Compiled: FJ Springs Lift Info for 4th gen

[yosh2000]

if you are purchasing new OEM coils anyways, may want to look into the 02-04 tundra progressive springs (i believe this is what the sonoran steel lift uses). supposedly rides great. basically yellow-yellow and yellow-blue are the paint codes on the springs. search around, as its specific what year they come from, but im sure you can find the OEM PNs in some thread around here.

i personally found a front and rear set for $20 each, no matter the 25k on them, they will do for the time. looking at picking up a set of TRD offroad progressive tacoma springs as well to test them out.

FYI on those FJ80 springs, 80s were only producted 91-97, and the front coils are sold to the 3rd gen guys to lift the rear. that is probably what the guy was talking about.

EDIT: if you are looking at spending money due to "you get what you pay for", may just look into the sonoran steel lift: http://www.sonoransteel.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_6&products_id=7

 

[pjbrownva]

Any on have any words to the wise? Will be interesting to see what the stealership sells the coils for. I'm guessing the price will be alarming and I'll end up going OME.

[MENTION=133948]Mushroom_Cap[/MENTION], I found my FJ coils by posting a "welcome" thread in the proper portion of FJ Cruiser forum. I included a message about myself and my interests, a picture of my truck, and some info and discussion about why I was there (to find someone with FJ Cruiser springs to sell).

I had the normal chit-chat with different members on my welcome post.
I ended up finding someone nearby who had coils and I bought them from him.

The point is, by taking the time to introduce myself, and talk shop with the guys on the FJ forum, someone who probably wouldn't have been reading the classifieds, read my post and decided "sure... I'll sell my old FJ coils to the guy."

Just a thought. It worked well for me. I wouldn't call it a "trick", because my post and my discussions were genuine.

-Phil

 

[pjbrownva]

I want the front to come 2.5 inches or so. "level-ish" Maybe not equal height in both wheel wells, but level-ish at the running boards/roof.

Check out the chart and data compiled in this thread:

On the front, you may get some lift based on the coils you choose, but you can also adjust the bilstein 5100 in the front to select the amount of lift.

In the rear, the lift is dictated by the springs you choose. So look at the chart for info on the rear lift you are likely to see based on the springs you choose.

With that said, you can add spacers or additional tricks to get *more* lift if you want... but I wanted to point out to you that some of the aftermarket coils will give you some amount of lift... especially in the rear.

The thread I linked to is all about compiling data on what people did to their truck, and how much lift the measured after the changes.

Also, don't forget that as you increase the amount of lift, you can run into other issues such as the length of brake lines, or need to replace the upper control arms with aftermarket ones in order to properly align the tires. There may be other issues. This and other threads talk about the info (I believe), but I only went with a very mild lift myself (about an inch) so I don't have any issues to worry about.

Good luck.

-Phil

 

[S4TA]

[MENTION=133948]Mushroom_Cap[/MENTION], I found my FJ coils by posting a "welcome" thread in the proper portion of FJ Cruiser forum. I included a message about myself and my interests, a picture of my truck, and some info and discussion about why I was there (to find someone with FJ Cruiser springs to sell).

I had the normal chit-chat with different members on my welcome post.
I ended up finding someone nearby who had coils and I bought them from him.

The point is, by taking the time to introduce myself, and talk shop with the guys on the FJ forum, someone who probably wouldn't have been reading the classifieds, read my post and decided "sure... I'll sell my old FJ coils to the guy."

Just a thought. It worked well for me. I wouldn't call it a "trick", because my post and my discussions were genuine.

-Phil

I did nearly the same thing. I acted like I was really into FJs for a week and someone PM'd me directly to see if I wanted to buy their coils and shocks/struts. They never posted them on any classifieds. I do like FJs... just not as much as 4Runners.

 

[pjbrownva]

I did nearly the same thing. I acted like I was really into FJs for a week and someone PM'd me directly to see if I wanted to buy their coils and shocks/struts. They never posted them on any classifieds. I do like FJs... just not as much as 4Runners.

Yeah... like I said. It wasn't even a trick. In my intro I joked about me being just one of the many 4Runner trolls who go to their forum hoping to buy their trash, because it's truly a treasure to us, and joked (tounge-in-check) about how the T4R is good, but of course could never be as hard-core for off road as FJ Cruiser

Have a sense of humor and be genuine. People can tell, and they appreciate it.

-Phil

 

[Mushroom_Cap]

Thanks for the tips guys.

Unfortunately I've decided I don't want to go the route of trying to get FJ coils from someone on the FJ forums. Yeah...it would probably "work" but I would be worried about what I'm getting. Are they what the seller says they are? Plus I live in Canada so I'd have to have them shipped to a pick up address I have in Sumas, WA, then deal with border hassle bringing used auto parts across, and the list goes on. If I could find a local, reputable, suspension shop that had some I would be ok with that. But no one seems to have the 07-09 FJ coils. So, yeah, eff it I can't be bothered spending months trying to hunt down these coils. Think I'll just buy new ones.

Went to the Toyota Stealership yesterday to price out the FJ coil springs - oh my GOD!! RF = 195.96, LF = 198.49, rears are 447.82 EACH, for a grand total of $1290.09 + 12% tax!!! Forget that!!

Then went to the local Old Man Emu/ARB dealer (Cap-It). You can get a "light load, stock weight, no bar or winch" set of front springs which say they give 1" of lift for $300 for the set.

Can also get the medium load which says they give 2 inches of lift.

For the rear all the springs (med, heavy, heavy constant) all give 2" of lift.

I'm leaning towards getting OME springs but can't decide if I should get the 1" or 2" lift in the front (seems I need min of 2").

From here can't decide if I should get the 5100 shocks/struts as I had planned, or just go with all OME. The OME shocks/struts are about double that of Bilstien.

 

[t-man]

Thanks for the tips guys.

Unfortunately I've decided I don't want to go the route of trying to get FJ coils from someone on the FJ forums. Yeah...it would probably "work" but I would be worried about what I'm getting. Are they what the seller says they are? Plus I live in Canada so I'd have to have them shipped to a pick up address I have in Sumas, WA, then deal with border hassle bringing used auto parts across, and the list goes on. If I could find a local, reputable, suspension shop that had some I would be ok with that. But no one seems to have the 07-09 FJ coils. So, yeah, eff it I can't be bothered spending months trying to hunt down these coils. Think I'll just buy new ones.

Went to the Toyota Stealership yesterday to price out the FJ coil springs - oh my GOD!! RF = 195.96, LF = 198.49, rears are 447.82 EACH, for a grand total of $1290.09 + 12% tax!!! Forget that!!

Then went to the local Old Man Emu/ARB dealer (Cap-It). You can get a "light load, stock weight, no bar or winch" set of front springs which say they give 1" of lift for $300 for the set.

Can also get the medium load which says they give 2 inches of lift.

For the rear all the springs (med, heavy, heavy constant) all give 2" of lift.

I'm leaning towards getting OME springs but can't decide if I should get the 1" or 2" lift in the front (seems I need min of 2").

From here can't decide if I should get the 5100 shocks/struts as I had planned, or just go with all OME. The OME shocks/struts are about double that of Bilstien.

You can get FJ coils from rockauto cheaper. OME will be better though, and a better shock too.

 

[pjbrownva]

Can also get the medium load which says they give 2 inches of lift.

For the rear all the springs (med, heavy, heavy constant) all give 2" of lift.

I'm leaning towards getting OME springs but can't decide if I should get the 1" or 2" lift in the front (seems I need min of 2").

From here can't decide if I should get the 5100 shocks/struts as I had planned, or just go with all OME. The OME shocks/struts are about double that of Bilstien.

I sounds like you have a good handle on your choices. After that, it's just preference. The Bilstien 5100's have several preset levels of lift to choose from, and they are good quality shocks that are are substantially less expensive than the higher performance popular choices (such as Icon, Fox, OME, etc), but the lift that the bilstien's provide aren't continuously adjustable.

Whatever you choose, if you decide you want additional lift in the front, if the shock you select doesn't allow adjustment, you could always add a spacer to the front strut. Toytec has some 1/4" and 1/2" spacers that are fairly inexpensive, (I believe they add about 1/2" and 1" of lift to the front, respectively) and Toytec and others sell larger spacers too.

At this point, you're starting to get into areas that are above my knowledge and experience base. I don't know anything about the OME shocks, so I can't comment. Also, as you start to play with different characteristics such as pre-load on the spring, you can change the overall handling characteristics. Again... the impact and the tuning is above my experience level.

I went with a setup that many seemed to like (billy 5100's, & FJ coils) mostly because I could get them affordably ($350 for all 4 billy's delivered, & found FJ coils for $150 used for a set of 4 with about 18K miles on them), and I didn't want to experiment.

On the other hand, no sooner did I get it set up, than I decided that I would try more lift... so I have a set of 1.5" rear spacers on order, and when I install them, I will bump up the front setting on the 5100's one more notch which should add about 1.5 in to the front, keeping the rake more or less the same.

Good luck with your choices. I think it comes down to preference and some experimentation at this point. Also, see the other thread that I referred to in an earlier post on this subject. It has lots of data and compilations on different suspension choices and the observed changes in height, so you can try to predict your outcome and also see what impact v8 vs v6 has, or 2wd vs. 4wd has on the final ride height.

Have fun, and enjoy the experience!

-Phil

 

[tyhuji]

Awesome thread! Thanks for including my truck as well. If anyone has any questions about my truck pm me. I also just got done fabbing a new light bar up with 2 Hella 500's on it. Will post pics soon

 

[zimm298]

Leveling question

I might have missed the thread so if I did I apologize! So I did the FJ springs front and back, the Bilstein 5100's all the way around. Let me rephrase this, I didn't, but the dealer did for me in a long round about messy way. Went in for a lower rad support replacement, hey we see your XREAS is leaking blah blah blah. Already had the springs, the shocks were coming in so they installed them. At no cost! They ate the rad support too. Anyway, I set the clips for maximum height, they changed em back to stock and installed. Either way, I want to jack the front back up, then bring the rear up to level with the front. Anyone done this? This is my first T4R and unfortunately might be my last for a while. Seems like I'm going to need room for a 3rd car seat soon, but either way. I want to finish this right and enjoy it before I have to sell it and get a Sequoia. I can take it, just let me have it! Just want to make sure whoever get's it next get's a vehicle done properly.

 

[ATOWN4R]

Find a t4r with third.row...thats what we did...instead of.buying an even bigger suv

 

[zimm298]

ATOWN4R that was a thought we had, but after this evening's visit to the doc, no need to get rid of my t4r at least for a while. False alarm! Guess the plus side is my wife keeps her Sequoia, and I keep my T4R. Not that I was going to complain about inheriting the Sequoia, but after everything I invested so far into MY car? Now I can level it, and get the wheels and tires I've had on the back burner.

 

[Dannywaskie]

I sounds like you have a good handle on your choices. After that, it's just preference. The Bilstien 5100's have several preset levels of lift to choose from, and they are good quality shocks that are are substantially less expensive than the higher performance popular choices (such as Icon, Fox, OME, etc), but the lift that the bilstien's provide aren't continuously adjustable.

Whatever you choose, if you decide you want additional lift in the front, if the shock you select doesn't allow adjustment, you could always add a spacer to the front strut. Toytec has some 1/4" and 1/2" spacers that are fairly inexpensive, (I believe they add about 1/2" and 1" of lift to the front, respectively) and Toytec and others sell larger spacers too.

At this point, you're starting to get into areas that are above my knowledge and experience base. I don't know anything about the OME shocks, so I can't comment. Also, as you start to play with different characteristics such as pre-load on the spring, you can change the overall handling characteristics. Again... the impact and the tuning is above my experience level.

I went with a setup that many seemed to like (billy 5100's, & FJ coils) mostly because I could get them affordably ($350 for all 4 billy's delivered, & found FJ coils for $150 used for a set of 4 with about 18K miles on them), and I didn't want to experiment.

On the other hand, no sooner did I get it set up, than I decided that I would try more lift... so I have a set of 1.5" rear spacers on order, and when I install them, I will bump up the front setting on the 5100's one more notch which should add about 1.5 in to the front, keeping the rake more or less the same.

Good luck with your choices. I think it comes down to preference and some experimentation at this point. Also, see the other thread that I referred to in an earlier post on this subject. It has lots of data and compilations on different suspension choices and the observed changes in height, so you can try to predict your outcome and also see what impact v8 vs v6 has, or 2wd vs. 4wd has on the final ride height.

Have fun, and enjoy the experience!

-Phil

Hey Phil,

Just curious where you ended up purchasing your 5100's from. I'm looking to source some FJ coils soon and ditch my XReas. Did you end up needing anything else initially to do the install?

 

[tc05runner]

I have been doing a lot of research on this site in preparation to remove all 4 of my XREAS shocks/struts and replace them with Bilstien 5100's.



I am 100% sure I want to go with the 5100's (adjustable fronts).



I am still scratching my head on what to do with the springs/coils.



One option that sounds like it would work is just to re-use the OEM springs. I may end up doing this but to be honest I want to try something else.



The FJ springs seem to be very popular and that is what I wanted. But I can't find any! I live near Vancouver, BC (Canada). I have a wanted add up on CL, have looked on CL and kijiji, and have looked on the FJ forums. No luck!



I did find one add on CL that looked promising, called the place, and the guy said they have the springs from a 2007 FJ80, only. I was like...not an FJ cruiser? He said no, but we sell a lot of FJ80 springs to the 4Runner guys. I looked this vehicle up on the net and it looks like it's a lot older than 2007! I just got a bad vibe from the guy. Don't want to shop there.



So, any advice on what NEW springs would work? Don't want to buy new FJ springs from the dealership (I can only imagine the cost!!). I called the place I plan to buy the 5100s from and asked the young lad.



He said to go with the ARB (Old Man Emu) springs ($225 a pair). I said do you know if they will give any extra ride height compared to the OEM springs? He said I have no idea, sorry.



If anyone can recommend some springs that would be awesome.



I want the front to come 2.5 inches or so. "level-ish" Maybe not equal height in both wheel wells, but level-ish at the running boards/roof. The vehicle currently has an ugly factory rake and I hate it. I should also mention when the current 265/65/17 tires wear out (probably by next spring/summer) I plan to go with 265/70/17 tires. Not sure if this will factor in to the equation or not.

I used bilstiens and fj coils off a 2013 trail team FJ I had to modify to the bottom of the shock mount a little bit slide in the bottom end. I have 2.5 daystar kit and came out with a little over 3 inches in the front
Running 295/70/17 with no body mount chop and it doesn't rub on it either.

 

[subspd]

I used bilstiens and fj coils off a 2013 trail team FJ I had to modify to the bottom of the shock mount a little bit slide in the bottom end. I have 2.5 daystar kit and came out with a little over 3 inches in the front
Running 295/70/17 with no body mount chop and it doesn't rub on it either.

So you kept the 2.5 spacer with the springs and shocks from the TRD?

 

[tc05runner]

Yes I did. Due to having xreas in it previously

 

[05CTSV]

I just ordered my first round of mods for the daily (07 sr5, v8, 4wd)

MOOG FJ's from RockAuto (Front and Rear)

Bilstein 5100 adj. set (Front and Rear)

First off I am praying that I don't have any issues with the springs seating in the rear.. Second I am not doing any spacers but am looking for an aggressive lift and almost reverse rake. I hate the front rake....level is Ok.


Any suggestions on settings or thoughts?

 

[blazier196]

I have Fj coils and shocks for sale

I have brand new set of front coils for sale and front and rear fj shocks. No rear coils though. They are brand new and I can send pictures. My brother in law works for southeast toyota I'm Jacksonville. Every now and then he can buy parts for cost and I got a pair to level out my 4runner. Ended up not going that route and have already sold the rear. I will sale coils for 120 shipped for the front pair. The shocks have part numbers you can verify as well. Text me 850-324-6726. thanks -James.

 

[scd969]

so I have a set of 1.5" rear spacers on order, and when I install them, I will bump up the front setting on the 5100's one more notch which should add about 1.5 in to the front, keeping the rake more or less the same.

-Phil

Post a pic of your setup when it's installed! I assume you are going to 1.75 up front with a 1.5 spacer in rear?

 

[pjbrownva]

Post a pic of your setup when it's installed! I assume you are going to 1.75 up front with a 1.5 spacer in rear?

It's about 20 degrees F here today.

I adjusted the front shocks to be one setting above the lowest.

This still maintains some rake on my T4R, which I prefer. I notice less wind noise, and I can see better in front of the truck (such as when I'm parking) with a little rake.

I'll take measurements and post photos when it warms up.

-Phil