parabolics

[nuclearlemon]

got home at 7:30 to find my parabolics here. excitement went south when i found one ubolt and all the bushings were wrong (all the bushings are the same, but the pins on the front springs aren't as big as the rear, and they measure 3 1/2" shoulder to shoulder which is about 1/2" too wide). i did some grinder work on one front and shoved it in just to see. bolt heads on center pins are too large also, so i'll have to open up the ubolt plate. i'll do that when i get the correct bushings. can't wait to get it running and check them out.

 

[65swb45]

There's just something about that 'get it running' part.............

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

I think I can dig out the bushing #'s I used..
Stock FJ45 with thin shoulder in rear. FJ40 ID top in front fj60 od on spring thin shoulder on front springs.. TOok many of my existing brain cells to get it right but I acutally figured it out on the front springs without having to grind the springs..
That rectangle ubolt is just weird!

 

[nuclearlemon]

i ddin't grind the spring...i ground the shoulder on the bushing. i'd rather screw up a $2 bushing than a $200 spring.

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

I had some old bushings sitting around the house as well and took a belt sander to mine. I don't have one of those fancy belt sanders on a stand but I have a belt sander and a bench vise!
the fronts will be more tricky.. I used FJ60 bushings in the back I seem to remember.

 

[nuclearlemon]

hehehehe....belt sander is fancy to me...i just used the grinder. only one burn from the hot poly to nurse today.

 

[buckroseau]

I'm anxious to get your opinion on your parabolics.

Are you using your rig mostly on-road or off-road?

Matt

 

[nuclearlemon]

i use mine on garage floor

 

[buckroseau]

i use mine on garage floor

Yea, me too. I was just hoping yours would be out of the garage sooner than mine so I could get some feedback.

Matt

 

[Chef]

Y'all, I'm sorry about the bushings. I told Paul at tic in great detail what was wrong, and EC sent him dimension of the bushings we used to make it right...Paul assured me he had new bushings made that were correct. I apologise as that seems not to be the case. I really did try to get him to make it right. I suggest that you all email him and express your concerns politely, maybe he will still send correct bushings at some point. Though I doubt any of us want to take the time for that to happen One of our club members mounted 40 series springs in a spring over setup. He will be at Razorback. He says that they flex like mad in soa...At any rate, I think you will be pleased with the springs performance once mounted.

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

Mine work great in the garage!
The only time I had my truck out was in the pics in the trails.. Flexed like mad, rode awesome.. WHen I catch up on other project trucks then I'll get back to the FJ45.. you all will probably beat Chef and I in the race tho.. We're slooooow.

 

[nuclearlemon]

hehehehehe...look no longer garage springs now they're driveway springs

 

[nuclearlemon]

ok, the last spring is "on". couldn't find the correct bushings for the front yet, so i'll just order them from a$phincter. the local 4wpw drone was useless in assisting me the the 20 or so other shops in the denver metro area apparently are either closed on holiday weekends or closed on weekends altogether.

front bushing should be a 15mm i.d., 1 3/8" o.d. with a .125 shoulder. the rear bushings are fine i.d and o.d, but the shoulder is completely wrong and i don't see anything with a small enough shoulder (it has to be wafer thin to fit, or grind the spring). if i was planning on wheeling the rig or daily driving, i would pull the rears back out and grind the spring so i could run a somewhat normal shouldered bushing.

also, the front springs have some horridly huge ass center pin/nut combo, so plan on a lot of dremel work on your spring plate to get it to fit over the center pin.

the ubolt issue is squared away. one kit comes with five ubolts...the fifth one was the square one...apparently to fit other applications. also, they ubolts are specific to front or rear (or at least they were in my application), so check the length first (i didn't).

finally, plan on a lot of time with the flame to get the 40 year old bushings and pins out...made for some cool pics though.

 

[nuclearlemon]

lift is minimal, but i do see it as long as the springs don't settle, it will be about what was stated (50mm iirc). hopefully they'll ride good...well, off to clean up the mess i made grinding down bushings to make them fit.

here's before and after of rear wheel wells.