What is Level? (1 Viewer)

[UWdave]

After chopping my 80, I've been battling to find the right setup to maker her level. Most people determine level/lift by measuring the distance between the center of the wheel and the fender.

The problem I have is that I've trimmed my front fenders.

What is the best way to determine level? Is the line between the door and the window sit level when stock?

SLEE 4"
Made for 'heavy' 80 with bumpers and gear. Besides too much lift, the springs felt very stiff.

OME 2863J
265 lbf/in 46 N/mm
Still too much lift. When measuring the door/window line, the rearmost point was 2" higher than the frontmost point (by the mirror). Ran them for ~6 months and still pretty stiff.

Stock
170 lbf/in
With these in, the rearmost point was 0.5" lower than the frontmost point. I think it looks so much higher in the front is because of the ~2" fender trim in the front. I plan to trim the rear at some point.

 

[UWdave]

I drive the rig on the street sometimes, but it is meant for the trails. Because of this, I think I want something softer and will deal with the extra sway. I still run a rear swaybar.

Here are my options going forward:
A) Cut the J springs. Zero cost but I still have a stiff spring
B) Add 30mm (1.2") spacers with the stock springs
Slee
Ironman MetalTech
C) Find another spring

 

[greentruck]

The 80 was the first LandCruiser that finally quit dragging its butt around everywhere it went, suspension-wise. That last picture looks like a throwback to me, but I've been around for awhile.

So I find it interesting that so many folks want "level" -- whatever that means. Hard to call level on a coil-sprung vehicle anyway, as it's load-dependent. Here's a shot of our truck when loaded up and headed for the North Country with the M101 CDN. I'd say it's both level and backend low at the same time. Mostly because of the way the lines in the sheet metal run, which appears to be upwards towards the rear, fooling the eye about how the truck is sitting somewhat.

The second pic shows the truck with the trailer, both unladen. Now she's looking perky and right to my eye, but obviously with more rake than many want to see. So I'd look less at the wheelwells, which work OK for measuring but won't help you here.

Where I'd like the truck to sit loaded is about halfway in between the two points illustrated here. Have plans for airbags in the rear to make that happen when needed. I'll also consider slightly longer coil, because I may need a little more capacity in any case. Gotta trail test things first to see if the bags will suffice or not.

 

[Youngjoonni]

I would just eye ball it once you have it parked on level ground and go from there. I would be using the molding on your doors as a guideline.

You're sporting a prerunner style from the looks of your pics. You would fit in perfect here is SoCal!

 

[little_joe]

I'd measure distance of bumpstops to axle and compare that to FSM specs - it's what I used when I cut down my FOR springs. IMHO any other method is unreliable.

Page SA-123 of the FSM says stock front distance is 36mm/1.42in, rear is 104mm/4.09in. Of course if you're using other/modified bumpstops or have rotated axles, adjust accordingly.

 

[Tapage]

This it's level to me ..

 

[Golgo13]

Toyota actually runs by "ground line."
for all intents and purposes, this is from wheel center to the bottom of the frame. The bottom of the frame is the best measuring point unless you start messing with the body mounts. If the tires are inflated properly for the loads on the front and rear axles, wheel center to ground should be the same front and rear( give or take a millimeter or two).

Of course you need level ground as well...

 

[normiex]

I depends on whether you want it to look level or be level, if you want it to be level I would measure from the chassis to the ground on a level surface with the tyres at the correct pressure, if you want it to look level just use your eye and adjust it to look right to you.

 

[UWdave]

So this weekend I went to work.

1) With the stock springs still in, I put my HighLift in the rear bumper reciever to jack up the rear

2) Adding ~1" lift, it leveled the line under the window (beltline). The truck still looked very nose high. Looking at various features on the rig, I noticed that the MT sliders were still slanted down towards the back.

3) Adding another ~2" of lift (~3" up from stock springs), it made the the bottom of the sliders level. At this height, the rig looks 'right'.

4) The OME 2863J springs have a square ends (unlike stock springs with tangential ends). SPRING TYPE LINK After trying to judge how much to cut off, I cut off one complete turn from the top.

5) With the OMEs cut, I went on a 5 mile drive down some bumpy gravel roads to settle them in. End result was the sliders being just slightly higher in the rear.

Side Note: My rig never sits level side to side. Depending on whether I go from Drive to Park or Reverse to Park a different side will be higher.

 

[UWdave]

Sitting pretty level now.