Spring pack opinions

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Wayneraintree

Wayneraintree

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Sep 2, 2004
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273
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3,585
Location
N KY
My front springs are worn out as are my rear... SO, C/T, stock 55 springs with one cruiser leaf added in the front, two in the rear.... I have some new springs for the rear but I am not sure how to go on the front? I will have the stock (worn) rear leaves available, also FJ-60 front 3" lift springs (worn), and of course my worn front springs..... I want to use what I have to make a good set of front springs that will last as long as possible (2-3 years at the going rate). Anyone have an opinion as to which leaves to start out trying out of my mixed bag of springs? Also, any guiding principles in terms of building a pack I should know? I searched and am presently searching but nothing found specific to 55's and their weight.... looking for other's experience with 55's...
 
I have heard only good things about alcans. FJBen was running them on his pig and loved them. I think minipig has them now.

What were you planning on doing with the old rears? Depending on where you are folding said diapers I might be willing to take them off your hands.
 
Hey Nick, I can't afford alcans right now unfortunately.. otherwise they would get the nod.. and I have all these leaves from various packs, seems I should be able to get a pack together that will get me through for a while until things improve on the truck fund front... If I don't use any of the 55 rears, you've got dibs...
 
the rears on my 55 are shot also.........if Nick doesn't need them I might be able to make use of them.............but which ones??? am bumfuzzled..........nick/jeffrey??

Lou
 
Jeffrey, I have new OME shocks on the rear and the rear suspension is still crappy.....noticed that I have a lot of rust and pitting on the rear springs; do you have the same problem with pitting?....talked to Charles at Alcan and his opinion was that once there is any pitting the spring is pretty much gone.......crazy thing is my front springs are great............no pitting, no rust....lots of old caked on grease/oil...thank god for these small things...........Alcans are just so pricey :(
have you thought of any alternatives?, maybe one of your rear leaves that is unpitted could be shifted to the front and just purchase the rears??just hate to have to redo things again.........basically am lazy and would rather do it once ........
Lou
 
My rear springs are not rusted, just bent awkwardly from heavy use.... that is why I am not sure they would be of use to anyone.


If you only need to buy rear springs, that would not be so bad... I am going to try chevy springs from a pickup. I have read opinions on them from people in the know, they say the 1/2 ton springs are too light for wagons but I did get a set in good shape for free so I am going with them. I hope to get a year or two out of them... then go with some 3/4 ton springs when I can find them.

I looked closely at my front springs and I think my problem is that my angle of the pinion is too positive.. so I am going to try some degree shims to turn it down slightly, hopefully this rectifies my breaking of the t-case nosecone....

a good option for springs replacement is to find a local spring shop and have them make you a pack based on your old pack.. they can usually do this less expensive than others.... it is worth a shot IMO.
 
Wayneraintree said:
I looked closely at my front springs and I think my problem is that my angle of the pinion is too positive.. so I am going to try some degree shims to turn it down slightly, hopefully this rectifies my breaking of the t-case nosecone....
Click to expand...

Be careful with that. You may find the steering becoming really bad. I had the shims in backwards on the lift I just installed and the difference was amazing. When the shims were backwards the pinion pointed to the transfer case but the truck when everywhere but straight. With the shims reversed (installed to correct caster) the truck tracks nice and true but of course the pinion doesn't point to the transfer any more.

I'll post the lift install when it's my turn at POTM!
 
that is a good point.... on cutting and turning the front axle housing, it had to go 23 degrees to point at the t-case. Adding 2 degree shims should bring caster to 4-5 so I have my fingers crossed that it tracks well down the road and will no longer allow my driveshaft to hit my exhaust crossover pipe (SBC) and improve the angle on the nose cone at full stuff on pass front tire....
 
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Jeffrey..........might have to break down and get the Alcans; mini's and Nicks opinion + talking with Charles at Alcan + the local shop here looked at me like I was insane when I asked if they could build or adapt a pack?.......they seem to only care about installing originals and when I told them that no new ones were available I got the "deer in the headlight" stare??.............am I correct that no new packs are available?
 
I have not seen any "new" packs available... MAF discontinued their lifted version.... SOR's are here http://www.sor.com/sor/cat287b.tam?xax=25778.

John B. runs the SOR springs SOA on his 55... front and rears are like 600$ for 2.5" lift....

I ran the stock rears with a couple added, lasted about four years and are now bending. The real benefit with Alcans are you can spec them to you needs, i.e. lift and load.... I had them on my 85' 60 and absolutely loved them. They are too expensive for me right now...
 
n2666s said:
am I correct that no new packs are available?
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure Spector is the only source for new '55 lift kits. I looked around for a couple of months and sent out e-mails to all I could think of and only Spector had anything.

I'll say that Spector's springs seem to work just fine. I had them loaded good for the first 2000 miles (south through Mexico) and they came back nicely without any sag so far though it's only been a month or so. I'm running them with extended shackles as well.
 
Adding a leaf

I'm new to this spring game, but here's what I did. I too could not spend the $ for the SOR springs. I bought the MAF add a leaf and put it into my spring pack on the front and back. I also added the smaller add a leaf in the rear ($42 for the long leaf pair, $36 for the short ones).

I simply cut the center pin, beat the clamps open, cleaned and painted, put the new leaf in where it belonged (had to enlarge the center hole just a bit) and reinstalled. I used a vise to reinstall the clamps.

I have only had them installed for about a month now, but they added about 2" to my worn out springs and have provided a good amount of stiffness that was gone.

So far so good. Here's a couple pix.
The first is the rear pack
The second shows the add a leaf in the front. I sticks out a bit, but doesn't interfere with the shackle.

Greg

:)
spring pack.webp
front spring pack.webp
 
CG, Gregg and Jeffrey........... are all y'all lifted??.........was trying to get the stiffness w/o a lift; I do have new OME shocks on the rear from IPOR but they couldn't do miracles, guess will have to convince the CFO :princess: that we really really need Alcans......... ;)

Lou
 
Remember, you can put off buying new springs but the '55's are not getting newer and there are fewer all the time. There may be springs available now but in 5 years who knows?
 
n2666s said:
CG, Gregg and Jeffrey........... are all y'all lifted??.........was trying to get the stiffness w/o a lift; I do have new OME shocks on the rear from IPOR but they couldn't do miracles, guess will have to convince the CFO :princess: that we really really need Alcans......... ;)

Lou
Click to expand...
Mine is stock height with stock springs and replacement shackles from MAF.
 
n2666s said:
CG, Gregg and Jeffrey........... are all y'all lifted??

Lou
Click to expand...

I have the 2 1/2" lift from Spector with greaseable pins and "Extreme" shackles. We installed the lift at the end of March at another 'mud members place in Phoenix in exchange for the old springs.

I needed the caster correction shims on the '55 but when I did the '60 I did not need the correction shims.

OffRoad Rage said:
Any one checked out these guys? They show a listing for new 4" FJ55 springs.

http://www.rockymountainsusp.com/toy_Lndcrser.htm
Click to expand...

I saw that but I didn't want a 4" lift. I'm after a semi stock look (stock wheels etc.).
 
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