cheap rear shocks

[offroad_always]

There was just a post about this topic on vit front struts.

I have a 91 swb zook, pretty much standard beside 225/75/15 tyres and im just about to put some lift in. i have a set of 2' raised king springs and 15mm spacers for the front and 30mm for the back.

I dont have enough cash to replace the front struts, so i wont get as much travel out of the front but hopefully i shouldnt break any thing.

Now back to the real question i have decided to replace the rear shocks to gain more travel. i went to the 4wd stores around town today and i was qouted $100 each for EFS and $130 each for Dobsins. been still in grade 12 and with limited cash flow i cant afford those. but through earlier coverstions with highly knowlageble people like Skid i know that vp-vn commo shocks fit as do toyota cressida.

so after going to the 4wd joints today i stoped in and checked out supercheap and they have gabriel commo shocks for $35 dollars. now obiously they they are not going to cut it in the rough stuff as well as the fouby brands but for the price and the amount of 4wding i do (about 2 or 3 proper trips a year). i think im going to try the cheapys.

what are you thoughts??????????

im going to put all the gear in on saturday and i will tell you how the set up rides and articulates.

[offroad_always]

ideas any one?

[JrZook]

Think i pm'ed ya

[cj]

Do a strut mount flip as this will gain you some travel from the struts. 2" springs and a 15mm spacer won't be healthy for your stock struts.

[offroad_always]

will doing a strut mount flip put less stress on the front end.
i thought with more travel it would put even more stress on the front end

And i saw some pics of a rear A arm spacer, do places sell them or you have to get one made up

cheers tim

[WHITVIT]

doing a strut flip is considered a safe addition. you gain about 30mm of travel. the stock strut has unused travel at it's top end and can be spaced down up to 50mm. The old man emu struts are 40mm longer. opinions vary (according to how many cv's people are breaking) but 40 mm is deemed safe. It will reduce stress on lifted springs because the strut will not be continually topping out ( full extension) not to mension the handling benefits.

a arm spacers as far as i know are home made jobs but combined with the longer shocks (and possibly tying your springs in) give superb articulation in the rear.

[suzyted]

i put commodore shocks in my 84 wide track but had to modify the bushes

[salli]

Don't even waste ur time with those cheap gabriel shit shocks ...i bought the RED Gas ones for my VS Commodore wagon and 2 leaked in the first 2 weeks really bad then i got them replaced and guess what the other 2 stuffed up.I got them replaced ,but payed the extra to get the black ones i think $40 something they has VSD velosity responsive damping and even 1 of them of them stuffed up very poor shocks.Never again...u get what u pay for better off with a monroe or pedders shock.

[kimclive]

u get what u pay for better off with a monroe or pedders shock.

I have Pedders Comfort Gas Shocks on my Vitara and they are going! They are just too hard.

Cheers

Clive

[offroad_always]

thanks guys,

it seems that gas are to hard, gabriel are to crap and afternrket are to expensive.

ive been crusing all the the online cataloges to find the right shock i hope to get some this weekend

tim

[Beastmavster]

The cressidas work well becaus ethey're not too hard.

Most gas shocks are way too stiff and as such are absolutely shit on the smaller zooks.

The cressidas worked nicely.

PS most Gas 4wd shocks are 10 times stiffer and far worse than car "gas type" shocks so dont think that buying proper 4wd ones will necessarily make it better.

[offroad_always]

i see then cressida ones it is.

i was just crusin ebay and there were some standard jeep yj shocks they looked pin to eye but i couldn't tell, anyone have any idea of thier specs

cheers tim

[offroad_always]

earlier today i bought some mx62 cressida shocks.
they are gabriel guardian gas shocks and are approx 500mm extended and 330m. i thought these were the long ones im gonna put up some pics tommorow.
i went up to the supa cheap counter and asked for some mx62 toyota cressida shocks and this is what he gave me i checked on the website and they look to be the right ones.

whats going on?

cheers tim

[Bad JuJu]

I have stock TJ shocks some German brand, very slightly too stiff and a little too short, but good for the price - free.

Good on the Jeep Boys for spending money on upgrades - Zook owners are tightarses.

Front 333 mm closed 520mm open
Rear 323 mm closed 485mm open

[SiKiD_01]

ok, you've probably got it all down pat now, but what about skipping on all the shops and going to a good wreckers and getting some nice factory shocks off some late model cars?

sometimes i find it hard to find stuff i need in Darwin, so i'm thinking anywhere else in aus has got to be better. factory shocks are mostly hydraulic, except for the new new models. this is where i got my commo shocks. i cant remember exactly what model they are out of, but extended length is about 630mm and compressed about 320 or something like that.

now this gives me a shite load of travel. i'm using nissan 180sx coils in the rear at the moment, and they are a bit stiff, but i can live with it. they give about 3.5" lift over stock coils. the datto ones i had sat a bit lower, maybe 2.5", but were heaps softer. i used a 30mm coil spacer with the datto coils.

my rear a arm ball joint is on its way out, so when i get a replacement ball joint/a arm, i will put my spacer in too. i made my spacer myself, and it will puch the rear driveshaft back into the gearbox too.

on the front, if you have stock struts, do the mount flip, it can only be good, and for reasons alreasy mentioned. i am running OME struts, with the mount flipped, and i get a fair bit of down travel (for an IFS), but i am running a 60mm coil spacer up front. when i had stock struts, i had 50mm strut spcers in (with mount normal, DO NOT FLIP with strut spacer), and with the coil spacer, it sad dead centre, no bottoming, or topping out.

with OME struts, and mount flip, its the same as stock struts with a 50mm strut spacer, but of course, i was using a 60mm coil spacer.

so basically, i have a usuable 3" suspension lift, and a 3" bodylift which will give plenty of clearance for 31"s.

the photos below were before i swapped in the OME struts.

[SiKiD_01]

the rear shock still had a bit more compression to go, as it can almost compress the springs to near solid. i couldn't find anymore wheels to stack up on top, and plus i got lazy stacking 3 already.

the front doesnt seem to like fully compressing due to the coil spacer i am using.

[offroad_always]

today i put put the front springs and coil spacers in. i ran out ouf day light to do the rear but should be done by early in the morning.

being the dill that i am i didnt measure the front before i put em in. but after the suposed 2" springs and 15mm spacers the front left is 820mm and the front right is 810mm. which is about even with the back.

when i took the stock springs out they were the same size as the lifted ones does this sound right?

pics tomorrow when the full lift goes in.

cheers tim

[SiKiD_01]

dont kno if u've seen this, but it has some rear coil tech with some measurements of the free standing coils. you might be able to compare your lifted and stock coils with what i posted up there, just to see if things are sorta what they should be.

http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/PHP_Modul ... hp?t=54646

take pics, lots of them, and post up. before and after pics are always a good idea, but not all of us always remeber the camera. usually i remember the camera after everything's done.

[Beastmavster]

Remember that the free length aint the be all and end all.... you need to take into account wire thickness and stiffness, number of coils etc.

They may well give 2" lift in the end.

Getting good front travel out of vits is hard - especially on compression stroke. getting someone to make springs soft enough that can still handle well on road is the trouble.

The Cressidas should be about 330mm compressed and 600mm extended if they're MX62 sedan shocks. They should give similar travel to what is in the back of Sikid's thing. There's shots of mine and antt's thing using them here. You should be able to get the rear tyre on 31"s to drop completely down below the chassis on full flex.

With that amount of rear travel you tend to find you can drive through a lot of stuff regardless the front travel. My Maverick has a similar suspension layout as the Vit had - heaps of flex at the back.

Especially if you have a locked rear end.

Using shocks that long you will put strain on the handbrake cable before you use all the travel. Either re-route it or remove one of the two bolts on the fibre cable router.

Note you may still have to adjust the handbrake more than normal.

You should also keep an eye on the rear brake line and if it looks like showing wear and tear replace it with a longer one.

To get any more droop than that you need to look at getting an a-arm spacer for the rear diff balljoint. The balljoint in the 3 link rear will bing up with much more travel.

The front was the hard one the rear will take you no time at all.

[offroad_always]

i checked the rate of the coils the new ones have 9 coils in total and the stock have 8 so the are not stock and oviously have a diffenent rate. when i do the rear ill compare the shocks and if i dont get the travel i want ill leave the stock ones in till i get the ones i want.

i got some sick drawings and am planing on making or getting made a rear end A arm spacer

http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfis ... shbone.htm

that way i can get max travel.

as i have not done the strut mount flip and may not do it depending on th e CV's im really gonna have to rely on the rear end so i want it to be at maximum performance.

i think i said it alot but i needs to be said again, thanks beast and sikid you guys have helped a heap.

when i wake up i post some pics depending how hungover i am (notice the time i just got back from a big nite, hope the spellings alright)

chers tim

[offroad_always]

on the weekend i put my suspension lift in. this included a set of 2"(supposedly) king springs and 15mm rockcrawler coil spacers in the front and 30mm in the back.

i also bought some new rear shocks. originally i got some mx62 cressida shocks but being the stooge i am i got the wagon shocks which are roughly the same size as the standard shocks instead of the sedan shocks which are mega long, unfortunaly when i want to change em they didn't have any of the sedan version. so eventually i ended up with the VN - VP shocks these are about 570mm extended and 390 compressed. so far they seem to ride pretty well but the offroad test will say whether they will stay or not.

back to the lift overall its all right.
the back went up a far bit but im not that that happy with the front. been a dill i didn't measure the distantances before the lift but now the distances to the middle of the wheel arches are,
front drivers 815mm
front passengers 820mm
rear drivers 855mm
rear passengers 850mm
Does any one know or can measure the heights before lift.

To fix this when i summon the energy i will put in some 30mm spacers at the front.

for pics look down further

total cost $210
2nd hand spacers and coils
new shocks, bolts and nuts for em

see what you think, if anyone has got any 30mm spacers i can use in the front that would be great.

cheers tim

[Beastmavster]

Forbidden to view pics :(

[SiKiD_01]

i can get you some 30mm coil spacers if you want, brand new too. PM me if ur interested. but try to look for some locally 1st.

and the links for the pics dont work.

even when i did my lift, the front was always lower than the rear, until a 60mm spacer came a long for the front.

[offroad_always]

sorry about the pics boys im working on it now.

have a look here http://community.webshots.com/user/always_offroad
i still cant work out how to put em in the message, if any one wants do do it for me that would be sweet

sikid i might just take up your offer, give me a few days to look around first.

cheers tim

[SiKiD_01]

for pics, obviously you have them on your computer already, so just go to the file attachment thingy when posting a message, and it should be all good.

[offroad_always]

thanks sikid when i tried to attach them my computers hell slow and it said the file was to big.

how much for the 30mm spacers and how much would postage be?

cheers tim

[Andrew81]

Nice vitara tim! Nice colour too, mine's the same but hard top.
What tyres are you running? Are you happy with the king springs?

I've got old man emu lifted springs and struts in the front. I'm not sure what i've got in the back, springs are about 3" lift , A arm spacer and long shocks don't know what they're out of or the measurements.
I'm actually looking at lowering the rear, to level up with the front.
I've heard the ome springs are just re-branded kingsprings, is that true?
I'm very happy with the ome front, would just like to match the rear with it without spending the big $ for ome.
I was thinking if the king springs give a good ride and are the same lift as ome i'll go with them and then just need a nicely matched shock to suit.

Your vit looking great sikid, i havn't been on here in ages. That thing just keeps getting bigger and better.