A saggy body needs Oil and a Joe String.

The Landcruiser was sagging lower and lower at the rear. A sure sign I needed to do something was when the exhaust started rattling against the rear axle and when I couldn’t fit my foot between the wheel arch and the rear wheel. Looking at the bump stops there looked to be about a finger width gap and we could feel it each time we went down a dip on corrugations. The “take off ready to launch” look of the vehicle was really bugging me. A search on the internet and I had springs and air bags sent to Karratha to be picked up when we arrived with a vague idea of changing them somewhere.

Karratha Caravan park looked like one of the most respectable parks we had stayed at and I was unsure about the idea of pulling the car apart. The guy across from us had a massive 30 foot fifth wheeler and also had a boat parked in front of it.  I started talking to him and he explained how he had bought it cheaply as it was damaged and he had to weld entire sections of it back together.  “Where did you do that?” I asked.  “Here” he explained.  When he started stripping down the 2 x 160 HP outboards I decided it would be OK to replace the springs.  I had picked up what I thought were strong 1.5 Tonne rated screw chassis stands in Port Hedland but the guy with the boat had 3 Tonne rated stands that made mine look like tent pegs.  After the caravan jack collapsed trying to get enough height, and getting blisters from cranking the manual jack in my car, he also lent me a hydraulic jack.  Lowering the suspension down until the wheel hub was almost touching the ground I could just swap out the springs and fit the airbags.

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With only the new rear springs fitted, it lifted it about 90mm over where it sat without passengers which is about 2 inches above standard.  I had also picked up an adjustable height towball in Karratha so that the caravan wouldn’t move into a “blast off” position.

 

Without the airbags inflated as below, and the car fully loaded with 50kg of water, full LPG and Unleaded tanks, people and all the gear, the clearance between wheel arches was almost the same.  20 psi into the air bags and another photo would show the rear about 10mm higher than the front which is what it should be. 

After over 10,000km, the car was also due for a service.  I thought I would also do the heavy driving service (due to the towing load) and bring the other oil changes forward.  I had no idea how much oil this would use.  A lot.  First the 7.2 litres of engine oil, then the front diff oil, then the rear limited slip diff oil, then 2.7l of gear box and 1.3litres for the transfer case. I think this would be an expensive service to get done by a mechanic.

I had heard that I should have fitted a stone guard on the van to stop rocks hitting it and bouncing onto the rear window, however it looked like too much trouble.  After towing on some roads I kept hearing that scary pinging sound of a rock hitting a window.  We finally realised that rocks were hitting the rear window and  that there were tiny chips appearing in it.  We taped carpet to the outside of the rear window which would only last about 50km before the tape fatigued and the carpet started to slip off.  Joseph came up with a great idea using cord that held the carpet in place permanently so I called it the Joe String. It works very well.

Grant

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For those interested in the rear spring heights.

Spring heights for 80 Series Landcruiser should be as follows without load:

 

Stock:
Front 520mm - Rear 525mm
2inch Lift
Front 560mm - Rear 570mm
4inch Lift
Front 645mm - Rear 670mm
6inch Lift
Front 690mm - Rear 725mm

The springs are the same as for the 105 series.

For my car:

	Front	Rear
Prior to rear springs being installed – no passenger load or van.	540 (Which indicates 1 inch above normal indicating to me that a 2 inch lift kit had been fitted to car before load been added to car.  )	500 (indicating 1 inch below normal and sagging from 2 inch lift kit under weight) I suspect this was with the additional weight of LPG, jerry cans, roof rack.)
After installation of rear springs – unloaded	545 (estimated 1 inch above normal – 25 mm.  I still need to put in the front springs they supplied but will do this when get home as balance looks OK to me now with Van)	590 (estimating 2 inches above normal – 65 mm) i.e. 1 inch higher than front – 40mm. Gained a total of 90mm
After loading up with van and people and 20 psi in air bags	550	560