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Any one know what these plates/brackets on my 1995 Toyota Pickup 22RE leaf springs are called. I’m doing an ARB/OME leaf swap and the ~2.5” u bolts they sent are not wide enough due to BOTH these plates that wrap around the springs AND the lower shock mounting/ u bolts plate holes. I measured ~3.25”. I’m thinking of cleaning them up and installing them on the new leafs after I locate some wider and slightly longer u bolts. What are these called? Are they factory? Thanks
Those don't look factory. Mine just had the pin holding the springs together, and clamped to the ubolt plate with the ubolts. If you're doing a spring swap and need new ubolts anyways, it's not that much more expensive to just grab a ubolt flip kit from Trail Gear and get them up and out of the way so the ubolts aren't hanging down below the axle.
So yeah, I’m pretty sure they’re not factory. However, one other interesting fact is that the leaf spring mounting plate, the one welded from factory ion TOP of the axle, is also wider than others I’ve seen..? It measures 3.25”. Now, I did a gear swap and didn’t have any issues matching up things to get 4.88’s and the diff matched.. So, I’m at a loss here? It’s a Toyota axle housing etc, but the plates and U bolts are wider. I think I’m gonna just transfer the plates onto the new OME leafs, get wider 3.25” u bolts and run with it.. Super weird though and I’d like to know what else people think. Thanks
I’m in the exact same situation. 89 pickup, ordered the same OME kit, and I have the same brackets you do. From what I can gather, Toyota made a 3.25” axle for certain years. Where did you end up buying your new ubolts? I’m currently in the market haha.
I’m in the exact same situation. 89 pickup, ordered the same OME kit, and I have the same brackets you do. From what I can gather, Toyota made a 3.25” axle for certain years. Where did you end up buying your new ubolts? I’m currently in the market haha.
Hey, I’m relieved to hear I’m not the ONLY one, but sorry to hear it. You would also have issues with leaf spring bushing size if you were attempting/attempt to swap the bushings on you old springs, they are NOT the same as everyone else’s. It sucked. Sooooooo..... what I ended up doing to “the cursed truck”....
After install it he OME leafs and driving them for a week, I was most displeased with A) the height being WAAAYY MORE than advertised, and B) the bumpy ride. I returned the leafs to the off-road store I bought them from. I (think) there were replacement leafs already installed on my 95 hilux, but when I found the part numbers during cleaning, they came back to Toyota factory springs, go figure... Keep in mind, at the time I was attempting to go down ~2.5” in height by removing a 4” bracket kit from “Rough” Country. I reinstalled the old springs back into my truck. But, I had cut my ubolts during removal as I intended to use the OME ubolts that came with the kit (I returned those as well, the OME ubolts). I sourced new (non-coated rust prone) larger diameter ubolts from the local NAPA and drilled out the mounting plates slightly, and paid a painful $ for them as well. It was a freakin mess! Typing this I get pissed off all over again... I did end up using the OME shocks by utilizing the famous 4Crawler ball joint spaces up front, relaxing my torsion nicely and resulting in just about 1.5-1.75” of lift, fitting my 33x10.50x15 KO2’s under the truck perfectly, no rub, but it comes sooo close on flex. The ride quality is superb with the shocks and torsion relaxed. I do like the shocks, but like the Bilstein’s I have on my two other Toyota’s as well. That’s my experience..
This is one of my TWO complaints about ARB/OME suspension. 1) they don’t offer a shock for stock height 4R’s or the hilux unless lifting a little, 2) they don’t have a user friendly website to shop from, the products are limited for application, and you must buy through a dealer. I guess that was more than two complaints...
I hope it goes better for you than it did me. Lastly, a ubolt flip kit would be cool if you have the time to wait for shipping and can weld to relocate the shock mount.
Im also wondering where your truck was manufactured, I would guess you have a U.S. manufactured vehicle, VIN starting with a 4 or 1. My truck was built/assembled in California, VIN starts with a 4.
After install it he OME leafs and driving them for a week, I was most displeased with A) the height being WAAAYY MORE than advertised, and B) the bumpy ride.
I had the same issue with the OME springs I got for my 1987. Higher than stated, and rode like a rock. I tried breaking them in as per the tech line, but it made little difference.
My VIN starts with JT4, so would that be Japan or stateside? I’ve been meaning to ask the stealership if I can get a report on this truck, that’d be neat.
I called Bryce at Cruiser Outfitters and he said they sold ubolts for late model fj40’s to a couple of people when the 75mm ubolt wouldn’t fit, but said it was random and the 75mm fit 99% of the time. The OME number for these bolts are OMEU55, and are on the way to my house. I’ll update again in the next few days when they come in.
This is the difference between the new springs and old, possibly factory springs. It had about 1.5” of sag, so I’m really hoping it will level out nicely once they settle.
Interesting, that’s a Japan truck then.. Who knows. I ended up cutting new rubber for the plates and reinstalled them with the old leafs. I’m glad we finally figured this out. Absolutely no one had answers for me last winter when I did this project, OME or Toyota. It was frustrating to say the least. I’ve learned a lot though. And yeah, I hope you like the springs better than I did. I thought they were ridiculously stiff, that is, unless you plan to pack several thousand pounds of gear in back. I even tried working them in with my forklift, it made zero difference. And I did order the lightest option they offer. I’d love to see OME offer an extra light spring package for folks.
Interesting, that’s a Japan truck then.. Who knows. I ended up cutting new rubber for the plates and reinstalled them with the old leafs. I’m glad we finally figured this out. Absolutely no one had answers for me last winter when I did this project, OME or Toyota. It was frustrating to say the least. I’ve learned a lot though. And yeah, I hope you like the springs better than I did. I thought they were ridiculously stiff, that is, unless you plan to pack several thousand pounds of gear in back. I even tried working them in with my forklift, it made zero difference. And I did order the lightest option they offer. I’d love to see OME offer an extra light spring package for folks.
Got the fj40 ubolts in yesterday and they work! It does have a stink bug stance now even with the light springs, so hopefully it settles at least a little bit. If not I’ll be redoing the front end in the next few weeks so I’ll level it out with the torsion bars if need be.
So a note to anyone else with an 89-95 pickup/4Runner, measure the width of your ubolts before you replace the rear springs!
I have not seen those brackets however I have made similar for another vehicle only to learn later I could have bought them at trailer/spring supply shop. "Axle /pads saddles" was what the shop called them. Various sizes depending on axle diameter and spring width.
I have not seen those brackets however I have made similar for another vehicle only to learn later I could have bought them at trailer/spring supply shop. "Axle /pads saddles" was what the shop called them. Various sizes depending on axle diameter and spring width.
Good to know what they’re called, finally. I searched everywhere when doing my build.
No, they’re (at least my truck) is not an extended cab. It’s a dlx shortbed. And has the axle pads and wider leafs.
If you go with bj spacers up front, you can relax the torsion and it will ride so much softer.
1995 Toyota pickup. Came factory with the axle pads and wider leafs, wider lower brackets. This is how it sits now with factory leafs and BJ spacers up front. OME shocks.
Interesting, that’s a Japan truck then.. Who knows. I ended up cutting new rubber for the plates and reinstalled them with the old leafs. I’m glad we finally figured this out. Absolutely no one had answers for me last winter when I did this project, OME or Toyota. It was frustrating to say the least. I’ve learned a lot though. And yeah, I hope you like the springs better than I did. I thought they were ridiculously stiff, that is, unless you plan to pack several thousand pounds of gear in back. I even tried working them in with my forklift, it made zero difference. And I did order the lightest option they offer. I’d love to see OME offer an extra light spring package for folks.
Hi all - came across this thread looking for info on those same "brackets" you have in your pix. Replacing the lower shock mounts on my '89 Shortbed 4x4, being a CT truck they're pretty crusty, and those spring plates look pretty tired too. Haven't found them anywhere, so unless anyone has a recent clue where to find them hopefully I can clean them up and reuse them, otherwise I'll see if I can get them made up. I don't do any off-roading or have any need for lift components, just a stocker (now a flatbed under construction) that I enjoy running around in now and then, hoping to get some new life into it a little at a time. As an fyi my ID starts with JT4 as well.
After I did my suspension work a few years back, I finally bought the two volume (three books) factory service manual. Here is the page for my 1995 dlx 2.4L 4x4 pickup. Toyota refers to them as regular cab “pad retainers”. It’s funny how few trucks came with them, yet most did not. I’m a fan of Toyota, obviously, but I don’t like stupid crap like this. Be aware, if I remember correctly, that the width of the ubolts and leafs may be different from 99% of the other trucks out there. It’s been awhile, but I remember because the “pad retailers” are there, it causes the ubolt size to be wider and different. It would be great if Professionals like ARB, LCE, and such would be aware of these subtleties. I had to clean my retainers up, spray some rustoleum flat black, and cut some new rubber from some 1/4” noreprene? or neoprene? rubber (like four times before i got it right) I had laying around in the shop. So far it’s worked out fine. I wasn’t sure that material rubber would hold up to that amount of weight and stress, but they seem to be okay. At some point 5,000 years from now I may actually choose (if I forget how terrible that job was at some point….) to go in there again and put some stronger rubbery crap in there. So far so good. Good luck. This was a major bummer when I did my suspension rebuild/ mods a few years back. I sent back the Old Man Emu leafs from ARB back with a swift kick to the ass (WAY too stiff and more for if you’re carrying too many fat guysgals around AND cement). I put my factory leafs back in with a longer grease-able…. shackle. Gave me about the 1.5-1.75” I was looking for. In the front I did 4crawler 1,5” ball joint spacers. Not crazy about he whole deal as I get some driveshaft wobbles in 4wd, but to be expected and I need to put a wedge in there under the leafs to correct pinion angles. My advice…. LEAVE THE SUSPENSION STOCK, but replace parts with good stuff, like Bilstein and I actually kept the ARB Olf Man Emu shocks, they’re pretty nice. I still say Bilstein does better for daily normal truck usage. The ball joint spacers are nice because you can relax the torsion bars quite a bit to soften the ride.
10-30-2020, 07:59 AM
Leaf Spring Plates
