Who has ACTUALLY removed a leaf (or two!) from the Springs?

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hecrod said:
I will be removing the smallest leaf from all four springs at some point over the next 2-3 weeks (going out on vacation next week).
Click to expand...

I would start with removing the longest leaf (that does not have an eye or is part of the military wrap if present) and then reinstall the spring and compare the height and ride on that side before doing the other spring.

The short leaf doesn't have much effect.
 
Fast Eddy - the Rancho Add a Leaf spring is longer than the bottom two leaves removed from an OEM spring pack. I can't really speak to articulation - it can't really be worse than an OEM spring pack, and as others have mentioned, the bottom two leaves in an FJ40 pack don't do much except provide support in (presumably) extreme loading situations.
 
I removed a leaf f(or 2 can't remember) from my front skyjakker 4" lift springs to help my pinion angle a little. No problems with handling and it does have a bit more flex. I have always thought the skyjakkers were a bit stiff anyways and I like the feel better now. sorry no pics.
 
Hi all,

X 2 what Pin_Head wrote. This is the proper way to adjust spring rate by adding or deleting individual leafs.

Regards,

Alan


Pin_Head said:
I would start with removing the longest leaf (that does not have an eye or is part of the military wrap if present) and then reinstall the spring and compare the height and ride on that side before doing the other spring.

The short leaf doesn't have much effect.
Click to expand...
 
Update!

If you recall, I had two issues: ride was overly harsh, and the 40 was too high... I couldn't get it into the garage at work!

Parallel thread
https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/751101-newbie-question-rough-country-systems-shackle-angles.html

I took two steps:
  1. Installed shorter shackles
  2. Removed the second from the bottom leaf on the rear springs

Installing the shorter shackles shaved about 1.25" of overall height (shackles were 2.5" shorter)... this was still not enough to access the parking garage. Removing the leaves did the trick. The truck is now about 2-2.25" lower, and the ride is noticeably smoother too!

The previous set of shackles were by the way way too tight, which of course contributed to the harsh ride. The angle of those shackles were just about 90 degrees all around... you can see in the picture below how the front shackles show a bit more of an angle now. The rear shackles are still ~90 degrees, but that doesn't bother me anymore... the ride is now good and smooth!

I for one think that the overall stance is nicer too...

Thanks to all of you that helped!:beer:
photo (7).webp
 
Last edited:
:cheers:
 
Hi Lift Jack Mount

The Hi-Lift jack in the back was occupying too much space for my taste... so I purchased and installed the jack mount found here.

Works great so far! Had to trim the lip of the jack about 1/8" to make sure the door would clear when opening... other than that, it works as advertised!

Picture for my pleasure attached...
photo (8).webp
 
looks like you got the last one :lol:
 
Who has actually removed a leaf from the springs?

Here in Ecuador I purchased new springs from a local manufacturer. It has been a pretty messy experience. The length, location of centering spring and leaf count are not per specification. I actually had to re-locate the rear centering pin hole 1 1/2" because I couldn't get the driveshaft in. Also, all four springs were built with seven leaves. I drove it over for inspection yesterday and it was a buckboard ride that would shake your fillings loose. So today I removed two leaves from the rear and one from the front. In the rear the top two springs are full length, top with eyes, second with military wrap and slight wrap at the rear eye. So I removed the third and fifth leaf on this seven leaf setup. On the front the same top two springs are full length, however, the third leaf also had a clamp on it and so I removed the fourth spring. I am running KYB basic oil shocks which are listed as OEM replacements. I just took it for a ride and what a great difference, much smoother and far more comfortable. It will be interesting to see how long they last. I have a friend down here that spent $42K restoring his 1982 Cruiser and he used Iron Man suspension, springs, shocks and shackles. He also has a new tire store with alignment rack and I went there yesterday for alignment and he told me he had also removed a number of springs to get a better ride. He said he had to put one back in to offset the lean he said was caused by the spare tire. On his model the spare is mounted on the left side whereas mine is mounted on the right side.
 
40's are designed to be stout, buy a recent "SUV" if you want cush.............Just my two cents
 
This past weekend (1st of March, 2014) Coen Wubbels and Karin stopped by on their way back to Peru. You may know Coen & Karin from Landcruising Adventure and their ten year odyssey around the world. Coen pointed out that removal of the 3rd spring on the rear was leaving the ends of my springs towards the eyes less than well supported and the springs could start bending over that edge. He suggested I re-install that spring and I did yesterday. I should also note that on Saturday I had two people in the back of The Beast and noticed an adverse ride and handling situation. So after re-installing the #3 leaf it is of course stiffer, but not as bad as it was with seven leaves. I also noted that the tire shop that had changed my tires from white letter out to black wall had re-inflated the tires to 35 psi, way too high. Reducing pressure in these 235/75R-15 tires to 25 psi (still higher than Toyota spec) is part of the improvement. I will follow Coen's advice and find some sand bags to replicate weight I would have when traveling and that way the ride and handling will be pretty much constant. Oh, using the chalk line approach to tire pressure looks to be good at this psi.
 
As an update regarding suspension. The "problem" springs made locally on four occasions allowed the rear shackles to rotate forward and up resulting in no rear suspension. And it is a royal pain to get those shackles back in place. I had welded a piece of rebar on the top of the shackle to prevent rotation, but it wasn't enough. So I bought a '79 FJ40 in September and swapped many, many parts from my '70 over to it, including my new shackles with grease zerks, Energy Suspension bushings. I did swap the front springs, however, I kept the rear springs since their length was correct, in that the shackle is pointed towards the rear. I am still running the six and six leaf setup and the ride and handling are fine. I have revised my tire pressures to 25 psi front and 20 psi rear. In May 2014 I went to Quito and bought an '83 2F engine that was recently rebuilt, very complete. I hauled it home to Cuenca in the back of The Beast and raised the tire pressure to 30 psi to accommodate the weight. It was fine. When I drove it home after dropping off the motor it was once again a buckboard ride so that pressure came down immediately

DSCN4721.webp
 
hecrod said:
Update!

If you recall, I had two issues: ride was overly harsh, and the 40 was too high... I couldn't get it into the garage at work!

Parallel thread
NEWBIE Question! Rough Country Systems and Shackle Angles...

I took two steps:
  1. Installed shorter shackles
  2. Removed the second from the bottom leaf on the rear springs

Installing the shorter shackles shaved about 1.25" of overall height (shackles were 2.5" shorter)... this was still not enough to access the parking garage. Removing the leaves did the trick. The truck is now about 2-2.25" lower, and the ride is noticeably smoother too!

The previous set of shackles were by the way way too tight, which of course contributed to the harsh ride. The angle of those shackles were just about 90 degrees all around... you can see in the picture below how the front shackles show a bit more of an angle now. The rear shackles are still ~90 degrees, but that doesn't bother me anymore... the ride is now good and smooth!

I for one think that the overall stance is nicer too...

Thanks to all of you that helped!:beer:
View attachment 790633
Click to expand...
I know this is an old thread, but when installing shackles, is there a torque spec? Thanks!
 
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