Spring Over Mistake on 74 FJ40 (1 Viewer)

[TinoFJ40]

‘74 FJ40
A few years ago I wanted to redo the suspension and add a little lift to my 74. A friend had his done by Brian at BTB in ‘97, back when they were still in San Jose. I convinced myself I wanted the same setup: reverse shackles, spring over, Rancho RS 9000’s, etc. I had the work completed, and I couldn’t be more bummed. Worst mistake! Ride is terrible and has zero flex.
Any suggestions on best setup to revert back to something that actually rides nice and has at least some articulation? I’ve looked into OME and Bilstein setups; both have good reviews. Not going for a rock warrior, mainly weekend fire roads with the kids and beach trips.
thanx

 

[whitey45]

That’s odd, springover is the easiest way to retain a soft ride and have good flex. Have you tried all shock adjustments? I used to run on no.1 soft setting. Looks like the shackles are over tightened. Make sure everything is free and bushings have grease. Springs appear to be stock factory? I have always loved running springover...

 

[1969FJ]

I still can never understand why people re- engineer a design so well proven.

 

[bikersmurf]

It looks like the shackles for the front spring are all wrong. I'd fix the shackles, and angles and get decent shocks. Done right it will work better than SUA.

 

[cruisermatt]

@TinoFJ40 do you know what brand/make springs you have? A simple swap to some used stock springs might be all you're looking for. Good shocks, properly setup for your vehicle, are super important too. I'm not crazy about those front shackles either.

 

[Downey]

1. I agree that Ranchos are the arm pit of all shock absorbers.
2. You want ultra soft shocks on the rear (heavy engine up front, empty bed out back)- - -avoid rear end bounce.
3. Downey never offered SOA conversions because of the law (VESC #12, back in the day), plus they could never be defended in a court of law.

 

[RLMS]

From a shackle stand point. Yours are too short, they are smashed shut, do too the center bar being longer than the width of the installed bushing. The shackle should be french'd into the frame to keep the leaf center eye to eye needs to be as close the a earth horizontal line as possible. That keeps the leaf spring from bucking and allows it to compress and move. In order to fix it correctly you would have to redo the axle cut and turn , hangers front and rear, as well as shocks and shock towers. We set up our SOA's with a front 4-5" length shackle (french'd) into the frame. and the rear spring gets a 5" We get a massive amount of flex, while retaining great highway manners. 14 years of that setup has never let us down. 20-22" with 37"s from the ground to the bottom of the frame is our static height.

 

[workingdog]

Sorry you're having this trouble. The work does not look like it was well done.

@RLMS - Should he consider un-reversing the shackles? Would that be easier? Return it to stock geometry. It can be hard to find someone with the skill to french in hangers locally. And, looking at the pinion, I'm not sure they cut and turned the axle when they did it.

 

[-MaTTi-]

How is the steering done? Right side arm.

 

[pbgbottle]

I Love my SOA. Nice and soft. I do have soft shocks on it also just some cheapies but they work. I put my shackles through the frame on the front leaf springs also. But I’ve had mine like yours on my other rig and it was fine also. I did remove a leaf from each spring pack on that rig. On my rig I drive now I have added an extra stock leaf to my spring packs as they where getting too soft. ,, this should be the softest ride around something must be wrong or you haven’t driven a cruiser with lift springs.
They are brutal. And yours is actually soft lol