Leaf Spring Issues [Updated 29 Mar 2011]

[BabyGodzillaGTi-R]

Guys just came back from a trip and now i've some issues with the springs.
The left rear has lost a good 1.5 inch of lift.
Now the left rear spring is sitting almost flat while the right spring still has some arc.

I suspect because of the amount of weight i carried on the last trip to bring food supplies for the abos/ tribes mission i took part (that is another story all together) might have caused the rear leaves especially the left springs to overwork and yielded.
After unloading the goods i could see the left spring pack has a slight S. Surprisingly it looks ok now but it has lost it's arc.

The car rides fine after the trip but the car looks funny with the passenger side tilted.

Good idea to put back my leaf i took out from the rear spring pack on the sagging left leaf spring to bring back the ride height or just leave it as it is?

Also any MT117 Silverstone users here?

[St Jimmy]

Mate tone down the racism bit ,

[toaddog]

Mate tone down the racism bit ,

Boner you do realise he is in Malaysia and he is probably talking about the aboriginal tribes etc from over there.

Aboriginal = Having existed in a region from the beginning: aboriginal forests. See Synonyms at native.

[St Jimmy]

Mate tone down the racism bit ,

Boner you do realise he is in Malaysia and he is probably talking about the aboriginal tribes etc from over there.

Aboriginal = Having existed in a region from the beginning: aboriginal forests. See Synonyms at native.

Opps sorry mate

[BabyGodzillaGTi-R]

Mate tone down the racism bit ,

Pardon my ignorance if the word sounds degratory. No pun intended.
I'm not from Oz.
My group of offroaders back in Malaysia helps out the Orang Asli (aborigines/ indigeneous people) by bringing urgent food supplies and donations through our own initiatives deep in the Malaysian jungle.

I'm just saying i came back from a trip where i probably overloaded the truck with too much food that caused my leaf springs on my left side, especially the rear to sag.
So i'm just asking if it is ok to add a leave on one side to bring back the ride height or it will upset the balance and articulation of the truck badly?

[St Jimmy]

Have you broke anything underneath ? the mounting spot on the chassie,or a spring

[BabyGodzillaGTi-R]

So far the car handles fine, mounting looks ok.
Only the left leaf spring looks sagged.
It's not inverted but it looks almost flat as compared to the right.

I dunno if it has anything to do with the leafspring design as i was told my the manufactuer that the spring rate is different between passenger side and driver side with the driver side having a higher spring rate.

The leaves are some very ancient (20 year old) Ultimate Suspension leaf springs.

[zukmeista]

If the springs are that old, theres your problem. get new ones.

[BabyGodzillaGTi-R]

So far the car handles decently and articulates very well for my standard. Only thing is the car looks fugly with the Rocky parked on level ground with the left side and especially the left rear sagging badly.

If I can help it I would prefer to replace the leafspring as a last resort as it's quite difficult to find the same Rocky specific aftermarket leaf spring.

Hence I would like to ask everyone's opinion if it's an OK idea to put back a leaf in to my sagging left rear leafspring. Originally the rear leafspring has 7 in a pack. We took out a piece in the interest of articulation. Car currently runs 6 leaves in a pack for the rears. Sounds doable or merely a band aid?

However if I have to replace the rear leafsprings can I install rear Toyota Hilux IFS springs instead without having to modify/ relocate the leafspring mounts? Currently I am running extended/ shackles.

If fitting the rear Hilux IFS springs is not doable would the idea of mix and matching leafsprings be a worthwhile idea to explore as follows:
Purchase a new rear Hilux IFS springs.
Reuse back the current Ultimate Suspension main (top and longest) leaf spring.
Replace the remaining 5 leaves in the pack with newer leaves from the rear Hilux IFS springs?

Hope i don't sound like a cheap skate bugger but i'm just toying around with solutions that i've been given by the mechanic before fixing the issue at hand.

[zukmeista]

Everyone likes a cheap fix, but try putting a leaf back in, or take another leaf out of the other side. If that doesn't work, new springs

[loosecanon]

save and get new springs, it will fix it first time, and you won't have to muck around for the next few months,

you won't look back after new springs are in,

[zukmeista]

Have to agree with the above, new springs will fix everything and last for another 20 years.