Questions about fine-tuning my suspension

[ashooter]

I've got a thread going on this over at 'Mud, but thought I'd run it by you guys as well...

Background: I'm getting ready to buy an ARB front bumper and an Iron Pig rear and that got me thinking about bumping up my suspension with some trim packers to compensate a little for the added weight, since I'm running "low lift" springs and don't have a lot of "extra" room with 33+ inch tires. My main concern was whether or not I would need to also add caster correction bushings with this minimal lift, but after doing some measurements I've got a couple of other concerns.

I just did some measurements and it looks like most of my problem is left-leaning body...

First is current measurement straight down from fender edge to tire tread, then trim packer I plan to add, then the expected result.

LF: 4 3/8" + 25mm = 5.36"
RF: 5" + 10mm = 5.39"
LR: 5" + 15mm = 5.59"
RR: 5 5/8" + 0mm = 5.62"

Any thoughts??? Is this body lean a normal thing meant to compensate for the road crown when going down the highway?

The truck drives fine and tracks straight as-is, so I'm a little leary about fixing it if it ain't broke, but it just looks funny to me when sitting on flat ground.

 

[eli]

Left Lean

Ashooter, is this question reguarding Your Fj80?

 

[ashooter]

Ashooter, is this question reguarding Your Fj80?

Yes... Sorry, I guess I should have specified that.

 

[eli]

body lean

No Prob . . . Im sure there are more Guru's out there that know more and can chime in . . . So with that said, if your adding some serious weight . . . now would be the time to replace the tired factory springs . . .

Certain things are time change items (fluids, any thing rubber and def. springs leaf or coil).

My 07 Fj has a pronounced lean as well but shimming an approx. 18 year old spring and then adding additional weight on top of that (if I read your post correctly) may not only compromise reliability but your safety as well . . .

Good Luck

 

[ashooter]

I'm not dealing with factory springs. These are Old Man Emu (OME) 861/862 springs that were installed only about 3 years ago. I had thought about just adding OME 2" heavy springs, but I don't really want that much lift and don't plan to carry more weight than new bumpers and a tire carrier. Mainly just trying to get rid of the lean and maybe install the OME caster correction bushings to take whatever stress out of the system after the cumulative 1" or so lift.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

You don't say which 'low lift' springs you are running, are they side specific and do you by chance have them backwards? Trim packers are used for exactly what you are planning, eliminating lean side to side or front to back rake. Lean is common even on bone stock vehicles though a new suspension can exaggerate it a bit or at least have the owner measuring it closely. OME A/B springs usually land pretty close but through the use of mixed setups (heavy front, medium rear, etc) and trim packers it can generally be brought into an acceptable stance.

 

[ashooter]

They're on the correct side... In my previous post above, I did say that they are 3-yr old Old Man Emu 861 & 862 springs and 3-yr old OEM shocks. They seemed fine up until maybe 6 months ago, but maybe I'm just noticing it more because I'm doing some upgrades on the truck.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to just add trim packers to level it out a bit, but after doing some digging at 'Mud, I'm considering moving up to OME 850 & 860 springs and new shocks.

Bottom line: I've discovered that my "problem" is pretty common, so I just need to figure out which route I want to take to fix it.

Thanks

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Copy that, I need to read the entire thread before I reply

Sounds like your on the right track.