[Choppy]

hey guys i got a 2" suspension lift on my sierra which is insanely stiff, can hardly rock my car side to side (im pretty sure the lift is only a couple of yrs old and have no idea of the brand) is this normal? got a mate whos got a 2" lift on his 92 which is older and its heaps softer. im assuming it'll get softer in time but is there anything i can do in the mean time

1. different shackels (still stock length)??
2. diferent bushes??
3. remove a leaf?? is this legal in QLD ??

my articulation is pretty limited as u can see in the pic below my rear is off the ground and this is with weight(campin gear in the back)

cheers

[Zook_Fan]

take the shocks off and see if you can move the car better. it may be that your shocks have siezed. secondly yes you can take a leaf out of the suspension pack which is not illegal and will lower the roll stiffness of the springs allowing more flexability. Different bushes will make a difference depending on what you already have in there. Keep the stock shackles for sure. If you go longer it will have even worse characteristics.

[BUZOOKA]

it could be a ebay brand which r known to be extremly stiff but removal of a leaf may make it softer and flex better

[Choppy]

thanks guys, yeah im trying to keep it all legal as its my daily and im only young, what bushes would u suggest?? and ill try and test the shocks, is the flex shown above weak for a 2" lift cause my mates (SI3RR4) articulates the same and its stock but there almost inverted from age lol.

[89_tintop]

rubber busher are the best for softness.. only prob is they tend to wear quicker then nolathane.

the best thing i ever did was remove the load spring.. but that is just my opinion.. softened the ride up and lowered the car a tad aswell..

[Choppy]

yeah i wish i could but i dont wanna run the risk with the popo, still on my p's for like 3 months . does anyone on here do bushes swear ive seen a thread somewhere....

[BlueSuzy]

Removing leafs will not stand out.. Just like replacing your bushes.

Firstly, How many leafs in the packs front and back do you have?

[Zook_Fan]

the pic you have doesnt really show the flex well. what is the other side doing? is the front diff flat or is the car crossed up? This is all mine could do with a basic 2 inch suspension lift, it wasnt a kit though all the components were sourced individually:



the car does have a body lift as well but that does not contribute to flex. It is was spinning in 2 wheel drive but drove out of it in 4x4 so the front still had some flex to go.

[Choppy]

5 rear , 4 front, the photo is from the other side of the car yeah seems similar to urs zook_fan. in reagrds to removing leafs bluesuzy i suppose ur right popo have no idea most of time any way like QDT

[89_tintop]

QDT have no idea either..... the guy you are chasing for your bushes is Bruce..

http://www.auszookers.com/index.php?nam ... e=post&u=6

thats how you can pm him

[Choppy]

cheers 89_tintop, thanks eveyone
not riducuioulsy worried bout it was just wondering if there was something simple i could do to make it better, ill probably chek my shockies 1st then go from there.

[jimbo_jones]

I'd say taking a leaf out will make better

[Zook_Fan]

yes take a leaf out. that was the next thing that i was going to do to mine. with the body lift it didnt need the hieght it had and there is no legal issues with removing springs. it is the same as swapping a coil spring for a lighter load rated one. 100% legal.

[boost=money]

take a leaf out i had 5 in the rear and 4 in the front now i have 3 all round so much better softer and flexs so much more, do the hilux and commodore shocks to, check my topics for pics

[BlueSuzy]

leaf out x4.

I ran rubber bushes, but they chewed out in 6 mths.. I now run poly(not bruces)..With not much different flex. Rides abit harder though.

[2stroker]

Pulling a leaf or two will not loose you any points or get you defected. If you look at the different aftermarket springs you will see different numbers of leaves used in different brands.

Your downward travel may be getting limited by your shockies, lots of people fit 2" springs but do not fit longershockies. Sit your car on level ground, undo the bottom of the shocks and pull them off the pin, if it is gas it will extend out by itself if not pull it out as far as it will go. This will show you how much flex downward your shock will allow.

Be carefull not to fit shockies that are too long, the next thing to watch is when the diff moves all the way up to the bump stop, you need the diff to hit the bump stop before the schock bottoms out or it will destroy the shock.

A lot of people extend the bump stop so that the shock does not bottom out, this will do the trick but is really a compromise and not the correct way to set it up. The best way is to move the top shock mount upwards so that you do not bottom out at the top.

Idealy the limiting factor at the top should be the original bump stop and the limiting factor at the bottom should be the spring running out of flex.

[Choppy]

thanks guys, the shocks on the car are extended but ill definately be chceking they havent seized and the flexibilty as soon as im not working. once gain cheers everyone.

[Choppy]

problem solved... i dont know why i didnt think of it im such an idiot. the shocks on the car were ridiculously freakin big which i noticed when purchasing the car (meant for like a patrol or cruiser) i have no idea why the previous owner had them on. so i changed them today with the commo/hiace combo, rides MUCH better and flexs better, very happy and it was a cheap solution !

any one wanna buy some 2" extended shocks??

if anyone out there wants to know the shocks are gabriel part no. 81147 and 81340 (which i found on another thread)

[steak_knife]

I'd still take a leaf out.

Those old one's are huge..

[Choppy]

steknig wrote:

I'd still take a leaf out.

Those old one's are huge..

there absurd. yeah its still a lil rough but i guess thats a sierra for ya. atm fairly happy but ill see how i go in the future and perhaps remove a leaf.

[steak_knife]

Choppy wrote:

steknig wrote:

I'd still take a leaf out.

Those old one's are huge..

there absurd. yeah its still a lil rough but i guess thats a sierra for ya. atm fairly happy but ill see how i go in the future and perhaps remove a leaf.

You won't regret it!!

If you do put it back in.

[Choppy]

steknig wrote:

Choppy wrote:

steknig wrote:

I'd still take a leaf out.

Those old one's are huge..

there absurd. yeah its still a lil rough but i guess thats a sierra for ya. atm fairly happy but ill see how i go in the future and perhaps remove a leaf.

You won't regret it!! P

If you do put it back in. roll

so the problem isnt really solved... its heaps better then it was however i went for a quik test run with SI3RR4 the other day on the powerlines track on the way to GH and my car still piks up wheels all over the place due to the stiff springs. im definatly thinking about removing a leaf on the rear now. ive searched AZ's and figured out that most people remove the small fat load bearing leaf, however my question is, if i still some times cart people around in the back and fill it full of camping shit (large esky, tent poles, large tarp, tent, cooking gear and cooker, table, 20l water etc.) a couple of times a year is this the best leaf to remove or perhpas the 2nd or third from the bottom?? (i have 5 in the rear). also i was wondering if any 1 had a thread on removing leafs with pictures (id did search).
cheers choppy

[Scrawny]

Removing load bearing leaf (fat bottom one) will get you the best flex. But it probably won't be any good with weight in the back. If you plan on doing a trip with camping gear you could always just stick them back in for the weekend. Once you have done it once it won't take too long.

[Choppy]

ScrawnC wrote:

Removing load bearing leaf (fat bottom one) will get you the best flex. But it probably won't be any good with weight in the back. If you plan on doing a trip with camping gear you could always just stick them back in for the weekend. Once you have done it once it won't take too long.

thanks mate, is there any way i can do it without having to take them in and out all the time for trips?? (perhaps a trialer ) by taking out the 2nd bottom leaf would i still increase ride comfort and flexibilty noticably??

[BlueSuzy]

Remove 1 very bottom leaf in each pack, in the front
Remove the 2 very bottoms leafs, in each pack, in the rear

The 2" springs will still be stiffer then stock even with those leafs removed. So you should not have a problem with just camping gear/or people.

Transporting a mig welder with gas, long distance may be a different story.

[Choppy]

hey guys ive currently removed the 2nd bottom leaf out of the rear and there is noticable difference. ill definatly be doing the front as soon as i get time and even mayb remove the load bearing from the rear. my packs have two sets of clamps front and rear on all packs. there completely tight and dont allow the leafs to move at all. ive currently bent the rears out to allow movement on all packs and was wondering whether i should bend the front and/or remove the rears completely? i realise i have to keep at least one set reasonably tight to make sure the leafs dont move out of place.
cheers choppy and thanks for all the help.

[Choppy]

just wondering whats the go with removing the sway bar? i realise it allows more articulation and movement but is it intellgent to remove it if i use my sierra as a daily driver??

thanks blue suzy, ive curently removed one from all packs (2nd from bottom on rears) but may yet remove the load bearing from the rear as u suggested.

[BlueSuzy]

The swaybar is usually the very 1st mod! It goes in your spares pile. Take it off!

The front can move more offroad. Handles same onroad.

The rear thick flat leaf. That has to go as well.

[Choppy]

BlueSuzy wrote:

The swaybar is usually the very 1st mod! It goes in your spares pile. Take it off!

The front can move more offroad. Handles same onroad.

The rear thick flat leaf. That has to go as well.

haha thanks bluesuzy will do. yeah im a bit over screwin around takin the leafs out atm. everything on my car is oddly sized and was a bit of a teadious task. but i will be definately be doing it when i get motivated. in the mean time that sway bar will be coming off.
excuse my ignorance but inregards to the sway bar, if it handles the same on road with it off, why is it on there to start with ? ...

and by the way your beast is awesome.

[MrRocky]

removing swaybar is illegal and it will make your car lean to the drivers side sooner rather than later as all sierra's do.
That said it will flex better and handle the same.