Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Has any one got these springs on the Feroza?

http://www.4x4store.com.au/Polyair-Red- ... 21041.html

DONT DO IT.

Not a Fez, but a leaf sprung Rocky, I fitted a set. The absolute worst money I have spent on my F75 EVER.

First, they didnt fit, so I had to make modifications to my chassis to make them fit, in spite of the "correct" kit being supplied. No way were they going to stretch between chassis and spring. Then the little coil springs they supplied to keep them in place rubbed through the bags when dirt and rocks get caught between spring and bag. That was after only about a month. I then had a shit of a time getting any satisfaction out of them for a replacement under warranty, until I drove down from Rocky to Brisbane especially to confront the agent. Suddenly, he could not be more friendly.
The replacement bag suffered chafing again, and also got pinched between the retaining coil spring when travelling on a fast dirt road, that was in spite of having the mandatory minimum of 5psi for light loading. They tried to tell me it was because it was being used in a dirty, dusty hostile environment. HELLO< I told them its under a 4wd, and they sell them as such. In the end, I ripped them out and threw them away.

Worst ever thing I have bought for a 4wd, and will never ever go near them again.

I know a few people that use them and like them- but they're all fitted on coil sprung vehicles. With the rear leafs in a Feroza you'd have to use some sort of set up like Bundy mentioned.

Thanks guys. I want to make mine smoother than what it is. Having a 2inch spring leaf lift has made mine alot more stiffer and I was wondering if this air sytem would make it softer.

A few things you can do.

What shocks are you running? If you're running shocks valved for something heavier, then ride will suffer.

Maybe consider removing one of the lower leaves from the spring pack.

Extended shackles?

I have Adjustable Ranchos with 9 settings and I use the lowest setting. They work great but i have a still a stiff ride. I only have Heavy Duty leafs that give me 2inch lift. Standard shackles.
Yes I thought of taking away a lower leaves but is it alot of work?

An easy afternoon's work in your driveway.

Jack her up and support the chassis. Remove springpack from one side at a time so you've got the other side to refer back to if you get lost.

Once you have the pack out, undo the centre retaining bolt and the whole lot should come apart pretty easily. Start with taking the bottom spring out (NOT the very bottom helper/limiter spring) and see how that goes.

Owww, AJ, not quite as easy as that, with a major trap for young players in your advice.

Make sure you have either a couple of large G clamps, or a suitable jack, to keep the springs compressed while undoing the centre bolt. It will also make recompressing the springs to get the centrebolt back into place a lot easier.

If you dont do this, you have a severe risk of having the whole spring pack virtually exploding with what could be potentially serious injury.

The thing is with polyairs, or any other air bag type system used in conjunction with ordinary leaf springs is they are a supplimentary system, in addition to the leaves. They dont replace them. If your springs are stiff, adding polyairs are not going to soften them, if anything, they will make them stiffer, as they are designed to limit the suspension travel.

You will have to get used to stiffish rough suspension when you own a Rocky or Feroza, its par for the course.

Oops, sorry.

Yeah, I usually use a bottle jack under the spring pack to keep pressure on it, then slowly lower it and release the pressure

My bad.

Hate to say this but your Ranchos could be part of the problem.

Do a search and you'll find an old member "Leon" fitted the 9 position Ranchos in the rear of his Feroza and found exactly the same problem. The issue is they consider any shock that bolts in as a correct fit- IIRC the same shocks listed for a Feroza are also listed for a F Series Ford pickup......

murcod wrote:Hate to say this but your Ranchos could be part of the problem.

Do a search and you'll find an old member "Leon" fitted the 9 position Ranchos in the rear of his Feroza and found exactly the same problem. The issue is they consider any shock that bolts in as a correct fit- IIRC the same shocks listed for a Feroza are also listed for a F Series Ford pickup......

X 2

I have a set of Ford Falcon shocks that I've had to run in the rear of mine from time to time.... after breaking shocks giving them a hard time. Softer than the Ranchos, but still almost kidney belt stuff.

Thanks for all the input guys. Are your Feroza/Rokys kidney belt stuff on rough roads or is it just mine and my sons?

Just yours.... And some other peoples'

Lifted springs are always an issue- nobody seems to be able to make them without the need for a kidney belt!?

I removed a leaf from mine and they were still too hard, so I then built a "hybrid" leaf pack using the aftermarket and stock packs to make one. That was the best compromise without loosing too much height.

I have to agree with all the comments re rear springs and shocks....

Given the lack of weight over the rear axle the choice of rear suspension is extremely important is my experience. Springs are certainly an issue but shocks are critical.

Get it right and ride and handling improves substantially - get it wrong and its a bone shaking ride and nasty "all over the place" handling on corrugated roads.

The greater weight over the front seems to make it less sensitive and a bit more foregiving.

IIRC Murcod had Bilsteins all round, and mine have been worth every cent.

The concept of just " because it fits it must be fine" is not clever. The amount of information that we worked through to get the Bilsteins set up was significant - how a passanger car shock could be considered practical escapes me. THere's a lot of engineering in a damper.

i pretty much run about 5-10 psi lower on the rear compared to front to make up for the stiff springs. helps with the ride a bit.

SimplyPV wrote:i pretty much run about 5-10 psi lower on the rear compared to front to make up for the stiff springs. helps with the ride a bit.

Yeah, first thing I do when I get on the dirt is to air down. Even 5psi makes a noticeable improvement in ride quality on corrugated roads.

Yes, I had Bilsteins.

Ironically the first mod on my XL-7 was ditching the factory shocks- even at 49000km they were useless. This time I went for Konis and the difference (even with the same springs) is amazing. It's gone from being a right PITA to drive through any sort of bend to something I actually don't mind pushing a bit through corners. Ride comfort has also improved out of sight.

The best performance was with the ranchos. I put them on the softess setting thus letting the leafs do most of the work. We have tried gabriels and a few others but they were to hard.
I have come to the conclusion that being such a short wheek base and narrow its just part of the feroza experience.

chugga wrote:I have come to the conclusion that being such a short wheek base and narrow its just part of the feroza experience.

True enough, the wheelbase of the Feroza and light rear mean that ride is a challenge. Glad the Rancho's worked out - however i really prefer adjustment in the middle of the range to allow for adjustment either way over time, still......

The other Feroza characteristic is the wheelbase to track ratio - the numbers just mean that they "change direction" very quickly ( thats a nice way of saying they get frightening when pushed hard).

Increase the track and its gets even more...... exciting.