Outer Limits 4x4 Board

I am looking at replacing the standard suspension in my fez pretty soon and was just looking for a bit of advice. I checked out the FAQ but couldn't find anything the answer to this.

I have quite a few quotes for various set ups most of which consist of replacing the rear parabolic leaf set up with a multi-leaf setup to get lift.
From what i can see this will give me the lift i need and load carrying capability but the ride will become more stiff.

One company i spoke to offered to add a wrap leaf to the origional setup to support the main leaf which will give me 50mm of lift but is supposed to preserve the softness to make the ride off road more comfortable. Has anyone tried this?

Also most of the quotes included new HD torsion bars, mine seem to be quite allright and wanted to know if the heavy duty options out there perform well of if its best to keep the origional torsion bars.

Hey,

The choice is totally up to you but I recon that new Torsion Bars are a waste of money. Just wind your stock ones up. Only get new ones if there is something wrong with your existing ones. Not all lifted after market springs are hard. I have 50mm lifted TJM springs in the rear of mine and they are not too bad at all. I think for memory they are the Heavy Duty, NOT the Extra Heavy Duty!

I don't like any thing that involves using already worn springs as the life of your lift will not last as long as it would with new springs.

Just my Opionion though!

Dave.

Yeah cool dave i thoght 350 bucks plus fitting was a bit steep to replace torsion bars that are working fine. Will be keeping them hey.

Not too sure on which spring package for the rear to go with yet.
West Coast offered a 6 leaf setup with 50mm lift that sounds pretty bomber with thier own gas shocks all round fitted for about $900. Some of the other places are asking double that and don't sound nearly as professional.

How many leaves do you guys have in your setups?

$900.00 sounds pretty good to me. I can't remember how much mine came to but it was more than that. I'm not sure how many leaves are in my pack, I can't even check as the Fez has been banished to my parents house. We aren't talking to her at the moment as she has a bad habbit of blowing front diffs.

Dave.

Yeah i thought is was pretty good. Will be dropping her off in a couple of weeks when my funds say yes.

Spewing about your front diff problem mine is in a no go state at the moment, off road at least. When i put her in 4wd she clunks while driving. Some sort of problem in the front drive train but i have no idea what it is at this point. I will be giving it to a mechanic as soon as i can get her in to let them find out what the problem is. Hope fully its not too bigger problem fingers crossed.

Any clunk in the drive train means $$$$! Especially if a mechanic is fixing it! Good luck, hopefully the bill won't be too bad. Hope your new suspension work out well for ya too.

Dave.

Cheers dave.

I just got back from Robson bros 4WD specialist mechanic and the they think the noise is coming from eighther the diff or the transfer case.......$$$$
I have it booked in for monday to find the exact problem, they are going to drain the diff and transfer case to see what is stuffed. Looks like the suspension will be put off a bit longer but will get done some time soon.

Thanks for your advice mate.

I just put a set of King springs under mine cost $320 for the pair. Rancho Shocks for $130each fitted all myself, saved a bundle. Try to do it yourself, you only have to undo 14 bolts not too hard. regarding torsion bars, heaps of people have told me if their not broken (snapped) no need to replace. Try not to get springs that are too firm as mine are they don't allow enough travel upwards. Good Luck.

88 Feroza wrote: Try not to get springs that are too firm as mine are they don't allow enough travel upwards. Good Luck.

So Kings are too hard too?! They were going to be my other choice in rear leafs.

BTW Kings only make leafs to suit narrow tracks.

The setup i am looking at getting from West coast suspensions is a 6 leaf conversion with one leaf 13 mm thick and 5 extra leaves at 6mm thick. I am sure this would have to be a lot stiffer than standard they said i would be sacrificing some ride comfort but i guess it would last alot longer than some of the other options available which include resetting origional springs or adding support springs. I don't really like the sound of eighther of those options.

Does anyone know the thickness of the leaves in thier setups so i can compare them to see if i can estimate how hard the springs i am looking at will be?

Mine are a 5 leaf x 6mm thick with 1 x 10mm protector King Springs
DIA 004. You would be better off finding something that is not so stiff. Durability wise I do not think you will have any problems with something a bit softer, Feroza's are so lite. If your replacing the original springs how long have they been there for know. If your worried about height put some extended shackles on. I replaced my original setup, but 50% regret doing so. As the original springs allowed so much travel, the new ones are taking along time to soften up. Try 4WD1BIZ in NSW they will post free.

I wish someone would just say.. get THESE springs.

i have a narrow track, and the standard springs are about stuffed.
TJM in bendigo have nfi.. never done a feroza
ARB dont have a damn thing
I'm getting a quote from a tyre place i like about some KING springs, but i hear they're too hard...

I'm not stressed about increasing the load carrying capacity of the fez, i just want the wheels to stay on the ground when i am 4wding.. nothing worse than having 2 wheels in the air, and no lockers!

what do i buy?

Try these guys www.4wd1.biz they should be able to point you in the right direction
My plan is to get some 2 way shackles which you can unlock when 4x4 so they can give you alot more wheel drop.[/u]

oooooh... are they road legal in aust??

If you're going to the trouble of pulling spring packs apart and want to save some $$$$, then do what I did.....

I went to a "Pick and Pay" wrecker and pulled the rear springs off an old HZ or HQ Holden ute. I ended up only using one additional leaf per side and got about 1 1/2" lift from that. Total cost: $26.00.

With my extended shackles, my rear end works nicely....flexes better than alot of aftermarket setups costing $$$$$$s.

Mine is a Widetrack, and yes the additional leaf is about 5mm narrower than the main, but in practice isn't really noticable. NOBODY has ever noticed it unless I pointed it out to them.

You could do exactly the same on a Narrowtrack.

Tzi wrote:oooooh... are they road legal in aust??

who really cares if it's legal. I'm know regular extended shackles are but these ones are able to lock in for standard and release when 4x4. The link is somewhere on this sight can't remember where.

My Dobinsons are OK with one leaf removed and the standard Daihatsu over load leaf fitted (in place of their railway track overload). It's still a firm ride, but not unacceptably so. Only problem is I've lost most of the lift....

I haven't had it offroad recently, but I imagine the wheel travel will still be reduced. Standard Dobinsons were shocking and didn't flex at all!

I've been thinking about removing one leaf as well.
Anyway here's the link for shackles www.superiorengineering.com.au

TZI: you want someone to say get these springs? I will !

Go and get yourself a set of Toughdog rear leafs and a set of matching shocks. I was going to buy a set in the next few weeks but I'll let you get them first and give me an idea on how stiff they are

Opposite Lock in Bris sell em, they're supposed to be no stiffer then stock, softer if anything the guy said. But hey its a salesman

Cheers
Brad

I went from the single parabolic leaf with an extended shackle to the dough dos 35mm lifted h/d five pack and nitrocharger shocks. I didnt do torsions as I didnt see the value in it.

The ride was much stiffer but I didnt get seasick driving and I no longer bottomed out on speedbumps in the burbs. The car handled much better. The extended shackles make the ride softer than the standards as they increase the length of the pivot.

The massive difference was when we packed the car and went camping, it no longer sat on the bumpstops and dragged its ass over rocks.

In some states extended shackles may be a no-no.

Croz wrote:In some states extended shackles may be a no-no.

ALL states! IIRC there's a bit in ADR's about it.