I’ve been meaning to start this thread for a while. @Taylor20 and I have been bouncing ideas and information back and forth about rear springs and I thought we should open it up to the community for disucssion. Let’s talk existing rear coil options and what an “ideal 3rd Gen rear spring” might look like? I realize everyone has different uses and setups, but I feel like there are just so many more options for the 120 Platform Toyota’s than for us 3rd Gen guys.

I for one, would love a LT rear spring capable of staying in the coil buckets at full droop, capable of supporting 200-250lbs of rear weight (over stock) and sitting at 2.5-3” of lift. My ideal spring may be different than yours, but that’s where we can start to collect some data and see if there are some common themes to approach a vendor about a custom spring potentially.

I’d love to hear from @Black798 as I know he’s running some 4th Gen Dobinsons or something back there.

CURRENT SPRING DATA (thanks for putting this together @Taylor20 )

OME 861's - 220lbs - 480/490mm FH
DOBINSON 210V - 160-239lbs - 475/485mm FH
DOBINSON 675V - 157-230lbs - 470mm FH
TOYTEC Superflex - 240lbs - 495mm FH
LC 7.5 Wrap - 160lbs - 473mm FH
LC 8 Wrap - 160lbs - 483mm FH

If you can confirm and/or fill in the missing info, please reply to the thread and I will update the main post.

Let’s talk rear springs!

Thanks Rick for starting this.
Just to throw some more info out there from my searching.

The Dobinson 675v is a LT 4th gen rear coil. It provides the 4th gen's 2.5" of lift on average in stock form. That would provide us with 3.5" of lift due to the OE 4th gen spring providing about 1" of lift to start with. With extra weight it would bring that down some.
The Dobinson 210v is the stock height extra weight LC front spring, and from what @Black798 has told me it offers about 3.5" of lift with the extra weight.

I did have 861's, rear swingout and drawer system, but almost 5" of lift, it was just too much for me. I will probably order the 675v and see what those provide in the next couple months.

Free height is key for a spring not falling out, it would have to be at least 480mm to not leave a worry of them doing so.

Some more food for thought....

I had my 4th gen on 675V springs after switching from the metal Tech LT springs. They were slightly lower but on a stock truck (factory hitch and no rear bumper) I was closer to 3.5” of lift. I’ll dig in my old build thread and see if I ever posted huh to fender measurements to try and validate that...

I used Bilstein 5100s paired with OME 880 in the front and 890 in the back, have a slight positive rake. I didn't measure before/after height though. The suspension levels out with a hitch rack loaded with ~300lbs. I didn't take before pictures but there are after pictures in my thread.

My New 2000 Limited 4x4 E-Locker

I have used LC ~150k.
One is 8 wraps, white, dark blue, double purple. Free standing it’s 483mm.
Other is just over 7.5 wraps, white, light blue, double purple. Free standing it’s 473mm.

Not sure what Superflex’s your referencing but this thread lists them at 240# spring rate. I haven’t found an alternative reference.

ToyTec SuperFlex Rear Spring INFO Thread

LC80 Front coils:


48131-6A480 - FH 19.25" (White / Orange / Green)
48131-6A570 - FH 18.75" (Double Purple / Gray / White)

So is there a difference between the Dobsinson 210V and the OEM LC springs? WHy would I want to buy one vs the other? Can it handle weight better than the oem but isn't as crazy tall/heavy duty as the OME 861. Cause if that is the case I may be buying them.

I've had about 6 different rear spring pairs in my 4Runner, with many more sub-combos of packers and air bags. I have both high and variable weight in the back, since I have a 4XI swingout bumper and tow a light car trailer from time to time.

I ended up with the Superflex coils, simply because they have the highest "final" rate of any of the heavily progressive coils and prevent big rake changes with variable weight. This is a huge selling point, especially when they still ride very nicely sans trailer.

Unfortunately, air bags aren't quite the silver bullet they'd seem to be for variable weight, since you can't safely run them at 0psi. I always found them a bit harsh unladen, even inside soft coil springs.

So with your bumper/swing out. Roughly how much lift are you getting from the super flex? Hub to fender would be awesome to know.

Here's a picture. This is with Superflex + trimmed OEM top cones. The rear bumper is a 4XI with a swing-out 34" tire and a full jerry can, so fairly heavy.

Hub-to-fender distance is 23.75". Even with the bumper setup, I imagine I'm still short of the 1000lb total load on each spring.

I have a feeling but I haven't tried it, that the OME FJ Cruiser rear springs 895 medium duty may be the right coil for people looking to carry a little extra weight (2-300lb) and stay around 3" of lift at ride height.

Sent from my JSN-L23 using Tapatalk

To The Top~

Any more ideas or set ups? Please share-

Here's an idea: springs are characterized fundamentally by their free length, overall diameter, wire diameter, and number of coils. It may be interesting to include this data on the various options. This would help if we actually wanted to propose a custom spring design.

FJC rear spring thread. Not much lift, but maybe the ride characteristics and introduces the variable of larger diameter coils.

Solved: FJ Cruiser Spring Lift for 3rd Gen 4Runners

I know this thread is “rear coils” but it seems to me that the shocks are equally as important for ride quality. I think the conversation would have to encompass a coil and shock pair.