Where to go to rearch leaf springs.

[Goldie]

Does anybody have any suggestions on a place in town to take a set of flattened leaf springs to ge them rearched? How much would it cost? Or is this something that I could do in the driveway with a few clamps and a little rigging?

[BigRedFord04]

i know a place in Austin...Atlas Spring...could prolly get you their # if you're interested...they're usually pretty fair in pricing.

[uglyota]

I've heard rearching doesn't last very long; they flatten out within a year or so.

[Goldie]

I'm gonna add a leaf as well but seeing as how mine are completely flat right now I don't want to pay for all new sets.

[uglyota]

if you're thinking about adding a leaf for height, I think you'll be happier with new aftermarket lift springs; softer ride, better flex. Add-a-leaf = rough ride

[Cajun]

Originally posted by uglyota
if you're thinking about adding a leaf for height, I think you'll be happier with new aftermarket lift springs; softer ride, better flex. Add-a-leaf = rough ride

Not necessarily. I installed an add-a-leaf in the rear of my old Dodge that did not noticably stiffen the ride or hinder flex. We did one on all 4 corners of Matso's YJ, same results. No noticable changes in ride, and it still flexes well. Of course, these were 2" add-a-leafs, not sure what you guys are deaing with.

[AgDieseler]

It does depend on the kind of leaf that your adding.

If you're going with most any vendors "add-a-leaf" then they usually are going to give you a load leaf that is think as hell, overarched so that it adds arch to your existing pack, and made of some stiff spring steel. Much of the time that makes for a stiff ride, but depending on the weight of the vehicle, you may still flex pretty well.

You can however do a little junkyard scrounging and come up with a "ride leaf". You'll know it because it has tapered ends, is usuall less than 1/4" thick, and isn't arched to hell. Finding one with Teflon inserts helps too.

Most add-a-leaves do add spring rate. I had one in the back of the suburban for the longest time to fix GM saggy butt, but the ride was really stiff, yet it flexed very well. With full lift springs now, the ride is better, but we'll see about the flex.

The upside to adding a leaf, is that it's cheap, so you can afford to think temporary. It's a lot of work, but cheap.

[Goldie]

All new leafes would be around $600 or more ($1700 for Old Man Emu). Versus $150+- for four 2" add-a-leaf. If anybody knows where I might be able to acquire new leaves for less then that, or another way to get 3" of lift, without doing shackles, I am open to all suggestions.

[Goldie]

yea my car weighs a little more then 7,000 lbs.

[uglyota]

Originally posted by Cajun


Not necessarily. I installed an add-a-leaf in the rear of my old Dodge that did not noticably stiffen the ride or hinder flex. We did one on all 4 corners of Matso's YJ, same results. No noticable changes in ride, and it still flexes well. Of course, these were 2" add-a-leafs, not sure what you guys are deaing with.
I stand corrected. What kind of 7000# "car" do you have, and why not shackles?

[Goldie]

I have an '88 Landcruiser and I was told that shackles are less stable then add-a-leaf or spring over. Is that true or not?

[eight]

So the springs are still on the wrong side of the axle? Just fix that.

[uglyota]

now we're talking the same language
There are better things you can do to fit your tires (I assume that's your primary reason for wanting lift). What Ryan said; start with a springover and shackle reversal, then go from there.
You will probably regret it if you don't surf pirate4x4 for a few days (months?) before you jump into anything.

[Goldie]

Any suggested threads jump to mind?

[BMFScout]

I think what uglyota is saying is what I learned the hard way. I put lift springs on my scout, and shackle reversed the front, but then lost the lift springs and put the stock springs over the axle to get the lift AND ride that I wanted. If you are doing this on a budget sometimes the steering can be costly, but you don't have to buy the lift springs. If I had it to do over from the beginning that is what I would have done. Talk to Bryan Ritchey,(mudtoy67) his is sprung over anyway, I'm not sure how involved a springover is on a cruiser, and you'll need a welder, grinder, etc...I know with mine I wouldn't lift a scout any other way, rides softer than a 4" lift set of springs, flexes great, drives actually better than stock because of the corrected caster problem scouts have. Just do a search on the pirate board for springover under the toyota section, also just search the internet for peoples homepages, research it, but I think it is the best way to go. I know that landcruisers have the bell crank steering and all that crap, looks like it is off an alien spaceship, might think about doing cross-over at the same time like Davido did. His is pretty much a 1-ton chevy with a landcruiser body though, so his truck as an example may not help much. I have always heard that the re-arching of springs makes them brittle because of a re-heating process to restore the arch, rides really stiff, become really brittle.

[Graystroke]

jimmy, its a '88 model FJ80 I think, the toy alternate of mine. they don't have bell crank setup on those, right? I'm guessing they're a knock off of a series III LR underneath. shouldn't weigh 7k though, I'm guessing 5,200 tops

Edit: its a FJ62, 4door wagon? I hate all those numbers and letters.

[BMFScout]

right, i talk out of my ass alot, so is it coil front?

[Graystroke]

no it's a leafer. coilers came out in 92 I think

[robertf03]

stop talking toyota grayson, you are really going to confuse mike

[Goldie]

Yea it is a 4-dr wagon, and from the searching that I have been doing on the different Toyota pages (namely www.coolcruisers.com & www.rockymountaincruisers.com ) everything that I have seen has said that I don't need to SO unless I am planning on running 35's or bigger. Is that refering to just fitting them under the fenders or does that take up and down movement into account as well?

Also why is Springing Over so widely recommended? What are the advantages? Cuz from what I have seen, I can get a 2.5" kit, that will let me fit the 33s, for the same or less $. I won't have to worry about axle-wrap (not that I think that my engine is powerful enough to even have to worry about it), cutting and welding on my axles, or messing with Hy-Steering. This is making a kit sound a lot easier for the newbie that I am. But at the same time all of the encouragement to SO can't be ignored.

[uglyota]

this is where you need to look http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?forumid=11 (pirate4x4.com toyota landcruiser talk)
Search, search, search. Don't post anything...it's probably already there.
If you go SOA, you get everything up out of the dirt and away from the rocks, you get the same lift with flatter springs (I'm gonna get called on this but: flatter springs=softer ride), and your suspension looks less like that of a stock wrangler.


And anything you can do to make your truck look less like a stock Heep is well worth the money!:D


PS I have a buddy in CO who lives for landcruisers. I'll try and remember some of the stuff he told me.

[eight]

SOA is for a soft ride and much more flex. Most lift springs are just really to freakin hard.

[BMFScout]

I will bet you 100 bones that if you just put springs on it, then get really into wheeling, you will want SOA after the first trip out. That is what happened to me, If you just want it to fit 33's and aren't that into wheeling, springs will work, you talked about OME springs, those are supposed to be top notch. It might turn out the way to go for you. The only problem I see with running 35's is then you have to start worrying about your stock axles. But just ask any toyota guy and he will tell you how superior your axles are.:) I think what the guys on here are telling you is what they would do to thier stuff if they could do it over again from the beginning. Just lift it once, the way you want it, and take the financial hit once, not twice when you lift it again later. It is your truck however, just do some research and decide for yourself.