OK,

I have not twisted my Cruiser up yet with the 42's. Before, i had about 2" of clearance without hitting with the 38.5's. These tires are 2" bigger around so I will need a little breathing room.

I have 8 sections of add-a-leaf around here. The longest piece is 24" and it has an arch. They are Rancho and still have good arch in them. The rest of the stuff is just regular peices of leaf ranging from 12" to 18" (2 pieces each for a total of 10 add-s-leaf sections)

Question, on a SUA vehicle, adding those short 24" arched springs will sometimes give 2" of lift (and a harsh ride)

On a spring over with flat springs will these add-a-leaf sections give me any more than the total height of the leafs stacked?

Will the arched Rancho Add-a-Leaf arch my flat springs and give me a little lift?

I don't want much, just a little breathing room on these damn huge meats.

Ideas....(other than $800 Alcans)

They will likely give a bit of lift and stiffness, but with the weight of a Cruiser and the flexing they are likely to see, they should break in a little and be just about right.

Haha I'm looking at my calendar and your rig is the March rig, when it was SUA.

Originally posted by FeCamel
They will likely give a bit of lift and stiffness, but with the weight of a Cruiser and the flexing they are likely to see, they should break in a little and be just about right.

Haha I'm looking at my calendar and your rig is the March rig, when it was SUA.

So you think this is worth it?

Should I do one arched add a leaf with a single pad under that one?

That calender picture is FUNNY!

Like I think you told me once before "I would just keep adding leafs until you get to where you want" That was good advice & I think it would apply to you :D

I guess it all depends on how much your stock springs have already sagged. an add-a-leaf will bring back life to stock springs fatigued from SOA (atleast they did on my fj60), but I think if you wheel them hard, eventually they are going to go back to flat. do you plan on legthening your bumpstops or do you just need this for basic ride hieght.

on my brothers SOA fj40 we used a set of newer Rancho 2" springs & took out a leaf. it netted us 1" over stock height & they have not sagged beyond what they had originally sagged & flex as well as the stock springs if not a little better.

Will rear FJ-40 springs give more lift than front FJ-40 springs if used in the front?

Sure it's worth it, a try anyways. Like Sixty said, just add leaves until you get it where you want it. How much room do you need to get? Do you need more room F & R or just at one end? Custom springs would be very pricey, as you know, and probably unnecessary. If your current springs are really flat and you don't want to try adding leaves, a spring shop will be able to re-arch them for a little more space.

Get shold of Live Wire he runs a set up like that on his 40.;)

*update*

In the front of my Cruiser, I only ran the 5 long leafs...no short ones.

Last night I added the Rancho short leaf and the stock 2 small leafs back.

It should settle out lots, but it raised the front 4" :eek:

When I do the back and flex it up, it should net me about 2" overall.

This is a before picture:

Is that a standard hieght garage door behind it? Once your cruiser hulks out how do you get it in and out of the door with out acidentally remodeling the entry?

Nolen, why do you want to be higher?????

The meats fit right now. Adding some suspension lift to it will not give you any more travel that you have right now.. All it will really do is make you higher.

It won't keep you from rubbing any more. Only longer bumpstops can do that.

Or mabye I am missing something :)

Originally posted by Jason M
Nolen, why do you want to be higher?????




I'll second that... can't you clearance everything w/ the almighty sawzall and then add some bigger bump stops? Otherwise, your ride is going to start lookin' like a monster truck.

looks like hes clearanced as much as he can, with the sawzall

you could raise the front fender into that panel where the badge goes and have the bonnet rest on the fender, ive seen some done like this, and when i get back to my PC i can put a photo up for you guys...
then you could cut the rear tubs and take them right to the top, and move the arches inboard a bit for more clearance, but ALL that work...nah add-a-leafs are the right way, say each leaf is 10mm thick, that gives 10mm so you only need it to have 40mm in total arch to give you the 2"(50mm) you are after.
BUT if you had 2"clearance over 38s, and then it should just touch with 42s you only really need one inch so just 15mm of arch.

and if youre worried itll make the ride harsher, grease up your springs and bushes, reduce all the friction (if you havent already)
i dont think itll affect the ride that much, at least not detrimentally!

i LOVE it!!!!!!
seriously ROCKIN' cruiser

mine came down 2 inches when i removed the bottom leaf, so it makes a HUGE difference just one leaf!! but its heaps softer and flatter now

Originally posted by Jason M
Nolen, why do you want to be higher?????

The meats fit right now. Adding some suspension lift to it will not give you any more travel that you have right now.. All it will really do is make you higher.

It won't keep you from rubbing any more. Only longer bumpstops can do that.

Or mabye I am missing something :)

My front bumpstops were 1" from the axle before this mod. There was no way I was going to clear these tires and have any uptravel at all.

If i go up 2" then I should be where I started and have some room to lower my stops.

It's all good. I should be fine.

I am a huge proponent of keeping it as low and wide as possible but cutting the fenders off and raising the back fenders to the top of the tub take away the classic Cruiser look and I DO NOT want to do that any more than I have already.

Down deep, I am a Cruiser lover first.

As for getting it out of the garage :emb: I am going to have to FLATTEN the tires and drag it out I think :eek:

have you got any close up pics of your approach and departure angles, like a side on shot? cause they were 80 plus degrees with the 38s, theyve got to be on...or approaching 90 degrees now!!! :smokin: :eek:

Fair enough..


:D

Well it worked, no adjustment yet on the bumpstops, but I need to work them all down about 2".

Everything else feels pretty good. I am probably going to need some more gearing.

May have to go to the 3.8 Atlas :(

We'll see

Front

:eek: THAT IS HUUGE

nice flex!!
was there any rubbing on your inner fenders on the front or rear?

Originally posted by bj42
:eek: THAT IS HUUGE
nice flex!!
was there any rubbing on your inner fenders on the front or rear?

Nope, the axles are too wide for that. I am 1/2" from hitting in the rear and my spring looks like this!

hell nolen you look like a little kid in front of your cruiser, that thing is fawkin huge. but the way you are twisting those springs up, i don't think they will last to long. but damn it looks cool. mike

Wow...

Keep an ey eon those springs. They usually do not like being spit into an "s" shape. or is that just hte picture doing that??


Looks really good man...
:eek:

p.s. I will have spare piggy rear springs in Moab if you do not have a set...

I have one spare piggy spring with 2 under a Cruiser I bought off Gunracer, so I should be OK. I just don't know what else to do about it but run it.

Any ideas? The rear bumpstop is not touching in this picture, it is the binding of my traction bar and rear spring keeping it from going any farther up.

I plan on extending the bumpstops to take some of the pressure off.

I think that the traction bar is not letting the housing rotate freely. Disconnect it, park your rig in the same position and see...

If it is the traction bar that is creating the issue you might think about redesigning it...

Otherwise you will be replacing springs more often than I do!!!

:D

shit nolen, that thing is killer
I want one :)
After high school I think I'll be going to 36's, maybe sooner.
Then after collage...I'll nolenize it :flipoff2:
great job...you need to plan a trip out here to San Angelo...

Joseph A.

thats pretty bad, but i'll get a pic of my rear springs flexxed mine are like a backward U its REAL bad.

hey nolen, how far in inches can you lift a tyres before another tyre lifts from the ground?

and is that checkerplate steel above the driver and passengers heads? is that in case there is rocks or something when you roll it?

Looking at the picture Nolen, I kind of think that a longer spring and maybe a longer shackle might help on the rear. Not sure though, but hey...its funner to break springs:D :flipoff2: :D

Joseph A.