Landcruiser Suspension Upgrade

[Shock]

Hi ppl :-)

About a week ago I got my first 4x4 It's a Landcruiser LJ70 with some mods...The drive train is the original, a 2L-T engine. The face has been changed into the square head light type and the dash board has also been changed to the round newer one.

It has also got modified lifted front/rear coil suspension and a set of 33' mud wheels as well. The front shocks (and coils probably) are what they called OLD MAN EMU suspension and the rear seem to be some stuff lifted from god knows what. and therein lies the problem. The ride is pretty awful. And more than that it becomes bit unsettled at speed when the road is undulating, bouncing up and down and never damping down quite fast enough.

I'm thinking of changing the suspension (coils and shocks) either to the original landcruiser shocks and coils (problem is the ride height will not be enough) or going for a after market set such as this OLD MAN thing (guess it'll be much expensive )....but the main criteria in better ride quality and handling than outright off road performance.

Ideas?????

[Ripper]

OLD man EMU's are good shocks that are mostly aimed towards offroading. some of them are adjustable so you get somewhat ok road handling also.

why not take it to a place like outdoorsman or LR motors and get them to check it up for you.

Offroad suspension will have lot more travel and also would be bouncier so all 4 wheels will be in contact with the ground when the terrain gets bad. If you can stiffen them up a bit you can reduce this effect.

Also having "mud" tyres also doesn't help on road driving... get a set of all terrain tyres for road trips and save up the mud tyres for offroading

[3000cc]

+1

[Shock]

Is off road suspension 'softer' or 'harder' than regular suspension set up? By softer I mean the ride would be smoother over pot-holes but there will be more of body roll and handling would suffer. Harder is the other way around less body roll but stiff and harsh ride like on a sports car.

[bhanu128]

Is off road suspension 'softer' or 'harder'

my 2 cents..if u r doing regular drives on ruf trails perhaps harder would be better for the reasons u mention..so in that way off road suspension = 'harder'

i switched to 'harder' when i used monoshoks (kyb) in my d.cab..and it seems to improve offroading

[Shock]

so in that way off road suspension = 'harder'

I thought the other way around....but anyways, in my case I think the ride is bit too uncomfortable and bit unstable at speed on bumpy roads so I wouldn't mind a bit softer ride.

Had a look under the vehicle and also compared my rear coil springs with that of a land cruiser sahara (4.2L diesel). My ones are definitely thicker and therefore probably harder. Which I believe is causing the bumpy ride. So my plan is to take the coil spring to panchikawaththa and look for a thinner coil with a little bit more height (currently its a bit lower on the rear than the front). I'm going the leave the shocks for now and see how it goes...

Any ideas???

[Shock]

Just ran into this...

http://www.blessedarethefew.com/JulesLCbuild.htm

[Kavvz]

my 2 cents..if u r doing regular drives on ruf trails perhaps harder would be better for the reasons u mention..so in that way off road suspension = 'harder'

i switched to 'harder' when i used monoshoks (kyb) in my d.cab..and it seems to improve offroading

I thought the other way around....but anyways, in my case I think the ride is bit too uncomfortable and bit unstable at speed on bumpy roads so I wouldn't mind a bit softer ride.

Any ideas???

It IS the other way around....you need a softer suspension with more travel for off-roading and this DOES help on the road as well, at low speeds.

Edited December 31, 2010 by Kavvz

[Kavvz]

Had a look under the vehicle and also compared my rear coil springs with that of a land cruiser sahara (4.2L diesel). My ones are definitely thicker and therefore probably harder. Which I believe is causing the bumpy ride. So my plan is to take the coil spring to panchikawaththa and look for a thinner coil with a little bit more height (currently its a bit lower on the rear than the front). I'm going the leave the shocks for now and see how it goes...

Any ideas???

By switching to thinner coils with more height you're going to get MORE body roll and bounce. Best not to mess around with the suspension yourself man. I second Ripper's suggestion of getting an expert opinion. No point buying your first 4x4 only to screw it up.

Oh and congratulations on the purchase! The Landcruiser LJ70's a nice light off-roader that anyone would be proud to call their own.

[Shock]

By switching to thinner coils with more height you're going to get MORE body roll and bounce. Best not to mess around with the suspension yourself man. I second Ripper's suggestion of getting an expert opinion. No point buying your first 4x4 only to screw it up.

Oh and congratulations on the purchase! The Landcruiser LJ70's a nice light off-roader that anyone would be proud to call their own.

Thanks man

As to messing around with it...well...it has already gone through some mods and there's no guarantee that those were done exactly to specifications but i totally agree with some expert opinion...kinda the reason why I'm here

On the issue of body roll there is some but not too much. I guess SWB also helps and it was supricingly well behaved on a trip to kandy on the twisty bits. Only the ride is the problem my feeling is it fails to absorb the undulations and pot holes on the road (mainly on the rear) making it unstable at speed on rough roads. Also I'll have to increase the height since the front has more lift than the back...