Outer Limits 4x4 Board

hey guy's , I just put new springs on the stripped down MK chassis, with no weight on the chassis the rear shakles are pulled all the way forward, having only owned the car for 1 day before stripping it down, i didn't see the angle of the shakles before the body came off. the new springs (westcoast suspension) are the same length as the old ones, just with a bigger arc, so getting them in was a bastard, cause they took some thinking to get them into the shakles, cause the shakles are up against the chassis( see before sandblasting and painting pic attatched). the guy's at westcoast suspension said that when the weight of the vehicle back on the shakles will pull back a bit, he then said that I may have to stick a pinch bar in there and laver the shacle back to the rear, the question i have is, has anyone else had this happen to them???

Had what happen? Had the shackles invert? Yep.

The fact that they will move back with weight on is really missing the point. As soon as you get flexed up in the rear, or hit a big enough bump to get the rear wheels off the ground, the shackle will go straight back to where it is now, and even further, because the weight of the wheels and axle will pull it down. Inversion city, and not ideal at all.

You say the leaves are the same length, but are you talking length along the leaves or between the eyes? Because from what you're saying, the length between eyes is definitely shorter, else the shackles would be in the same position!

Typically the shackles are vertical in a standard setup. People running flatter springs (like in a SPOA) often set the shackle such that it points backwards quite a way, to allow the axle to drop a long way down, and then set bump stops so the axle doesn't move too far up. But with a big arch, you probably want something close to vertical, with the ideal angle being that which allows maximum droop and compression, without inverting on droop.

Often a big lever is handy for uninverting leaves, as you describe, but in my experience, letting the axle droop as far as it can in a fairly controlled manner is often enough to get the shackles back the way they should be.

The length between the eyes on the new springs is a about 10mm shorter, thats why the shakle is now touching the chassis, i will just have to wait till the body is back on to see what will happen.

get some wieght back on and see how it looks.....

but it shouldnt look like that. front stock they should be farely straight if not angled slightly back the other way just a touch ( standard form MQ i mean ).

if its angled forward at all, u will find as soon as it travels it will invert as heath describes above.

if its still like this after weight is on, then the leaves are incorrect length. they need to be longer.
looking at it there they look as much as 50mm too short.....

when u measured them u say they are the same length..... but are the centre bolt pins in the same spot as well as the same length eye to eye....

cause it could be possible that they are same length eye to eye but centre bolt is further forward ( drilled wrong ) and the diff is slightly too far forward pushing the whole lot away from the shackle.....

screwy

I will get a pic of the new springs tomorrow, and i will find out from westc oast suspension the length of the spring, we have another MQ stripped down in the shed, it has the shakle at a much better angle, i will get some more pics
Hoppy

Pics of the new springs, the shakles are pulled more foward than they were with the old springs, the springs say that they are for an MQ, do you still think they are too short

first question is...

is the top of that diff housing in line with the bottom of the bump stop???

if its not is the diff further forward? if this is the case then the centre hole in the springs is either not properly located or drilled wrong.

If the diff is where it should be, then the springs are SH1T loads too short

screwy