Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Just a query ....

If you got one of those load assist airbag kits getting around for 500 or so bucks, and fitted it to the rear of a leaf sprung vehicle, BUT pulled all the leafs out bar 2 or 3 and used the airbag kit to maintain ride height, would that give you a nice soft ride and good flexibility ?

Or would you get an axle tramping problem ?

Another option would be to link the bags via a valve for offroading too.

Anyone done this ? Anyone know someone who has done this or even share an opinion ?

what type of vehicle and how many leaves in the pack originally?

Its a good Idea in theory but the black air bags are $700ish anyway.

My dad has them in his narava and you have to remove the bump stops to fit them so when he lets them down for a soft ride they are very harsh when they bottom out cos the have metal internal bump stops.

The best way to use them would be to get raised springs and extended shocks. Then remove the load springs ( fat short ones ) so the spring is nice and flexy then fit the airbags and use them for carrying loads.

But by the time you do all this its probably easier to go 5 link and coils

phil94delica wrote:But by the time you do all this its probably easier to go 5 link and just airbags

Fixed for ya

A mate tryed airbags on leaves in a big 75 series ute, they found the leaves travel in the wrong arc and kept ripping bags.

IMO if you run them for load increase on leaves foe short travel would be ok. If you want big travel go 3/4/5 link with bag only.

nastytroll
i agree on 3/4/5 link suspension the suspension travel of your diff moves around a central location
whereas leaf sprung the diff moves backward as it moves up and forwards as it goes down
the 3/4/5 link roughly go up and down as thepoint from bush to bush dosnt change
where as on the leaf as it flattens or curves the distance from the bush to where axle is located will change
thatsmy understanding anyway

Yeah i thought as much !

Its in a 00 model GU ute -coil fornt, leaf rear.

Originally it had 11 leafs in it, before the 4 inch lift, now it has 7 with extended shackles.

Here is the dillema. Unless you have a heavy steel tray or have a constant load on the back, the GU leaf utes ride harsh.

Trying to decide if is should do the coil conversion in the rear and then get it engineered myself. Quotes are around $3500 for a drive in drive out conversion with mod plate. Or sell it and buy a factory coily.

I have spoken to the Superior blokes (very helpful) they said to forget about doing too much with the leafs. You can make them work in hilux's and suzi's but on the heavy patrols its hard and there is minimal aftermarket gear for them, meaning everything is custom = $'s.

Coils it is i suppose.

Can anyone recommend a place that does this sort of work ?

Or should i just sell it and buy a factory coily ..............?

imo if you have the $$$ get factory so sell and buy factory coily
things are in there right spots right from word go
but hey if ya convert to coils and its cheaper maybe you could do few more thingst o it too

Where are you based? I would coil your leaf rear. It is not a hard job with some basic tools and a competant welder.

Basically you need a gu h260 fiff housing with everything but centre. Some ZD30/TB45 wagons had them and all TB48 wagons AFAIK.

A gu wagon/coil cab brake master, disk rear are bm57, yours will be bm50. The masters are interchangeable, just 2 brake lines and 4 nuts on master to booster. BM57 master has a bigger piston for rear caliprs.

A gq rear chassis cut, to rob the brackets from, and some gq/gu trail arms and rear panhard.

If you had all the parts together and cleaned for welding in, there would only be a few days of fab in it.

Just thinking out loud here but what if you removed a couple more leaves from the springs then fitted a pair of coil over shocks in the back. It would have to be cheaper and you wouldnt need to get it enginered.

Im in the territory mate, but i make trips to Qld through work.

Yeah i priced it all up and the best deal i could scrounge was a complete rear cut off a GQ 4.2TD wagon for $1500. Thats body off chassis and cut halfway down the chassis rails. All arms, rods diff, disc's etc.

Then the next thing is diff gears to match the front with the rear.

Coils and matched shocks.

Cutting the excess chassis rails back.

Remounting the tow bar.

My biggest drama is getting it engineered, or do you really need too ?

Things are a lot different to get engineered up here.

gu leaf have a h260 diff, these use a shorter tail shaft then the gu/gq h233b. That why I suggest a GU wagon H260 and use your centre.

I don't know about NT but as it would all be standard nissan parts so there should be no problem getting it engineered.

Shortening the chassis is not that big a deal either.

How much lift in the front? You could sell your complete lift and buy a new set for front and rear or just buy a matching rear set to compliment the fronts you have. Are you happy with the lift you have or you want to go higher?

phil94delica wrote:Just thinking out loud here but what if you removed a couple more leaves from the springs then fitted a pair of coil over shocks in the back. It would have to be cheaper and you wouldnt need to get it enginered.

Coil overs are quite long for the height of suspension they give. There are coil over type shocks available for ifs vehicles made by camil but i don't think they would have enough stroke for the rear of a patrol.

Originally it was a 4 inch lift, but it sagged to roughly 3 inch. I am happy with the lift at present. It allows me to clear 35's and not look so silly when i drop back to 265's for long trips.

gu leaf have a h260 diff, these use a shorter tail shaft then the gu/gq h233b. That why I suggest a GU wagon H260 and use your centre.

That was one of the other questions i was wondering too. I thought i may need a different tail shaft.