Outer Limits 4x4 Board

First thing first.... I have an 85 LWB, the previous owner has taken care of the spring over conversion. It comprises of standard leaves both front & rear aswell as the std toothpick shocks that are competely Rat Sh*t after a trip to Fraser Is. The front sway bar has been heated and bent to retain the standard mounts. The "Z" link is a very mild bend compared to my old zook.
I wish to add new shocks front and rear, i have fronts to suit, however i have just gone and purchased some "ring to rings" for the rear from supercheap and they dont suit at all. They would be great if i had a higher spring lift or the shackles werent reversed. At curb height they are fully compressed and therefore bottomed out, however when flexed they have great drop. I do want to lift the zook up higher.
Heres the query....
I was thinking of adding a 2 inch spacer between the std leaf mounts and the chassis rail front and rear(see figure attached). Has anyone done such a mod and if so what was the effect. I see it giving me a 2 inch lift in some way similar to body spacers. I do wish to retain the sway bar, so i know ill need to space it also. With this mod done, the shocks should be around 1.5 inches above compressed and then later with the addition of 3 inch spring lift, they should be at optimal curb height, and also still retain good drop/flex.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Cheers Wayne
(currently has the ride of a Gemini with no coils, need to doof doof it to mix it with the "in" crowd)

G'day,

Wouldn't you be loosing up travel ?

Why don't you just move the shock mount on the chassis or the diffcasing (or both) so the new shock has the right travel (so at kerb height the shock isn't at full compression).

I mean if you fit 3" lift springs, won't they compress as far as your springs do now, but would have a greater drop? if they don't compress as far what's the point in fitting them? you would only gain height and keep the same wheel articulation.

And to add to that, your zook has spring over, add 3" lift springs wouldn't your truck be high enough? do you really want to add another 2" height to it? wouldn't this make it's centre of graviety too heigh?

just some things to consider, hope it helps

i see what you mean regarding the compression side of things, i think ill just modify the shock mounts. Either move the upper inwards toward the centre of the vehicle or drop the lower one down toward the axle housing
Cheers, Wayne

Hi Wayne,

I think the mod that you were thinking about doing is referred to as a "sub frame"... I've heard of a fellow down here that has done / is doing that to a sierra at the moment (Moose - Joe right?)...

The other option being discussed sounds a lot easier - i've got something similar in my car - we added in another cross member (tube) with some high tensile bolts running though it closer to the centre of the car... this meant we could lay the shocks over more to get them out of the way for up-travel, but keep the droop for down-travel.

Something to think about though - the more perpendicular you make the angle of the shock to the angle of the travel (i.e. making the shock more horizontal when the axel movement is vertical), the more you will reduce the dampening affect of the shock - i.e. it will become softer...

cheers,
Greg

correct greg !!!
joe has done 1 that way , & with his new shackles , it WORKS really well !!

Wayne , give him a ring on 03 97614694

moose wrote:correct greg !!!
joe has done 1 that way , & with his new shackles , it WORKS really well !!

Wayne , give him a ring on 03 97614694

Cheers lads, btw, does he have email address by any chance, i find this easier.
Also do ya's really think its worth the effort? Im starting to wonder, i do wanna squeeze 33's under and this seems like a cheap solution to bump it up that extra bit

no e-mail yet !!!!! I think !!!
will find out & let you know !!!!

reading your originall post ,
a heated swaybar , is now a piece of metal , CHUCK it !!!!!

give Joe a ring , does a steering conversion , no Z bar !!!!
all original arms & joints !!!!

email would be sweet, as for the steering conversion im liking that also. The old spoa i did, the Z bar lasted around 6 months, It bent after abuse and the car took about 10 turns full lock to the reight and about half to the left. Not good, but like i said this is less dramatic.

G'day,

Purefmx, you are currently running 31's. So to run 33" tyres you need another 1" of room ( I assume you knew that)

So how close does your 31" tyres come to rubbing? because maybe you could make a spacer to go between the leaf springs and the axle casing (seem you have leaf over) and use longer U-bolts, you don't really want to go a 1" spacer, but if your 31's aren't near scrubbing maybe a 15mm or even a 10mm spacer would allow you to run 33" tyres (you would have to measure clearances between the tyre and guards). This would be cheaper and easier to do and would work just as well.

remember your lifting your zook with 3" springs. if you run 33" tyres you will gain another 1" and if you do your 2" idea that gives you a total of 6" higher than what you have. personnally I would want to keep the centre of graviety down, so If you can get away with a 15mm space then your total addition would be only 4 1/2" ontop of what you currently have.

Ok you don't want to use lift blocks especially in the front. Just trim what is in the way. I find it hard to believe that the 33s are a problem. Myself and Greg are running 34s SPUA with 2.5" Old Man Emu rear springs all round plus 2" bodylift. I know a bit different to your setup but why not go a 1" body lift and a new shock mpounts front and rear

my 31's still rub (just) with a 2.5" lift and a 2" body lift........need to squeeze another inch out of the coils for the 33's, and a larger motor to turn them..........one day.

All great ideas, ill look into the spring spacer, as for the centre of gravity, it tends not to be too top heavy, my old zook was a high roof SWB, spoa and 2 1/2 inches of spring lift running 33's. That was top heavy, but even so, although close to, i never actually "lidded it". I'll toy with some ideas and let ya's know,
Cheers, Wayne

Why not use a set of these adjustable spacers



this will give you the height and allow you to move the axle slightly forward to clear the back of the front inner guard.

Megaman wrote:Why not use a set of these adjustable spacers



this will give you the height and allow you to move the axle slightly forward to clear the back of the front inner guard.

where can i get em?

purefmx

email info@trailcraft.net.au or visit www.trailcraft.net.au

are they street legal?

Sorry BJ,

Nothing we sell is "street legal" however your engineer may certify these components. When you certify all your mods.

what is "street legal" nowadays anyway? ive seen an infringement notice for no mud spats. (Not flaps-body moulded spats)