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Getting a 79 series trayback to flex

Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 12:34 pm
by stuee
Hi All,

I have a mate with a new tdv8 cruiser ute. So far he's got 2" lift, 35's, twin difflocks and snake racing arms to correct the geometry. Problem is its like taking a surfboard with wheels 4wding. The thing is so stiff that there's bugger all articulation and it feels very uneasy off road. Even with the difflocks its not that crash hot because its constantly teetering back and forth on two wheels. Always feels like its gonna roll.

Whats the go with spring selection and other items that will help this beast articulate a little better. It is a work ute so it cant be extreme but atm he's peeved that my stock discovery is going all the places he's going.

The 2" lift springs he got are parabolic's or something and supposed to hold a big load without needing heaps of leaves. One idea I had was to get a very light duty sping and supplement that with an airbag for loads. This would hopefully allow it to flex a little better off road. Anyone else got experience with getting these cars to flex more.

Cheers

Stuee

Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 2:59 pm
by Z()LTAN
Firstly Parabolics are not designed for carrying large loads.

Secondly Parabolics can flex nicely.

The rear needs a revised shackle angle or banana shackles.

The front will never flex very well, what kind of snake arms did he get? Dropped or just standard castor corrected?

Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 3:17 pm
by RV80
Z()LTAN wrote:The front will never flex very well, what kind of snake arms did he get? Dropped or just standard castor corrected?

Why wouldn't the front work well. The front is no different to an 80 series or GQ. And all snake arms are dropped with castor correction :roll: .

And i dont know shit about leaf setups so i wont answer it :D

Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 3:42 pm
by stuee
Z()LTAN wrote:Firstly Parabolics are not designed for carrying large loads.

Secondly Parabolics can flex nicely.

The rear needs a revised shackle angle or banana shackles.

The front will never flex very well, what kind of snake arms did he get? Dropped or just standard castor corrected?
Hmm, well I just spoke with him and the spings he has are supposed to be heavy duty parabolics which supposedly allow good flex too. I think he's probably been misdirected though. The lift came with new shackles pins etc but I wouldn't know if these are the right ones or anything.

The snake arms are dropped castor correction, and were mainly used to help stop the 35's rubbing.

The banana type shackles you refer to are those the ones you lock for road use, then free up for off-road use or are they simply banana shaped? Otherwise I wouldn't have a clue about the appropriate shackle angles. He took it to a place in Kal (he was stuck down there with work) and just left it with them. As a full package (arms, springs, shackles etc) I think its pretty piss poor, fine for thrashing about in a paddock but hopeless in anything technical.

I think the problem may have been because he asked for a lift to fit the new 35's and assumed it would be fine off road after.

Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 4:47 pm
by Z()LTAN
RV80 wrote:
Z()LTAN wrote:The front will never flex very well, what kind of snake arms did he get? Dropped or just standard castor corrected?

Why wouldn't the front work well. The front is no different to an 80 series or GQ. And all snake arms are dropped with castor correction :roll: .

And i dont know shit about leaf setups so i wont answer it :D
hmmm not all snake arms are "dropped" they can be dropped, castor corrected, droped and castor corrected.

A standard 4link setup with aftermarket standard style arms does not flex :roll:

You need to invest in super flex bushes, superior superflex arms bla bla bla...

But he said its a work vehicle, so it needs to retain its onroad characteristics...

Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 4:53 pm
by Z()LTAN
stuee wrote:
Z()LTAN wrote:Firstly Parabolics are not designed for carrying large loads.

Secondly Parabolics can flex nicely.

The rear needs a revised shackle angle or banana shackles.

The front will never flex very well, what kind of snake arms did he get? Dropped or just standard castor corrected?
Hmm, well I just spoke with him and the spings he has are supposed to be heavy duty parabolics which supposedly allow good flex too. I think he's probably been misdirected though. The lift came with new shackles pins etc but I wouldn't know if these are the right ones or anything.

The snake arms are dropped castor correction, and were mainly used to help stop the 35's rubbing.

The banana type shackles you refer to are those the ones you lock for road use, then free up for off-road use or are they simply banana shaped? Otherwise I wouldn't have a clue about the appropriate shackle angles. He took it to a place in Kal (he was stuck down there with work) and just left it with them. As a full package (arms, springs, shackles etc) I think its pretty piss poor, fine for thrashing about in a paddock but hopeless in anything technical.

I think the problem may have been because he asked for a lift to fit the new 35's and assumed it would be fine off road after.
Banana shackles are just a shackle shaped like a banana and help to get the shackles to move more (from the displaced leverage) thus making the springs work better. They also have an added anti inversion aspect to them.

The shackles you are talking about are either Climax or Superior Drop shackles, i would normally tell people to stay away from them as they can be fairly unpredictable. But in your mates case having leaf springs only on the back the unloading characteristics of these shackles probably wont be a problem. You could give them a go...

Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 6:15 pm
by RV80
Z()LTAN wrote:
hmmm not all snake arms are "dropped" they can be dropped, castor corrected, droped and castor corrected..

Show me a link to Snakes website with these arms that aren't dropped :lol: All aftermarket radius arms are dropped with castor correction if they didn't have these features then there wouldn't be any point in making them.

Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 6:34 pm
by Z()LTAN
snake only show their dropped selection as thats what they use in their kits.

Im not after turning this into a post war but, 'dropped' and 'castor correction' are 2 totally different things... :roll:

Oh and ever thought of people with little lifts not needing castor correction upgrading their standard arms to beef them up?

Oh and what about the people that build custom rigs and dont need the bolt on castor correction as they are mounting them differently.

Oh and when people flip the arms ontop of the dif id hardly think a dropped arm would work hey :roll:

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 6:15 pm
by ADM01
I have also found the same problems on a HDJ79. The long wheelbase and narrow track make it worse. I am currently grafting a GU front centre and stretching the front axle 150mm. This should put me on par with an 80 series????? As for the length (short term) I am toying with 75 series rear springs as it will shorten the wheelbase 100mm and won't need to cut the chassis in front of the diff. This will also allow an extra 150mm of overhang to be removed. I am also keen to hear on other options, as later I look to remove 400mm of unwanted chassis and 4 link it.
Cheers.

Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 11:10 am
by bj on roids
Its exactly how ADM01 put it.

You are up for major modifying to get it to work right, comfortably and safely.

Or just engage the lockers and care a whole lot less about it teetering and tottering, as long as one wheel is on the deck, who really cares, just learnt o drive it and have fun in it.

Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 8:35 am
by balzackracing
X-link front and coil rear, problem solved.