Whats the demand

[TacoRunner]

Hey fellows, I've got a couple of people here in the states that have requested FZJ80 suspension components. They have asked for a street freindly/do it all suspension that actually works with 5" of lift with out effecting the drivablility of the vehicle. For some reason they want their wives and girlfriends to able to drive it. (go figure)


So I have to ask, what is the demand for product support of this vehicle here? Does this vehilce get used like it does in the states or is it more or less.

It would be designed around Coil-Overs, not Coils.

[dogbreath_48]

There would certainly be plenty of interest in such a kit, the problem here is that out legality/roadworthy standards seem to be much tighter than in the US and just about any modification like what you speak of will be illegal unless it passes expensive compliance testing. Cost would also be a consideration - I don't think that many people are actually willing to spend decent coin modifying a 13+ year old car. The kit could possibly be built to suit a 100 series as well?

Having said all that there are a shitload more landcruisers here than in the US.

[Cruzer!]

Hey Brian. Are you thinking of creating a 3link setup for the front to replace radius arms and keep the 4link/panhard in the rear? I think this way you might get away with not having to completely redesign the system and end up at the mercy of australian engineers.

Ben

[TacoRunner]

I've got one or two guys that say they will buy the Japanese gas tanks(Idont know much about that part) but they want a 3link front and ditch the radius arms and do a real 4link in the back. Like I said I dont know to much about the gas tank conversions for these vehicles. So in the end it may stay 3link front and rear.

[TacoRunner]

There would certainly be plenty of interest in such a kit, the problem here is that out legality/roadworthy standards seem to be much tighter than in the US and just about any modification like what you speak of will be illegal unless it passes expensive compliance testing. Cost would also be a consideration - I don't think that many people are actually willing to spend decent coin modifying a 13+ year old car. The kit could possibly be built to suit a 100 series as well?

Having said all that there are a shitload more landcruisers here than in the US.

I understand the legally driving on the road issue, I've done some research there. But as for modigying a 13+ vehicle. I think those are the ones that most mod up. Not a lot of people have the money to buy and nice shinny new vehicle and then spend 20K on mods. If anything its the opposite.

[badger]

There is a huge market as long as your not another one of these idiots that thinks they should charge $7k for a kit i can put together myself out of the states for $2500 and a days work

Id be very interested to see how you intend to get reasonable wheel travel from coil overs in the back of a wagon.

For general use i think a set of 2.5 smoothies and bumpstops that are straight bolt in will be more saleable here in aus

[thrashlux]

another thing to remember is front panard rod is diferent in aus trucks to us trucks

also rear of truck is a 5 link not a 3 link
in both LHD and RHD

[TacoRunner]

I don’t intend to re-sales some shocks and slap on some bumps and call it an off-road suspension. I call that a Band-Aid and I’ll let other companies do that. There are a ton of those out there and in the end all you’ve succeeded in doing it altering the design of a suspension that was intended for extremely mild off road use and a lot of street driving. I’ve not had a great deal of time under these Cruiser’s but I think its fair to say that if you really want the best performance possible then a totally new design is needed. Drop brackets and bracket extensions are typically not up to the task of enduring season after season of hard use and rarely do they result in the kind of performance one would expect when showcasing Coil-Overs.

If I do this it would be more like, new brackets, links, limit straps, air bumps, coil-overs, etc. Very similar to what I already provide for the mini trucks. That means factory mounting locations will most likely be changed if it’s to do what I would expect from it. Crawl as good as a 7000lb-vehicle can. Handle a decent speed across rough desert or at least as fast as you can go with sheet metal and only one shock per corner. Finally allow you to drive down the highway with one hand on the wheel while changing a setting or two on your stereo without drifting into on coming traffic. I’ve done this on other vehicles so I see no reason why it can’t be done on these heavy pigs.

Have you guys are familiar with a company called ORS. They were a premiere Colorado based off-road company. I purchased their Mini Truck link kits thinking that I was getting was a suspension that could hand all the bad boy Hammer trails here in California and still drive down the road as good or better than my leaf springs. What I got was a suspension that was horrible off road and almost as bad on road. It made me want my leaves back. This lead me to 4 years of reading researching and prototyping new designs just so that in the end I would understand the basis of geometry and the effects it has over different terrain. That didn’t even get me to Shocks, springs and anti sway bars. The advantage I had was, I had about one year of seat time behind each design, so I could nit pick the driving characteristics over various terrain.

All this to say, that if its anything like my Mini Truck applications then you’re not installing it over the weekend. Expect to be down, 6-8weeks.

[Zuri92]

if you are intending to provide a kit that people here can purchase then it really needs to be a bolt in solution, as there are plenty of guys here that will do all mods etc to take all the old gear out and do a completely re designed system. people dont want to spend lots of money on suspension that is going to work great but is illegal, it is very hard to get anything other than a 2 inch lift using all standard links etc, complianced. there ways to get around most laws semi legally but any transport department guy who knows his stuff will pick it up even with engineers certs and blue plates etc. that is why most guys here are fond of the simple coil and shock lifts with some aftermarket links that is all a simple bolt in and if they get caught for being too high, then they just take it out and put the stock stuff back in.

so if you could supply a really good kit that used standard mounting points or even bolt on mounting points on chassis etc, with no welding required then you may have a market, but if it needs welding or something done that cant be reversed in a days work then people wont go for it much

and yes most guys want it to still handle great, as lots of their wives etc drive the car also

[oldmate]

You can get a perfectly good on/offroad compromise with 4 and 5 inch coil lifts, and it's now easy enough to do a bolt on job with the superior flex arms.

Can't understand why you would waste time and money on some flash lookin coil over setup.

[TacoRunner]

if you are intending to provide a kit that people here can purchase then it really needs to be a bolt in solution, as there are plenty of guys here that will do all mods etc to take all the old gear out and do a completely re designed system. people dont want to spend lots of money on suspension that is going to work great but is illegal, it is very hard to get anything other than a 2 inch lift using all standard links etc, complianced. there ways to get around most laws semi legally but any transport department guy who knows his stuff will pick it up even with engineers certs and blue plates etc. that is why most guys here are fond of the simple coil and shock lifts with some aftermarket links that is all a simple bolt in and if they get caught for being too high, then they just take it out and put the stock stuff back in.

so if you could supply a really good kit that used standard mounting points or even bolt on mounting points on chassis etc, with no welding required then you may have a market, but if it needs welding or something done that cant be reversed in a days work then people wont go for it much

and yes most guys want it to still handle great, as lots of their wives etc drive the car also

I keep forgeting about your vehicle laws, either way the orginal request I received was for the boys here in the states. If its not something you guys want or need thats fine too. No harm no foul.

Quick question for ya, is it illegal offroad and its just that getting caught in the bush is so much harder or is it just illegal on road.

[dogbreath_48]

unless it's engineered/complianced, any suspension setup that requires new mounts etc on the chassis will be illegal to use on public roads/tracks (on or off tarmac).

it would certainly be possibly to have such a setup engineered/complianced (assuming it's a quality setup like you say), but this would need to be done for each and every vehicle.

hassle.

[TacoRunner]

unless it's engineered/complianced, any suspension setup that requires new mounts etc on the chassis will be illegal to use on public roads/tracks (on or off tarmac).

it would certainly be possibly to have such a setup engineered/complianced (assuming it's a quality setup like you say), but this would need to be done for each and every vehicle.

hassle.

Wow, that is just such a pain in the arss. They even govern the off road applications. Thats horrible. Talk about killin a dream.

[mick80]

This I was my truck 4 inch lift and 29.5 inch shocks


Please note it could have went higher if I had more offset wheels as it was hitting coil tower
Cheers mick

[TacoRunner]

And do you get hassled by those pesky officials??

[mick80]

It's no longer like that I've totally resprayed it and cleaned it right up.
Cheers mick

[Zuri92]

see thats the beauty of maintaining a system that is largeley standard, and its only a 4 inch lift, so its not that bad, and if he does get pulled up, he can unbolt and change almost all of what makes his truck illegal. notice i said almost

[mick80]

see thats the beauty of maintaining a system that is largeley standard, and its only a 4 inch lift, so its not that bad, and if he does get pulled up, he can unbolt and change almost all of what makes his truck illegal. notice i said almost

lol
its a big black diff guard
cheers mick

[TacoRunner]

Well like I said, this will then just be for the US market, since we dont have to worry about that kind of thing, if someone here wants this kind of system too then I'll change it up your appliction. And if you drop a nice big V8 in too then you'll be able out run all those pesky officals.

[mick80]

Well like I said, this will then just be for the US market, since we dont have to worry about that kind of thing, if someone here wants this kind of system too then I'll change it up your appliction. And if you drop a nice big V8 in too then you'll be able out run all those pesky officals.

lol
cheers mick

[thehanko]

Well like I said, this will then just be for the US market, since we dont have to worry about that kind of thing, if someone here wants this kind of system too then I'll change it up your appliction. And if you drop a nice big V8 in too then you'll be able out run all those pesky officals.

lol our officials drive some pretty fast cars.

[thrashlux]

Well like I said, this will then just be for the US market, since we dont have to worry about that kind of thing, if someone here wants this kind of system too then I'll change it up your appliction. And if you drop a nice big V8 in too then you'll be able out run all those pesky officals.

lol
cheers mick

you just have to find the first side track then watch em try and follow you in a falcodore