Mulling over the winter project list, and a lift for the 84 is definitely on the to-do list. I am leaning towards a soft SOA like Jim Brantley's, but am such a diehard SUA guy at this point, it wouldn't take much to keep me there. Anyone have some used lift 60 springs for a retrogrouch? :(

Used is great but the new Dakar springs are pretty damn cheap.. You could probably pick them up in Cali and save shipping too.

If I were to do it again.. Definately SOA on the FJ62.. I have OME's on my FJ62 and a 2" body lift and clear 35"s tho!
OME's work great up till they totally sack out and then you spring it over anyway! :)
I'd do SOA and get some of Luke's arms to go on it..

I'll throw in how much we like body lifts on 60's...two inches will get you 33's underneath with decent stock springs, plus two inches of spring and 35's will go. Easy to do, and cheap. Get lift pucks of UHMW poly from Roger Brown ( www.4crawler.com ). Flip the radiator mounts to keep it at engine height.

OTOH, I'll spring over on my sacked OME light springs (dearch the rears) with Luke's arms, as the Sherpa's next suspension upgrade...gotta save up for tahrs first, though!

just as soon as TornadoAlley succeeds in shaming me into working on my junk :rolleyes:

if your gonna wheel it,its soooooooo flexy.

I'll throw in how much we like body lifts on 60's...


Ack! I am a loyalist from the other camp. I think bodylifts suck and are a bad idea. Yeah you can make 'em work and they're cheap, but IMO they're just a hack to get bigger tires to fit. Do it right with the proper suspension mods whether it's SOA or SUA and call it good.

and why is it hack? Just because I am a pussy and don't want to cut body panels and would like to keep my COG as low as possible and still fit 38s???

please expand on your knowledge of "hack" :flipoff2:

Ack! I am a loyalist from the other camp. I think bodylifts suck and are a bad idea. Yeah you can make 'em work and they're cheap, but IMO they're just a hack to get bigger tires to fit. Do it right with the proper suspension mods whether it's SOA or SUA and call it good.

Just an opinion:

It all depends on how hard core you want to be, how much possible body damage you can deal with and how you want it to drive on long road trips.

SOA equals little risk of body damage, ability to go most anypalce you can fit but not the best on the road, especially when loaded. Other possible downsides are overall cost, complexity and just how far you want to mod the truck.

SUA equals more risk of body damage, abiliy to go almost anyplace you can fit (see first point) and much better on road manners. It might not cost less overall but it is much easier to do. Not complex at all and few if any mods.

I put my SUA 62 through the ringer this year with 2.5" OMEs, 2" over shackles and 35"s. it did very well and I took it a lot of places I should not have. Look at the body for evidence. I also drove it almost 12K all over the country and it was great. I dont think a SOA would be the same.

I will trade some off road ability for on road ability.

My current plan is a 2" body lift, new Dakars, new Superior shackles and 37"s. There is no doubt that eventually I will go SOA but I want to play out the SUA as long as possible to see how far I can go.

Just so happens that I might know where you can get some Dakars!

I may be talking about 2 totally differant vehicles but here is my opinion.

I have my 40 SOA on 55 rears and 79 and up fronts (Thanks Kurt @ Cruiser outfitters) along with Bilstien 5100's (Heavy valving) and it has awesome flex and handles the road well to.

A good gas shock on a SOA vehicle will go a long way towards improving driveability.
Dan

...(Thanks Kurt @ Cruiser outfitters)...

Anytime ;)

I can think of a couple dozen SOA 60's here in SLC alone that are 100% streetable. A cut/turn, good springs, good steering and proper pinion angles makes for a nice smooth ride. That being said a poorly done SOA rides and handles horribly...

if your gonna wheel it,its soooooooo flexy.


You gotta put some 37s on there those 35s look tiny.

You gotta put some 37s on there those 35s look tiny.
i knew i saw that cruiser somewhere before the caravan (avs60/40...i was the one who asked who pulled up in the 60 sunday). iirc, those were 33's, not 35's

i knew i saw that cruiser somewhere before the caravan (avs60/40...i was the one who asked who pulled up in the 60 sunday). iirc, those were 33's, not 35's


OK then you gotta put 37s on there those 33 are :rainbow: :D

Like I said: I gave an opinion and you are right about the gas shocks helping ride ability. What I find is that I kill shocks. I have gone through 4 full sets of springs since jan and 3 sets of shocks. I blame this on my weight and the way I drive the truck. SOA will come along for me but I have yet to figure out how to stop body roll, I keep looking into coils............?

Another big issue is how much do you wanna futz around with your truck? Good buddy of mine has a chopped 60, SOA, C+T etc... done really well. He has been out 3-5 times in 3 years and each time he goes out another part of the system is either broken, bent or replaced. Now I am not really one to talk as I have about the same record but it is somthing to think about.

Diving any LWB is so different than a SWB that you cannot compare them. With any 60 I tell people 33"s, 2.5" lift, cut the 1/4 panels and add sliders.

[QUOTE=dd113]............ I have gone through 4 full sets of springs since jan and 3 sets of shocks. [QUOTE]

Just so happens that I might know where you can get some Dakars!

Should I be nervous about putting these two posts together? :eek:

Is this what I can expect out of a set of Dakars, or just what you are offering?!

Dakars are new and what I have been waiting for.

SUA all the way as long as you use high-quality springs that have more leaves than the stockers have. I prefer custom springs, but, for 40s, those HFS springs are only different from good custom springs by their spring perch flat spot and the fact that they were made without the exact weight of your vehicle in mind, unless your vehicle weighs the exact same as the weight they used for an example.

Somebody has some good info on the OME's Dakar springs (http://www.urbanlandcruisers.com/products/dakar.html).;) Are the Dakars comparable to custom? Because I'm such an instigator, I'll say National Spring or Alcan custom springs made to your 60's frt&rear weight won't sag like OMEs.

Otherwise, leaving myself out of it, from the above arguments, it sounds like the intended tire size drives SOA/SUA (+or– a bodylift) more than anything.

Thanks for reminding me about the Alcan option Walt. Several guys in my club have purchased them. Only one had a problem, and it was professionally resolved.

Wasn't really interested in the bragging rights to OME anyway. Not my kind of bling. I think I could have Simon set me up with a complete SOA, cut and turn, anti-wraps and new shocks for a lot less than a set of OME.

I will definitely check with Alcan first.

Thanks for reminding me about the Alcan option Walt. Several guys in my club have purchased them. Only one had a problem, and it was professionally resolved.

Wasn't really interested in the bragging rights to OME anyway. Not my kind of bling. I think I could have Simon set me up with a complete SOA, cut and turn, anti-wraps and new shocks for a lot less than a set of OME.

I will definitely check with Alcan first.



Mark I can check my price on those springs as well if you want. I usually get Alcans for very fair price. PM me on what you need specs wise. My winter home is only 1.5 miles from there shop I could pick um up too! I will be there next week.

YOU DA MAN!:bounce2:

The consensus seems to be that a 2.5 should be sufficient to handle 33s. I've got a few extra sets of tires to play around with, and I'll prolly drop some 4:11s in to make up for the bigger tires. Truck is otherwise bone stock, so whatever weight info Alcan already has on file for stock FJ60 should apply to me.

Except for the ARB bullbar that was already on it. Prolly add 100# for that. And whatever cruiserbrett thinks the roofrack weighs that he's supposed to bring me!

Ok I will check tomorow and PM ya. As far as picking up I am heading down to Southern Ca over New Years for a JV bash at the hammers with my colorado wheeling buddys. If we would have got this going sooner I could bring them on the 4th of December on my way to San Diego for a Charger vs. BRONCO game.

Alcans are cool; the guys are very helpful and the springs are not too expensive. I have heard great stuff about them here but all the "professional" spring prople I speak with try and explain why their springs are crap. I was going to order some HD extended lenght 60 springs from them but I want to try out the Dakars first. I would suggest Alcans if you really need a custom spring.

Last time I priced them out they were around $200 a spring. If you really just need a lift spring you can get more for less money. :D

I've been wheeling my SUA 60 for a few years, and have been trying to eek out some lift any which way I can as well. 2.5" springs, 1" body lift (awesome cheap as hell mod :flipoff2: ) and extended shackles. It's still too short. The only way I'm gonna get the lift I want is with an SOA. That won't happen for a while so I gotta live with what I got. It goes pretty much everywhere I've pointed it. Only real problem I've had is having the rear bumper dig into the ground when trying to climb up a waterfall. I swear I would have made it up the big one on Hal Johns if I was just a bit taller, or didn't have a stock (read: bent to shit) bumper that likes to grab everything :D

I've gone back and forth in my head sua vs soa for a while now. I still want a truck that I can caravan across the county if it suits my fancy. I'm gonna go soa, it's just a matter of time.

You gotta put some 37s on there those 35s look tiny.
cause they're 33's i'm try'n to sell them to go bigger! :D

OK then you gotta put 37s on there those 33 are :rainbow: :D
i had the 33's when i did my SOA.....i'm work'n on goin bigger :D

Ack! I am a loyalist from the other camp. I think bodylifts suck and are a bad idea. Yeah you can make 'em work and they're cheap, but IMO they're just a hack to get bigger tires to fit. Do it right with the proper suspension mods whether it's SOA or SUA and call it good.

Adam I might agree with you about a body lift on a 40, they just don't look good. I think a body lift on a 60 makes a lot of sense. I'd probably even do it on a SOA 60. Because of how a 60 body is constructed it hangs down quite a bit, even a little below the frame. When you add a body lift you can make it so the sliders come straight off the frame without losing any clearance or having to chop the heck out of the body. I've been looking at them for my 80, but not really to gain tire size but because the drivetrain I want to run is fairly tall. I don't think it will be possible to use the drivetrain I want without a body lift.

And since we are on the subject of 60s and cheap lifts. I'd definitely go SOA if I had a 60 I wanted to lift right now. Do it right though. Cut and turn the front axle, buy good shocks, make a rear traction bar and get some add a leafs to stiffen up the stock springs if that is what you are going to use. I've seen many stock spring sprung over 60s with cracked leaves because they flexed too much on the trail. The worse was Bruce Millers at CM 2000 and that was only after a couple of days of wheeling. If I wasn't thinking on a budget I'd go coils
:D

Great info, guys. Keep it coming! Thanks!

Anybody tried the Skyjacker kits?

on my 69/40 2 1/2 softride,i like it alot also.