Cruiser, do your sixty springs overhang the 55 perches? If they do then maybe no big deal, right?

Next, lets address the spring posititon issue. Now imagine (I know, it is physically imposssible but lets do it anyway) that you moved your springs inboard untill they almost touched each other. Your rig would then have dynamite flex but you would be sacrificing control. Imagine going around a corner with speed. so if you went outboard then I bet you could get away with a less rigid spring.

There are quite a few posts in 40s' tech about guys who dismantled their springs packs, cleaned them up, coated the contact surfaces with a friction reducer and reasssembled. maybe that would be your low buck solution. They have also been known to remove a spring, reducing the spring rate. Don't know how that would affect your ride height.

Another one, several 40s' guys have put 55 rear springs on their 40 front. Usually accompanied by shackle reversal. SR is loaded with contoversy, that subject is well covered in 40 tech.

Good luck!

 

[Sixty's Guy]

Ok, thanks guys. Not looking to use 60 diffs, just want the springs. I didn't realise that some FJ55's had 18mm pins - lucky you! So mine are 14mm(?) pins and 25mm(?) eyes? - definetley not 18mm pins (75 model). Do OME make 35mm OD, 14mm ID bushes?

Grease Cruiser, I see what you have done - that's a relatively easy way to do it! The 75 front springs are 40mm longer at the shackle end than 60 springs, so that might work for you. Also smart work on the rear springs not having to move the front spring mount. I don't think that I can move mine back 5" as I also have a gas (propane) tank there and I think the shackles would interfere with it. Also as I want (need) to replace the spring mounts anyway I think I will stick with using 60 springs.

I also checked the OME price today for all 4 springs - $624. Local fab shop said they would make new hangers for me for 'approx.' $200. So this does seem to be a slightly cheaper way to go.

 

[n2666s]

have had alcans now for about a year and very happy........price was reasonable believe quite a bit less than what you are being quoted in OZ.....also used greasable pins/shackes and new polyurethane bushings and OME shocks.......BIG difference on the feel while driving; alcan has great tech support and you can call and talk with them tell them what you will be using your rig for + how much load you usually carry and they will make the set to your specs......sweet deal I thought and am still happy after a year....my 0.02 HTH

Lou

 

[Sixty's Guy]

Bit of an update on my research.... I pulled one of the shackles off last night. I have 18mm pins - woohoo. The bushes are 18mm ID and 30mm OD. I also measured the front spring mounts, centre to centre - FJ55 = 1070mm, FJ60 = 1060 == close enough.

So on the front I should be able to use;
FJ55 greaseable pins with OME FJ60 bushes (fixed pin end)
FJ60 shackles
FJ55 spring bushes on the chassis shackle mount
FJ60 front springs
FJ60 OME spring bushes on the bottom of the shackle

Looks like the military wrap may hit the chassis on the fixed pin end. This is exacerbated by the OME Dakar springs having a 40mm bush opening - they then sleeve this with a bush to make it 35mm. I'll look at this more tonight.