Well I finally bit the bullet and did it. I've been milking my worn out suspension for as long as I can, but my passenger side rear leaf finally gave up on the trail this weekend. Today I ordered pretty much a whole new suspension. 3" lift springs for all 4 corners, 4 new shocks, all new poly bushings, new shackles from marlin, and some new spring perches for my rear axle. I'll post up some before and after pics whenever I get everything in. Should help the truck out a lot. My old bushings on the front leafs were so bad that the truck would shake whenever you would get above 50mph. There was just no rubber left to keep the springs from swaying on the shackles. :td: After this, my next project is high steer, either that or a propane conversion.

Most of the stuff came in today. I'm still short the rear leafs and the shackles. Hopefully the beginning of next week I'll have everything and be able to start throwing it all on the truck.

Don't fergit the piccies... ;)

Hopefully I'll have my rear leafs tomorrow, but i'm still not sure about the shackles. I got an e-mail from Marlin saying that they were out of bushings, so I don't know when i'll get them. I'm going to hold off till I get everything in before I install anything. The shackles that are on the truck now are kinda scary looking. Looks like something I would use as a temporary trail fix if I broke one shackle. One of the previous owners rigged ALL of the shackles that way for some reason.

Ok, I have all of the springs and the hardware for them, but I'm still waiting on the damn shackles. Marlin said the were supposed to get the bushings in today, so hopefully I'll see some shackles on monday or tuesday. I'm pretty sick of waiting. I wanna get this thing put together.

Well I couldn't take waiting any more. I went ahead and started on the truck even though I don't have the shackles. Tonight I got the rear springs on. I guess you can tell that your old springs were worn out when a 3" lift spring gives you 4.5" of lift. lol. Should have the front on tomorrow afternoon. Whenever the shackles come in, they'll be easy as cake to put on with the springs already mounted.

HOLY CRAP! They weren't kidding when they named their stuff Rough Country. I know my truck is lighter than stock, but wow. Hopefully the springs will soften up as time goes on, and I also think the longer shackles will help when I get them on, but still....

Other than the rough ride, the new setup is great. I did get about 4.5" on the front of the truck too. I now have clearance for 35's easily, 37's or so if I get into some fender trimming (or removal) I'm keeping my eyes open for a decent used set.

The steering is still working great, so I don't know if I'll go hi-steer or not on it. We'll see what it does with larger tires.

Pics!!! Finally!!! This is still with the old shackles. I need to move the shackle mounts on the frame to get a better shackle angle. I didn't even think about it till a couple days ago, but it is a mojor reason that my ride is so horrible. The shackles on the rear springs are angled about 15 degrees toward the front of the truck.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj167/rx7vert/DSC00017.jpg?t=1206317775

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj167/rx7vert/DSC00015.jpg?t=1206317878

Well I went ahead and bit the bullet. I just ordered 2 Aussie Lockers. Should have them on friday, and plan on installing on saturday, wheeling again on sunday. We'll see how things go. I'm looking forward to getting this thing locked up. I also sourced a new motor (new to me) to start tearing apart to rebuild as my replacement for the one in the truck. I didn't want to pull the one in it until I had something to plop right back in place. I hate down time on my toys.

Let us know what you think of the Aussie Lockers!

Let us know what you think of the Aussie Lockers!


Will do. Hopefully I'll get em plopped in on saturday afternoon and get to test them out on Sunday. Its supposed to rain a little on saturday, so it should be a perfect day for some mud on sunday.

Ok, got the rear locker in, and decided to wait on the front till I get some more parts in. I'm going to go ahead and replace the seals and rebuild the knuckles while I have the axle apart.

I did get to test the rear locker on Sunday though, and WOW. I love this thing. What they say on their site is true. Every other locker I have owned made steering on a slippery surface nearly impossible, even with the wheels turned all the way, they would just plow straight ahead. The aussie locker doesn't, as long as you let off the throttle, or put the clutch in, the diff works as it should. If you hit the gas, it locks and you will plow, but it is easier to control than a spool.

I also took the time to cut off the shackle mounts on the back and scoot them forward a few inches. My shackle is right where I want it now, about 45 degrees back. A little steeper than some may like, but it allows for a good bit more droop, and a softer ride. The only problem I'm running into is when the springs flex out, the shackle goes back and wraps around past level, and tends to stay there. I am going to put a bump stop on to fix it. Not a big problem.

The bad news: I fried my alternator. After coming back out of the trail, I shut the truck off at the trail head for grill and beer time. When I got back in it to load it back on the trailer, I noticed that it was only running at 12v rather than 13.5 or 14 like it usually does. When I got home I put the multimeter to it and found that the alternator is not charging at all. :( Another project.

Sounds like yer brushes are used up. Those can be inspected and replaced rather easily. A whole lot cheaper than gitting a new one...unless you've been looking to upgrade. :D ;)

Sounds like yer brushes are used up. Those can be inspected and replaced rather easily. A whole lot cheaper than gitting a new one...unless you've been looking to upgrade. :D ;)


I'm thinking about getting one with a different bolt pattern and finding a way to move it to the top of the motor somehow. The thing hangs down so low that even medium deep holes bury it in muck.

Wow... good write up on the Aussie... I can't wait to here how it works in the front. While you are rebuilding your front end put in the Longfield Super Axles or at least the Polly Performance replacement birfield and inners. If you are rebuilding the kncukle go with thi Trail Gear 6 shooter knuckles, they are awesome, however roomer around the camp fire is that Trail Gear stole the design from Marlin Crawler (this makes me not a fan of Trail Gear however the knuckles are awesome).

Wow... good write up on the Aussie... I can't wait to here how it works in the front. While you are rebuilding your front end put in the Longfield Super Axles or at least the Polly Performance replacement birfield and inners. If you are rebuilding the kncukle go with thi Trail Gear 6 shooter knuckles, they are awesome, however roomer around the camp fire is that Trail Gear stole the design from Marlin Crawler (this makes me not a fan of Trail Gear however the knuckles are awesome).

I don't really have a need for stouter than stock axles. I don't do any rock crawling or other high torque sort of riding. All my riding is mud and clay, so I doubt that I will ever break a stock axle.

I do plan on upgrading the steering though, but that will be later on down the road.

I don't really have a need for stouter than stock axles. I don't do any rock crawling or other high torque sort of riding. All my riding is mud and clay, so I doubt that I will ever break a stock axle.

I do plan on upgrading the steering though, but that will be later on down the road.

I kinda started thinking that might be the case after posting that comment. I would at least put in the Poly Performance Birfields it will be the best $204.00 you will spend. Everything else i mentioned is overkill but you will most likely bust Birfield with the front locked especially when powering through thick clay. Here's a link... Poly Performance Inc.*::*Axles & Accessories*::*Poly Performance Axles*::*Toyota Mini Truck & FJ 4340 Chromoly Birfields: JK Synergy Suspension Systems, Fox Racing Shox, Beard, CTM, Johnny Joints®, Currie Enterprises, Edelbrock, Total Chaos, Ramsey W (http://www.polyperformance.com/shop/Toyota-Mini-Truck-FJ-4340-Chromoly-Birfields-p-779.html)

The truck is now temporarily on hold. I'm going to look at a new jet ski tomorrow now that the warm weather has hit. Looks like the truck is going to wait untill it cools back off again, or rains one weekend and I'm not at the river.

Haha, my prediction was correct. The truck hasn't moved much since I bought the ski. I did score some spare parts today, got a transmission and transfer case out of a totaled 82 on its way to the junk yard. Tranny looks and feels good, as best as I can tell sitting on the shop floor. The transfer case is perfect. It has a rebuild date engraved on the case 5-7-06, and you can tell, I tore into it to check it out and everything looks brand new, even the oil in the case.

I'm going to tear into the transmission soon to fix what needs fixing and then stick both of them in the truck. I also need to pick up ANOTHER alternator. Apparently they don't get along with the thick mud too well.