[abclarke]

shep wrote:

It is easier to hang shit on someOne then to help.

Sadly AZ is starting to go the way of outer limits

Welcome to the internet

[shep]

abclarke wrote:

shep wrote:

It is easier to hang shit on someOne then to help.

Sadly AZ is starting to go the way of outer limits

Welcome to the internet

have a look at the suzuki section of outers, thats the future for AZ if people keep being dickheads.

[Aaron]

hey mate i didnt go to the effort of reading the first page. The first few comments were why you shouldnt have done it, so to answer your question. you will have to unbolt all the shocks( the process for that should be simple) and then maybe a stack of spare tyres or car ramps drive up fowards untill your car has no travel left. this will probably be due to brake lines being to short. you can get them here. http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/index.ph ... lines.html depeding on your model you will need either 3 or 4 line kit, you will be able to tell when your under the back. now get your tape measure out and measure between the top shock mount and the one at the bottom of your diff on the side that has flexed down. that gives you open length, repeat for the other side. now turn her around undo rear shock bolts and check for what brake lines you need. reverse her up and repeat measureing proccess. once you have your open and closed measurements for front and back you can pick the shock best suited to you. http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/index.ph ... hocks.html i hope this has helped. ill probably get flamed for being wrong now.

[abclarke]

shep wrote:

abclarke wrote:

shep wrote:

It is easier to hang shit on someOne then to help.

Sadly AZ is starting to go the way of outer limits

Welcome to the internet

have a look at the suzuki section of outers, thats the future for AZ if people keep being dickheads.

From the impression ive got from here, ive never wanted to spend any time over there lol.

[Virt]

Ok, a few points before we continue:
I have a 5 inch suspension lift, I am looking for shocks to match.
This is not a Calmini kit.
Trailgear rear and custom front springs.
I am currently running no shocks at all (speedhumps are fun!)
Brake lines are extended.

I have since tried to flex the car up whilst wheeling but I cant seem to get much flex out of it? Seems that there is not enough weight in the car to bring the wheels to the ground, springs too hard? Kinda running into a second issue here now, lol.

Help so far is much appreciated, thanks

[Red89]

So you are running the Trailgear 3 inch springs in the back with 2 inch extended shackles ? If you are this would only give you 4 inches of lift, and yes the springs are too stiff to do a lot of flexing..

[Virt]

I did do before and after measurements but I'm sure my old springs have sagged so you may very well be correct.
Is there a way to loosen up the springs?

[JrZook]

Virt wrote:

Ok, a few points before we continue:
I have a 5 inch suspension lift, I am looking for shocks to match.
This is not a Calmini kit.
Trailgear rear and custom front springs.
I am currently running no shocks at all (speedhumps are fun!)
Brake lines are extended.

I have since tried to flex the car up whilst wheeling but I cant seem to get much flex out of it? Seems that there is not enough weight in the car to bring the wheels to the ground, springs too hard? Kinda running into a second issue here now, lol.

Help so far is much appreciated, thanks

Anypics of your setup? Sounds like you need to remove a few leafs mate to soften everything up.

[abclarke]

Haha i wanna see some pics of a 5" spring lifted zook

[Virt]

abclarke wrote:

Haha i wanna see some pics of a 5" spring lifted zook

Read the rest of the thread, I didn't really explain properly in the first post

I will grab some pics tonight.
Also will look into removing leafs, didn't think this was possible till now

[shep]

abclarke wrote:

Haha i wanna see some pics of a 5" spring lifted zook

4" springs with fat zook shackles

[Virt]

Seems legit.

[Gwagensteve]

Virt, as I explained right from the start, to hold significant spring lift with a sierra takes a high spring rate that will equal poor flex and ride, which is why I said what shock you choose will make little difference. Did you have the "custom" front springs made? What requirements did you request?

Removing leaves will improve ride and flex, but it will reduce lift height. Lift height is the least important spring parameter - it doesn't matter how high/low the car sits if it rides badly or doesn't flex.

Do you have bumpstop extensions?
Do you have stock upper shock mounts?
How much compression travel do you have/want?
What is your budget?
what kind of driving do you do?
What size tyre do you run/are planning on running?

The more information you provide, the better your answers will be. This thread is now full of two pages of rubbish, mostly because you started out claiming 5" lift springs (which you don't have) and now you have added some more, scant, information (it's not calmini, custom springs etc) but its pretty hard to recommend something when it's clear you don't even have enough flex to measure shock lengths yet.

Another option is to measure the distance between your upper and lower shock mounts, measure the daylight between your axle and the bumpstop plus one inch, subtract that number from the distance between the shock mounts, and you have your compressed length requirement. This is the only figure that's important - extended length is just a function of the compressed length you require to fit in your mounts.

Steve.

[GRPABT1]

^ what Steve said.

And sometimes a picture says a thousand words, if you cannot get your head around what people require to reccomend things needed for your setup then by looking at pictures they may be able to figure out some of the info themselves. Help us to help you.

[Virt]

Steve, thanks and I agree that I cocked up the OP, indeed causing two pages of crap, I honestly thought this thread might just quietly die off but thanks for keeping it alive and helping me out

I have no major information on the springs themselves, Locktup 4x4 had them made up for me, all I can tell you is that they have 4 leafs, if necessary, I will contact the guy who had them done and ask.
From stock, I have installed the new springs, installed new shackles and installed a front shackle reversal kit, the brake lines have been extended. (no further mods have been carried out)
At the moment, stock wheels, I plan on using 31 or 32 inch tyres (more than likely 31s as 32 might not fit).
Budget wise, I am not in a major hurry to finish the set-up so I don't mind saving up for extra bits/quality parts.
I plan to do about 50/50 on/off road, off-road stuff is mostly rocky hill climbs, I am not looking for something hardcore but sort of mid range I guess.

I jacked one wheel up at a time (front left, rear right) from the lower shock mounts until the opposite wheel came slightly off the ground and measured 'compressed' and 'extended' lengths from shock mount to shock mount, the results I got were:
Front: 54cm extended, 48cm compressed
Rear: 49cm extended, 46cm compressed
These values don't seem right to me but I am new to this game.

Pics as requested (not that helpful, but there nonetheless, can take more if needed.)

Attachment:

1.jpg

Attachment:

2.jpg

Thanks again for your help.

[atari4x4]

zero flex

[Joshyboy26]

Go and drive up on a ramp of something because u wont get as much leverage jacking from there so the values will be out. Then measure and u will get a much truer result

[SierraDan]

For a midrange difficulty of wheeling, that will see a fair bit of road driving some 235's and a two inch lift with some 4.16 transfer gears and an air locker would take you where you want to go and no compromise road manners.

[JrZook]

atari4x4 wrote:

zero flex

No!!

60mm front, 30mm rear. Almost as much as thrusho coiler

Virt as Atardi pointed out that is stuff all suspension movement. Indeed it may be sitting high but that's all the kit has achieved so far out of the box. To get it to work it seems like you will have to lower the spring rate by removing a leaf starting at the bottom. Ideally if you jacked up opposite wheels the diff tube should be very close to or touching the bumpstops on the compressed corners.

Once this occurs then you can actually measure the required lengths of the shocks. If you can get close to the bumpstop upon compression you will have to measure the remaining distance between the diff and bumpstop and subtract that from the compressed shock height. When setting up for compressed length I always take another 25mm for hard bumpstop compression into account when sizing up shocks.

Dan

[Fatzook]

JrZook wrote:

60mm front, 30mm rear. Almost as much as thrusho coiler

You're just pissy cos his coiler will run rings around your leafy junk.

[GRPABT1]

That does not look like a particularly flexy setup, quite bad. I would be removing a leaf from each pack from the very start judging by those pics. As previously mentioned you cannot measure shock length requirements unless you've finished making adjustments to the overall amount of travel (flex). So get it flexing and then suss out the shocks.

Can you show us pics of the leaf spring packs more closely?

[hottuna]

we put Rancho 9000's in our 6 inch SOA conversion. they are angled inwards at the top mounting point (dont know what its called sorry) but like the guys have said you need to measure it at full articulation.

we found the 9000's awesome cause then we could adjust the ride when offroad/loaded up/on road.

regards
Yvonne

[Virt]

Thanks for feedback, I am aware this doesn't flex very much, also aware that using the jack will not show the true amount of flex achievable, I imagine it wouldn't be a huge amount more though compared to the dismal amount I have there, lol.
Lets fix the flex issue first then, I will get some photos of the leafs and close up of the rest of the bits
What are the major drawbacks (if any) of removing leafs (do we say leaves? )?

[GRPABT1]

Drawbacks would be body roll mainly, it won't handle like a race car. It probably will also lose some height but most will agree that's not a bad thing. And obviously load carrying will be affected as it will sag more when loaded up.

Benefits, will be more flex, more comfortable ride, less stress on suspension components overall.

[Virt]

Pics as requested:
Fronts are TrailGear 3 inch:

Attachment:

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20120308_170426.jpg

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20120308_170509.jpg

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20120308_170434.jpg

Rears were made to match the fronts:

Attachment:

20120308_170618.jpg

Attachment:

20120308_170450.jpg

6

[shep]

use those springs with stock shackles in the stock position and i bet you will see a huge improvement.

[Red89]

Red89 wrote:

So you are running the Trailgear 3 inch springs in the back with 2 inch extended shackles ? If you are this would only give you 4 inches of lift, and yes the springs are too stiff to do a lot of flexing..

Looks like Trailgear all round, not sure where the shackle reversal has come from though.

[JrZook]

Fark me that's some serious space between the BS and the diff!! Any idea how thick those leafs are? I'm thinking 7-8mm each!

[GRPABT1]

Omg that shackle angle is shocking! How is you spine?

Remove the lowest leaf or the next one up if you want to keep the clamp thingos attached to the bottom leaf (which you should open up to allow more movement in the pack). Those springs look much much too stiff as a result of the arc needed to provide 3" lift, even my calmini's weren't that bad when new. Run 3 leaves in each pack and I bet it'll be a whole lot better in every way.

[SuziBlu]

GRPABT1 wrote:

Omg that shackle angle is shocking! How is you spine?

Seriously bad shackle angle.