Lift gone wrong

[derekdevasia]

Here's what happened, I finally got around to installing 5100's all around with FJ coils. The front went perfectly, which was surprising. The back however, is where i had my problem. I bought the coils of a guy on craigslist and he told me they came off his 4x4 fj cruiser. Indeed they did, cause i yielded about 3.25 inches of lift in the front, but here's the problem in the rear. IT'S WAY TOO HIGH. I had a daystar 1.5 spacer installed in the rear, and i dropped the shocks and had trouble getting all of it in. When i went to put on the 5100's for the rear, the shock wouldn't reach up all the way, i compared them to the stock shocks and the bilstein's aren't much longer than the stock shock, which is surprising to me. Does anyone know how much longer they're supposed to be? I also believe that they guy i bought the coils from, might have actually put on superflex or ome coils in the rear for a lift, so i might have acutally gained about 4.5 inches of lift in the rear, the shocks wouldn't go on, so i had to jack up the rear end until the shock could reach, and i bolted this all in. I know, it's not safe, because instead of the spring limiting my travel, the shock now is. Every bump i go over with the rear end, there's a bang because the shock is preventing further travel downwards. I noticed that the fj springs were noticbly longer than my stock rear ones, but i thought nothing of it. Does anyone have any input on this?

 

[dthudon]

I am very interested to hear what people have to say about this. I have 5100s and FJ springs for my 04 on order and they should be here in the next few days. Can you get any pictures of how the truck is sitting and close-ups on the suspension?

 

[superman3043]

Some pictures might help.

Sounds like you might have the wrong coils. To my knowledge, there isn't an off the shelf aftermarket coil that would net you 4.5" of lift. Even the All-Pro's are only 3.5" and everyone else is around 2".

The shock bodies between the Billy's and the Tokico's are the same size as for as I know. Here's a comparison shot I took when I installed mine:

I don't know if there is any additional stroke gained from 5100's over stock. I know that most rear lifts, like the Superflex Coils advertise 2" of additional travel, but I think it's because of the 2" of lift provided, hence 2 inches (theoretically) of additional compression to be had, as opposed to a spacer lift.

I don't think having to jack the rear axle up to reach the upper shock mount is out of the ordinary, but if your shock is reaching full stroke over bumps, then that IS out of the ordinary. Also, your springs do not limit your droop or your compression for that matter (unless you're in a coil bind, but your bump stops are supposed to prevent this). They only hold you up off of the axle.

I'm curious as to how your end links look. Can you take a picture of them with the truck sitting on the ground? I'd imagine they'd be under a lot of tension like this:

A comparison shot of the springs like this might have helped:

You wouldn't be able to tell, but I gained like 2.5" worth of lift from this spring. So if you say that the new spring was significantly longer, then you might have a problem...

Hope that helps.

 

[aha2988]

Here's what happened, I finally got around to installing 5100's all around with FJ coils. The front went perfectly, which was surprising. The back however, is where i had my problem. I bought the coils of a guy on craigslist and he told me they came off his 4x4 fj cruiser. Indeed they did, cause i yielded about 3.25 inches of lift in the front, but here's the problem in the rear. IT'S WAY TOO HIGH. I had a daystar 1.5 spacer installed in the rear, and i dropped the shocks and had trouble getting all of it in. When i went to put on the 5100's for the rear, the shock wouldn't reach up all the way, i compared them to the stock shocks and the bilstein's aren't much longer than the stock shock, which is surprising to me. Does anyone know how much longer they're supposed to be? I also believe that they guy i bought the coils from, might have actually put on superflex or ome coils in the rear for a lift, so i might have acutally gained about 4.5 inches of lift in the rear, the shocks wouldn't go on, so i had to jack up the rear end until the shock could reach, and i bolted this all in. I know, it's not safe, because instead of the spring limiting my travel, the shock now is. Every bump i go over with the rear end, there's a bang because the shock is preventing further travel downwards. I noticed that the fj springs were noticbly longer than my stock rear ones, but i thought nothing of it. Does anyone have any input on this?

did you leave the daystar spacer in? if he sent you lift coils then you'll gain your height with those not the spacers. those shocks wont last long driving while limiting your down travel.

 

[sonerick]

What setting did you put the front 5100's at?

Assuming you left it at the lowest (stock-height) setting, 3.25" in the front seems a bit higher than what others have been reporting for FJ coils.

 

[krupnation]

Here's what happened, I finally got around to installing 5100's all around with FJ coils. The front went perfectly, which was surprising. The back however, is where i had my problem. I bought the coils of a guy on craigslist and he told me they came off his 4x4 fj cruiser. Indeed they did, cause i yielded about 3.25 inches of lift in the front, but here's the problem in the rear. IT'S WAY TOO HIGH. I had a daystar 1.5 spacer installed in the rear, and i dropped the shocks and had trouble getting all of it in. When i went to put on the 5100's for the rear, the shock wouldn't reach up all the way, i compared them to the stock shocks and the bilstein's aren't much longer than the stock shock, which is surprising to me. Does anyone know how much longer they're supposed to be? I also believe that they guy i bought the coils from, might have actually put on superflex or ome coils in the rear for a lift, so i might have acutally gained about 4.5 inches of lift in the rear, the shocks wouldn't go on, so i had to jack up the rear end until the shock could reach, and i bolted this all in. I know, it's not safe, because instead of the spring limiting my travel, the shock now is. Every bump i go over with the rear end, there's a bang because the shock is preventing further travel downwards. I noticed that the fj springs were noticbly longer than my stock rear ones, but i thought nothing of it. Does anyone have any input on this?

Does anyone else think it's weird that he also received 3.25" of lift in the front with just 5100's and FJC coils? I have my 5100's set at the highest setting in front with FJC coils and I only have about 2.5" of lift, maybe even less. Do you also have a spacer up front? I think ARK should chime in on this one (resident expert on FJ lifts!)

I also think you have the wrong coils in the rear to get 4.5" of lift. That's insane. The FJ coils are only about .25" - .5" taller than our stock T4R coils. Can you post some pics of what it all looks like? Front and rear.

 

[Doozi]

Silver FJ coils? I thought that they were all black... can anyone confirm?

Do you have your front Bilsteins set on the highest (2.5") spring perch?

I think that I remember that the typical Bilstein 5100's could accommodate up to 2" of lift in the rear.

Keep us posted.

 

[superman3043]

Silver FJ coils? I thought that they were all black... can anyone confirm?

Do you have your front Bilsteins set on the highest (2.5") spring perch?

I think that I remember that the typical Bilstein 5100's could accommodate up to 2" of lift in the rear.

Keep us posted.

Those silver coils are mine not his... They're not FJ. They're Overland Warehouse/Eibach. I was just providing the photo as a comparison shot.

 

[dougiefreshmx]

did you leave the daystar spacer in? if he sent you lift coils then you'll gain your height with those not the spacers. those shocks wont last long driving while limiting your down travel.

:iagree:

Sounds like you got some sort of lift spring from this guy. Pics will help, but if thats the case, take the spacer out and see where it sits. If it sits higher even without the spacer then winner winner chicken dinner, you got lift springs!

 

[Doozi]

Those silver coils are mine not his... They're not FJ. They're Overland Warehouse/Eibach. I was just providing the photo as a comparison shot.

D'oh! I should've noticed that the pics were in a separate post!

 

[superman3043]

Oh, and I forgot to mention, you might want to keep an eye on your brake line as well. Without extended travel shocks, you might be ok, but something is definitely not right here.

 

[derekdevasia]

Some pictures might help.

Sounds like you might have the wrong coils. To my knowledge, there isn't an off the shelf aftermarket coil that would net you 4.5" of lift. Even the All-Pro's are only 3.5" and everyone else is around 2".

The shock bodies between the Billy's and the Tokico's are the same size as for as I know. Here's a comparison shot I took when I installed mine:

I don't know if there is any additional stroke gained from 5100's over stock. I know that most rear lifts, like the Superflex Coils advertise 2" of additional travel, but I think it's because of the 2" of lift provided, hence 2 inches (theoretically) of additional compression to be had, as opposed to a spacer lift.

I don't think having to jack the rear axle up to reach the upper shock mount is out of the ordinary, but if your shock is reaching full stroke over bumps, then that IS out of the ordinary. Also, your springs do not limit your droop or your compression for that matter (unless you're in a coil bind, but your bump stops are supposed to prevent this). They only hold you up off of the axle.

I'm curious as to how your end links look. Can you take a picture of them with the truck sitting on the ground? I'd imagine they'd be under a lot of tension like this:

A comparison shot of the springs like this might have helped:

You wouldn't be able to tell, but I gained like 2.5" worth of lift from this spring. So if you say that the new spring was significantly longer, then you might have a problem...

Hope that helps.

Thank you for your very detailed explanation! Yes, I finally after taking it all apart, i realized the coils were indeed a lift coil, so i got rid of the spacer and wah lah, its finally level. My sway bar end links are looking surprisingly good actually, but i have one question. Looking at the way you mounted your shock in the rear, it seems like the bushings doing take up the left over space and there seems to be a gap, does that effect bounce at all?

 

[superman3043]

Thank you for your very detailed explanation! Yes, I finally after taking it all apart, i realized the coils were indeed a lift coil, so i got rid of the spacer and wah lah, its finally level. My sway bar end links are looking surprisingly good actually, but i have one question. Looking at the way you mounted your shock in the rear, it seems like the bushings doing take up the left over space and there seems to be a gap, does that effect bounce at all?

Oh, haha, the shock wasn't fully mounted in at this point. I snapped the pic just after I put the threaded end into the upper mount. If you look, you can see that the upper nut isn't even there yet, the threads haven't even come up through the upper bushing. There wouldn't actually be a gap there anyway at ride height with the weight of the truck on it.

Glad you got it sorted out man.