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Samurai leaf spring tech for 2023+

YotaAtieToo

YotaAtieToo

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Joined
May 19, 2020
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142
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So much old info out there on different leafs for samurais. Most just regurgitate "yjs or nothing"

I currently have what I belive are Stock YJ rears in spua, and trail gear Sami rears up front also in spua. The front is working pretty well for my use and rides noticeably better than the rear. The rear leafs are flat and still ride too stiff. I'd like to improve ride and gain a little lift in the back.

Obvious option would be a roughly 2" lift YJ leaf, or just pull the YJ brackets and run a Sami rear lift spring.

I'm looking at

Old man emu YJs
Bds YJs
Trail Tough bonz eye YJ

Trail gear Sami rears
Bonz eye Sami rears

Any thoughts?

If the back sits too high, I wouldn't mind loosing the YJ brackets and raising the spring hanger up a bit since it's a rock anchor as is.

Also feel free to discuss any other zuk leaf tech here.:flipoff2:
 
Start by removing leaves from the rear spring pack.
 
What about the Rubicon Express YJ 1.5" spring? Are they junk? Seem like they are pretty cheap at around $75 each

1695655305873.png
 
Tydes said:
What about the Rubicon Express YJ 1.5" spring? Are they junk? Seem like they are pretty cheap at around $75 each

1695655305873.png
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I've heard good things, should allow more travel in spoa. I don't think reverse eyes would be good in spua

It is funny how cheap YJ leafs are. Most are around $100 ea
 
YotaAtieToo said:
I've heard good things, should allow more travel in spoa. I don't think reverse eyes would be good in spua

It is funny how cheap YJ leafs are. Most are around $100 ea
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The reverse eyes would allow more up travel before going inverted, but likely will be a stiffer spring than you want as built. Probably pulling a leaf or 2 could get you a goldilocks setup.

I ran 4/5 leaf YJs spring over on my samurai and thought it was really well balanced, I carried the usual tools/spares and the rear worked well. Having ran BDS springs on a CJ, they ride well and hold up to abuse but same scenario as the reverse eye spring.

Back in the old days samurai rears up front were usually paired with CJ fronts in the rear (1-2 leafs pulled) so there's more mud added to the water :laughing:
 
cchambers13 said:
The reverse eyes would allow more up travel before going inverted, but likely will be a stiffer spring than you want as built. Probably pulling a leaf or 2 could get you a goldilocks setup.
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I understand the concept of the reverse eye :flipoff2:

just wasnt planning on C notching my frame to be able to use that much uptravel while being spring under. :laughing:

cchambers13 said:
I ran 4/5 leaf YJs spring over on my samurai and thought it was really well balanced, I carried the usual tools/spares and the rear worked well. Having ran BDS springs on a CJ, they ride well and hold up to abuse but same scenario as the reverse eye spring.
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I keep coming back to bds. Had them on my 4runner and they were great. Even when i did bend one backing off a very undercut ledge, they replaced it under warranty. :smokin:

cchambers13 said:
Back in the old days samurai rears up front were usually paired with CJ fronts in the rear (1-2 leafs pulled) so there's more mud added to the water :laughing:
Click to expand...

I've given up on junkyard leafs long ago, why track down 50 year old leafs that eill probably break after a few trips when new leafs built for wheelin are like $250.
 
YotaAtieToo said:
I understand the concept of the reverse eye :flipoff2:

just wasnt planning on C notching my frame to be able to use that much uptravel while being spring under. :laughing:
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Smells like excuses... :flipoff2: Otherwise fair points.

Hindsight being what it is, I would go with whatever gets the height you want while being military wrapped. I added toyota mil-wrap leafs to my junkyard YJ springs when they started bending so may as well start there. Looks like OME samurai springs are but oddly their YJ stuff isn't and BDS is wrapped on YJ stuff.
 
cchambers13 said:
Smells like excuses... :flipoff2: Otherwise fair points.
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Also, the way the YJ brackets are, a reverse eye would not work on the fixed end. I may change it anyway, but it would be nice to bolt it in to start out.

cchambers13 said:
Hindsight being what it is, I would go with whatever gets the height you want while being military wrapped. I added toyota mil-wrap leafs to my junkyard YJ springs when they started bending so may as well start there. Looks like OME samurai springs are but oddly their YJ stuff isn't and BDS is wrapped on YJ stuff.
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So I was looking at ome YJ leafs the other day, and the pics vary a lot. I know ome makes different wieght ratings for thier springs, but I don't know why some would be mil wrapped and some wouldn't.

I also like how bds are double mil wrapped. The reason I was curious about ome is because I thought they might use higher count, but thinner leafs.
 
I ran Crown HD YJ's at KOH2022, the driver front main leaf bent slightly at the frame pivot. Aside from that they held up well. I was running stock/used YJ springs prior and flattened them out pretty quick, bent a few mains as well.
 
Yjs or nothing :flipoff2:


Ive always liked toyota rears all the way around.... but if I was looking for the best current tech id reach out to Amber Turner. She has been playing with springs and shocks latwly more then anyone in the history of samurais.
 
2big bronco said:
Yjs or nothing :flipoff2:


Ive always liked toyota rears all the way around.... but if I was looking for the best current tech id reach out to Amber Turner. She has been playing with springs and shocks latwly more then anyone in the history of samurais.
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So I do have a set of ome toyota rears I just pulled out of my 81.

Did you run long side forward or back?
 
YotaAtieToo said:
So I do have a set of ome toyota rears I just pulled out of my 81.

Did you run long side forward or back?
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Opposite front and back to stretch the wheelbase. Was on samurai axles and 31" boggers on beadlocks with the inner beads permanently peeled off. There were pics of it on the other sites ghetto hack jobs thread.

Edit
Actually I remember re-drilling the rear pins to mov3 them forward a couple inches
 
2big bronco said:
Opposite front and back to stretch the wheelbase. Was on samurai axles and 31" boggers on beadlocks with the inner beads permanently peeled off. There were pics of it on the other sites ghetto hack jobs thread.

Edit
Actually I remember re-drilling the rear pins to mov3 them forward a couple inches
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Inner beads permanently peeled off?
 
I have crowns but don't have anything to compare them too other than the originals...

That said I like em
 
Are crowns just stock replacement? I've only seen them on quadratrack or whatever that jeeper site is.

I may try those ome toyotas, I have them here after all. I was going to save them for my restomod 82, but thats a long ways off.

I'm now remembering running stock toyota rears on my first Sami way back when. Ran the short side forward in the stock hanger and welded new shackle hangers further back. Even that way, i think the moved the axle back an inch or so. Later flipped them around for a 5"? Stretch, but that meant moving the fuel tank and hacking the tub, not looking to do that yet.

I'm wondering if I can run them in the YJ mounts with the pads drilled offset and get where I need to be?
 
So yj leafs are 47" with a center pin

Ome toyota rears are 48" with 21/27" pin to eye length. So I'd need to make changes either way. Not sure if they're a good fit or not for this rig.

Short side would fit in the stock hanger but would need new shackle mounts and put the leaf kinda hanging out the back. Long side forward would need a new mount and I'd have to redrill the 2nd leaf to have the mil wrap on the correct side.
 
YotaAtieToo said:
Are crowns just stock replacement? I've only seen them on quadratrack or whatever that jeeper site is.
Click to expand...

I bought them on Amazon, the ones I had were a "heavy duty" YJ spring. 4 and 5 leaf option, the only difference between them and OEM is they had thicker leafs than OEM.
 
Above is true, I believe they started out more for SPUA and then became a thing from there
 
I’ve been eyeing the OME CS009R. It’s a Toyota rear, so it’s pretty much the same eye-eye as the YJ, but it’s got the offset pin so I could get a few inches of wheelbase.
 
WoodburyZuk said:
I’ve been eyeing the OME CS009R. It’s a Toyota rear, so it’s pretty much the same eye-eye as the YJ, but it’s got the offset pin so I could get a few inches of wheelbase.
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If you can make an FJ62 front spring work, I can have two dropped off in Woodbury later this month. They’re an offset pin also.
 
WoodburyZuk said:
I’ve been eyeing the OME CS009R. It’s a Toyota rear, so it’s pretty much the same eye-eye as the YJ, but it’s got the offset pin so I could get a few inches of wheelbase.
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I’ve installed these on a 4Runner. I believe you would need to remove a few leaves to get any kind of ride quality out of them in a Sami. They have a decent number of thin leaves so this isn’t out of the question.
 
Covecrawler said:
I’ve installed these on a 4Runner. I believe you would need to remove a few leaves to get any kind of ride quality out of them in a Sami. They have a decent number of thin leaves so this isn’t out of the question.
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Good to know! I’m concerned about axle wrap on my light rig
 
Anyone have any tips for shocks? I've always just used whatever from the junk stash. The current rears I believe were for a K30 front and are stiff as shit. :laughing:
 
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