FJ spring question

[J.A.]

I have the V8. With 1" thick spacer, I gained 2 3/4" in the front, and 7/8" in the rear.

The FJ front springs seem to vary on the lift amounts reported from between 1/4" to 3/4".

When you say the spacer you used went "in between top plate and rubber bushing", what does that mean.

It sounds like you used a preload spacer and retained the factory rubber bushing which most people remove. That factory bushing acts like a 1/4" spacer and if you retained it that could be attributing toward your 1/2" extra lift over what others have reported.

The V6 4Runners are something like 200lbs lighter up front than the V8 models. So the V8 users of the FJ springs should report approx. 1/3" lower lift amounts (200/580) as compared to the V6 right off the bat.

 

[jlmilligan]

When you say the spacer you used went "in between top plate and rubber bushing", what does that mean.[/B]

Yeah, I worded that wrong. I could install my spacer without taken apart the "coilover assembly". The stack up is spring, rubber bushing, OEM plate with studs, spacer, frame mount. My brain to finger filter was INOP on that day.

 

[Falls]

www.wheelersoffroad.com/03up4rundstrlift.htm

 

[Falls]

Damn this is confusing .....

ok so you put all 4 FJ springs in it. then added a 1" and then took the 1" out and added a 2" correct which brought you to level approx. I also could not understand what mods were done in what pic's.

How can u install a spacer without pulling everything apart and not have to use the spring compressor ? which you would have to do anyway to put in the springs. or are you just talking about once the springs are in and when you switched spacers you just unbolted the nuts , compressed the springs , told the old out and put the new in and re tightened everything. So if I am correct what is the hard issue about installing either spacer instead of taking it all apart ?

When you do take everything apart to put new springs in , there is supposed to be a special way of positioning the springs , how do I know where they go are seated correctly ? Don't they have to be facing a certain direction.






I just went out and looked at my set up going to the top. I have the spring , pressed against rubber spacer which bolt's ??to the top plate where the 3 bolts stick up , then at the top there is a rubber spacer between the metal of the top bolt , I would guess shock/strut bolt . So I am guessing my Alum. cf spacer would go between the rubber and the top plate creating a metal to metal contact ..... am I correct ?

I'm not sure (although not bad) id I like the idea of the metal to metal. Maybe thats where I would get a better result and slight lift without being level from the DS 1.25 comfortride spacer as posted above by the link to wheelers off road.

 

[jlmilligan]

Damn this is confusing .....

ok so you put all 4 FJ springs in it. then added a 1" and then took the 1" out and added a 2" correct which brought you to level approx. I also could not understand what mods were done in what pic's.

How can u install a spacer without pulling everything apart and not have to use the spring compressor ? which you would have to do anyway to put in the springs. or are you just talking about once the springs are in and when you switched spacers you just unbolted the nuts , compressed the springs , told the old out and put the new in and re tightened everything. So if I am correct what is the hard issue about installing either spacer instead of taking it all apart ?

i was trying to clarify that i did not "have" to disassemble the assembly for the spacer install. I did have to so i could put the springs in. the top rubber you are talking about just goes around the shock bolt. My spacer adds length to the top plate. I have those same bolts that you are seeing. those go up thru and bolt to my spacer, then new bolts come down thru the holes where the studs went and screw into the spacer. All it really does is makes the top plate thicker. the rubber bushing at the top of the spring is bonded to the plate with the 3 studs in it.
1" of spacer thickness will give you 2" of lift. That is what I have. I put it in one time and left it in. The pics of my truck have the lift and springs installed in all of them. The only difference is the running boards were pulled off. And yes you can do this project without spring compressors. You will need them to do the rear springs. There is a very good post with pictures on toyota120 forum on how to do it.
http://www.toyota120.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3270[u

 

[J.A.]

Mike, you do not need a spring compressor to install a topout style spacer unless you the spacer requires longer studs to be pressed into the plate. For preload you always need the compressors.

In regards to the spring orientations, the fsm's are on my lift page.

 

[Falls]

I'll keep trying to figure this out by reading ect.... I have no idea what your talking about.

JA , I have nothing installed . It's stock with just my 265.70/17 Revos. The 1" CF spacer I have does have longer studs with it and the metal plate is threaded. Which I would guess is not the case with the DS 1.25 lift (5/8) spacer since you could not thread anything into the poly. I don't know what fsm's are but I'll go look.

Jlmilligan, going with a 1" spacer (2"of lift) + the FJ springs would bring me to high in front if I only had FJ springs in the back.

 

[jlmilligan]

I'll keep trying to figure this out by reading ect.... I have no idea what your talking about.

JA , I have nothing installed . It's stock with just my 265.70/17 Revos. The 1" CF spacer I have does have longer studs with it and the metal plate is threaded. Which I would guess is not the case with the DS 1.25 lift (5/8) spacer since you could not thread anything into the poly. I don't know what fsm's are but I'll go look.

Jlmilligan, going with a 1" spacer (2"of lift) + the FJ springs would bring me to high in front if I only had FJ springs in the back.

I do not know who made my spacer. It was made of aluminum and the studs from the stock top plate went up thru the holes in the spacer. Then put the original nuts on the studs of the top plate. now the plate is basically 1" thicker. the coilover assembly would look the same just with an aluminum block bolted to the top. my spacer had 3 threaded holes on top with 3 new bolts. the bolts came down thru the frame mount and threaded in to the spacer.
now with the question to me. That depends on how much rake you want and if you have the V6 or V8. I am running about 1/4" nose low. So it looks pretty much level. however, with a couple hundred pounds in the back or on the hitch, the back will sag a little. If you have the V6 and 1" of spacer thickness, I would try it with out the front springs. I know it would suck to do the job twice, but I think the nose might be slightly high with that much spacer and the springs.

 

[ajc]

I'll keep trying to figure this out by reading ect.... I have no idea what your talking about.

JA , I have nothing installed . It's stock with just my 265.70/17 Revos. The 1" CF spacer I have does have longer studs with it and the metal plate is threaded. Which I would guess is not the case with the DS 1.25 lift (5/8) spacer since you could not thread anything into the poly. I don't know what fsm's are but I'll go look.

Jlmilligan, going with a 1" spacer (2"of lift) + the FJ springs would bring me to high in front if I only had FJ springs in the back.

So you found out that the DS 1.25 lift is indeed 5/8" of material?

 

[J.A.]

I'll keep trying to figure this out by reading ect.... I have no idea what your talking about.

JA , I have nothing installed . It's stock with just my 265.70/17 Revos. The 1" CF spacer I have does have longer studs with it and the metal plate is threaded. Which I would guess is not the case with the DS 1.25 lift (5/8) spacer since you could not thread anything into the poly. I don't know what fsm's are but I'll go look.

FSM's = Toyota Factory Service Manual. The pages describing the orientation of the spring as you inquired about are on my lift page. Be sure to get familiar with them before the shop does the lift.

In regards to the studs, you'd have to post a pic of the spacer as there are a couple of methods in use.

The DS old style topout uses longer studs that get pressed into the factory top plate then slide through the poly spacer.

The new style DS topout uses Stud extensions.

Some aluminum topout spacers use a combination of old and new studs all the same or similar legnth. Sort of like wheel spacers whereas the original factory studs dont need to be removed as they bolt up to the topout spacer, then new studs, go through the spacer and to the factory mounts. If you werent changing to FJ springs then no spring compressor would be needed. Sounds like you have that type.

 

[J.A.]

So you found out that the DS 1.25 lift is indeed 5/8" of material?

If you want to really be confused, simply contact both Wheelers and Daystar. Ask them both what the size of the spacer(s) are. That is what I did and got quite a laugh too (as expected). Neither gave the same measurements as the other, none of the measurements when doubled equaled 1.25", and neither measurements are the same as as the actual parts that are on MY vehicle, though the part numbers all match.

 

[ajc]

If you want to really be confused, simply contact both Wheelers and Daystar. Ask them both what the size of the spacer(s) are. That is what I did and got quite a laugh too (as expected). Neither gave the same measurements as the other, none of the measurements when doubled equaled 1.25", and neither measurements are the same as as the actual parts that are on MY vehicle, though the part numbers all match.

Interestingly enough I did speak to DS and they said the budget boost spacer is actually a 1/2" of material and will yield a 1" lift in the front. ha.

 

[J.A.]

Interestingly enough I did speak to DS and they said the budget boost spacer is actually a 1/2" of material and will yield a 1" lift in the front. ha.

What makes that so interesting and funny is that on their website the 1" budget boost kit you are talking about (Item Number: KT09117BK) shows a picture with part #M03532. That part is clearly the old stlye topout spacer which definetly measures 1" in thickness and provides 2" lift.

What is even funnier is that Don at DS says the M03532 is 1.25" tall and Wheelers says it is 1+1/8"-1+1/4". With those measurements you would get almost 2.5" just from that spacer.


On a good note, I see they (DS website) now list their 2.5" kit as a 2.5/1.5 rather than how they used to incorrectly market it as a 2.5/2.0. So now it is only half wrong as the front lifts 3.0" and the rear 1.5".

 

[bull]

Falls what have you decided on for spacer?

 

[Falls]

Falls what have you decided on for spacer?

I have had the CF spacer for quite a while. Might as well use it. (1/2" spacer = 1"lift ) It is threaded with 3 holes . I just have to figure out where it goes....lol. I'm guessing on top of the rubber cushion.

My V8 front sits 2" lower than my rear . I would guess with all 4 FJ springs in it would lift the complete truck 1" ( give or take ) and then adding the 1" add'l lift to the front hopefully will put me at approx 2/1 , plus my larger tires give me a 1/2" all the way around , so maybe over "stock height" I may be at 2.5/1.5.

I know what I'll get from the front spacer it's just the springs I can't calculate since I've read different things from a 1/2"of front lift to just over an inch , so ????

 

[Falls]

Brand spanking new springs are here . I have to remove the springs from the shocks.

Is that dangerous ????


Can this be a one person job ???

 

[CJ3Flyr]

Brand spanking new springs are here . I have to remove the springs from the shocks.

Is that dangerous ????


Can this be a one person job ???

Not really dangerous... You need a spring compressor and a good bit of common sense. The danger comes when you drop a compressed spring (knocking the compressor off) or the compressor slips off for "no reason". Go slowly, read the directions for the compressor and don't pull the ABS sense wires.

There's a trick way to do it without a compressor chronicled here. I have not done it this way but it looks good to me:bigok:

One person is fine. Study up on the XREAS. I don't know how that influences the procedure. Perhaps J.A. will chime in.


:cheers:

 

[Thai]

Personally, i would let a shop do it...but then again, i am not mechanically-inclined. Whatever you do, make sure that you torque things (nuts, bolts, etc.) right.

 

[J.A.]

The Autozone loaner sping compressors are actually pretty good. I feel that this can be a dangerous job but if you read up on what to do and take your time it can be accomplished by one person even with xreas. This was my first experience using spring compressors on coilovers and everything went very smoothly. I did the front end lift in 8 hours.

It was worth it to me for the learning experience as well as to NOT have anyone else touch my vehicle and especially the sensitive xreas and abs system. I wait with my vehicle if i really need service so I wouldnt be saving any time either way as I dont drop it off and leave it for the day.

For others I can see the merit of going to a shop to save time or for safety purposes. You know where the xreas system can be disconnected, so they can use the safer wall mounted shop compressor.

Better yet you can disconnect the coilovers and bring it to the shop for the spring swap and spacer add on, then put them back in yourself. This way no one touches the xreas system nor the abs wires.

 

[Falls]

The Autozone loaner sping compressors are actually pretty good. I feel that this can be a dangerous job but if you read up on what to do and take your time it can be accomplished by one person even with xreas. This was my first experience using spring compressors on coilovers and everything went very smoothly. I did the front end lift in 8 hours.

It was worth it to me for the learning experience as well as to NOT have anyone else touch my vehicle and especially the sensitive xreas and abs system. I wait with my vehicle if i really need service so I wouldnt be saving any time either way as I dont drop it off and leave it for the day.

For others I can see the merit of going to a shop to save time or for safety purposes. You know where the xreas system can be disconnected, so they can use the safer wall mounted shop compressor.

Better yet you can disconnect the coilovers and bring it to the shop for the spring swap and spacer add on, then put them back in yourself. This way no one touches the xreas system nor the abs wires.

8 hours , holy cow I'm not sure how I will go about it , and the frame and axle shop that would do the lift would also be doing the alignment. I know I can disconnect the Xreas as long as all 4's are off the ground (correct ??) I have to look under for the abs wires so I know what to watch for . Can I just disconnect them so the dont get damaged ? just a thought.