[squirezook]

as per my build thread am working on ruf and am a bit confused about the rear spring to use . here is some pic's

The long wheel base must have different rear springs or the aftermarket ones in mine are different.
A.. are the rear out of swb wt they are stuffed so I can get them reset ( one possibility)
B.. are aftermarket high lift rears out of my drover Lwb. They are the same length as the swb wt when you stand them side by side as in the pic. Just more lift. ( if I use them I need new rears also centre bolt is 45ml forward as opposed to 25ml on the wt ones
C.. are the front spring High lift out of drover. (rock hard Not an option)
Another pic showing height You can just see wt one at the back


With the load off the back axle I undid the tail shaft from the handbrake assembly and noticed I could not move the shaft back far enough to clear the bolts on brake drum 15mm. So not much movement in the spline.
Question
Is this normal or do you think the diff has been moved foward??
With the load off axle I reckon there should be more spline.
Question
Are lwb spring different compared to swb and in what way??
Question
How far can I move the front diff forward without having hassles with steering??

[31zook]

I redrilled the front diff 20mm and the steering links will sit parallel a ruf it about 25mm i think and the link's touch...

[squirezook]

31zook wrote:

I redrilled the front diff 20mm and the steering links will sit parallel a ruf it about 25mm i think and the link's touch...

Ok thanks I shall work on 20mm forward for the diff

[alex]

i have a ruf, when i did it i worked out how far the diff is moving forward so i could still run rear springs up front and the steering arms not touching

here is my build: http://www.auszookers.com/index.php?nam ... pic&t=4269

[squirezook]

alex wrote:

i have a ruf, when i did it i worked out how far the diff is moving forward so i could still run rear springs up front and the steering arms not touching

here is my build: http://www.auszookers.com/index.php?nam ... pic&t=4269

Yep had a look at your build Good job. You moved the front hangers 35mm and turned the rear around.. so I am guessing the spring were 65mm longer so that leaves 30mm. Is that how much the rear moved back How much did the spring move forward??

[foolsp33d]

squirezook wrote:

you got weird lookin feet

[zookster666]

a full ruf is a far better option for both w/t and narrow track but on a wide track the fixed spring hanger can be redrilled 20mm back where as narrow track the fixed hanger has a smaller surface area

[squirezook]

foolsp33d Set me self up for that one

zookster666 wrote:

a full ruf is a far better option for both w/t and narrow track but on a wide track the fixed spring hanger can be redrilled 20mm back where as narrow track the fixed hanger has a smaller surface area

I understand the difference. Full ruf you move the steering box forward and the front mount forward. I don't know why you don't just cut the chassis as per the following pic and place a sleeve inside and add 60 mm to it. This will move the box and the mounts. Then you only have to move the body mounts back 60mm

[Hybrid]

"Full RUF" is generally thought of as cutting the chassis and extending it just like you said, not just shifting the box and mount forward. The reason people don't do this is because engineers get a bit narky when you start cutting chassis' up. Not that they'd be anymore pleased if they saw our half ruf mount redrills. It's a lot easier to reverse a half ruf to go back to stock though.

[2stroker]

This has been said before but I will say it again, there is no such thing as a half rear up front, or a full rear up front the terminoligy is stupid and confuses the issue, you either put rear springs in the front or you don’t.

There are many ways to do the conversion and how you do that is up to the individual. The greatest benefit from the conversion is having longer leaves in the front which improves the ride and articulation.

Leaving the rear spring hangers in the original position and gaining 30-40mm in wheel base makes negligible difference to the ability of the vehicle it has benefits like moving large tyres away from the firewall but also creates problems (which can be overcome) like bringing steering arms too close together, putting side load on shockies, misaligning bumpstops and large tyres now fouling on head light buckets.

The other method is to try to leave the diff in as close to original position as possible by moving the rear mount back and the front mount forward, this keeps the diff in the same original position and eliminates the steering, shockie and bumpstop problems but you lose the benefit of tyre clearance.

In my opinion lengthening the wheel base by 30-40mm does not even come into the equation, unless you are changing it by 200mm or more you will not notice a difference, to gain a measurable difference Suzuki in their wisdom lengthened their long wheel base version by 350mm.

I have done the conversion a number of times and used both methods, in Alex's build (I gave the information to Alex prior to his conversion) he reversed the rear hanger, this still moved the diff forward so firewall clearance is helped but not too far forward so as to affect steering arms, he also used my Hilux shock tower method so was able to reposition to suit the new diff position and set up for longer shockies. Although you can achieve this other ways in my opinion redrilling the mount is poor practice and redrilling the locating hole on the housing moves the clamping area on the spring effectively shortening one side of the spring and making it less effective.

One of the worst parts of the RUF conversion is moving the rear mount, it is a pain to cut off and re weld because you are under the car doing it. My latest method (not done yet) will be to leave the rear hangers in their original position, use Hilux towers and a Jimny steering box. The Jimny box has a smaller steering arm (probably for clearance of the panhard rod) so the diff can come forward without having the problem with the steering arms binding.

[Taff]

2stroker wrote:

Suzuki in their wisdom lengthened their long wheel base version by 835mm.

where can i buy this super lwb?

[squirezook]

X2 with 2stroker I read as much as I could find before deciding to go ahead with ruf and alex's build was a good start. He didn't state how much the rear mounting hole went back by turning the mount around and I have a nt so I went with 35mm forward for the front mount the centre bolt is forward on the spring about 25mm as I can only move the diff 20mm forward without the steering hitting I still have to do something with the rear mount. Will pick up the rebuilt spring in half an hour so will load em up and have a look see..
then probably move the rear mount back 10mm?
And if I could find a Jimmy box I would have gone that way.

[atari4x4]

2stroker wrote:

in Alex's build (I gave the information to Alex prior to his conversion) he reversed the rear hanger, this still moved the diff forward so firewall clearance is helped but not too far forward so as to affect steering arms, he also used my Hilux shock tower method so was able to reposition to suit the new diff position and set up for longer shockies.

also know as the stealth RUF

that would have to be one of the neatest RUF set ups around!

[2stroker]

Taff wrote:

2stroker wrote:

Suzuki in their wisdom lengthened their long wheel base version by 835mm.

where can i buy this super lwb?

Ha ha... sorry Taff, fixed it, I was typing too fast for my brain, they added 350mm, yeah they didn't make a stretched limo version did they.

[squirezook]

picked up the springs. Stan is the man $100 Reset up 70 mm added an extra leaf which I provided. Here is a pic loaded up - bar and sc.

Am happy with that . no room for moving the rear back Oh well just have to re drill the plates back 10mm (probably have to weld up original holes)

[alex]

squirezook wrote:

alex wrote:

i have a ruf, when i did it i worked out how far the diff is moving forward so i could still run rear springs up front and the steering arms not touching

here is my build: http://www.auszookers.com/index.php?nam ... pic&t=4269

Yep had a look at your build Good job. You moved the front hangers 35mm and turned the rear around.. so I am guessing the spring were 65mm longer so that leaves 30mm. Is that how much the rear moved back How much did the spring move forward??

the diff moved forward approx 20mm, front mount is 35mm, rear spring mount was rotated so how ever far that is

[alex]

atari4x4 wrote:

also know as the stealth RUF

that would have to be one of the neatest RUF set ups around!

thanks atari



another thanks to 2stroker with his awsome info

[squirezook]

Yep thanks to all who replied have Picked up a Jimmy steering box with shorter pitman arm so I think that is about it. Just got to get it back on the road and see.. all trial an error ... Hopefully not too much error

[v.w.dave]

If you are SPOA you will not have the steering arm problems.
I have RUF. I have 3" drop pit arm, 2"lift srpings in the rear with standerd shackles up front I have a nere new set of factory rear springs with 2.5" extended shackles. I drilled my hole 22mm back and 15mm from the top (from the rail down) With that combination my zook has flex for days and rides flat not nose down like most RUF. All up my axil moved around 30mm forward. I still run spua tierod that touches the spring (my SPOA steering is almost here )