Pacific Northwest Backroad Adventures

Since I purchased my 1992 Toyota FJ-80 Land Cruiser, I noticed, that when compared to other 80-series Land Cruisers, my FJ-80 actually sat a little higher than the typical soccer mom vehicle. Sometime in the past, a previous owner must have installed some aftermarket suspension on the Land Cruiser. Whatever brand of suspension was installed, it did not ride very well, providing a spine-jarring ride just over the rough pavement. There had to be a change.

My intended use for the Land Cruiser is primarily as a daily driver and to double as an expedition capable vehicle for taking the family camping, exploring, snowboarding and mild wheeling. I didn’t need a suspension system for extreme four wheeling or rock crawling. I needed a suspension that allows for a good ride when either empty or when carrying a load for a week-long adventure.

After conducting my research, I settled upon Old Man Emu suspension components from ARB for the FJ-80 Land Cruiser. Old Man Emu suspension components is the hands down favorite suspension system for people who use their Land Cruisers for expedition travel. The front will receive the OME 850 front coil springs with the N73 front shock, and the rear will receive the OME 863 rear coil springs with the N74E shock. The Old Man Emu suspension system will provide a smooth ride as a daily driver and will be able to handle the weight of my family and camping gear for several days. The front suspension will easily handle the weight of a future ARB Bull Bar and a winch on the front. In the future, when I add auxiliary fuel tank, sliders, rear bumper, tire carrier, roof rack, etc. I may have to upgrade the rear springs for a heavier spring rate to handle the extra weight.

Before changing out the coil springs and shocks, I took a measurement of the existing FJ-80 ride height and ground clearance. The Land Cruiser was measured while empty (no people and cargo), with a 1/2 tank of fuel and while sporting 31 inch BFG AT tires, OEM muffler and OEM catalytic converter. The fender clearance measurements were taken from the top bead on a stock 1992 Toyota FJ-80 Landcruiser 15-inch alloy wheel to the bottom of the fender flare.

As you can see, there was a significant lean to the left on the rear coil springs.

The first task, after familiarizing myself with the FJ-80 suspension components, was to spray down all the nuts and bolts (sway bar to frame, shocks, etc) with a good penetrating oil. If your Land Cruiser shows signs of corrosion, you might start the process several days ahead of time and apply several times. I lucked out in that only a few bolts were a challenge to get out. As I mentioned earlier, a previous owner installed new suspension and went through the challenge of breaking the factory Toyota fasteners free.

Always consult the Factory Service Manual (FSM) for specific instructions and always follow all recommended safety practices while performing this procedure.

Installation of Front Coil Springs and Shocks

	Starting with the front suspension, chock the rear wheels. The FSM shows placement of jack stands under the frame behind the bumper. I placed heavy-duty jack-stands on the frame immediately behind the front control arm mounting point. Don’t skimp and use some cheap discount store jack stands - make sure the capacity of the jack stands far exceeds the weight of the vehicle. Once the jack stands are in place, remove the wheels.
	Disconnect the sway bar at both points where it mounts to the frame. There are two bolts on each side. You’ll need a 12 mm socket and ratchet. Disconnect the axle breather hose from the axle. You may have to disconnect the brake line bracket from the frame. On my FJ-80, it was not required for me to disconnect the brake line from the frame (just be very careful so the brake line does not become over-extended when removing the shocks).
	Leaving the jack in place under the drivers side (DS) of the axle, remove the nut, bushings and retainer from the top of the shock mount. The master cylinder is placed immediately above the nut so access is limited. A standard depth deep socket and ratchet will not fit. Ideally the use of a ratcheting wrench or a medium depth swivel socket would be best for removal of the nut. I had neither of the above tools, so I patiently used a 3/4 inch box wrench to remove the nut.
	Remove the lower shock nut, bushings and retainer. Compress the shock and remove.
	While making sure you do not over-extend the brake line, slowly lower the jack and remove from under the axle. Remove the old coil spring. The FSM calls for the use of a coil spring compressor, which would make this task a lot easier. Since I was working solo and didn’t plan ahead and rent a coil spring compressor, I improvised. My technique was to sit on on the hub (with my back to the fender) and use my body weight to push the axle down while at the same time pulling up on the coil spring with my hands behind my back. It may not be the recommended procedure, but it worked.
	Install the new coil spring with the use of a coil spring compressor (or again improvise). The Old Man Emu coil springs are labeled A and B. The B-spring is installed on the DS front. I found that the installation of the new coil spring was much easier than the removal of the old spring.
	Be sure to align the bottom of the coil spring in the lower seat on top of the axle.
	Before removing the jack from under of the DS axle, I placed several blocks of wood under the DS axle to support it just enough to prevent the brake line from over extending.
Comparison of old coil spring vs. OME spring	Repeat above procedure for the passenger side (PS) shock absorber and coil spring. The Old Man Emu A-spring is installed on the PS. The top nut of the shock absorber can easily be removed with a standard deep socket and ratchet.
	Once both coil springs are installed, prepare the Old Man Emu shock absorbers for installation by placing a washer, bushing and alignment washer over the piston rod of the shock at both ends.
	Place the lower shock piston rod through axle housing bracket and place a bushing, washer and nut on the piston rod to hold the shock in place.
	Slightly raise the axle housing with your jack so the upper shock piston rod slides through the upper shock bracket. Install the bushing, washer and nut on the upper piston rod to hold the shock in place. Making sure the indexing washers are properly aligned, tighten the top and bottom shock mounting nuts to 51 ft-lbs. You may need to use an open end 8 mm wrench to hold the piston rod in place for final tightening. Repeat for opposite side shock absorber. Reinstall front wheels and tires. Tighten to specifications. Reinstall brake lines (if removed), axle breather hose and sway bar brackets. Remove jack stands and wheel chocks.

Installation of Rear Coil Springs and Shocks

	As in the procedure for the front suspension, chock the front wheels and place heavy duty jack stands on the frame in front of the rear control arms. Support the rear axle with a jack. Remove the wheel and tire.
	Disconnect stabilizer bar brackets from the frame. Let the bracket hand loose.
	Disconnect the brake line where it bolts to the frame.
	Disconnect the rear shock absorber. While supporting the axle housing with a jack, first remove the bolt holding the shock absorber to the rear axle housing. Be careful not to break this bolt if yours does not loosen easily. The use of a breaker bar, gentle pressure and more penetrating oil may be necessary to remove the bolt. Since the shocks on my Land Cruiser were replaced in the past, only one of the lower shock bolts gave me a little trouble. Remove the lower shock absorber from the mounting pin on the axle housing. You may have to pry the shock off the mounting pin.
	Remove the upper shock absorber mounting plate. There are two bolts with a 14 mm head. Remember how the bracket was installed. Each bracket is side specific, luckily they are labeled.
	Remove the upper piston rod nut from the shock. I had to use an impact wrench to spin off the nut while holding the shock body with a pipe wrench.
	Prepare the shock absorber for installation. First install the lower shock bushings. I used a bench vise to help push the bushings into the eye of the shock. The upper shock bushings are installed in the same order as the front. Make sure the upper shock mounting plate is properly oriented. Torque the upper piston rod nut to 51 ft-lbs.
	Once the shock absorber is removed, remove the coil spring by lowering the rear axle. Be careful not to snap the brake line or the parking brake cable. The springs should come free with minimal effort.
	There is a rubber gasket that is placed between the frame and the top of the coil spring. It may or may not fall free when the coil spring is removed.
	Install the new Old Man Emu coil spring. The B-spring is installed on the DS while the A-spring is installed on the PS. Be sure the rubber gasket is properly seated between the top of the coil spring and the frame. Check that the bottom of the coil spring is properly seated in the axle housing.
	Install the shock absorber with bracket to the frame with the two bolts. The side of the bracket with the open slot is installed to the outside of the vehicle. Torque the upper shock mounting bracket bolts to 37 ft-lbs.
	Raise the axle housing with your jack. Connect the lower shock absorber with retainer to the axle housing with the bolt. Torque the lower shock retaining bolt to 47 ft-lbs. Repeat procedure for opposite side coil spring and shock absorber.
	Reinstall sway bar bracket, brake line bracket to frame and install wheels and tires.

That’s what it takes to install the Old Man Emu coil springs and shocks on a 1992 Toyota FJ-80 Land Cruiser. Give yourself a good 3-6 hours, depending on your skill level, tools and if you run into problems such as a broken bolt. There may be differences with the various years of the 80-series. Be sure to consult the FSM for your specific year Land Cruiser.

The FSM recommends that you drill a 2 mm hole in the body of the lower shock absorber to release the gas before discarding. See the FSM for specific details.

After OME 850/863 Suspension Measurements

All measurements are approximate. Of course, your actual gain will vary depending on the condition of your existing suspension and your choice of spring rates. These measurements were taken immediately after installation. In time, the coil springs will settle a bit as they are broken in.

The lean in the left rear is still there, but not as bad as it was before installation of the OME suspension. At a later date, I may have to install coil spring spacers to even the rear end up.

Currently, I have 31 inch tires on my Land Cruiser. It appears that I could easily run 33 inch tires with no problem. Once I regear to 4.58 gears, I will run the larger tires.

I did not install any caster correction devices with this suspension installtion. After I install my future ARB Bull Bar on the front, I will have the caster checked and if needed (most likely), I will be either installing the OME caster correction bushings or Man-a-Fre Front Control Arm Drop Brackets.

Additional tasks I want to complete but are not part of this article, include the installation of a new Old Man Emu steering stabilizer and adjustment of the rear brake proportioning valve. In the future I would like to add swaybar drop brackets and replace all factory suspension bushings.

After installation of the Old Man Emu suspension system, the ride of my FJ-80 Land Cruiser improved greatly. The ride of my Land Cruiser is firm but smoother riding. The body lean has been greatly reduced. The rear of the Land Cruiser is slightly raked. Of course, its a little more challenging for my wife and daughter to climb into the cab.

Unforntuately, I haven’t had the opportunity to test the suspension while weighted down (other than three adults and one child). I look forward for the opportunity to further test the suspension. A long term review will come at a later date.

Additional After OME 850/863 Suspension Photos

Tags: 80-series, bull bar, expedition, fj80, land cruiser, landcruiser, old man emu, ome, toyota, vehicle

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 12th, 2006 at 10:10 pm and is filed under Vehicle Mods & Repairs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.