Stock height springs for an FJ60 (1 Viewer)

[RustyAndDusty]

@jawbone I'm as curious as everyone else to see how your truck sits with the new springs from General Spring. I ordered a new pair of rear springs from them to help the saggy rear end of my 60. After I installed them I was shocked to see the new springs were just as soft and saggy as the 40 year old originals. Maybe it was in my head but I think the rear end might have been sagging even lower with the new springs. I removed them and returned the springs having to eat the shipping cost and will most likely just add a leaf to each of my original rear springs to get the rear end off the ground a bit.

 

[jawbone]

@jawbone I'm as curious as everyone else to see how your truck sits with the new springs from General Spring. I ordered a new pair of rear springs from them to help the saggy rear end of my 60. After I installed them I was shocked to see the new springs were just as soft and saggy as the 40 year old originals. Maybe it was in my head but I think the rear end might have been sagging even lower with the new springs. I removed them and returned the springs having to eat the shipping cost and will most likely just add a leaf to each of my original rear springs to get the rear end off the ground a bit.

Well, that's not too encouraging, but we will find out soon enough. I finally rounded up all of the extra bits needed for the Holley Sniper conversion—I hope to have that done this upcoming week and then it's straight to the tire shop. Stay tuned.

Do you have a picture of your rig with the General Springs setup? Also, did you change your fronts or were those original? Stock shackles?

 

[RustyAndDusty]

Well, that's not too encouraging, but we will find out soon enough. I finally rounded up all of the extra bits needed for the Holley Sniper conversion—I hope to have that done this upcoming week and then it's straight to the tire shop. Stay tuned.

Do you have a picture of your rig with the General Springs setup? Also, did you change your fronts or were those original? Stock shackles?

I only changed the rear springs as the fronts have a lot of curve to them still. The shackles aren't stock. My rear shackles are 5-3/4" eye to eye (If I remember correctly the stock rear shackles are close to 3-1/2" eye to eye) and the front shackles are 4-3/4" eye to eye (stock front shackles are about 3" eye to eye). Unfortunately I didnt snap a photo of the truck sitting on the new springs. All I've got is a photo from underneath the the truck. Probably not extremely helpful but it does show fairly well how flat the new springs are.

And here's a photo of the original Toyota springs before I put the new ones on:

Maybe not a fair comparison since the perspective is different in the two photos. Same shackles in each photo, only difference is I hadn't put the shock on yet in the photo of the new springs. I didn't have anything weighing down the rear end, no big bumpers, racks etc.. cargo area was totally empty, gas tank wasn't even full. As noted earlier the rear stock shackles are about a half inch longer than the fronts. Even with my rear lift shackles being an inch longer than the fronts the rear end was still saggy with the new springs, pretty surprising. Might be a combination of a few things such as AC equipment being removed from under the hood lightened the load up front enough to tip the scale, maybe the previous owner was a drug smuggler and I've yet to find a few kilos of contraband hidden somewhere in the back, or my understanding of suspension and geometry is useless and the rear shackles being one inch longer than the fronts somehow made the rear ride lower? Or maybe the General Spring leafs are just as soft as 40 year old tired Toyota springs? Not really sure, I've never had a problem with worn out leaf springs on any of the other old trucks/vans I've owned over the years, seems to plague these 60's though.

I'd wager your truck will sit nice and level since you've replaced the springs in all 4 corners instead of just the rear like I did. I would just be surprised at this point if it sits any higher than it did with the original toyota springs. I could imagine it could sit lower with the new springs than it did when it left the factory with new toyota springs. I'm super curious!

 

[jawbone]

I only changed the rear springs as the fronts have a lot of curve to them still. The shackles aren't stock. My rear shackles are 5-3/4" eye to eye (If I remember correctly the stock rear shackles are close to 3-1/2" eye to eye) and the front shackles are 4-3/4" eye to eye (stock front shackles are about 3" eye to eye). Unfortunately I didnt snap a photo of the truck sitting on the new springs. All I've got is a photo from underneath the the truck. Probably not extremely helpful but it does show fairly well how flat the new springs are.
View attachment 3293835

And here's a photo of the original Toyota springs before I put the new ones on:
View attachment 3293843
Maybe not a fair comparison since the perspective is different in the two photos. Same shackles in each photo, only difference is I hadn't put the shock on yet in the photo of the new springs. I didn't have anything weighing down the rear end, no big bumpers, racks etc.. cargo area was totally empty, gas tank wasn't even full. As noted earlier the rear stock shackles are about a half inch longer than the fronts. Even with my rear lift shackles being an inch longer than the fronts the rear end was still saggy with the new springs, pretty surprising. Might be a combination of a few things such as AC equipment being removed from under the hood lightened the load up front enough to tip the scale, maybe the previous owner was a drug smuggler and I've yet to find a few kilos of contraband hidden somewhere in the back, or my understanding of suspension and geometry is useless and the rear shackles being one inch longer than the fronts somehow made the rear ride lower? Or maybe the General Spring leafs are just as soft as 40 year old tired Toyota springs? Not really sure, I've never had a problem with worn out leaf springs on any of the other old trucks/vans I've owned over the years, seems to plague these 60's though.

I'd wager your truck will sit nice and level since you've replaced the springs in all 4 corners instead of just the rear like I did. I would just be surprised at this point if it sits any higher than it did with the original toyota springs. I could imagine it could sit lower with the new springs than it did when it left the factory with new toyota springs. I'm super curious!

Wow, those rear springs look incredibly flat—I'd be shocked if mine were that flat if only from seeing how much curve they had on the lift (here's a picture: https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachments/2023-01-17-09-27-56-jpg.3222022/), but we will see soon!

Right when I pulled it off the lift it did seem to sit a little lower than factory, but also the current tires are incredibly small (26-27"), so I think that added to the effect.

 

[jawbone]

I only changed the rear springs as the fronts have a lot of curve to them still. The shackles aren't stock. My rear shackles are 5-3/4" eye to eye (If I remember correctly the stock rear shackles are close to 3-1/2" eye to eye) and the front shackles are 4-3/4" eye to eye (stock front shackles are about 3" eye to eye). Unfortunately I didnt snap a photo of the truck sitting on the new springs. All I've got is a photo from underneath the the truck. Probably not extremely helpful but it does show fairly well how flat the new springs are.
View attachment 3293835

And here's a photo of the original Toyota springs before I put the new ones on:
View attachment 3293843
Maybe not a fair comparison since the perspective is different in the two photos. Same shackles in each photo, only difference is I hadn't put the shock on yet in the photo of the new springs. I didn't have anything weighing down the rear end, no big bumpers, racks etc.. cargo area was totally empty, gas tank wasn't even full. As noted earlier the rear stock shackles are about a half inch longer than the fronts. Even with my rear lift shackles being an inch longer than the fronts the rear end was still saggy with the new springs, pretty surprising. Might be a combination of a few things such as AC equipment being removed from under the hood lightened the load up front enough to tip the scale, maybe the previous owner was a drug smuggler and I've yet to find a few kilos of contraband hidden somewhere in the back, or my understanding of suspension and geometry is useless and the rear shackles being one inch longer than the fronts somehow made the rear ride lower? Or maybe the General Spring leafs are just as soft as 40 year old tired Toyota springs? Not really sure, I've never had a problem with worn out leaf springs on any of the other old trucks/vans I've owned over the years, seems to plague these 60's though.

I'd wager your truck will sit nice and level since you've replaced the springs in all 4 corners instead of just the rear like I did. I would just be surprised at this point if it sits any higher than it did with the original toyota springs. I could imagine it could sit lower with the new springs than it did when it left the factory with new toyota springs. I'm super curious!

Also, good point on the A/C—I also re-installed factory A/C, but it doesn't seem like those parts would make that big of a difference, but who knows

 

[jawbone]

Ok, this has been a very long time coming, but I have the 60 back on the road, but now with A/C, Sniper EFI and new tires in addition to the suspension refresh.

I’ll cut straight to the chase: the General Springs rear leafs didn’t solve the sag issue, which is a shame because the ride is really incredible. Here’s what it looked like with new tires and the suspension before I addressed the sag:

It’s not horrible, and the rear fender well does swoop lower than the front which exacerbates the visual impact, but I couldn’t live with looking at that sag every day.

I ended up going to Spring Service outside of Greenville, SC. The owner Charlie is probably the best person in the upstate when it comes to leaf springs, air lifts, etc. They work on some huge rigs, but dad’s shop has sent thousands of customers like me there over the years.

On Charlie’s advice I ended up adding a very thin leaf and re-arching the springs slightly to make up the 1-2” difference. The leaf they added retains 90% or more of the ride quality while helping manage sag with more tongue weight when towing loads. We talked about air bags to solve the issue, but he said that since I’m going to drive this thing all the time that it’s better to solve the problem at the root.

The result is exactly what I was going for - pretty much right back to the stock setup. I might have gone slightly higher on the re-arch, but on flat ground it measures perfect.

If I had to do it over, I would have just had Spring Service make the rear springs. It would have been more expensive initially, but would have been right out of the gate. The fronts from General Spring are perfect.

Overall, I’m incredibly happy with the ride quality going back to stock. My wife loves driving it, the older 2 of my 3 kids can load into the back easily themselves, and with the overdrive from the 5 speed and A/C, it’s a nice drive up to the mountains.

 

[RustyAndDusty]

I’ll cut straight to the chase: the General Springs rear leafs didn’t solve the sag issue

I'm glad you eventually got it sorted out!

I think it's safe to say the replacement springs from General Spring are a waste of time and money. I'm still waiting for my refund from them, I had to cover return shipping via UPS, shipment was delivered two months ago and the responses I get from them over e-mail has been very unprofessional from the start and now they seem to have ghosted me. I think I'll need to force their hand by getting my credit card company involved at this point.

Warning to any one searching the forum for stock height springs for their 60: Steer clear of General Spring (the springs are actually manufactured by Dayton Parts by the way). The springs won't solve rear sag issues, in my case the rear sagged worse with the springs from General Spring than the 40 year old stock springs! In the end my solution was just adding the OME add-a-leafs to each of the stock rear leaf packs and it sits perfect now and I didn't really notice a loss of ride quality.

 

[TexasLandCruiser]

I only changed the rear springs as the fronts have a lot of curve to them still. The shackles aren't stock. My rear shackles are 5-3/4" eye to eye (If I remember correctly the stock rear shackles are close to 3-1/2" eye to eye) and the front shackles are 4-3/4" eye to eye (stock front shackles are about 3" eye to eye). Unfortunately I didnt snap a photo of the truck sitting on the new springs. All I've got is a photo from underneath the the truck. Probably not extremely helpful but it does show fairly well how flat the new springs are.
View attachment 3293835

And here's a photo of the original Toyota springs before I put the new ones on:
View attachment 3293843
Maybe not a fair comparison since the perspective is different in the two photos. Same shackles in each photo, only difference is I hadn't put the shock on yet in the photo of the new springs. I didn't have anything weighing down the rear end, no big bumpers, racks etc.. cargo area was totally empty, gas tank wasn't even full. As noted earlier the rear stock shackles are about a half inch longer than the fronts. Even with my rear lift shackles being an inch longer than the fronts the rear end was still saggy with the new springs, pretty surprising. Might be a combination of a few things such as AC equipment being removed from under the hood lightened the load up front enough to tip the scale, maybe the previous owner was a drug smuggler and I've yet to find a few kilos of contraband hidden somewhere in the back, or my understanding of suspension and geometry is useless and the rear shackles being one inch longer than the fronts somehow made the rear ride lower? Or maybe the General Spring leafs are just as soft as 40 year old tired Toyota springs? Not really sure, I've never had a problem with worn out leaf springs on any of the other old trucks/vans I've owned over the years, seems to plague these 60's though.

I'd wager your truck will sit nice and level since you've replaced the springs in all 4 corners instead of just the rear like I did. I would just be surprised at this point if it sits any higher than it did with the original toyota springs. I could imagine it could sit lower with the new springs than it did when it left the factory with new toyota springs. I'm super curious!

Wow those are flat. Comfy ride though

 

[jawbone]

I'm glad you eventually got it sorted out!

I think it's safe to say the replacement springs from General Spring are a waste of time and money. I'm still waiting for my refund from them, I had to cover return shipping via UPS, shipment was delivered two months ago and the responses I get from them over e-mail has been very unprofessional from the start and now they seem to have ghosted me. I think I'll need to force their hand by getting my credit card company involved at this point.

Warning to any one searching the forum for stock height springs for their 60: Steer clear of General Spring (the springs are actually manufactured by Dayton Parts by the way). The springs won't solve rear sag issues, in my case the rear sagged worse with the springs from General Spring than the 40 year old stock springs! In the end my solution was just adding the OME add-a-leafs to each of the stock rear leaf packs and it sits perfect now and I didn't really notice a loss of ride quality.View attachment 3339244

Still waiting for your refund? That really stinks.

Your stock leafs with the OME add-a-leafs look very similar to my current setup in terms of arc, which makes sense because I ended up doing basically the same thing.

 

[djonortex]

The photo from himhj60 some time ago was helpful for seeing stock height, but I'm still hoping there is someone that has done the Cruiseroutfitters new stock spring 60 package that could post some post-op photos. ?

 

[jawbone]

The photo from himhj60 some time ago was helpful for seeing stock height, but I'm still hoping there is someone that has done the Cruiseroutfitters new stock spring 60 package that could post some post-op photos. ?

Do you have a link? I did a quick search and couldn't find a kit.

 

[djonortex]

Do you have a link? I did a quick search and couldn't find a kit.

Please see posts 102 through 117 in this thread.

 

[bentonrover]

I remember seeing press photos and videos of the 60 series rigs. The springs always looked flat to me. I'm sure General went cheap with material but it dont look that far off.

 

[RodrigzCrzr]

I just installed the grocery getter kit from SOR on a FJ62.
It has a 2” lift on it and and it levels the truck out nice and rides nice too.

 

[BigHighBlue]

I talked to the guys from Cruiser Outfitters yesterday and they are in development of a stock height spring set. I was told it is being sourced from a Japanese manufacturer and is in testing. Once they kinks are worked out they will be offering it for sale.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I talked to the guys from Cruiser Outfitters yesterday and they are in development of a stock height spring set. I was told it is being sourced from a Japanese manufacturer and is in testing. Once they kinks are worked out they will be offering it for sale.

We have all of the springs here and kits here and have shipped/installed a half dozen or so of them. We are working through the mix of springs to use to get the ideal stance. We should have it all wrapped up and shipping again soon.

 

[BigHighBlue]

We have all of the springs here and kits here and have shipped/installed a half dozen or so of them. We are working through the mix of springs to use to get the ideal stance. We should have it all wrapped up and shipping again soon.

Awesome news! Thank you.

 

[FirstFJ60]

Cancelled order with General Springs of KS, which couldn't get the stock-height fronts after nine months. Then ordered fronts from SD Truck Springs, which also couldn't get them after a month, so I ordered fronts and rears from Dobinsons. All shipped within a couple days. Springs look way beefier and better than the rears I got from GS, and service couldn't have been better. Thx David!

I removed one leaf from the front (now 5) and one from rear pack (now 6) so as not to go up so much. These are suppose to lift 1 3/4"so hopefully I end up about 1 1/2" or so higher with one leaf removed.

The General rear springs measure 46" eye to eye, and the Dobinsons measure 44. Not sure if I should be worried about that.
Will post update with pix after the install.

View attachment 3072516

What Biltstein did you run on this awesome setup?

 

[bhend101]

We have all of the springs here and kits here and have shipped/installed a half dozen or so of them. We are working through the mix of springs to use to get the ideal stance. We should have it all wrapped up and shipping again soon.

Any update on springs?

 

[FJosh60]

We have all of the springs here and kits here and have shipped/installed a half dozen or so of them. We are working through the mix of springs to use to get the ideal stance. We should have it all wrapped up and shipping again soon.

Do you have a complete stock suspension for an 81 FJ60? I want to go through and replace everything (springs, shocks, bushings, shackles, etc) on mine, but I don't want to lift it.