Front SUSpension mods

[fool_injected]

No I did not stuff up with the caps lock I meant to emphasize SUS
This is sure to start a debate
I feel some of the front suspension advice offered by many on this forum to be dangerous or severely compromises the vehicles mechanicals in many instances

Guys some topics for debate below
1. Winding the torsion bar adjust right up for extra lift
Problem- The adjust screw ends up at full length which now make it prone to fatigue as the load are now on both extremes
Solution- Gain extra height by removing the mounting from the A arm and rotate it on the spline one or two indexes the use the adjuster for their intended purpose to fine tune the height and stance

2. Cutting the 2" off the bumpstop
Problem- The bumpstop is actually part of the suspension. It is booby shaped for a reason. When you reach the far end of travel (bottom out) this rubber actually act as shock absorber. When pushed from the top the rubber compresses slowly at first the get harder the harder you push. This non-lineal compression rate is why it's shaped that way. Cutting it removes shock absorption at probably the most important time.
Solution- Find a similarly shaped rubber from another make with less height. HSV VK Commodores actually used stock Camira bumpstops because if the lowered suspension (same shape but 1â€

[-Scott-]

I feel some of the front suspension advice offered by many on this forum to be dangerous or severely compromises the vehicles mechanicals in many instances

Yes, making any modification to a vehicle potentially compromises reliability. Most of the modifications discussed in this forum have been in use for on Pajeros 20 years, without significant problems. We're not making this up as we go along. (Well, not ALL of it. )

Guys some topics for debate below
1. Winding the torsion bar adjust right up for extra lift
Problem- The adjust screw ends up at full length which now make it prone to fatigue as the load are now on both extremes
Solution- Gain extra height by removing the mounting from the A arm and rotate it on the spline one or two indexes the use the adjuster for their intended purpose to fine tune the height and stance

If the screw ends up at full length this can be an issue. Indexing the bars is definitely an option, but not alway necessary. Many people find they need to do this as the bars become older.

A bigger issue is wheel alignment after the adjustment. Some people don't do this, or don't have it done properly, so they chew through tyres too fast.

[quote="fool_injected"]2. Cutting the 2" off the bumpstop
Problem- The bumpstop is actually part of the suspension. It is booby shaped for a reason. When you reach the far end of travel (bottom out) this rubber actually act as shock absorber. When pushed from the top the rubber compresses slowly at first the get harder the harder you push. This non-lineal compression rate is why it's shaped that way. Cutting it removes shock absorption at probably the most important time.
Solution- Find a similarly shaped rubber from another make with less height. HSV VK Commodores actually used stock Camira bumpstops because if the lowered suspension (same shape but 1â€

[fool_injected]

Scott
Thanks for taking time to reply
The reason I joined this forum was the advice offered does seem well and truly offroad tested. That said I still had a few concerns which I wanted cleared up.
I agree the Mitsubishi front is dam well built

I have just got a 4x4 coming from a street machine background
Did you know allot of hotrods and customs use the L300 non 4x4 version under high powered heavy V8 so durability and design not an issue.
This gets me think about a 4by 28 Ford Roadster pick up....

Did you see my 4g63 heads on 4g64 reply to the 2.6l petrol upgrade?
I did have dyno figures some where but can’t find them now and this combo produces more HP but more importantly for offroaders more torque at LOWER RPM

I am thinking of this upgrade however, and here’s a topic I have often debated, replacing the turbo with a supercharger from a Toyota six cylinder
Superchargers develop buckets loads of torque from 0 RPM where as turbo needs to spool up to say 3000 RPM before any thing happens making them peaky (like a two stroke dirt bike with powerbands)

I will keep you posted with progress, just need to save the $$ first

Cheers
Wayne

[-Scott-]

Did you see my 4g63 heads on 4g64 reply to the 2.6l petrol upgrade?
I did have dyno figures some where but can’t find them now and this combo produces more HP but more importantly for offroaders more torque at LOWER RPM

Yep, saw that. Filed away for future reference.

I am thinking of this upgrade however, and here’s a topic I have often debated, replacing the turbo with a supercharger from a Toyota six cylinder
Superchargers develop buckets loads of torque from 0 RPM where as turbo needs to spool up to say 3000 RPM before any thing happens making them peaky (like a two stroke dirt bike with powerbands)

You are from a Street Machine background.

When building a turbocharged engine for peak power (drag racing etc) yes, they need bulk revs to really perform. Designed properly for offroad work (don't drop the compression as far, correct choice of turbine and housing, well designed manifold, sacrifice some top-end power ) you can start developing boost well under 2000rpm. But I agree, you'll never have a turbocharger developing boost as early as a supercharger can.

There has been some talk on OL about using the small Toyota superchargers on 4bys. Try searching, but I'm not sure which forum.

Cheers,

Scott

[Bitsamissin]

Wayne, I wouldn't worry too much about cutting the upper bumpstops.
They are 25mm in length standard most of us have shaved them down to 8mm or so and used low profile hex (allen) key bolts.
As long as there is some gap between them and the chassis brackets to leave some up travel the onroad ride is fine. If the standard size stops are resting on the brackets after a torsion bar crank there is virtually no uptravel and the ride is bone jarring not to mention the unwanted stress on the front suspension. The upper bumpstops only have to cope with the weight of each wheel and associated components.
2" torsion bar cranks with shaved bumpstops have been done on Paj's for many years without problems.
The issues are usually wheel alignment related and splitting CV boots due to the more acute angles of the CV's.
Re-indexing the torsion bars is easy to dial in more adjustment.
I agree with the balljoint mod I personally don't advocate it but having said that many have done it without safety issues but there can be other suspension/steering related side effects.
Another thing is that the lower bumpstops are the ones that take a huge load if the vehicle gets airborne or falls quickly into a hole they have to absorb the shock/weight of the whole front end.
I personally also don't advocate modifying/changing the lower bumpstops.