J to the Macx

Well this is exciting! We’ve just completed the Jmacx coil conversion that we are doing to our latest customer’s 79 build.

Anyone that’s driven the 79 series will be all too familiar with its stiff rear ride attributes that give it such a great load carrying capacity, but on the rough stuff can be a little unsettling to say the least. The leaf spring rear suspension on the 79 series is definitely built for work but we’ve always wondered why Toyota (I’m risking my life by saying this) didn’t follow Nissan’s path and released a rear coil sprung ute, which offers superior ride quality and rear axle articulation.

Fortunately, Jmacx came up with a solution to this issue by developing a rear coil spring conversion and upgraded rear axle housing. This conversion improves the ride quality of the 79 Series, increases axle articulation and wheel travel while still retaining the Cruiser’s legendary load carrying capacity. This is all achieved by fitting the Jmacx fabricated frame which is a complete bolt-in system requiring no welding, to do away with the leaf springs and house the new coil springs, adjustable control arms and panhard rods.

The kit also comes with a complete newly fabricated, heavy duty diff housing and chrome moly axles that are 200 times stronger than the standard axles. No that’s not a misprint, I said 200 times stronger! While Jmacx was at it they thought they would fix another Toyota design idiosyncrasy by widening the rear wheel track to bring it back in to line with the front with the new axle housing. This assists the cruiser to navigate ruts and sand much easier as the rear wheels don’t have to push a second track through the soft stuff. It also gets rid of that crab walk look when you see one drive towards you.

It’s not the first time that we have fitted a Jmacx kit to a 79 Series and those familiar with our own 79 Series would have no doubt had their heads under the rear end checking out the conversion that we have fitted to ours. However, it is the first time this kit has gone into the new model single cab that has had the upgraded 5 star Ancap safety rating so everyone is keen to see the end results. Stay tuned as we’re getting closer to completing this build.