Outer Limits 4x4 Board

On the front I have a 7 leaf pack, on the rear 9 leafs. The fronts have the spring clamps which allow for movement however the rears do not.

I want to get maximum flex for minimum dollars so my plan is:

Remove the appropriate number of leaves which will lower the car then make the height back up with extended shackles.

Questions are:

Which leaves to remove?
- I was thinking the bottom two and every 2nd one of the upper leafs.
How many should i retain?
- I was thinking 3
What to do about shortened u bolts?
- thread them longer?


I was reading leafs which sit flat give the best flex. Should I really be aiming for flat leaves?

Also I need a comprimse between flex and on road performance too so how does playing with leaf packs like I plan to effect the on road handling? (besides increasing body roll i guess)


OR do i get a new set of 2" lifted leafs? - As i said, i dont particularly want to spend money on the springs if i can get a good result from my current leaf packs.

the Flat leaves you are talking about are parabolic, they are specificaly made and all leaves in a parabolic set are the same lenght, so no I would not aim for flat leaves.
Removing a couple of leaves from the bottem should hurt to much, I have done so on a Brand new set, to avoid sag. Those "clamps" your talking about, don't cut them off, but if you bend the taps that fold over the leafs straight, it'll allow the leaves to flex alittle more, just keep an eye on the alingment, or your leaves will all be skew-if
If you could afford it I would go a new set of parabolic leafs, I think TJM are para, and extended shackles.
I am assuming you have an MQ/MK, I have a swb MQ that I have toy'd with trying to get more flex, long story short is, there old technology and are limited, I moved my shackle mounts to give more "rake" angle on my shackles to allow them to drop down more, If you are good with a welder and grinder do a shackle reversal on the front, That's one of the best mods you can do for more flex on these. Other then that, Parabolic leafs, extended shackles and possibly move shackle mounts?
Though removing leafs will help, it won't be great

only take the load leaves out. leave the full length ones in.
some pics of your packs would prob help people to tell you wich ones to remove. also a few specs like diesel, or petrol, winch bar, wagon, ute or shorty
if you leave only 3 leafs in the front of a diesel it will flex well for a few weeks then collapse.

and dont waste money on parabolics that are so 3 years ago:P

I have a MQ LWB wagon with a 308. No winch bar only Alloy bull bar. I actually hadnt thought about it but will i need a winch bar (or stronger steel reinforcement) for my winch I will get soon? The alloy bar doesnt look particularly strong.....

Ive already moved the front shackle mount rearward about 60mm to overcome the inversion problems I was having before. This was actually too much and now the shackles sit horizontal pointing toward the front. Im hoping I can remedy this with extended shackles otherwise I will have to reposition them again.

"If you are good with a welder and grinder do a shackle reversal on the front, That's one of the best mods you can do for more flex on these."

Please explain shackle reversal.

Before I bought the Patrol, it was set up to tow a horse float. The ride is quite harsh and bumpy. I know leaf springs will do this to an extent but what I am also trying to achieve here is softer spring rates to give a nicer ride as well as keep the wheels on the dirt.

I will take lots of pics today and post later.

ok my guess is you will have to relocate the shackle mounts further forward again as when you take out load leaves tour leaf packs will flatten and force the shackle further forward.
if you are going to buy shackles i suggest you fit them and remove leaves before you move the shackle mounts again.
i would probably remove all the load leaves from the front and rear for nowthen see how it goes, you can always remove more but its generally hard to put more back in as the pack will have sagged.
Shackle reversal is an awesome mod but costs some coin and takes a bit of work.
basically what you do is remove the shackle and fixed mounts, buy new ones from superior engineering or fab them and weld the on the opposite ends so that the spring is fixed at the front end and the shackle is at the back of the spring. You then have to rotate the diff to get the pinnion angle correct again and without a spring over will have to convert to a different steering setup because it will bind on the diff now.
Rotating the diff requires alot of machining work and welding because of the cast mount on the rhs. Superior engineering also do this.
allows you to flex over things alot easier as with the normal set up the natural reflex of the spring is to bounce you back off of the obstical. with a shackle reversal the dif pushes backwards and helps you over. Also you dont have the shackles out front to hit everything you try n drive over.
Zero's build up in the members thread has pics of a shackle reversal.

PS yes you will need a winch bar

Thanks for the reply badger.

Yeh ill take some load leafs out and do the extended shackle, i hope with a longer shackle it might sit at the right angle... i hope..

badger why can't you use diif wedges to correct your pinion angle? surly it isn't that severe? I flipped my rear leafs and used 5degree wedges and a double cardinal joint, no drama's there. And if you can use a grinder and welder, to save money you could re-use mounts that you cut off, new would be better but also dearer.
parabolics are newer technology then multi leaf packs, they provide a better ride and function, probably why they are more exspensive and alot of Truck manufacture's are going Parabolic on the front.
I have 2" lifted front multileafs on the front of my SWB MQ (with MK leafs)
and extend shackles from superior, and I need to move my shackle mounts back 50-60mm, so it is a good idea to get your leafs and shackles sorted before you move them again

parabolics are great for every day function. average flex load carrying and comfort all in one pack. just because it works in a truck or old mate the chippy down the roads work ute dont mean its good for flex. if you want decent flex they are a wast of time you are better with multileaf packs with the load bearers out.
you will flog leafs quicker but at under half the price an 3 times the flex its my pick.
you can use castor wedges if you think putting in 20 degrees of wedges is a good practice. ill try n find a pic of where the pinion points on zeros. the best solution we can come up with for this is to machine the cast mount down to the correct angle then put a plate on the bottom of it.
mattstar correct me im wrong but you had a springover? with a springover you dont have as server angles to correct because of where the diffs now sit changing angles(they should be corrected during the springover process anyway)
yes you could reuse the standard mounts but they are bugger all new and this also allows you to change to a hilix style shackle n pin setup wich are apparently better (cant remember why but mick at superior will tell you)

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j151/ ... efront.jpg
pic is decieving but pinion is pointing about 10 degrees downwards