Spring Over - with OME Leafs. (1 Viewer)

[dmaddox]

Hello,

Getting ready to start planning for the spring over project. I currently have medium load OME 2.5" springs. I do still have my stock springs.

Question 1: Should I use OME or stock?

Question 2: If I can use the OME springs, can I remove leafs?

Question 3: If I can remove leafs, how do I do this on the rear. There is a really thick overload flat leaf on the bottom, do I remove this plus one leaf? Or????

Question 4:Same question with the front leafs however there is not an overload bottome leaf.

Thank you

 

[2badfjs]

kurt from cruiseroutfit told me once that they never use the stock springs,alway a modified lifted spring, and start by removing the lower spring.

i trust kurts opinion...

i'm going to be doing the same thing with my skyjacker 2 1/2 springs..

 

[camcruiser13]

thats not what i heard, or is he tryin to make a sell kurt you here somewhere?

 

[ranger]

I've always used stock springs, mo flex.

 

[bustanutley]

stock, full pack, if you pull a leaf you will kill the pack quick like

 

[woody]

I would never use lifted springs on a SOA unless you plan on limited flex and huge tires....

I fit 39.5 IROK's on my low SOA, with fender trimming. With 37" tires aired at 4psi, I'm a nice and comfortable 20-3/4" to the bottom of the frame rail...about 23" with the 39.5" tires. VERY trail stable and capable. With my 1/4 ellip 4-link rear suspension, I can park one rear tire 60" in the air easily with the other 3 on the ground, yet it still handles the street at 60mph with ease.

I wheeled with someone running OME springs on his SOA FJ40.....I thought the flex was lacking, the stability was lacking, and it didn't put its traction to the trail well. Not impressed.

 

[2badfjs]

I would never use lifted springs on a SOA unless you plan on limited flex and huge tires....

I fit 39.5 IROK's on my low SOA, with fender trimming. With 37" tires aired at 4psi, I'm a nice and comfortable 20-3/4" to the bottom of the frame rail...about 23" with the 39.5" tires. VERY trail stable and capable. With my 1/4 ellip 4-link rear suspension, I can park one rear tire 60" in the air easily with the other 3 on the ground, yet it still handles the street at 60mph with ease.

I wheeled with someone running OME springs on his SOA FJ40.....I thought the flex was lacking, the stability was lacking, and it didn't put its traction to the trail well. Not impressed.

ok, maybe i'm wrong....

 

[cruiseroutfit]

kurt from cruiseroutfit told me once that they never use the stock springs,alway a modified lifted spring, and start by removing the lower spring...

True and false...

True, when we do a SOA for a customer, they are usually more than willing to pay for new springs. Well, new stock height springs arn't out there and I am a die-hard fan of the OME products. So, we take an OME spring, pull 1-2 leafs out and give them to the customer to put back in later. The springs will sag out rather quickly with the springs removed, generally to a great ride height with optimal flex. Then after several years of hard wheeling and lots of camping gear, you can add those springs back in to get some more life out of your packs.

However, if you have a decent set of stock springs, run them... unfortunetly, stock FJ40 springs in decent shape are getting harder and harder to find... and they do tend to get destroyed quickly in a SOA configuration... thus us using new DAKAR/OME springs on our conversions. There are dozens running around SLC this way... On my Cruiser, I used stock FJ60 rear springs with an OME additional leaf to help control axle wrap, in the front I use a stock FJ40 spring with a second main-leaf added (I cut the ends off the spring)... Has proven a great combo over the past years.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

stock, full pack, if you pull a leaf you will kill the pack quick like

Beg to differ... I have customers here in town running FJ60's on OME heavies with springs removed. The last one I was involved in (with the previous owner) was over 5 years ago, and he probably has 100k on the truck since then. It is a very heavy truck too... twin tanks, H55F, full skid, ARB, winch, Kaymar rear, roofrack, etc. Some of the 40's we have just done are the same results...

But, if you remove leafs from a 30 year old OEM pack, they will break... I have piles of SOA FJ60 leafs that show just that...

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Oh yeah... and when I get around to swapping springs on my FJ40, it will no doubtedly be to a set of mod'd OME Dakars... . There is no realy reason other than to get new springs and a better spring clamp compared to the OME ones

 

[woody]

Kurt, I'm running FJ55 rear packs on the front of my SOA....stock was 8 leaves, I have 7 in there now and it flex and works well.

However, since I tend to abuse my suspensions pretty hard, they are getting pretty beat...swapping a FJ60 rear Dakar pack would be easy (for me)...yer saying ya drop the overload and bottom leaf (or 2?) and let 'er flatten, then add those back later? How thick is the 60-rear pack without the overload installed?

always lookin at options, I'm still amazed I haven't snapped one of these packs (course, carrying a complete drop-in spare pack on the trailer does reduce the chances....lol)

 

[2badfjs]

THANX KURT!

 

[bustanutley]

Beg to differ... I have customers here in town running FJ60's on OME heavies with springs removed. The last one I was involved in (with the previous owner) was over 5 years ago, and he probably has 100k on the truck since then. It is a very heavy truck too... twin tanks, H55F, full skid, ARB, winch, Kaymar rear, roofrack, etc. Some of the 40's we have just done are the same results...

But, if you remove leafs from a 30 year old OEM pack, they will break... I have piles of SOA FJ60 leafs that show just that...

Yeah I was speaking in terms of stock fj40 packs on a 40 in SOA especially with a 2F still in place, I have a bad attendancy to leave out info in my thoughts :whoops:

My front pack is stock fj40 and is completly flat now after 4 months of driving/ wheeling. Full pack, 45 deg angle on shackle. The packs were in good shape when I put them on. Flex is great, I just think with my front end with any less leafs they would be taxed. I can't speak for the rears because I do not run fj40 rears.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

...Flex is great, I just think with my front end with any less leafs they would be taxed. I can't speak for the rears because I do not run fj40 rears.

I completely agree... removing leafs from the OEM stuff is asking for trouble...

What rears are you running?

 

[bustanutley]

I'm running stock XJ rears flipped but in the furthest forward position on my spring perches. I have added 2 leafs, one main with the eyes cut off and one second leaf shortened a bit as well. They work really well; they sit with just a slight amount of arch, flex like crazy and put me right at the wheel base I was shooting for (102"). I just need to relocate shock mounts so I can take full advantage of their flex, and make retainer clips (I have no idea what they are actually called) so the silly things will stop fanning out.

 

[dmaddox]

Thanks for the replies. From what I am hearing - and I would love to ask you more questions via telephone Kurt - here are my results:

I have medium Old man emu FJ40 front and rear leaf setups.

1. Remove from the rear the bottom (flat) overload and the next (short) leaf.
2. Remove just the bottom leaf from the front pack.

I can use this configuration until they start to sag, and then add the leafs back in.

Am I hearing you correct? I am running stock 2F, and plan on using 35" tires at least.

I am currently looking fo:

1. what springs to use
2. what rims/wheels to use
3. what steering setup to use
4. where I can find some 5.XX ring&pinions
5. how to swap my 4speed tcase for a 3speed

thanks for all the input

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Thanks for the replies. From what I am hearing - and I would love to ask you more questions via telephone Kurt - ...

Give me a call
801-518-3937

 

[Josie'sLandCruiser]

Hi All:

Though many folks have done the SOA swap on the 40 Series using the stock spring packs, the trend over the last few years is to use longer spring packs in order to achieve more suspension travel and to lengthen the vehicle's wheelbase.

55 Series wagon rear spring packs are a popular choice for SOA swaps on 40 Series TLCs - 60 Series rear springs work just as well, while being easier to find in good condition.

Currently have two 'Cruiser buddies running SOA FJ40s - one has stock 40 Series springs on the front, and stock 55 Series rear springs in the rear. The second guy is using the stock spring packs off of a '87 FJ60 front and rear. Both trucks perform very well off-road!

Unless you want to run 38 inch Super Swampers I'd sell the OME leaf springs and get a good set of stock 60 Series springs to use with the SOA swap.

Regards,

Alan
Seattle

 

[truggier]

So what is the final word on this thread? I have Dakars and am going SOA in the front and 4-link in the rear. I was planning on getting stock springs and selling the Dakars, but after doing some research, it looks as if pulling a couple of leafs on my front Dakars and using those for SOA would be the optimal solution for a high quality spring that will last a long time and provide great flex (once it flattens). However, two questions:


1) How many leafs should I remove off of the front Dakars? 1 or 2?

2) The quick sagging of the front concerns me. I can set the height of the 4-link coil suspension of the rear to level out the cruiser, but once this is done, it is welded in. Does this mean that I should initially set the rear of the cruiser to be lower than the front in the hopes that the front will sag and level it out?

Any thoughts/opinions appreciated.

 

[Rock_Hugger]

It also depends on how your SOA is set up. Drop hanger or not, recess shackle or under the frame. I have been Running OME spring since 97 with a SOA. I switched to 2 1/2" BDS FJ60 springd in the rear about 3 years ago. Now the rear flexes better than before. The setup works well but I'd like the front to be about an inch higher for better tire clearance.