[mcwilly]

just wondering what the best springover kit is? also how hard this conversion is? and things to look out for

[lump_a_charcoal]

Rocky road and Lowrange offroad in the USA do kits...

However talk to an engineer first, I think there is a bloke called Athol up near you somewhere - What is good for the USA isn't necessarily legal here.

[Mike]

bbm and snake racing also do spring over kits

http://www.bbmmotorsports.com.au/sierra_2.html

http://72.34.32.141/~snakerac/product_i ... 8a950f99bd

[mcwilly]

yea athol engineered my astina. thanks for your help

[mike.knew]

mcwilly wrote:

yea athol engineered my astina. thanks for your help

What did you get done to the Astina? My younger brother put a turbo familiar engine in his and it hammered! He could afford to keep it though ... and had to sell - I told him no job and a duped car doesn't mix.

[Brett]

why do you want to go spoa? if it's for the lift wank thing of my car is taller than yours it works but the car ends up very tippy out in the bush! so bad i wont consider it on sierra diffs

i have had a spoa with 31", 33", spua with a ruf/ ome rears on the 31" wheels off my spoa car and a std 2" spring lift.

the spua with a ruf is the best way to go on sierra diffs imoa. it get nice flex, is smoother to drive, very stable on side angles and a hell of a lot less work!

you can fit 31" wheel with no body lift if you do it right and go up to 34" with a body lift on a spua ruf car.

spoa are great if make the diffs as wide or wider then the hight you go up. it's the only way to keep the car stable. so if your going hilux/ cruiser or patrol diffs its the only way to go.

[mcwilly]

oh k no worries i was looking into options etc , finding out how hard and best way to go from here. thinkin just lockers will do me.

the astina has a gtx familia engine in it with a few extras. soon to have full rebuild and gt3076 turbo etc etc...........etc going for close to 300kw atw

[joeblow]

nothing wrong with a well done spring over. 99% of the kits on the market are shit, 99% of the home brew ones i have seen are also shit. playing with suspension to that degree requires good knowlege of how suspension stuff works. for years i have been doing spoa setups for the following reasons- to clear 33's without hacking panels, to gain excellent wheel travel with minimal effort (on suspension components and chassis components), to keep underside of diffs clean, and the use of ONLY standard length shackles. most if not all kits just give you some perches, spacers and brake lines. this is a recipe for a shit handling vehicle. also, don't go welding large pieces of box tubing as perches, its rough and will give you too much hight. i'll give you the run-down of how i do mine.
- widetrack diffs only, if and only if i use tojo stuff it will be coils. tojo and spring over again way too tall for the width your getting, and those silly tojo centres hang down too far.
-perches welded at correct angles, this does not mean point to t/case- big mistake.
-all perches gusseted so they don't warp.
-new bottom of diff located shock mounts front and rear.
-new front upper shock mounts.
- longer shocks chosen for thier correct valving(no foam cell rancho gimmicks)
-new bumpstops and or spacers for propper suspension cycling.
- ome extra leafe in each pack of STANDARD leaves.
- hi steer.
- rear torque rod using rubber bonded bushes.
- longer brakelines.
- sway bar modified to work( they all left the workshop with one of these).
- if 33's were going on 5.1 diff gears fitted also.

it is a heap of work but done right will handle well. the biggest killer is too much weight. all it takes is a few short cuts and it will be shite. there are also a heap of tests we have done between various setups for stabilaty but i might go into detail some other time. at the end of the day the system can work if done right, same applies for coils etc. yes i have seen a lot of spoa conversions that are too tall, but don't use aftermarket springs with them. and lastly another one of my famous sayings- you can build an awesome car....but it only takes the person behind the wheel to make it turn to shit.

i don't normaly do tojos, but here are some examples of what i do. this was a shorty 70 that i put 60 diffs into.


notice how the perch is almost flush with the tube, i could have modded the old tojo u bolt plate but that would have gained too much height. also notice the hi steer arm, all tojo parts with some machining and joe trickery.

front diff with its own torque rod. also note the spring perch cut into the housing.

rear with A frame and sway bar fitted.

new longer shocks and front sway bar mod. all bumpstops also modded.

this thing handled well, even with 36 inch tyres.

[mcwilly]

looks very complicated. I also cant weld so could get expensive for me. I was hoping not to get rid of my springs and just take my 2inch shackles out instead to get my shackle angle back to normal again. Are there any shops in newcastle or sydney that do these conversions

[Rockhopper]

bbm, snake racing, Lukey's 4x4 customs all have workshops that do these types of modifications in and around Sydney. I'm sure the workmanship is fine but I could'nt tell you for sure, as I do all my own work, and have not had to use them, but I have heard good things about them. Don't expect it to be cheap though.

[Trojan]

mcwilly wrote:

Are there any shops in newcastle or sydney that do these conversions

You could go have a chat with JT Engineering at Thornton. Havn't had anything done there myself, but know a few who have and he does some good fab work.

[mcwilly]

oh k sweet. other option is a drop shackle kit from superior engineeering http://www.superiorengineering.com.au/p ... cts_id=819 and leave it spung under.

got my 6.5:1 reduction gears put in the other day with mighty kong mount. gears whine a fair bit. also there's a clunking sound while in low range. has anyone else had this or is the case still gotta be ground out more?

[Trojan]

mcwilly wrote:

oh k sweet. other option is a drop shackle kit from superior engineeering http://www.superiorengineering.com.au/p ... cts_id=819 and leave it spung under.

For that price i'd start playing around with Diff Locks, long before that becomes a consideration. You have the gears, add the lockers and you're going to have a far more capable vehicle then what that will ever do for the same amount of money.

[Rockhopper]

Trojan wrote:

For that price i'd start playing around with Diff Locks, long before that becomes a consideration. You have the gears, add the lockers and you're going to have a far more capable vehicle then what that will ever do for the same amount of money.

This is true. I don't believe there is anything you can do to your suspension, to make it any more capable than a zook with lockers.

[mcwilly]

so air lockers are the way to go if you have the money or are there better options i use it as my daily now so dont really want it locked all the time. also wanna be able to turn it off so i can still try stuff without lockers and only use it when i need it. air or electric?

[Rockhopper]

air lockers are the way to go then. If they are'nt engaged, then it just drives like standard.
Air lockers are going to be my next mod, but with a Sydney mortgage, wife and child to support, might be a way off yet

[mike.knew]

mcwilly wrote:

the astina has a gtx familia engine in it with a few extras. soon to have full rebuild and gt3076 turbo etc etc...........etc going for close to 300kw atw

Two hands on the steering wheel at all times

[mcwilly]

yea im considering air lockers soon. new years present maybe.

yeah the little astina will be a handfull i think

[mcwilly]

So spring over on sierra diff's isn't to unstaible? I'm lookin at 15x8 or 15x10 with big offset

[joeblow]

big offset= unreliabilaty. you will chew out bearings at a serious rate.if more spring overs were done right there would not be a need for such silly offsets.