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i really want to moove away from leaf srpings as i cant think of any way to make them a comfortable ride on the road for my everyday use.
so i have been looking into getting coils now i have heard it will cost me around 8 grand to get it done this sounds a bit dear to me
is this price right for this sort of job...? cheers fellaz
WHAT DID THE MAN AT THE BEACH SAY TO MICHEAL JACKSON?
im no expert, but i guess it would depend what you are using, are you going to convert your 40 diffs, you could hunt around for bundy diffs, but rare as dogs b*lls, but would save a little on time and effort and i would imagine cost,
if you are looking at using the 40 parts, i have heard that superior make a kit for it but won't fit them, so if your handy with a tape and welder that maybe a cheaper option, there is a guy over sth briz that does the conversion, i can't remember who but it was in the extreme 4x4 mag the other month, i think he is over greenbank way or something.
but IMO look at getting some softer springs for the leafy's if configured right you can get them soft enough, if it is purely for comfort and not flex i wouldn't waste the money on it,
I think its called add a coil. They were in one of the 4x4 monthly mags and you strip down your leaf packs to compensate for the coil. I have spoken with blokes that have had them done and all had good reports. I was thinking of getting it done to my 75 front end when I was hanging around the cape to take the shudder out of the corregations.
It's not hard to make a leaf spring ride comfortably. I've driven and ridden in many utes, cars, and vans with leaf sprung solid axles and it's not such a far fetched idea.
The trick might be finding a decent spring manufacturer who uses decent steel to make up a decent set of springs.
Pony up for decent shocks too. Koni or Bilstein. Also throw in a shackle reversal on the front and it should make for a decent riding truck.
THink back to when the 40's were spankin new. THey didn't ride like crap. They only ride like crap now because they all have crappy stiff aftermarket springs/dodgy add-a-leafs and cheap shit shocks, because no suspension lasts 40 years.
The worst part about being told you have Alzheimer's, is that it doesn't just happen once.
The swb will never ride like a lwb wagon with coils etc. Sell it to me and buy a coil spring wagon if your wont on road handling
You can increase the wheel base of the shorty and run longer and softer spring packs.
Check out twisty's build up thread.
I was going to go the 80 diff conversion but they are 8" wider than 40's ones so I decided to graft the 40 body onto an 80 chassis. But sadly the project has died in the arse and I have sold it.
I was up at my local wreckers yesterday, and F*ck me swinging there sits a rear as coiled SWB Bundy! I thought, shit that would have been sweet with the 40 body on it. Anyway, If ya interested shoot me a message and I'll see what the guy wants for it..
8k for a conversion is not bad really IMHO. Even at 80 bucks an hr thats 100 hrs to do the job. Is the 8 grand drive in drive out? If I didn't have the time, skills and all that to do the conversion I would happily pay 8k.
I was chatting to a guy from a suspension shop in Melb (maybe outback 4wd suspensions or something like that) and they did the Add-a-Coil set up. As was already sait, leaf's are removed and compensated for by a custom made coil which takes the majority of the weight of the car...what your left with is the leaf pack basically acting like trailing arms locating the diff (in a round about sort of way). I think their pricing was around $1200 for the front and $800-$1000 for the rear. I looked at a 40 (h/top, roof racks, 350 chev 33's etc etc) which they had as a daily driver and the bloke couldn't talk it up highly enough (admittedly it was his product that he was spruiking). They also had a 60 there with the same setup and both jobs looked sweet as, and the idea is really simple. Down here in vic the coils are classified as an assisting spring and apparently don't need engineering as nothing is removed from the factory set-up and nothing is welded in. But don't hold me directly to that, again its what the guy was telling me who does the install.
Another option for you to maybe look at which is a little close to home for you is Rhyno Offroad...they've just been developing a bolt on coil setup to suit shorty's...from the pics i've seen there is a pair of plates bolting in the centre of the chassis on either side which are where the trailing arms bolt to. Look them up on the web...not sure what their pricing is though.
Best of luck and keep us posted!
78 fj40 soft top, lift, 33's on 15x10's, bars front and back
74 fj45 tray, very soon to be 307, 35's, lockers and full og touring goodness
Problem is if you go removing too many leaves from the packs, they cant resist diff wrap. so you'd have to fit a wrap bar at least, and really once youve fit the bar, you can go quite soft with the leaf packs, so i dont see the point in fitting the coil. leaves can be pretty good once you get them set nice. Having said that, offroad boss have done a four link setup on my 60 now, and it is pretty cool. puts drive down better too. if your near gold coast try them for a price on a coil conversion
Alot of it will come down to how stiff ya spring pack is and shackle angle. Go a softer pack and slightly longer and fit longer shackles. Don't have to go extreme, just set it up so you got about 45* angle on the shackle. Play around with leaf packs yourself. Get a longer main and wrap made and fit stock leaves in as well. Better steel in stock springs.
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he's right. try getting hold of some 60 series springs, they're quite a bit longer, but with longer shackels, you shouldnt have to move mounts. looks cool when you can get a leafy flexing
