looking for information on a spring over conversion kit 70 series. havent found a whole out there wondering if anyone could help out
Spring over conversion
- Thread starter Cory Trochimchuk
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
Hi all,
Cory, there is no such thing as a "spring over" kit. Doing this sort of suspension change requires some custom work.
Where are you located? There may be a Land Cruiser shop in your area that can perform this kind of suspension conversion.
For the home mechanic, lots of the info on SOA swaps (SOA=Spring Over Axle) in the 40/45/55 and 60/62 Series sections here on MUD will transfer to the 70/75 Series.
Some Land Cruiser venders offer conversion parts, such as cut and turned front axle housings:
http://www.cruiseroutfitters.com/customfab.html
(Note, some feel the cut and turn is not always required for a SOA swap.)
Do some searching here on MUD and be sure to ask questions; I know of at least two GWN 'Cruiserheads that have SOA BJ74s.
Regards,
Alan
Cory, there is no such thing as a "spring over" kit. Doing this sort of suspension change requires some custom work.
Where are you located? There may be a Land Cruiser shop in your area that can perform this kind of suspension conversion.
For the home mechanic, lots of the info on SOA swaps (SOA=Spring Over Axle) in the 40/45/55 and 60/62 Series sections here on MUD will transfer to the 70/75 Series.
Some Land Cruiser venders offer conversion parts, such as cut and turned front axle housings:
http://www.cruiseroutfitters.com/customfab.html
(Note, some feel the cut and turn is not always required for a SOA swap.)
Do some searching here on MUD and be sure to ask questions; I know of at least two GWN 'Cruiserheads that have SOA BJ74s.
Regards,
Alan
Not sure if I am included in that list, but I do have a SOA BJ74 based in the GWN. In fact, Ziploc was on the cover of the Toyota trails very recently!
SOA has plusses and minuses...
They work fantastic off-road. The clearance from getting the springs above the axles is excellent, and the articulation and performance makes a SOA 74 on 38-40" tires quite awesome.
But, there are some problems. Everything that makes the SOA great off-road, becomes a liability on-road. Specifically , the suspension will have large amounts of squat, dive, and roll, and leaf springs cannot manage axle wrap, requiring some sort of anti-wrap technology. Not to bad about town, but a handful on the freeway. I could do freeway speeds though, but it was a handful. I preferred to tow the truck rather than try to drive it as a result.
Personally, my build included:
Front axle: -
Factory front housing, perches cut off, and new spring perches welded onto the top of the housing.
Hubs widened 3" with now-unobtanium "Sky Manufacturing" IFS widening kit.
4x4 Labs steering arms.
70 Series special shafts with the long splines for the factory cable locker, Longfield birfs, and longfield hub gears.
4.88 gears with factory cable locker.
Custom made steering ram, home tapped steering box for ram-assist steering.
Factory leaf springs, but re-drilled center bolt to move axle forward about 2"
Cut lower fenders up about 1.5" for extra tire clearance.
~40" tires.. either my winter tires... 39.5" Irok's, or my Expo Tires, 40.5" Michelins.
NO cut/turn of the knuckles on my build.
Extended brake lines, and re-mount locker cables to reach axle.
Rear Axle:
Factory housing. Hubs widened with spacers.
Perches cut/new ones installed.
Anti-wrap controlled with a custom 'Bam-Bar' device.
Removed rear brake proportion device.
4.88 gears on factory cable locker
Extended brake lines, and re mount locker cables and parking brake cable to reach axle.
I managed to avoid a cut/turn of the front axle knuckles by extending the driveline with a Marlin Toybox, with a resulting custom cross member. This made the front drive shaft nice and long, and made the angles nice and manageable. I also kept the front drive shaft angles in control through using factory not-lifted springs, moving the axle forward, and cutting the body rather than cutting the knuckles.
The only thing I bout was the 4x4 labs arms. SOA is a pretty custom job.
Lotsa work in other words.....
Does it really have to be SOA?
