FJ40JOHN
SILVER Star
I need new shocks on my LX450, probably new springs too. About 99% certain that everything is original. Goal was a bit of lift to allow up to 35" tires (currently on 33" BFG AT load range E), nice ride around town (DD probably 90% of the time) while allowing for a bit more ability offroad (trails and a few rocks) while sticking to a fairly strict budget (that I never really defined...). Ideal would be a 3" slinky Stage 4 kit, but that definitely is not in the (imaginary) budget. No extra gear as of now, although I picked up a front bumper today that weighs a bit under 100lbs.
With that in mind, I began picking up some used items to piece together a new (to me) setup, mostly from the excellent classifieds on here.
Option 1 -'New' stock shocks. Grabbed a set of OEM shocks with ~ 10k miles on them.
Option 2 - 2.5" springs. Found a pair of 2.5" OME fronts, and some 30mm rear spacers. Figured that would even me out a bit (lots of rake currently). Didn't have a shock plan for this in place. Not positive what additional kit I would need to maintain stock-ish drive characteristics (caster, etc).
Option 3 - Full set of almost new OME stock height springs. The set I bought came with 30mm spacers (F&R) and the seller claimed ~2.5" of lift over stock (guessing old saggy springs). Planned to run the OEM shocks from Option 1 with these.
Option 4 - 75mm Slinky kit. Picked up a set of 75mm Slinky Intermediate front springs with a full set of 2.0 Icon shocks. Again, barely used. Rear springs could go a few different routes, but could eventually be upgrade to the matching slinky set. My understanding is that this height will quite a lot of additional work to correct caster, panhard height, brake lines, and other misc. drop/extension brackets. I managed to grab a set of MAF caster drop brackets fairly cheap. Figured those might get me up and running until I can upgrade to Delta arms and panhard brackets.
Trying to figure out how basic (budget) I can go and not kill myself on the road while getting the most out of what I have. Extra parts will all be sold.
With that in mind, I began picking up some used items to piece together a new (to me) setup, mostly from the excellent classifieds on here.
Option 1 -'New' stock shocks. Grabbed a set of OEM shocks with ~ 10k miles on them.
Option 2 - 2.5" springs. Found a pair of 2.5" OME fronts, and some 30mm rear spacers. Figured that would even me out a bit (lots of rake currently). Didn't have a shock plan for this in place. Not positive what additional kit I would need to maintain stock-ish drive characteristics (caster, etc).
Option 3 - Full set of almost new OME stock height springs. The set I bought came with 30mm spacers (F&R) and the seller claimed ~2.5" of lift over stock (guessing old saggy springs). Planned to run the OEM shocks from Option 1 with these.
Option 4 - 75mm Slinky kit. Picked up a set of 75mm Slinky Intermediate front springs with a full set of 2.0 Icon shocks. Again, barely used. Rear springs could go a few different routes, but could eventually be upgrade to the matching slinky set. My understanding is that this height will quite a lot of additional work to correct caster, panhard height, brake lines, and other misc. drop/extension brackets. I managed to grab a set of MAF caster drop brackets fairly cheap. Figured those might get me up and running until I can upgrade to Delta arms and panhard brackets.
Trying to figure out how basic (budget) I can go and not kill myself on the road while getting the most out of what I have. Extra parts will all be sold.