ARB Emu/Dakkar front Springs query

[Santos]

I think i can safely say i am current holder of longest time take for a spring instalation (and the saga continues )

The rears are in and i'm stuck with the fronts... Which sides are A & B (as in driver or passagenger don't say right or left it changes which way you look at it)

i tried both and neither line up (this is because they are 5 leafs, they need to be compressed)

Anyway an answer by morning would save a phoning around

[christover1]

I think i can safely say i am current holder of longest time take for a spring instalation (and the saga continues )

The rears are in and i'm stuck with the fronts... Which sides are A & B (as in driver or passagenger don't say right or left it changes which way you look at it)

i tried both and neither line up (this is because they are 5 leafs, they need to be compressed)

Anyway an answer by morning would save a phoning around

I asked same question when I got mine.
The answer is "depends on need".
Some countries roads have steep shoulders and wear out the passenger side faster, so some chose the heavy duty 1 (more arch) on passenger side.
I chose to put hd spring on drivers side, as I am heavy, and often have no passengers.
(this is how I understood it, and could be bs)
christover

[Santos]

i understood that but which is the driver side one A or B (i have one of each)

[Turbo Tonka]

what he is saying is take your pick.with my hilux ones i was told that A which had more arch was to allow for the extra weight of the driver and fuel etc so i fitted them this way.No problems,i cant see it really affecting it either way.

[Santos]

thanks tonka... i wanted to know which one had more arch'
that way i could pick it.

If i got a choice i might as well know why i am making it

[DiddyZook]

Can you tell which one is the greater arch, rated higher whatever or are they identical to the eye but for one being marked A and one being marked B?

If you can tell. just think about the "Sierra Lean". All the weight is traditionally on the drivers side (driver, transfer case, fuel tank, spare wheel etc) When springs get old the Zook leans that way. So logically the "stronger" spring should go on that side.

If you can not tell them apart. Get on to ARB (OME) and get them to confirm it for you.

[christover1]

Mine were visibly different, the arch was clearly more on 1 of them.
Mine have lost the A & B signs long ago, but I believe the A was HD greater arch

I also use a heavy duty on drivers rear. Helps with torque twist and all the weight on 1 side.

[roc box]

turn them both upside down and the taller one will be your drivers side.this is what i did with my dakars and it sits fine

[sierrajim]

Mine were visibly different, the arch was clearly more on 1 of them.
Mine have lost the A & B signs long ago, but I believe the A was HD greater arch

I also use a heavy duty on drivers rear. Helps with torque twist and all the weight on 1 side.

You sure its for torque twist Chris

[christover1]

You sure its for torque twist Chris

yeah, I torque way too much.




Oh you thought I meant zook engine torque

Coming from a 1.0 Litre owner thats even funnier

Or just a comment on my less than ideal figure

But seriously it did make a huge difference in climbing stability, certainly helping in the conquering of the now defunct "Killer Hill"

christover

[sierrajim]

conquering of the now defunct "Killer Hill"

[Santos]

So i ring up Town & Country where i bought the springs from and ask
Which side is a A & B and he says a is always the left, the passangers side.

Since the b was already half on after atempting the a on the driver side i happily put it into place. Fiddling around for another 4 hours with unbolting and reb-bolting to make it all fit i was rewarded with the passenger side being noticebly higher

So i rang up ARB directly to make sure it was not my imagination and i have a definete answer

A IS the driver side

(to verify you do measure the height of the spring... taller is A, Just incase someone pulls their's out)

Now i just got to work out if i want to pull both sides apart today

Some other things that i encountered whilst doing this

1)The bolt holding the OEM springs together has a size 12 nut on the bottom, the ARB springs have a 13mm nut (with a different thread!)

This is important as the 12mm nut fits snug in the plate underneath it and lines it all up.

I didn't want to enlargen the hole or file down the bolt so i took the old bolts out for the rear, for the front there was no way i would be able to use the originals as they where not long enough.

The solution was 2 high tensile bolt with an allen key head and the old nuts. i originally started out looking for a 12mm to match the arb thread.
They cost me $1.

2) The fron U-Bolts are shorter then the rear?! Don't understand why but they are, meaning i intend to go out and get some rear U-Bolts for the front. As i now have 5 leaves in the front (was three) the nut's are only 3/4 on. (with the locking nut/washer/thingy)

3)The rear's have the same part number, so i guess i either got them right or they are interchangible. I only mention this because a while back i got kingsprings for the rear and they do have a left and a right for the rear

4) The front ARB shocks top bolt is a self locking 17mm nut, instead of the factory two 14mm nuts. I really like that


Overall i did drive it around the block and the ride was nice and firm (not stiff) this is most likely my Old man emu shocks carresing the tarmac, rather than my worn out ones treating the road like a trampoline (being wanting to replace them for just under 2 years now)

I may see if i can get those U-Bolts tommorow before i swap them around, save me the trouble later... then 1000kms of breaking it and a re-torque


Thanks everyone for trying to help out , and i have a full set of old springs free to anyone who wants to experiment adding or swapping leaves to their stock set up while they save up for some ARB's

[nicbeer]

You have to watch out for the front ubolts as the pass side are the same as rear but driver side as it goes over pumpkin there are 2 different sizes on same axle side.

Also i found that the arb u bolts are smaller than the orig ones.

Nic

[Santos]

Hey that make sense !

I wondered why the thread showed two threads on the driver's side and the passenger side it was only tightning 3/4 of a nut.

did a lap tonight and checked the bolts it's all holding.

Still clicked on your build thread, seems like i have missed quite a bit... but soon i'll catch up