My "NEW" 1990 FJ62

[SAR_Squid79]

I found a kick-butt deal on a 1990 FJ62 Land Cruiser here on ExPo. I brought her home a few weeks ago.

Here is the For Sale thread with some "before" pics: http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17178

She is a super clean Cruiser. The person I bought it from was technically the 2nd owner, but her parents were the original owners, and gave the truck her a few years back. It's never really been taken Off Road, and it's been a California car for pretty much its entire existance.

I took it, got it smog'd, registered, and washed and waxed! I didn't really like the wheels that came on it, and the tires were shot. ...So this weekend she got a little bit of a makeover, and got an OME 3" suspension lift, and new tires & wheels!

Well the install went pretty well. Like I said this Cruiser has always been a California car, so there was no rust, no corrosion, and all of the 20 year old nuts and bolts came off like butter. The only exception was the rear driver's-side spring pin. The pin that goes through the spring perch had to be cut out, but that was the only hiccup.

I guess the pin had bonded to the rubber bushings, and that S.O.B. wouldn't let go for anything. After pounding it with a hammer for about 2 straight hours, I decided to break out the grinder. 30 minutes and two 5" cutting wheels later, I was back on track.

I picked up the Ultimate Light / Medium 2" - 3" Lift Kit Part# ED60ULM from Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters.

The kit came with:

2 - CS003F Front OME Emu Dakar Leaf Springs - (NOT SIDE SPECIFIC)
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]2 - N88 Front Nitrocharger Shock Absorber [/SIZE][/FONT]- (NOT SIDE SPECIFIC)
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]1 - CS017R A Rear OME Emu Dakar Leaf Spring[/SIZE][/FONT] - (Driver)
1 - CS017R B Rear OME Emu Dakar Leaf Spring - (Passenger)
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]2 - N94 Rear Nitrocharger Shock Absorber[/SIZE][/FONT] - (NOT SIDE SPECIFIC)
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]4 - SB1 OME Poly Spring Bushing Kits[/SIZE][/FONT] - (NOT SIDE SPECIFIC)
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]1 - OMEGS2 OME Greasable Front Shackle Kit (triangular)[/SIZE][/FONT] - (Front of Spring)
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]1 - OMEGS1 OME Greasable Rear Shackle Kit[/SIZE][/FONT] (triangular) - (Rear of Spring)
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]2 - OMEGP1 OME Greasable Pin Kit[/SIZE][/FONT] - (Front and Rear of Truck / Fixed (chassis) end of spring)
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]1 - OMESD24 OME Steering Stabilizer[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]4 - OMEU51 OME U-Bolts & Nuts - (Front - Square)[/SIZE][/FONT]
4 - OMEU59B OME U-Bolts & Nuts - (Rear - Round)​

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]1 - OME Center Bolt Spacer Kit[/SIZE][/FONT] - (Fit over rear leaf spring centering pins)

The install was very straight forward. At first I was confused by all the parts, and wanted to make sure I knew what went where . . . Once you get underneath the truck, you see that there's really only 1 way to install everything.

The new shoes are Toyo Open Country A/T's - size: 285/70/17 on 17" x 8" Toyota Sequoia alloys.


I took measurements before and after:
(All measurements are from the ground to the bottom edge of the fender)

BEFORE:​

​

​

Front:
Driver: 32 14/16"
Passenger: 33"

Rear:
Driver: 31 5/16"
Passenger: 31 1/8"​

AFTER:​

​

​

Front:
Driver: 36 3/4"
Passenger: 36 1/2"

Rear:
Driver: 38 1/2"
Passenger: 37 15/16"​

More Pictures!

​

...It turns out that I need a little more room to clear the Tie Rod Ends, and I just ordered 2 sets of 1.5" wheel spacers from Marlin Crawler that should be here tomorrow. The truck was okay for the drive home from my shop, but at full lock the Tie Rod does contact the inside of the wheels. Also on the drive home I learned that I need an alignment BAD! I think I'm going to replace all the Tie Rod and Drag Link ends before I get an alignment. Taking a close look at them while I was installing the suspension, it looks like the linkage that's on there might still be all the original 1990 parts!!!

...Yeah, yeah - I know I need to clean all the blue junk off the tires!

 

[SAR_Squid79]

By the way - I hope to be able to pick up one of the Tie Rod kits from either Cruiser Outfitters of Man-A-Fre this week. The Cruiser Outfitters kit is a little cheaper, but Man-A-Fre says that theirs is OEM Japanese parts. . . any recommendations there?

Man-A-Fre Tie Rod End Kits

Cruiser Outfitters 60 Series TRE Kit

 

[MoGas]

Very nice

 

[Moody]

Awesome. Nice to see there are still clean examples of the 62 out there.

 

[Willman]

Nice 62!

:ylsmoke:

 

[Paul R]

Looks like a great cruiser!

The Cruiser Outfitters kit is a little cheaper, but Man-A-Fre says that theirs is OEM Japanese parts. . . any recommendations there?

I would ask Kurt what his kit is I guarantee he wont sell you junk I have been happy with every purchase I have had with Kurt.

 

[Grim Reaper]

Not to sound bad...don't do spacers....ditch the IFS wheels. The Outlaw II's you took off are a VERY strong wheel. I would go back to them if you still have them. If they are gone then buy some new wheels like MT knock off's with the money from selling the wheels and what you would have spent on the spacers. I bought a set of 589 Eagles for my Sub for $330 new from 4Wheel parts 4 years ago. You are going to spend $250 on the spacers.


A 62 just showed up locally for the right price...I SO want it. Problem is I'm not sure it is up to towing our 22ft Airstream (3,000lb plus gear).

 

[vengeful]

Very nice 62. Definitely let us know what you think of the OME suspension once you get the clearance and alignment sorted out.

I'm not quite sure about the wheels, personally. I think such modern styled wheels look a bit out of place on such a classic rig. But, again, that's just my opinion.:wings:

 

[SAR_Squid79]

don't do spacers....ditch the IFS wheels. The Outlaw II's you took off are a VERY strong wheel. I would go back to them
...You are going to spend $250 on the spacers.

Mmmmmm . . . No.

1. I really like these wheels.
   
2. The tires I just spent $1000 on are for 17" wheels, and the outlaws are 15" - meaning that I'd have to buy ANOTHER set of tires to go back to the other wheels that I don't like, and then HOPE to be able to recoup a fraction of the expenses by selling these tires and wheels that I do like - just because you think spacers are bad for some reason.
   
3. I already bought spacers from Marlin Crawler - they were $180 for 2 sets (not $250), and will be here tomorrow.

This ain't my 1st rodeo, cowboy. If you like those outlaws so much, I'll sell them to YOU! :elkgrin:

15" x 8" Outlaw Wheels for sale - set of 4​

 

[pint]

Nice find. Keep up the good work!

 

[upcruiser]

Congrats! That is a great looking truck. Did you get rid of the Tacoma?

 

[ntsqd]

Looks like the wheel fit w/o the spacers?

Put me too in the "No fan of spacers" catagory.
Too bad the OII's are 8's, I'd be interested in 7's.

 

[BIGdaddy]

spacers are bad, blah, blah.


as long as the spacers aren't the antiquated, "add a longer stud" type, then they'll be fine. There we're a slew of failures that have nothing to do with modern design spacers.

the ones that are being sold right now by spidertrax, etc use a very strong machined spacer like these:

These type are VERY high quality, built on a CNC mill, and really do NOT stress your bearings out noticably at all.

Obviously if you have a huge tire (40" plus) with a crazy offset and take it off some sweet jumps, then yeah, you might have a problem, but 30-35" tires on a cruiser? bah!

 

[BIGdaddy]

p.s.

like the wheels
like the lift
like the tire choice.

but plz...wash that blue crap off your tires!!!

chicks are NOT going to dig you, with that stuff on! :xxrotflma

-Brian

 

[sami]

Looks good.. I don't agree with your wheel choice either, but hey you like it so roll with it.

I ran 3/4" spacers in my front axle('85 4runner) for years and never had one issue with them.. 5" springs and 37-38" tires.. Beat the hell out of it.

You will be just fine with those spacers.

I vote Kurt for your tie rod needs.. But I am biased since i'm a returning customer every time

-Jason