MQ Patrol Suspension

Pelesino,
The hard part is figuring out exactly which set of leafs your MQ has got, Nissan changed several times, more info would be helpful
Rolande

I had a Fulcrum kit put thru my MK. It cost about $1800 for the springs, shocks, shackles, bushes, u-bolts and fitting. It was too stiff. I removed a leaf from the rear spring pack and lost the swaybar and still didn't have what I considered to be enough articulation. I didn't try extended shackles 'cause I bought a Maverick with coils instead!

Pelesino,
I put a lift kit in my MK back in '87 with Koni shocks, advertising at the time spouted about the change. VERY DISAPOINTED! Didn't really notice any change on the black stuff and only slightly better on the dirt. Keep the $1500 odd dollars for something more worthwhile. If you want, put longer shackels to give you a lift. One guy back then went to the trouble of removing front springs and cutting them to be variable length, (front only), for a slightly better ride. Mind you he did have a 350 cu Chev under the bonnet as well. Lots of trouble but up to you. If you really want to get a better ride, upgrade to a GQ/GU, like driving on air after a shorty MK!
Rolande

I haven't looked into MQ bits for a while now, but you used to be able to buy them off the shelf, we certainly didn't go for 4" shackles back then, usually only 2" which would provide a small lift, but more importantly, greater wheel articulation when the are fully extended, which is their real advantage. I think Mark's 4WD used to make them, worth giving them a try, addresses on the net if you do a search. Remember their are always limitations to leaf springs so mods won't solve all your problems, running taller tyres can help also, we used to run 10R15's but the larger 16" ones popular these days would help. It's a good tough vehicle, don't need to go radical as they go most places as is. Magazines tend to make 6" lifts, 38" tyres look appealing but the downsides often outweigh the advantages.
Hope this helps
rolande

G'day

I have a 84 mk patrol swb. I have made my own custom shackles which must be at least 3" longer and i don't have any troubles with steering etc. I also have 2" blocks and I run 35" muddies. I have removed the front sway bar so i get a fair bit of body roll around corners, but hey its worth it for the 35's.

I made the shackles from some simple steel strip and welder a peice of square tube inbetween for the fronts. The rears are just 2 pieces of strip steel held together by bolts. I over designed everything so their chuncky as hell, but they haven't failed yet. If you want some photo's ask and i'll try remember to send them when i get home from work one day.

cheers
Ryan