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Cutting springs

Tech Talk for Suzuki owners.

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Cutting springs

Post by Squik »

Ok.... the X-90 is lifted :armsup: suspension and body lift done :armsup:

Problem is it came up too high... front was ok at 3" but the back was also supposed to be only 3" but as there is bugger all weight in the arse end, it shot up 4" :shock: - this has thrown the whole driveline out to the max as the kit only compensates for a 3".... I currently have a shitload of blue metal in the back to make it driveable.... but flex? :armsup: :armsup: :armsup:

So... do I cut a loop out of 'em or swap 'em out for a lower tension rate but at the same length? Calmini advise their spring rates are set to compensate for heavy loads... and Oscar kinda lacks that :oops:
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Post by bartlettmoto »

id go for the lower rate but same size spring, if you chop your current ones it mite make it a bit to stiff as it will have effectivly changed the spring rate as it is now shorter.

plus i doubt you will ever have a heavish load with the 90 :P
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Post by ofr57 »

lead will fix that :D ... or beer

but on a serious note ... cutting spring would be a no no in ways of RTA an you run a chance of cutting too much
Last edited by ofr57 on Fri Mar 16, 2007 8:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by ronoor »

dont chop
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Post by lay80n »

Cut springs = the G heyness.

Dont do it Serika. Swap them to proper height and spring rate coils for sure, esp as cut springs are illegal. Also look into better drive line angles etc as well.

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Post by Squik »

So chopping springs is illegal eh? :?

Cool... swap 'em out it is... :D - Driveline is a shit, the boys reckon 90% of the problem is the angle of the arse-end being so high. I've got no binding but I'm having trouble calculating correct slippage.

The Calmini kit uses a heim joint in the 3 link, quite cool actually, but the X-90 doesn't have a yoke like the Sierra's so it was pointed out to me (thanks Stoooooie :D ) that the slip is in the back of the transfer case.

There is a god awful chatter from the case when backing off... so Sunday will be spent winding the heim screw in and out, spacers in and out and experimenting with coil rates.

Any ideas what I should be looking for? The Calmini kit equates to SWB Efi Vit 1994-6. If anyone is Sydney wants to swap out their too light springs for a new set of Calmini's (must be 3" lift set) I'm interested as I need something lighter... all I can say is that the current ride necessitates a sports bra ;)
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Post by atari4x4 »

squick,
how much thread do you have hanging out of the heim joint? i the think pinion angle is supposed to be around 6 or 7 degrees stock. have a play around with the heim joint and see if you can dial some of the vibration out, there will be some noise transfered thru the heim joint and the uni joints are now running in a new position. as a daily driver i carry around a bit of ballast to the settle the ride down and after doing about 10,000 on my calmini kit the springs have saged a little bit also.
when it went in i measured something like +4" in the front & +5" the back.
it wouldn't fit out the garage had to drop the valves out the tyres to get it out.

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Post by cj »

Welcome to the wonderful world of Calmini. Yes, the back will be 4" plus on a swb. Although it is not generally publicised, the Calmini suspension is designed to work with a full offroad complement of barwork, winch, sliders gear, etc. The firm ride initially is pretty standard. You will also want to keep an eye on the front struts as they can top out and stuff themselves pretty quickly. Some actually fit the original struts initially (Calmini's are the same size) until the suspension settles so that they don't stuff the new struts straight away. Given enough time you will probably find the next joy is that the springs will sag. Then you may join those that start adding coil spacers to get the height back. You will also find that coil bind may occur and you might want to fit some bumpstop extensions to fix this. The heim joint works for a while then it gets crap in there and flogs out plus down here in Vic the Engineers won't allow them on the road. Spidertrax offer seal washers for their rod ends to keep the crap out. You haven't alluded to any squeaks from the suspension so I can assume that you lubed the bushes properly and did the final tightening with the car on the ground. If you want more out of the back end have a look in the technical archive on Zukiworld.com for Mike Hagen's rear axle rotation as it also changes the driveline angle.
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Post by Aerenandmel »

choped springs are for ricers with no money, you can always tell just watching them drive up the road... they look like they dont have any shocks in them bouncing around. Even though it will cost more coin it will be worth it as it will ride better with a softer spring rate and will also flex better.
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Post by suzuki boy »

As said don't chop the springs get new ones! :cool:

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Post by Tiny »

lovells as well as others will do a custome spring to suit your specs, price is certainly more $ than a standard coil but reasonable considereing, you will need to do a drawing and get rates etc to give to a dealer, also try martin at dobinsons
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Post by Squik »

There's squeaks and groans and chatters... silly thing is it ain't as bad as the Jimny when we first pumped it up :D

Have had a chat to Crew Scat Attack, they are going to fiddle with it tommorrow... I... ahhhhh.... ummmm... can't get the ummmm.... bolts undone :oops: ... and have the chunked knuckles to prove it :bad-words:

Doing the dual battery at the moment, have had to mount the aux' battery in the boot, no room under the bonnet.
Is it ok to mount the iso/control unit (sealed Piranha one) inside the cabin on the passenger side kick panel? There's farkin' no where to mount it in the engine bay... everything is bloody rounded :bad-words:

Man, I shouldn't have christened the X90 'Oscar'... should be Damon or Lucifer :twisted: Fark, it's the anti-christ on wheels, everything is a hassle :roll:
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Post by cj »

I take it that you also ground the web under the front diff housing to ensure that it does not contact the crossmember.
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Post by Squik »

The grinding is being finished off next week, we got to a point where we couldn't go any further without me being carless... to be continued :D

I've given up for tonight... I've just hurled a car battery across the yard :oops:

New crank battery is in... tight squeeze = skinned knuckles... but it's in.

Isolator is mounted, found a flat spot up behind the battery itself... again... skinned knuckles and a drill hole in the webbing of my hand :bad-words:

Aux' battery is now mounted in the boot in a battery box... lump on head from forgetting I was actually sitting in the boot doing this... doh!

Punched a hole through an existing diaphragm in the firewall the run the aux' cable to the boot via the trim along the door... scrape on leg from falling out the door when pulling it through :roll:

... this is when I pelted the old battery across the yard... and hurt my shoulder :bad-words: :bad-words:

Only need to wire it all up tommorrow... and short the entire harness maybe :D ...

... ahhhhh, pizza ihas arrived and there is beer in the fridge... bye :armsup:
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