where to get parabolics or coiled and what price?

[luk3y]

hey guys im looking at getting a set of parabolic springs or get my 60 coiled.
just wondering where to get them from/done in southeast queensland and what sort of price would i be looking at for each one?
cheers

[grimbo]

wow they are two massively different things. Parabolic springs are just leaf springs that will bolt in your existing car with no dramas. You could maybe spend a few hundred dollars doing that. Or you could spend a few thousand dollars getting a completely custom suspension setup that would more money spent on engineering to get it legal.

maybe if you explained what you are trying to achieve with these two ideas people could offer more helpful answers

[Struth]

What are parabolic springs?

Coils all round would be great, but you could probably sell the 60 and score a decent 80 for less money.

Cheers

[woodyjbh]

The following is the content of some emails I recieved with regards to parabolics. I've got a forty and im putting parabolic 60 rears in the front of mine with a shackle reversal soon. If you find somewhere better and/or cheaper then post it up....

Woody

The earliest model Landcruiser we have developed parabolic springs for is the 60 series and we do not have any intentions to go back further than that as demand is not great enough. For your vehicle we have had a few customers who have converted their earlier model Landcruisers to take the 60 series springs so that they can fit parabolics to it. This involves relocating the swinging shackles & fixed end pins (and using shackles, pins and bushes from HJ60 series)

Should you want to investigate this option main leaf dimensions (wrap end given first) all measured from centre of eye to centre bolt then to centre of other eye following curve of steel for HJ60 front spring is 542 x 558mm with 35mm ID eye. Original equipment front and rear springs for your model FJ40 have main leaf dimensions of 505 x 605 with 25mm ID eye. Cost for the HJ60 front parabolic springs are $528.00 per pair inc GST.

All the parabolic springs we have in stock are designed to give 50mm lift above standard height when fitted to correct vehicle.

If you are fitting a longer spring then depending on where you place your mounts it is possible to get even more than 50mm lift.

Lengths of 70mm wide parabolic springs:

60 front 542x558mm (35mm eyes)
60 rear 560x640mm (35mm eyes)
75 front 552x590mm (35mm eyes)
75 rear 608x730mm (40mm eyes)
78/79 rear 690x810mm (40mm eyes)
76 wagon rear 600x780mm (40mm eyes)
Nissan GU rear 590x830mm (35mm eyes)

All the front springs are 2 leaf

All the rear are 3 leaf (3rd leaf is helper) and thicker than the front springs. Probably too heavy for a SWB even if you remove the 3rd helper leaf.

Westralia Spring Works
2 Dowd Street, Welshpool WA 6106
Ph. (+618) 9451 5151 Fax. (+618) 9451 5363
http://www.westraliasprings.com.au" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[luk3y]

i know that the coil conversion woujld be a lot moree expensive i read on here that someone in brisbane does a rear end coil conversion for about 3500. i pretty much want to set my 60 up to do pretty extreme stuff it goes pretty far at the moment but id like to go that extra step. i basically want to set my suspension up to get some descent travel. the options im looking at is either spend a fair bit more on the 60 or buy either an 80 series or a patrol ute already set up but its so hard to part with the 60 because shes my first fourby.
i hope that explains a bit more of what i want. thanks guys.

[macca81]

What are parabolic springs?

leaf springs that are thicker in the middle and taper down the be thinner at the ends. also the leafs usually only touch at the ends, with a block between each leaf in the middle(some claim this increases longevity due to less wear from friction... i say that a load of crap )

they do tend to offer a softer ride because they need less leafs to perform the same job as a normal spring pack, but they also dont carry loads as well.


easy to spot cause they are the leaf packs that have all the leafs running full length, rather than the bottom ones only running part way to the eye.

[Struth]

^^^^ Thanks

[woodyjbh]

What are parabolic springs?

leaf springs that are thicker in the middle and taper down the be thinner at the ends. also the leafs usually only touch at the ends, with a block between each leaf in the middle(some claim this increases longevity due to less wear from friction... i say that a load of crap )

Actually, on a recent trade trip to melbourne, i was lucky enought to tour the Pedders manufacturing plant/warehouse and while I was there had a good chat to one of the senior personell about parabolics. One of the things he explained to me was the spacing of the leaves etc. They are spaced apart deliberatly to have no friciton between leaves and that works well with the taper. So, technically, you could say their gonna last longer if their not rubbing against each other, because if they were rubbing, they wouldnt be doing their job properly. (But thats a pretty generalistic statement....)

I think Zoltan runs parabolics on his 75 and gets some fairly decent suspension travel etc. Might pay to get his thoughts on them while the topic is being discussed.

Wood

Stolen from Wiki:

A more modern implementation is the parabolic leaf spring. This design is characterised by fewer leaves whose thickness varies from centre to ends following a parabolic curve. In this design, inter-leaf friction is unwanted, and therefore there is only contact between the springs at the ends and at the centre where the axle is connected. Spacers prevent contact at other points. Aside from a weight saving, the main advantage of parabolic springs is their greater flexibility, which translates into vehicle ride quality that approaches that of coil springs. There is a trade-off in the form of reduced load carrying capability, however. The characteristic of parabolic springs is better riding comfort and not as "stiff" as conventional "multi-leaf springs". It is widely used on buses for better comfort.

[Struth]

Cool as, I now know what they are.

Where can you get them for an LN46 Lux?

Cheers

[SCANAS]

Have you added another locked since your sig?