PE Suspension (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Jun 7, 2003
Threads
11
Messages
105
Hello Everyone,

Has anyone installed a Pinnacle Engineering 3" Suspension on an FJ60? If so, please help me with the following questions:

1. Are there any instructions available or does anyone have any tips on the installation?
2. Anything to specifically to look out for or problems?
3. Which process or step was the most tedious?
4. Do the brake lines need to be extended at all?

Thanks for your help, abd sorry for all the questions.


Regards,


Chuck
 
60kitbreakdown


this comes from jt outfitters and if you look closly, you'll see the rear springs have different part numbers.

you'll NEED an actylene torch, my frame pins were a real treat to get out. and one of them is RIGHT next to the gas tank!!

the kits doesn't include anything for the anti-sway bar, so i just removed mine(the bushings were spent anyway). i've had no bad side affects from this.

i've had MINOR problems with the rear shackles inverting, however this could be from the rear crossmember the shocks mount to, rusted/broke off after the new shocks were on it. i'm fixing that and a few other things now.

the hardest part about the install was removing the old stuff. all the new stuff went on cleanly and easliy.
 
you dont have to have a actylene torch. i didnt use one and i was fine. Rear shackles can invert so watch out for that. Check your leaf springs and make sure the leaf spring pin is installed the right way. My front pins were upside down :slap: ??? It took myself and a friend 13 1/2 hours to get everything installed correctly. Air tools are great to have and a big hammer. The brake lines do not have to be extended and you dont have to get extend sway bars either. I do recommend you extend the sway bars though. I will eventually but it hasnt caused any problems yet. I put a heavy duty steering stabalizer on and that works out well. I have wider tires (33x12.5) so i figured it was a good idea.

Good luck to you and drink a cold one when your done :beer:
:cheers:
 
Thanks Brian & tclndcrz for your replies. I have that diagram from the JT Outfitters website, I just need to print it out for reference, to double check on the leaf spring #s. Tclndcrz, could you please elaborate on the correct way that the spring pins need to be installed so I don't make the same boo-boo? Seems starnge that they did not include some instructions... :(

Thanks a bunch!


Chuck
 
From what i remember (its been a few months) The round side of the pin is facing upwards and the nut is on the bottom side.
 
The round (top) part of the pin goes into the center hole of your spring perch. If you run extended shackles you will need a taller spring pin so the caster shims will fit between the leaf pack and the perch with enough left over to still fit in the center hole for spring placement.
 
The full military wrap side of the leaf spring faces the center of the truck. It says in the picture.

Im at school right now but when i get home ill take pictures and post them. So about an hour or so.
 
this is stock springs just to show you the wrap
 
if you want a different angle or any more info just let me know. and excuse any dirt... i still need to clean some things up from last night.
 
One of my peeves with suspension installs is cutting off the excess ubolt ends. I've done them under the truck with both sawzalls and grinder cutoff wheels - still a PITA. If you can figure the length and cut them before they're under the truck (chamfer the corners), you'll be way ahead when you have to go back to put in caster shims.
 
yeah dude ubolts suck. to get the nuts off, to tighten down, and to chop down to size. I still want to shorten mine a little more and then put a 45 on them so i can put on and remove nuts when needed. Oh yeah and i want to put some paint on them so they dont rust out or anything.
 
Wow tclndcrz,

Thanks a bunch for all the photos. Great reference when I get around to it. It's been pouring here in Texas, so I haven't been able to do anything with the truck.

I really appreciate your help and taking the time to take the shots.

Regards,


Chuck
 
Well, I finally got around to installing the PE Suspension Kit. Wow, what a JOB! I spent about 6 hours EACH for the rears last week and today it took 8 hours to complete both the fronts. Like I said, what a chore!

I did not have much trouble at all removing the pins, except for the first one I started with (driver's rear). JT Outfitters messed me up also when the front leaf springs had the center pin reversed. Let's see, the toughest part was lining up the rear shock perch(s) to the leaf springs. A lot of coaxing was involved. The fronts were much easier to line up. I ended up using the bottle jack to help "move" the differential to the center pins. Tighting the U-Bolts were also time consuming as I had the suspension pretty low to the ground (so that the perch would not pop out of the leaf spring), so I couldn't use a deep socket, so I ended up using a open end wrench.

I also found that the front shock lower bushings were a really tight fit, and required using a rubber mallet to bash the shocks in with the use of a lot of grease to make it more slippery. I think that maybe PE need to correct that problem. I was also surprised that was able to knock out all the pins and bushings with a regular hammer. Just use slow deliberate strokes to power them out. That worked for me quite well.

I will get some photos later this week, as I'm totally pooped now.

Thanks everyone for helping me out!


Cheers,


Chuck
 
The PE does not suck any more to install than any other 60/55 series suspension. The thing I dont get is why do you need the torch on the 60 suspensions but not the 40? Stock is stock, right? I always need to burn out the 60 series bushings and it sucks.

Seems like it took you a while to do the swap/ In general I charge $400 labor for a suspension. I think I need to charge more for a 60 series :flipoff2: they alway seem to be a PITA!

I have had mixed results with the PE. Please let us all know how it feels now, @ 5K, @10K etc...

It looks good and seems to have a good rep overall. I have begun to thinhk I might have been wrong on not liking them in the past.
 
Ive had about 3 k on my suspension and it rides really well. A lot better than stock. and i think it flexes better too.

good work installing it and...

WE NEED PICTURES! :D
 
Here are some photos as promised...
 

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