upcruiser
Perpetual Transient
N73 and N74E's. I think I am going to order a set of 1" spacers from Slee and see how that works. Holy cow! First new real mod on my truck since '04! Big day! haha
80 suspension questions.
- Thread starter OneTime
- Start date
N73 and N74E's. I think I am going to order a set of 1" spacers from Slee and see how that works. Holy cow! First new real mod on my truck since '04! Big day! haha
adventureduo
Dave Druck [KI6LBB]
Welcome back Kristian! :sombrero:
upcruiser
Perpetual Transient
Thanks! Its kind of a testament to the 80 series though. You don't really NEED to do much to them. Unfortunately I destroyed my phone though, so now I gotta wait till I get that problem solved before ordering. For isntalling the spacers, you think if I unbolt the top of the shock and stand on the axle I could squeeze the spacers in there? I'm all for easy.:sombrero:
adventureduo
Dave Druck [KI6LBB]
Unbolt the shock, sway bar... and see if you can do one side at a time... may work. I know thats all i had to do to get the coils in... but the spacers may be a different story.. i didn't do those.
No Frankie himself says this is ok for his springs and will actually do it for you himself before he sends them out.
FOR lift is by far the best and most comfortable lift out there. Provided you don't want to go above a 3.5 inch lift.
If I had to do mine all over again i'd think long and hard about putting my slee 6" in there again.
brentbba
Explorer
If you're still on original coils and shocks, any suspension change will feel great!
If you are REALLY sure you will never add weight, the OME 2.5" medium is an excellent choice. I did the OME stock height mediums...before adding an ARB/Winch up front and a Kaymar w/ tire carrier, fridge, etc. on the rear. I've since upgraded to heavy/heavy 2.5" and love it.
Did do lots of washboards with the medium OME stock height in DV and had no problems at all.
If you are REALLY sure you will never add weight, the OME 2.5" medium is an excellent choice. I did the OME stock height mediums...before adding an ARB/Winch up front and a Kaymar w/ tire carrier, fridge, etc. on the rear. I've since upgraded to heavy/heavy 2.5" and love it.
Did do lots of washboards with the medium OME stock height in DV and had no problems at all.
sorry been out of town,
here is a comparison shot of the frankie springs with an 1" cut out of them (friends 80) next to a frankie prototype 4" lift ,customer of mine layed out huge cash for the frankie 4"lift to be made
keep in mind the truck on the left had 32" tires and is stock minus the lift and the truck on the left is decked out in mods, weighs just under 8,000lbs, and has 35's
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cruiseroutfit
Well-known member
Not so quick. While it is generally acceptable to cut coils, it is something that requires great care and can't be done in some situations. While you can cut a Land Cruiser coil, there is more work beyond cutting. Take a look at the top wind of a commercially built spring. They don't just cut the coil and call it good. They bend the top wind to give it a flat surface for mounting and load distribution. Additionally they mill the top surface flat, again for load distribution and mounting clearance.
If you were to just cut a coil, you would end up with a pig-tail sticking up past the rest of the coil that could cause install issues, damage to the spring mount, etc.
Kurt i hear what your saying and totally agree, the frankie springs are progressive and the top of the springs are tightly wound so cutting them is not a big deal you do how ever need to take a flap disk to the top of the cut and make sure the surface is flat so like you said it will sit right and not damage the seat. I will get some pictures of the whole spring cutting proses but i have to go to my friends house to get them should have them in a few days
glad you posted that i don't want anyone to go out and try then on a different manufacturer that might not be so suited for cutting down
cheers, Nat
glad you posted that i don't want anyone to go out and try then on a different manufacturer that might not be so suited for cutting down
cheers, Nat
cruiseroutfit
Well-known member
Cool, I would love to see some pics of that. I've done it before on tightly wrapped springs... but I haven't really run across and 80 springs that lend themselves well to this. Post up some spring when you get a minute
sleeoffroad
Adventurer
The FOR coils does not have a flat seat at the top to start off with.
I asked questions on MUD re the cutting but were not able to get answers. This is what I asked:
"I have a question about cutting the coils. From the last pictures I saw of the FOR springs, the top coils are not touching each other when not installed, but they do when it is installed. So they are only "dead" coils in loaded and compressed state, but when the axle droops they become active. It was said in other threads that this part helps the spring stay seated which is 100% correct, but somewhere it was also stated that this is the part that makes the FOR springs ride so soft.
Since you cut some of this off, does it not change the behavior of the spring? I know that cutting dead coils off will not change the spring behavior, but I always assumed, and might be wrong, that it was dead coils when the are wound to touch each other before loading the springs.
Any coil that is not touching each other is not dead to begin with, but deadens when it compresses to touch. When this happens, the spring rate increases on the spring.
Just to be clear, not saying this is not a good idea or anything like that, I am just asking on the issue of cutting the coil and changing nothing in the behavior of the coil."
good question Cristo from what i can tell there is no difference in ride quality or handling from the truck with the cut down springs to the truck with the 3.5 lift springs as far as i can tell on a paved road to a class 6 road have not had the chance to wheel the truck heavy with the cut down coils since that vehicle is more for road trips then heavy trail riding so i i have not had the chance to compare them in that regard:ylsmoke:
as far as spring selection goes for you trucks try and find some one with a slee, f.o.r. and ome and take them for a test ride there are a lot of 80's out here with different lifts, one may suit one better then another.
I personally have the Slee 4" lift springs on both my 80's and love them have had them on for a 2 years and beet the snot out of them and there still holding up strong, i just need that extra inch:safari-rig:
as far as spring selection goes for you trucks try and find some one with a slee, f.o.r. and ome and take them for a test ride there are a lot of 80's out here with different lifts, one may suit one better then another.
I personally have the Slee 4" lift springs on both my 80's and love them have had them on for a 2 years and beet the snot out of them and there still holding up strong, i just need that extra inch:safari-rig:
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