New suspension arrived for 40, do i need anything else?

[Hardzy]

just got a pair of rockcrawers off another bloke on the forum off a newer model 40. came with shackles, greasable pins, bush's etc. just wondering if the lot will bolt straight in to an older 40. or do i need to purchase something else?

[_Mitcho_]

depends if your truck is big pin or small pin

[Hardzy]

its pre 80. small pin. but the kit i have has the big pin 2 inch greasable shackles

[RAY185]

You'll need to change all your hangers over to late model hangers. Or just change the fixed end hangers and make up some booty fab shackles/modify the ones you got to small pin uppers and big pin lowers.

[Hardzy]

ok. would arb stock these are would i have to try a specialist place? i would ring but they are closed now. and i would get 8 bush's for the small pins. correct?

[RAY185]

ok. would arb stock these are would i have to try a specialist place? i would ring but they are closed now. and i would get 8 bush's for the small pins. correct?

Sorry mate, its not going to be that easy. As far as I am aware, replacement fixed pin hangers are not going to be available off the shelf. You've basically bought the wrong springs for your rig and to fit them you will have to do one of 2 things as far as I can see it. You have possibly bitten off more than you can chew but I'll give you as much info as I can so you can decide.

Scenario 1: Replacing all 8 spring hangers with later model "large eye".

a: This will involve getting the 4 fixed hangers (the hanger at the fixed end of the spring - not the shackle end) from a wrecker. Prepare to pay a bit for them as they are rivetted on from factory and a pain in the arse to remove. Unless they are happy to just chop the chassis and give them to you still attatched, then you have the joy of removing them. Then remove the fixed hangers off your 40. Not sure if the front hangers line up with the original holes (I suspect they do) but the rear hangers pick up 3 out of 4 holes from memory so you'll need to drill the last hole. Bolt them up with high tensile bolts and nylock nuts.

b: The shackle hangers you can get new from Superior/Snake, etc or just get them from the wreckers too. Factory ones are rivetted on as well as welded so more fun to be had there grinding them off. When you fit either the second hand ones or the new aftermarket ones just weld them on making sure they are aligned and in the exact same place as before (mark the chassis where the eye of the hanger was before you remove the originals to make sure you get it right. Once this is done you will be able to bolt up the large eye springs and extended shackles with new large eye bushes all round (24).

Scenario 2: Replacing only the fixed hangers and custom shackles.

Refer part a: above.

You need to end up with shackles that have a small pin at the top and a large pin at the bottom. If you're going to do this I would start from scratch rather than try to modify the ones you bought. I'm not going to give you instructions on how to make them as it's quite dangerous if you mess it up. Do some research on how to make them and decide for yourself if you want to go this way. If the answer is yes then you basically you need the lower bolts to suit the ID of the large bushes and the upper bolts to suit the ID of the smaller bushes. Bolts should be high tensile and use nylock nuts and be long enough to have at least 5 mm protruding from the back of the nut. You also need to note that the large eye bushes have a bigger shoulder than the small eye bushes so you will need to factor that into your design so that your shackles engage the shoulders of both the upper and lower bushes without distorting/bending the shakle plates. Once you have achieved this you will need 8 small eye bushes for the original shackle hangers and 16 large eye bushes for front and rear spring eyes.

Confused yet?

Can you take them back to where you bought them from and try and get the right gear for your truck?

[Hardzy]

i bought them from a bloke on the forum who told me that all i need to do is to change the bush's. he said most leaf spring manuf' only do the one size eye and then do 2 bush's. i suppose stupid me for beleiving him. i guess ill go and get some new hangers fixed end and shackle end and do a shackle reversal on the front while im at it. it was going to be something to be done later down the track but i suppose it could be done now.


thanks ray185

[Hardzy]

anyone in sydney got a pair of standard rear shackles that would suit the early rear 40 series? mine snappped when i got my dad to get them off yesterday

[TWISTY]

Hmm, i remember seeing something on IH8Mud about a bush you can get in the states which lets you run large eye springs on the small eye 40s. Will try and dig up some info for you. Wish I knew about it before I ordered my last springs, mine chews up the small bushes pretty quickly.

[TWISTY]

Cant find it....

Maybe put a post up on IH8Mud about it, someone there should be able to help.

[Hardzy]

wholesale suspension at penrith can get them in. went there today. but i have come to the conclusion that im going to sell the bloody thing. spent too long and too much money on it since i have had it. got sprung over diffs that i havent even looked at since i picked them up a month ago. got a disc front end with booster master and proportioning valve which i havent looked at either. spent a few weekends getting the rest of the car good. motor box and transfer would have to be one of the best out there more. runs better than my vy commodore. which i just bought.

thanks for the help with the questions. been a great help. but i think i might stick with my hiluxs. have several of them and know them back to front.

keep an eye out if you want another 40 she will be in the 4 sale section by tuesday.

[RAY185]

Dave: Yeah I've heard about the those bushes too but I don't think they really solve the problem at the fixed hanger. I made up some bushes ( from memory they were some old model falcon bushes with the shoulders trimmed down) when I went to 60 rear springs (same size eye as large eye 40) and the spring wrap itself was hitting the bottom of the fixed hanger. Because the eyes themselves are bigger, the wrap on the leaf pack is bigger too and does not fit well in the small eye hanger. Later model 40 and 60 hangers have the spring eye lower in the hanger allowing more room for the wrap of the spring.