[steve-0]

Hey Zookers! Got a few questions to keep you busy

So I've been on the couch since the last April Glasshouse trip due to an severe ACL injury. Whilst going insane watching every episode of American shopper on telly i've been researching and thinking up ways to get my coily flexing like Arnie in a quest to get it to a subtle but highly modified weekend truck.

1. I want to chuck on some 15x7 steelys with neg. offset. A 235x75x15 would be the tyre of choice, would this work with just a 2" suspension lift? I'm running 215x80x15's on stock wheels and theres a hell of alot of room in there... What size and tyre would you recommend for someone that does lots of rock/dry stuff?

2. Rear inverted shocks..Does this just allow a bigger stroke shock with minimal effort? How does it perform over the extended shock mount path?

3. The shocks in my car are 11"-16". Say if my car sits normally with a 14" shock eye to eye measurement. If i put in a 13"-21" shock and extend the bump stops, would this be beneficial or would the loss in up travel outweigh the extra down travel?

4. How would i go about getting extra travel in the front? would extra rear travel be usable on the rocks if the front was limited?

5. I need some bar work done, Tube front+rear bar, Roll bar and sliders. Maybe a rear inverted shock mount. Does anyone know of somewhere i can go to get this done? I'd love to do it myself but welding gear and practice would be pretty expensive

6. Now probably the must bugging question.. Why are Vitaras popular? Besides the softer ride, added power and newer model. Big tyres and loud pedal make fun times or is there something im missing?

Thanks!!

Don't be jealous...No coily hatin'

I've searched ALOT of sierra builds but links to websites that show/explain what i'm talking about would be great.

Steve.

[Rusho]

http://www.auszookers.com/index.php?nam ... ht=trogdor

This is all that needs to be said

[atari4x4]

x 2 saam's coily was cutting edge deadly.

[steve-0]

Wow thanks Rusho! This picture above is the one i saw on Google that Completely sold me on a sierra.

That is exactly how i want mine to look but with very minimal cage work. That front bar is so sexy.. TJ looking rear roll bar is also very nice.

Some good front suspension work ideas in there! God i wish i could weld...

[bigrig91]

Hey mate, you hurt yourself on that deadly treadly.?? I'm at the stage of getting a wt front diff, rebuilding it and sticking it under my coily with some new front suspension work. Hardest part is control arms at this stage!

[steve-0]

Yeh man at a Downhill race at Beerburrum the weekend after we all went up there, Stupid mistake = big injury. A list of injuries inside the knee with a torn calf muscle and dvt to make it complicated. Sucks balls, And im not even a footballer! Theres a Silver lining though, my money (when i can work) and creativity will go towards the sierra and not on my bikes for awhile.

Control arms = These? bit pricey but look nice..Unless im confusing control arms for something else? http://72.34.32.141/~snakerac/product_i ... 19eedc7b05

Might spend abit of time under the car this weekend and draw up some designs. I'll post em up when there done.

[Rusho]

bigrig91 wrote:

Hey mate, you hurt yourself on that deadly treadly.?? I'm at the stage of getting a wt front diff, rebuilding it and sticking it under my coily with some new front suspension work. Hardest part is control arms at this stage!

I thought you were selling you big girl!!! Make control arms, problem
solvered.

[Reubs]

steve-0 wrote:

1. I want to chuck on some 15x7 steelys with neg. offset. A 235x75x15 would be the tyre of choice, would this work with just a 2" suspension lift? I'm running 215x80x15's on stock wheels and theres a hell of alot of room in there... What size and tyre would you recommend for someone that does lots of rock/dry stuff?
Any 235/75R15 whould fit with 2" lift.

2. Rear inverted shocks..Does this just allow a bigger stroke shock with minimal effort? How does it perform over the extended shock mount path?

3. The shocks in my car are 11"-16". Say if my car sits normally with a 14" shock eye to eye measurement. If i put in a 13"-21" shock and extend the bump stops, would this be beneficial or would the loss in up travel outweigh the extra down travel?
Be careful with adding shocks too long without longer springs - the only thing stopping the springs from dropping out at full travel is the shocks.

4. How would i go about getting extra travel in the front? would extra rear travel be usable on the rocks if the front was limited?
Get some custom struts made.

5. I need some bar work done, Tube front+rear bar, Roll bar and sliders. Maybe a rear inverted shock mount. Does anyone know of somewhere i can go to get this done? I'd love to do it myself but welding gear and practice would be pretty expensive
PM Daisy...

6. Now probably the must bugging question.. Why are Vitaras popular? Besides the softer ride, added power and newer model. Big tyres and loud pedal make fun times or is there something im missing?
Vits are nice, but can't compare to nice Sierras IMO

[steve-0]

Thanks Reubs, yeh i understand number 3. my mate has a Defender and at the moment the rear springs on flex are atleast 2 foot from there seats

Just read the article on Murrays SJ80 in 4WD Custom guide #27. Very nice! Bit more of the approach im after..stock parts modified to give big flex.

Bigger front shocks and dropped radius arms for the front, 4-link rear with the same shock mounts and turbo'd the original motor! cool.

[brindog]

steve-0 wrote:

Yeh man at a Downhill race at Beerburrum the weekend after we all went up there, Stupid mistake = big injury.

Where abouts did you do that ? was it on the step down ?

[steve-0]

Yeh it was on the step down at the start. I hit it first time all day long the weekend before hand but the mud tripped me up and i landed wrong. Were you there?

[brindog]

yeah I was, I raced expert, Didn't go any good though, think 14th

At illinbah I'll race elite. What do you race ?

[steve-0]

I was going to race Sport (I'm 19). My mates thought i was sandbagging hardcore tho but it was my first real DH race, Raced XC for 5 years and my first year taking DH seriously and this... Fingers crossed i can spectate Illinbah.

[Ridge]

what have you done to your car?

i run the ultima suspension lift and a 2" body lift on 235x75 r15 treps on 15x8 -24mm rims, i have room for 31s with some guard bashing. You dont need flex if you have a locker and gears

this is a poser shot of mine, i think i have a little more to go.



you definitely want to reinforce your rear radial arm mounts on the diff and the strut towers in the front.

[bigrig91]

NIce hardtop ridge, have you done any castor bushes in front arms??? Does your coily track straight on a bumpy road??

[steve-0]

Hey ridge, You coily is actually what i based my first set of mods on, turns out if you google coilys yours pops up alot!

I have the ultima lift kit in it. I doubt my car saw any offroad at all before i bought it and all underneath is perfect but i'll look into getting my mounts strengthened if i take it to a fab shop.

I don't need any flex really as i'm just starting out but i'm heaps bored and i've been thinking about future plans.

[ZookiMonsta]

This is my coily and a poser pic I took out at Ripley one day.


Im running the Ultima 40mm kit, but I have used a Jimny coil
on the drivers side to stop the sierra lean and i've used
Jimny 80mm lifted rear Tough Dog shocks while using the Jimny coil seat
as a spacer in the rear. The front is the standard 40mm lift but I've put in a
20mm coil spacer and spaced the strut down 20mm to suit & it flexes
heaps good.

[ZookiMonsta]

& I still had 30mm more to go in the rear.

[Ridge]

bigrig91 wrote:

NIce hardtop ridge, have you done any castor bushes in front arms??? Does your coily track straight on a bumpy road??

no i haven't done anything with castor, i have not had any problems. It handles as good as a swb can on bumpy roads. I do have a steering dampener to put on when i make a mount for it.

[steve-0]

zookimonsta How much longer fully compressed do you think they are from the ultima setup? Im guessing no mods needed to put them in but the coil side of things?

Has anyone ever bought/used the snake racing dropped radius arms? i'm thinking there worth while if they are less stressful on the diff mounts with more flex (just for rear).

[Rusho]

Sierra owners buy shit!!! Way to expensive for my liking

[Ridge]

this is what i did with reinforcing the rear diff mounts



more pics in the link
http://www.auszookers.com/index.php?nam ... ic&t=10472

and for the front i added a few washers like this



there is one on top of the original curved bush cover.
an extra one that you can just see at the bottom of the bush
and another one inside the strut tower.

I had the strut pull through one of the original washers into the bush. it was a huge PITA to get off, i had to chisel the washer off and cut the bush off to undo the nuts I was lucky that it did not pull through the tower

[steve-0]

Rusho81 wrote:

Sierra owners buy shit!!! Way to expensive for my liking

Haha yeh pretty bad just going out and buying parts but i can't weld and i want dropped radius arms. I think i might make a list of exactly what i need done to my coily weld wise and just go to someone with a welder and tell 'em to go nuts.

[jonno_racing]

this is mine.

2inch bl and 2inch susupention

31's and they dont rub

i also have 35mm front coil spacers i havent got around to putting on yet! will level it out.






why do u want to drop your radius arms? mine is well tall enough to run 31;s and drives a treet.

if i u want it to drive nice.. run polly bushes in the rear

imo flex is very overated! i love my coily i have spent lots of money getting it perfect! (for me anyways)

[ZookiMonsta]

steve-0 wrote:

zookimonsta How much longer fully compressed do you think they are from the ultima setup? Im guessing no mods needed to put them in but the coil side of things?

Has anyone ever bought/used the snake racing dropped radius arms? i'm thinking there worth while if they are less stressful on the diff mounts with more flex (just for rear).

Umm, they're around 50mm longer closed, I've extended my rear bumpstops
60mm, and it hasn't bottomed out since I changed the coils. If you want drop
arms, talk to Chris from Brewski Built. He's doing a set of front arms for me
that are slightly longer and to bring castor back to standard. They're only
$550 for the pair, the snake ones are $1100

[Trojan]

jonno_racing wrote:

if i u want it to drive nice.. run polly bushes in the rear

This is something i would not recommend if you're one to push the suspension to full travel all the time, and especially giving it some power whilst at full travel.

Any additional stiffness in the poly bushes is going to be transferred directly into the radius arms to give that extra bit of twist. Rubber will relieve some of that tension. The arms aren't the strongest things in the world.

Since pissing the poly bushes off, i am yet to break a front arm or bend a rear. Which was a regular occurance for me. Even my right rear arm which i have bent and straightened several times has yet to bend again. Considering how far i have bent it at times and then bent it back straight, the metal in it can't be anywhere close to full strength anymore. That is ignoring the time i hit a covered hole in the grass pretty hard, which was enough to lift me rear wheels off the ground and spin me 180 degrees on the spot, but that was going to break something regardless.

[steve-0]

With the ultima kit in off ebay the rear shocks sit normally at 14.5" eye to eye. Shock mounts at the top can only move about 2" forward probably giving like 15" E2E. To invert my shocks it'd take alot of effort as there seems to be quite alot in the way. When i can drive i'll flex it up and i'll be able to have a better look at what can be done to make it smoother. At the moment my control arms are perfectly level which is i'm guessing pretty good.

Found a few different people willing to weld for me if i need it so thats handy. This thread also has alot of great info too!