Broken spring: new springs throughout or just front ones? And raise?

[raffles]

Hi,

This is my '96 HZJ80 which I love but has given me all sorts of problems.



In that picture I'd been driving on pretty bad roads around Lake Natron without noticing this had happened:



It's one of the front springs. I'd only just replaced all four shocks (Tokico, bought locally). Spares are pretty expensive in Tanzania and good mechanics are hard to come by (part of the reason for the aforementioned problems). I'm thinking about buying Pedders springs when I'm in the UK in January because they're so much cheaper and I haven't found any negative reviews. Is it OK to replace only the front springs, or should I replace all four at once?

If I replace all four and buy springs that increase the ride height, will that cause problems in terms of fitting them? I'm concerned I'd have to replace other things along with springs that increase height, particularly shocks which I don't want to be buying again!

As you might be able to tell I don't know a great deal about my car, though I'm slowly and eagerly learning more. I'd appreciate any advice on this!

 

[clivehorridge]

Welcome to the forum Raffles, and a fine looking 80 too. What an incredible country!

Nice to see some HZJ 80s on here!

IMO and as a matter of caution, ride-height should be maintained evenly and a new spring on one side would likely have very different characteristics to the 18 year old spring on the other side. That would mean at the least, changing both front springs at the same time.

Fitting lifted springs could only be done to all 4 at the same time, and of course you are right, the shocks would not match with the lift, causing them to fail prematurely.

Why would you be considering a lift? I think you need to explore this question, before embarking on an expensive lift/shocks/castor correction route. Are you running (or do you intend) 35" tyres or some other upgrade that requires a lift?

It really is a shame that you've recently changed the shocks, but maybe, if you did intend to go for the lift, the shocks would re-sale locally at a reasonable price, which would bring the price of the lift down.

 

[raffles]

Hi Clive, and thanks for the welcome. Tanzania is indeed a brilliant country in which to own a Land Cruiser! The roads are often abysmal, the mud is like glue and the scenery is spectacular.

I should have said that I have no intention of increasing the ride height, I was asking about that in case the new springs actually increase it unintentionally, due to the old ones having sagged somewhat (I'm assuming this is something that happens) and the new shocks being fitted to accommodate the way the springs currently sit. So if I buy Pedders standard springs, they might increase the ride height. If that is just by a bit, should that be no problem?

 

[clivehorridge]

I doubt fitting standard springs would cause any problem at all.

I would be surprised if the shocks you've fitted are anything other than standard, so they will match very well with an all round set of new springs.

That would be my advice in the circumstances, you may well gain an inch or so of the 18 years of sag, which would be an added bonus.

If for some reason you can't fit a full set of springs, you should at least try to fit them in pairs. The trouble is, new springs on the front and old ones on the back, may give you a back down stance which would be undesirable.

Good luck!

 

[Pedders01]

Hi Raffles

We do actually quote an installed height for springs on a standard vehicle. That said, looking at your photo you do have one or 2 extras attached to the front This will affect the final height, but if they are standard on there now, and you fitted our standard height springs, sure, it might be a tiny bit higher as they are new, but nothing to get worked up about. PM me if you want further details.

 

[raffles]

Thank you both for your very helpful advice. Ideally I'd like to buy all four springs, but I might end up limited by how much I can take on the plane!

When you say the standard springs, presumably you mean these?

Front: pedders.co.uk/pedders-coil-spring_p4501488.htm
Rear: pedders.co.uk/pedders-coil-spring_p4501486.htm

I'll check my current ride height to see if the sizes do indeed agree.

When I replace the springs, do I need to buy new bushes as well?

 

[Pedders01]

Thank you both for your very helpful advice. Ideally I'd like to buy all four springs, but I might end up limited by how much I can take on the plane!

When you say the standard springs, presumably you mean these?

Front: pedders.co.uk/pedders-coil-spring_p4501488.htm
Rear: pedders.co.uk/pedders-coil-spring_p4501486.htm

I'll check my current ride height to see if the sizes do indeed agree.

When I replace the springs, do I need to buy new bushes as well?

Yes, they are the standard height front springs. As i said, id expect yours to be lower given the additional weight. But ours will be a touch stiffer than the original Toyota ones, so you will back to where you were prior to spring failure plus a few milimeters . No need for bushes unless they have degraded.