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BJ42 ride horrible!!!

Cliffy

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great_britain
G.day folks

Well my 'new' addition to the fleet has arrived - the BJ42 3B 5-speed from Australia (pics below). Cute or what?, seriously lovely looking, including inside. Bit of rust here and there on body but that's it; underneath is amazing only the winch has a bit of surface rust, otherwise it has a black and solid lower half.

HOWEVER.....the ride is truly diabolical. I think some genius has fitted very heavy duty springs with almost zero give in them.

Anyone found good quality soft springs to replace these nasty things with?

Suggestions welcome.

Thanks guys

Cliffy
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G.day folks

Well my 'new' addition to the fleet has arrived - the BJ42 3B 5-speed from Australia (pics below). Cute or what?, seriously lovely looking, including inside. Bit of rust here and there on body but that's it; underneath is amazing only the winch has a bit of surface rust, otherwise it has a black and solid lower half.

HOWEVER.....the ride is truly diabolical. I think some genius has fitted very heavy duty springs with almost zero give in them.

Anyone found good quality soft springs to replace these nasty things with?

Suggestions welcome.

Thanks guys

CliffyView attachment 134371
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There are parabolics available which will give the best available ride, I don't know where they're from but remember seeing some on a rebuild on here.

Nice truck BTW.



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Thanks Andy, I'll look around on here then. cheers
 
You could try devon 4x4 if you want OME.
My 40 was the same when it arrived from NZ. OME medium springs improved it but still an “experience”
 
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Nice new/old 42 cliffy! Lovely old fella you have there! If you do a count or some pics of the number of leaves you have front and rear then mainly the reason why these leaf sprung cruisers are to taught is that there are too many leaves in the packs. If the shackle is looking more vertical as apposed to more laid back then there's the answer! (comfort is all to do with a more laid back shackle angle!)

It's perfectly normal to remove for example 2 leaves from each pack and refit with new U bolts and away you go.

Be interesting to see just how many leaves there are there man? (and shackle angle)

Especially if the springs are quite fresh! Best to fine tune what you have! Good luck with it:thumbup:
 
I had a set of Rancho springs and shocks on one I had and they gave a good supple ride, some years ago now. They are on the one TonyToyota has now. ( just remembered).
 
Yep, I've removed leaves in the past and it works. I kept the u bolts the same and replaced the bottom leaves with a drilled packing block.
 
Hi that is a good looking40 you have got thanks for the pics good look with it from Tony:thumbup:
 
Hello Guys

Thank you all for your guidance. Yep, the shackle angle is too vertical and I guess a lot of that is because
the springs are very curved with inbuilt helpers activated all the time.

There are 8 leaves in the rear springs, forgot to count front ones: see pic (no that's not an oil leak up front just an old bucket!).

I am going to try and remove leaves as suggested, as that seems the simplest possibility and I don;t carry much weight in it.

Just got back from the MOT station (pictured below) where is failed on some welding on the floor and a rear number plate lamp, not bad!

Thank you all again, we should organise a nice 40 series weekend/.barbeque/wine, whiskey and beer session sometime and get all these together!

Cheers
Cliffy

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Oops, My bj46 has 11 leaves in the rear.
Explains why the ride is a bit harsh.....like with no suspension at all with bricks instead of leaves.
Previous owner used it as a DD, but sold because of 'too rough'.
 
Oops, My bj46 has 11 leaves in the rear.
Explains why the ride is a bit harsh.....like with no suspension at all with bricks instead of leaves.
Previous owner used it as a DD, but sold because of 'too rough'.

Oh man! Yes, that would be rough. My HJ47 Crew Cab and my FJ45 pickup both have 11 leaves in rear. The ride in the FJ45 is rough, but the ride in the HJ47 Crew Cab is soft and smooth - really nice. However, the HJ47 Crew Cab has much heavier duty springs, but it is also much heavier that any other Cruiser I know (it's 2,850kg!! unladen), so I guess it rides soft due to its mass.

I'm going to do what the guys said and remove a couple of leaves, and if that fails, Alcan springs in USA can provide tailor-made soft springs for a very good price.
 
Hi Cliffy can we organise a 40s at. The next Lincomb and not just me with all the 80s would be good to to see a lot of 40s at the Lincomb weekend love all the cruisers lets have a lot of cool 40s that would be so good from Tony.:laughing-rolling::thumbup::dance:
 
Hi Cliffy can we organise a 40s at. The next Lincomb and not just me with all the 80s would be good to to see a lot of 40s at the Lincomb weekend love all the cruisers lets have a lot of cool 40s that would be so good from Tony.:laughing-rolling::thumbup::dance:

Hi Tony
Is that in May next year? I might be touring USA and Mexico in my Crew Cab in May. If Lincomb is another date(s) then, sure, let's fix up something.
 
Hi Cliffy,

lovely machine there, just wondering will you leave the bulbar on the front of it, its a formidable lump of iron, are they legal in the UK?
 
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