Review Terrain Tamer Parabolic Leaf Spring Review

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405 said:
Finished installing the lift yesterday on the '72 FST. The Terrain Tamer kit is really nice.
Here are some pics. I am just waiting on my 33" KM3 to arrive. The tires in the pics are small 30x9.5. The beige FJ40 is stock suspension and same 30x9.5 tires for reference.
All is pretty much done but I need to cut down the U bolts and do a final torque of everything.

It has some cruiser lean to the passenger side, about 3/4". To correct, my vendor Jason at Ozark Overland suggested swapping the passenger rear bottom leaf block to the top.

Also has some slight nose down rake. Im guessing due to no hard top so not much weight on the back end. Swapping the blocks from bottom to top will fix it I believe. Would that mean to bring the back down AND fix the cruiser lean I should swap 2 blocks bottom to top on rear passenger side, one block bottom to top on rear driver side?
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This is really making me wonder if I can upgrade my ride quality while keeping my beloved 30x9.5s. These springs and swapping the blocks might do the trick for me!
 
wngrog said:
I don't think it has too much rake but yes if you want to mix and match the little blocks, top to bottom or vice versa to tune the level you can. It does not matter what side those blocks are on. Top or bottom. I've have them on both sides depending on which truck the packs were for
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Thanks for the info I’m going to play around with it and report back.
 
I should update this as I decided to re-drill my axle perch and plate to center the wheel in the wheel well as this isn't a hardcore offroader and I'm not worried about full flex/stuff.

I settled on 1.25" back. Happy with how it came out. I also realized the original holes in the axle were quite oversized allowing the axle to be misaligned
I made tighter tolerance holes with precise measurements as I could.
Did a 100+ mile dirt road and small highway drive before a snowstorm. Handled great
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The before and after photos I posted really don't show why it bothered me where the axle was that well.
I definitely have some level cuckoo OCD and seeing the larger gap behind the wheel and the tighter space in front was exacerbated every time I approached the driver's seat..

Truck handles great.
 
Augustiron said:
The before and after photos I posted really don't show why it bothered me where the axle was that well.
I definitely have some level cuckoo OCD and seeing the larger gap behind the wheel and the tighter space in front was exacerbated every time I approached the driver's seat..

Truck handles great.
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You probably put "leveling" kits on your trucks don't you?
 
Augustiron said:
The before and after photos I posted really don't show why it bothered me where the axle was that well.
I definitely have some level cuckoo OCD and seeing the larger gap behind the wheel and the tighter space in front was exacerbated every time I approached the driver's seat..

Truck handles great.
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Looks so much better!
 
I like the b4 pic. The after pic looks like it's too far back in relation to the opening. Its certainly not centered.
 
It's your 40, if your happy that's all that counts. If you look at my signature you'll see I'm far from being a purist.
 
I like it a lot
Augustiron said:
I should update this as I decided to re-drill my axle perch and plate to center the wheel in the wheel well as this isn't a hardcore offroader and I'm not worried about full flex/stuff.

I settled on 1.25" back. Happy with how it came out. I also realized the original holes in the axle were quite oversized allowing the axle to be misaligned
I made tighter tolerance holes with precise measurements as I could.
Did a 100+ mile dirt road and small highway drive before a snowstorm. Handled great
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i like it a lot. And if I could do it, I would. The auxiliary tanks in my 40s are SO close to the rear axle that when I put a decal on the differential cover, the skidplate for the tank abraded the decal!

The slightly longer wheelbase makes the rig more stable on steep climbs.

In fact I would go so far as to say that the axle position on the 40 was a design compromise. If you look at ALL the other models (the 43, the 45, the 55, the 60…) the rear bumpstop rides in the TOP of the frame arch. Only on the 25/40 is it forced onto the leading edge of the arch because of the wheelbase. The awkwardness of that position becomes glaringly obvious once you put any kind of lift on the truck. If the axle were centered in the frame arch, this wouldn’t be a problem.
 
I have seen several installs including my own..why would there be some noticeable differences in wheel well positioning in FJ40’s. Are frame measurements different between …..1972 -1979 for example?
 
65swb45 said:
I like it a lot

i like it a lot. And if I could do it, I would. The auxiliary tanks in my 40s are SO close to the rear axle that when I put a decal on the differential cover, the skidplate for the tank abraded the decal!

The slightly longer wheelbase makes the rig more stable on steep climbs.

In fact I would go so far as to say that the axle position on the 40 was a design compromise. If you look at ALL the other models (the 43, the 45, the 55, the 60…) the rear bumpstop rides in the TOP of the frame arch. Only on the 25/40 is it forced onto the leading edge of the arch because of the wheelbase. The awkwardness of that position becomes glaringly obvious once you put any kind of lift on the truck. If the axle were centered in the frame arch, this wouldn’t be a problem.
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This was my thought as well, with the LS swap, high speed stability became a consideration so I wanted to maximize wheel base with the stock uncut (freshly replaced) quarters and aid the looks department.
Yes, not specifically "centered", but I felt 1.25" got me as far back as I was comfortable without modifying the perch and plate.
 
Augustiron said:
This was my thought as well, with the LS swap, high speed stability became a consideration so I wanted to maximize wheel base with the stock uncut (freshly replaced) quarters and aid the looks department.
Yes, not specifically "centered", but I felt 1.25" got me as far back as I was comfortable without modifying the perch and plate.
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Flip the rear springs, and do the necessary sheetmetal work, and the pain of cutting your fresh quarters will be outweighed by the pleasure of the even better driving performance :D
 
cruisermatt said:
Flip the rear springs, and do the necessary sheetmetal work, and the pain of cutting your fresh quarters will be outweighed by the pleasure of the even better driving performance :D
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Man I think those look so terrible. If you need more wheelbase get another car.
 
wngrog said:
Man I think those look so terrible. If you need more wheelbase get another car.
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Like anything else, I think it depends on who does it.. no sawzall or bushwhacker flares here :)

to keep it on topic I’m 99% most likely going to do this on the Musturd 75, since it needs quarters anyways, in conjunction with a Terrain Tamer kit, have it on the shelf ready to go, just need to find some time/motivation

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Couple rigs we’ve put the parabolics on here recently..

I think we have three or four more kits sitting here with installs scheduled for the 1st quarter

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cruisermatt said:
Like anything else, I think it depends on who does it.. no sawzall or bushwhacker flares here :)

to keep it on topic I’m 99% most likely going to do this on the Musturd 75, since it needs quarters anyways, in conjunction with a Terrain Tamer kit, have it on the shelf ready to go, just need to find some time/motivation

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Gotta admit that looks good. I'll go back to my corner now.
 
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