suspension questions (1 Viewer)

[72cruiser]

hey y'all,

i'm still pretty much new to cruisers. i've had my 40 for comin up on a year now. i've been doin mostly body work and a bit on the engine, and now i'm comin up on the stuff i have no idea about: suspension.

i'm sorta in a bind. i eventually want to go SOA, but not right now. not enuf money, not enuf time, holy crap i'd screw it up real good. i am looking to put a lift on it in the meantime.

i don't want to go in and put a bunch of stuff on it that i'll just have to get rid of later, so i was wonderin what lift i should look at.

i'd like to run 35s if possible and i'm stock now with 31x10.50s if that helps any.

also, any thoughts on shackle reversal.

any help or suggestions would be awesome.

thanks,
jonathan
jmalphr@clemson.edu

 

[Guest]

Custom Springs are cheaper than OME.

I am looking at getting some Custom Springs made that are like OME for the rear on a HJ60 that are the same length and Center hole as a BJ40 with OME HJ60 Dampers.
For the front I will go for an Extra Heavy duty Setup with KYB Dampers.
The Steering Damper will be a Gabriel.

 

[FJAfrica]

I currently run 35" and have not gone SOA. Although mine is not a true 40, but actually a 45 cut shorter. The rear panel work I made myself, so plenty clearance by the wheel arches. I put 2" shackle lift in, as well as 2" body lift. 35" sit happliy underneath.

 

[72cruiser]

hey,

thanks for the input.

my biggest concern is that i don't want to put lift springs on that would be too much for an SOA with the same springs.

is there a limit to the amount of lift on a SUA before it gets to be too much for an SOA?

jonathan

 

[CruisinGA]

Unless you really want to go sky high I would not go lift springs with SOA, talk about driveline angle issues....
I just installed a 4" skyjacker kit from 4wheel parts.com, free shipping, $630 for everything, it rides sooooooo much better than stock, took it out and flexed it up good today, its really incredible how much more flex it has than before. I'll have pics sometime this week. I highly recommend this lift. Took me a grand total of 13.5 hours of wrenching time, partially cause I had the front springs on the wrong way and had to switch them, and I was working in a very cramped garage.

 

[residualboulders]

CruisinGA, I'll be installing my skyjacker lift in a week or so. Got any tips on avoiding putting the springs on incorrectly so I don't have to re-do them like you did? Seems like I read somewhere you went with extended shacles from SOR? Did you shim them? Just curious if I ought to worry about shimming them or not.

thanks.

 

[CruisinGA]

I used the Greasable anti-inversion shackles from SOR, one thing I forgot to do, the kit doesn't come with bushings for the shackle-to-frame connection, you need 8 more poly bushings (SOR has got em) for the shackles. Each spring has a sticker at one end of the spring that tells you whether it is a front or rear spring, that sticker needs to be on the shackle side of the axle when you install. I'll take a pic sometime today and post it up to show what I mean.
I have not shimmed anything, I had the same question. I drove 5 hours at 60/65 mph pullin a trailer with an ATV and had no problems. I just greased the shiz outa those u-joints everday for nearly a week after the lift install until I got all the old grease out.
Also-You will need an extended rear brake line, You can drive on the original, but its pulled taut, I even got out and flexed things up a bit yesterday with the original without a problem, but its still dangerously short. 4wheelparts has a skyjacker SS line built especially for cruisers with 2-4" of lift. I called up the local store and ordered it. $48 I believe. The front line is plenty long, they should all be replaced at some point probably, mine are all cracked and dried out.
Good luck, one thing that slowed me down, the new ubolts are much longer than the old, so you need to jack the car up pretty high if you want to use an impact to put on the new u-bolts. You will need a VERY deep well 22mm socket to install the new u-bolts as well. Sears has one that works.

 

[73lndcrsr]

I got my SS braided line from Barnettperformance (barnettperformance.com) in Atlanta. You will need to call them, their site is just contact info.

I ordered the 26" 10mm M-F. Paid $15.

 

[CruisinGA]

Do you know where their shop is in Atlanta? I remembered you mentioning them awhile back, but couldn't find the post, I was going to try to find them instead of calling 4wheelparts. Cause I want to replace the front line and the lines at the outer ends of the front axle, the rubber is falling off them.

 

[residualboulders]

You think I'll need to replace the brake lines if I'm just going 2.5"?
I guess I may as well since I'm down there. I picked up 8 bushings already, I'll have to go get a deep 22mm socket, Mine is pretty shallow.
Did you WD the bolts for a week or so before to loosen them up? I read somewhere the ubolts need to be torqued? If so, How much?
Thanks for the tips.

 

[CruisinGA]

I PB Blasted everything a week or so before, and the really hard stuff a little right before I took it off. Go to your nearest Napa and get two bottles, that stuff is frickin amazing. Beo, Cruiserdan and others on the old SOR 80's forum recommended it to me. I torqued the ubolts to 80. I need to go re torque them, its been about 350 miles since I first torqued them. With just a 2.5 I doubt it will be as necessary in the rear as with the 4", but I bet it could get tight under full extension on the passenger side.

 

[residualboulders]

Sorry, couple more questions. Did you have to replace your spring pins? did you have to torch any of the bushings out? I helped my Brother replace his shackles on his 75 and the old ones came apart suprisingly easy. Maybe I ought to get a torch on hand?

 

[CruisinGA]

Don't mind about the questions, I had to ask a whole lot too.
The old bushings came right on out, they were worn thing, and actually one of the springs didn't have any. Its the new poly bushings that are harder to get in. Make sure you coat everything in grease, it makes things much easier to get together. I didn't replace the spring pins that are opposite shackle side of the spring. I probably will at some point with SOR greasable ones. They were in fine shape. All the old stuff comes off really easy, took my only an hour and half to get the entire rear suspension off. Your impact wrench is your friend. One of the little bolts that holds the spring pin in place so you can tighten it didn't come out on one of the pins, cause of boogered threads, so I just ground off the head and the little bit sticking out the back, you only need one on each pin, or you can just use a screwdriver to hold it in place while you tighten. Having friend helps, even if he is not knowledgable. The friend of mine that helped me asked me what "Why are you putting those broken washers back on" He was referring to lock washers. Good luck and ask away if you have any more questions. Its really a pretty easy install, just time consuming. Oh yeah the other reason it took longer than it should have for me is that my ubolt plates had bent so I had to fool with those to get them to where I could get a socket on the ubolt nuts.

 

[residualboulders]

Thanks, I read your earlier post about the bent ubolt plates and promptly went out to the garage to check mine to verify their condition. Luckily no bends. Fortunately, the P.O.'s didn't take it into too rough of terrain so they are not in the least bit damaged. I'll have my little bro bring the impact wrench. Let you know how it goes. I should be putting it on in the next couple weeks I hope. Thanks again.

 

[axlechassis]

I currently run 35" and have not gone SOA.  Although mine is not a true 40, but actually a 45 cut shorter.  The rear panel work I made myself, so plenty clearance by the wheel arches.  I put 2" shackle lift in, as well as 2" body lift.  35" sit happliy underneath.

This sounds like a good way to go for the guy who eventually wants a soa. Those 4" lift springs wont be very practical with a soa unless you're planning to use 40" tyres
Also you would'nt have to buy very much except for the materials to make the body lift and the spring shackels.

 

[72cruiser]

there we go. that's what i was lookin for.

does anyone (fjafrica) have any thoughts or tips for the body lift? i'm pretty sure that i can do a shackle lift easy.

anything i should lookout for with the body lift?

thanks y'all,

jonathan

 

[CruisinGA]

Even with a body lift (more than 1" looks stupid on a 40) and a shackle lift (remember only lifts half of extended length, ie 2 inch extended shackles give you ~1" of lift). I have a 4 inch lift with stock length anti-inversion shackles, still running 31's cause I haven't bothered to buy 33's yet. I have to say that I like the 31's cause I can flex it all with the tires fully inflated and nothing rubs or comes close. I'm afraid I will lose that with 33's. I really don't think 35's with no upgraded springs, just shackles and a body lift will work so well, unless you never have any need for any flex ever. Remember FJAfrica has a modified 45 with more rear fender space than you do. If I were you I would do a 4" skyjacker, wheel the $h!t out of it for a coupla years and then see if you still want to do SOA. Its hard to screw up a SUA lift, and there is much less downtime than SOA. With cut rear fenders you can run 35"s on a 4" lift, supposedly. I'm goin 33 cause the 3 speed isn't quite low enough to push 35's.

 

[CruisinGA]

Oh yeah if you do go body lift, look out for disinigrating body mounts and the area around them. Those areas tend to rust cause they are sandwiched in between the frame and body and mud gets caught in there.

 

[axlechassis]

MAF sells a body lift kit and I saw that marks adapters sells spacers and hardware too.
Making your own is fairly straight foward if you have the time and some way to cut metal and drill press. I used alluminum bar stock cut to 2" lenghs and drilled. You could use 2" square steel channel. You will also need a very good fastener supplier for the new bolts.
Unhook the throttle linkage before you actually lift the body(it will bind some and has to bent a little). The clutch slave cyl line will be a little tight and you can bend the bracket down a little.
As far as looks go the 2" body lift does make a 40 looks a little spindlely with 35" tyres. But I would'nt go as far as saying it looks stupid. I am a believer of "form follows function" and the 2" lift does function well. I posted a pic of mine in the alluminum tub thread.

 

[FJAfrica]

I had no choice in the body lift, Because the frame of the 45 was shortened, I had to lift the tub to clear the hump in the chassis over the axles. The rear body work had to be custom made, so it allowed me to create the wheel arches I needed.