^^What he said. There are very few kits available suspension wise. You kind of have to live with it or mod the hell out of it
| auszookers.com https://auszookers.com/forum/ |
|
| 98' SJ80 Sierra coil suspension help and theories. https://auszookers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=32756 |
Page 1 of 1 |
| Author: | Howzit_Zook [ Sun May 20, 2012 8:47 pm ] |
| Post subject: | 98' SJ80 Sierra coil suspension help and theories. |
Hey guys At the moment I got the Ultima 40mm suspension lift kit in my 98' SJ80 Sierra (bought it that way). I was wondering what are your guys theories on some good Coily suspension because this Ultima kit is stiff and quite shocking at off road performance. It's hard and I pick wheels on the most stupid situations. Be happy to hear the feedback. |
|
| Author: | Gwagensteve [ Mon May 21, 2012 6:49 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: 98' SJ80 Sierra coil suspension help and theories. |
I have no specific experience with the Ultima kit, but what you describe is unsurprising. Firstly, (and I'm sure you've already discovered this through searching) the coil sierra suspension design is horribly compromised, particularly the "coil over" front strut thingy. There's only so much you can do with the limitations the poor cleaner that Suzuki elevated to the position of head suspension guru designed into that front end. Secondly, you bought a "lift kit". Lift kits generally have to run stiffer springs than the original fitment*(see note below). Stiff springs = less flex. The front end of coil sierras has excessive roll stiffness compared to the back. That will mean the front will refuse to flex, especially when climbing. It's not really possible to improve flex over stock in a coil sierra front suspension without fabrication, however, right now you probably somewhat less than stock flex. Are you unhappy with the amount of flex your kit has, or are you unhappy with the flex the car had stock? You might be able to fix the first problem, but you can't really fix the second problem without (non reversable) fabrication work. I'm going to move into the "theories" area now. I don't know if you fitted the kit yourself. If so I'd start pulling some things out and doing some measuring. Firstly, how much longer than stock are the Ultima struts/shocks? Can the car reach the bumpstop with the springs removed? It's become clear that some unscrupulous (or retarded) suspension manufacturers allow the coil springs to bottom out before the car can reach the bumpstops, and by doing this, they can run longer shocks than could normally fit in the car to preserve stock wheel travel with a suspension lift *ahem* tough dog and calmini *ahem* You need to know that the Ultima products are long short enough fully compressed to allow the car to settle onto the bumpstops. If they aren't, (the shocks bottom out before the car is on the bumpstops) Then you need to add bumpstop spacing to make up the difference in length between the stock shock and the Ultima shocks. This is (sort of) a good thing, because it means you can run a coil spacer the length of your bumpstop extensions, and therefore you can put your stock springs back in and get stock ride quality with a small lift. It might not be the full 40mm, but it will ride as per stock, allowing for stiffer shocks the Ultima kit undoubtedly has. There's really precious little help available otherwise unless you are willing to substantially (and expensively) modify the car. The stock suspension was designed for 5" front and 6" rear travel. Adding to that isn't really possible because of the constraints of the suzuki chassis design. * Often, lift springs are actually shorter than factory springs. This is because it's often not possible to run a longer spring in the room provided by the manufacturer. You'd think t hat to run 40mm of lift, you'd make a coil spring 40mm longer. To do that and retain the stock rate, the spring requires more turns of wire to achieve that extra height. When you compress the spring to flex up off road, there's not always room for those extra coils, so the suspension will bind. Also, the #1 complaint of owners who buy a "lift kit" is the height wasn't what was advertised. To avoid this, spring makers add rate to ensure the car will hold the height required. The end result is a short, stiff spring when what you'd really want for travel and flex is a long, soft spring. It's part of the reason why it's hard to get more travel than the manufacturer designed into the car without lots of custom work. Steve. |
|
| Author: | Rusho [ Mon May 21, 2012 7:20 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: 98' SJ80 Sierra coil suspension help and theories. |
^^What he said. There are very few kits available suspension wise. You kind of have to live with it or mod the hell out of it
|
|
| Author: | Howzit_Zook [ Mon May 21, 2012 8:51 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: 98' SJ80 Sierra coil suspension help and theories. |
Ah thanks again guys for the help. It makes sense now why I don't get the travel flex I need and I'd thought I'd gone wrong somewhere... |
|
| Author: | coily96 [ Tue May 22, 2012 4:19 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: 98' SJ80 Sierra coil suspension help and theories. |
Is your sway bar still on? |
|
| Page 1 of 1 | All times are UTC + 9:30 hours |
| Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group https://www.phpbb.com/ |
|