SOA vs. SUA

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Do not do the SOA unless you, a.) Know exactly WHY you want to do it, b.) can do it yourself, and, c.) are willing to spend the money on the work, new rims, tires, and re-gearing.

This will cost you more than a really good streetable SUA suspension kit. Go Dakar oe similar. You can do it yourself and save some bucks.

M
 
A. I want to be able to go more places than I can currently. Need 36" min.
B. Just need better tools
C. Going to make a shopping list.

I have done my share of thinking and I am close to making a decision. My current hangup is springs. I need better ones!! Should I just go and buy OME heavies for the SOA conversion?

:beer:
 
No, get a stock set and be happy.
 
You do realize that with stock springs in a SOA setup, there is no way you are going to run 38's on that 60. You will need a much larger lift spring and then SOA to fit those.

Just out of curiosity, why the hell do you want to run 38's? You want to do a diesel conversion right? I have read your posts and you have posted on my thread (my Cummins 4BT conversion) about how you want to do a diesel conversion.

I also remember that you want to run up mountain passes at 70mph towing a snow mobile trailer. Now, realistically speaking, do you think this is a good idea? I am not saying it can't be done but you are really going to have to tweak a diesel motor to do what you want to do.

FWIW, I have my 60 sprung over. I love it, the ride is great and I have an adjustable shock that I can tweak to stiffen or loosen the ride.
I would not recommend the OME heavy duty springs. they are for serious expedition use for carrying heavy loads all the time. they ride like s*** when there is no weight on them. Trust me, they are a bone jarring experience.
Why do you feel that it is necessary to run a heavy duty spring? What do you plan on carrying?

If you are interested in a set of flat 60 springs that are in good shape, PM. I have a set that I should get rid of.

Also, where do you plan on going with 38's that you can't get to with 35's? 60's are not a great rig for rock crawling. They are too heavy and the rear over hang is too long. Unless, you plan on bobbing it, I would stay with 35's and call it good.
 
Grease Cruiser above is right , you will struggle running 38's with a 6 cyl diesel and if you want 70 mph hill passes towing a snow mobile forget it.

A SOA setup is great but if you want to pull a s*** load weight in a trailer then your probably building the wrong rig in my opinion .
, but spring it over for a great trailrig , and as for springs spend as little as possible on a good second hand set of stock height springs
and they will be fine .

Also remember for more articulation a flatter spring is better than a heavily arched spring like a 6 inch lift spring , imagine youve got a flat metal ruler and you bend it by pushing the ends in , it will go up in an arch as much as it will go down,
know try doing the same thing to that ruler that is heavily arched for example a 6"lift spring , and you will find it will have very little droop unless you run a ridiculosly long shackle and the swing of that shackle is the actuall droop and not the spring arching , thats not to say that it wont fall away but it wont fall away much as the same length flat spring.

Good luck , i know its a prick cause there so many different options that you can choose from but your doing the right thing and asking for peoples opinions , and after a bit of research you will come up with the best solution that suit you .

Cheers
Hey Charger.
 
I was considering going with 36" tires instead. I have been pondering in the long hours of the night about this.

Yes to a diesel in the future, and yes tweaked. Remember, there is no such thing as too much power.

No to the 70 mph over the mountains. After driving the LC more and more, the more I realize that going fast dosen't matter. I'll just have to leave earlier.

As for the heavies, I have been weighing the pros and cons of stiff springs, and I am deciding to go without them. I only do the heavy weight thing a couple of times a year. I think that you're right, I'll pick up a set of flat stockers. I do the wood thing as well as random power equipment for my camp only occasionally, so I'll take your advice.

I need fuel, so I'll think more an post later. BTW, I apologise for anyone that i might be pissing off with this rant, but I am just feeling my way around this new world of suspension options.

Thank you Grease Cruiser and Hey Charger as well as everyone else for helping me out.


:beer:
 
Not to muddy the waters any more but don't forget all springs lose arch/lift over time, even quicker when wheeled,even quicker on my SOA OME H/H..........it's true they are stiff unless loaded
IMHO err "on the more lift" side

Good Luck and Have FUN!
 
No worries.

Take your time, ask around. Research, research, research. Take your time and you will come up with the right kind of rig you need/want. Good luck.
 
Ok .. I'm right now able to run 38" ( I test it in my TLC ) with normal flex ( stock fenders ) but to run 38" fine, I thought you must need at least 4.56 and Marks T-Case Gears ( underdrive ) or 4.88 al least ( 5.29 better ) with H55F off course.

Then you need, 2.5" springs + shackle reversal + extended shackles rear, and off coruse SO.

With those both points ready = 38" :grinpimp:
 
That is the breakdown that I was looking for. Thanks!!

:beer:
 
I'm going to go with a SOA setup. I'm planning on buying new springs, but I am unsure as to whether or not I'm going to get OMEs. Thanks to lowtideride's advice, I'm going to have my steering arms bent up for a high steer setup, and then get some anti-inversion shackles to boot. Tires will be 38 by 12.5 inch MTRs which are supposed to tuck into the wells. It'll be sick when it's done!

:beer:
 
When are you going to do this? I just replaced a set of custom-modified arms like Lowtideride's with Marlin Hi-Steer, ran then for five years with zero problems including some pretty heavy-duty rock-crawling. Let me know if you're interested, make me an offer.
 
If they ran good, then why did you replace them? What did you replace them with? The Marlin High Steer kit costs around $400 if I'm not mistaken, so what do you want? What does it include?

:beer:
 
I don't know about bending steering arms for 38" tires. That just sounds like a lot. If you go more than stock springs on a SOA expect to do a cut and turn. I personally would do a C&T with stock springs. It's going to give you better castor angles as well as getting your driveline out of the way. Cause 38" are going to wander.

And as far as cost. Plan on it being twice as much as you think it is. I would really like to see the one that was done for 70$. Perches, brake lines, new gaskets for knuckle (just the gaskets not the seals) Shocks (I think everyone forgot about this) You cannot do a lift and expect any articulation without new shocks. All of this is well well well over 70$s.

And if you want it done right you can add in u-bolts, cut and turn, new seals for the front knuckles, bearing races for doing the knuckle turn, an anti wrap bar. You cannot safely drive a SOA cruiser with stock springs without one of these. Driveshaft modification and some sort of manufactured Hysteer kit.


And the most important is time. A lot of it. Do it right the first time. If you want a little more lift for little money get some shackles and be done with it. Save your money to do it right. 38"s on a cruiser is big. You need everything working right in order to pull it off. But I don't think you are going to like it without re-gearing and that's going to be some bling. :grinpimp:
 
GLTHFJ60 said:
Tires will be 38 by 12.5 inch MTRs which are supposed to tuck into the wells. It'll be sick when it's done! :beer:
Click to expand...

38" MTR .. ! are you sure .. ? the max tire size that I see in MTR are 40" but in wheel 17. Other nex ( downside ) option are 37" but not 38" if are new, there are good new for me .. :D
 
I have a 1985 FJ 60. I already have it up 2.5 inches and am wanting to go with an SOA lift. I only need the bear minimum to just keep it rolling. Comfort is no matter because it's a secondary vehicle. I need to know what I NEED not what would be best to have. What parts are a must have for a sucessful soa conversion. Can parts and labor be kept to under a grand because thats all Im looking to spend. And is it even worth it on a cruiser that already has 211K on it.
 
I have been putting together a laundry list of items for the SOA conversion. I want to do everything right, so I have started many threads and posted many ideas, and I think that this is what I want. I know that I will need new gears, shocks springs etc, but I think that I have it covered. I want a lift, but I want to do everything that I will need in one shot as opposed to rebuilding it a million times.

:beer:
 
GLTHFJ60 said:
If they ran good, then why did you replace them? What did you replace them with? The Marlin High Steer kit costs around $400 if I'm not mistaken, so what do you want? What does it include?

:beer:
Click to expand...

I'm replacing them because I'm going to hydro-assist steering and figured I'd upgrade everything on the steering at the same time. I'm replacing them with a Marlin Hi-Steer kit.

All I'm offering are the arms, plus my stock steering components if you're interested. PM me with an offer.
 
PM sent. Thank you very much Exiled, that works out well for the both of us!

I now have steering

:beer:
 
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