slander and propergander

Submitted: Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004 at 18:39

ThreadID: 15065 Views:2894 Replies:11 FollowUps:9

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waveslave

Is that spelling right, ah well...who cares. I would like to discuss the lack of respect 4wd stores have for A:Their competition. B:Themselves C:ME!!!

I shall also use this opportuniy to get REAL feedback, not just he WHO GIVES ME THE BIGGEST FREAKIN MARGIN FEEDBACK!!!

I have, in the past 48 hours, been enquiring about upgrading my suspension. Now doing this really hurts me coz the suspension I have in my car is quite new. The Truck used to be an Ambulance, and has top quality everything added to it. However, when changing the suspension, they softened the ride for the patients. Now it's fine when just cruisen for a day. But when packed with 180l fuel, 140l water, and everything else, it starts to sag a bit. Add some nice step ups to the equation and.... x/y=bottom out!

So with nice H.D. Koni shockies already on the car, I set about what I imagined to be,the relatively inexpensive exercise of replacing the springs.

This is where it gets interesting, the Koni back shocks are equivalant to Factory, and the Front have 20mm extra travel.

SO...My question is...If I want to get a bit of a lift...just 50mm from normal, will these factory, and 20mm more than factory shocks suffice, or do I need to dig deeper into my pockets and come up with some long travel shocks.

This is where my whinge begins...I have called 5 different 4wd shops and I have, pretty much 5 different answers. They all bagged out what the others had said and told me that their oppositions product would fall apart after 10 mins. I am now rather annoyed and confused.

Coz I will be doing a year long trip in 5 mths, I need H.D springs on there, but I also want wheel travel and capability.

Here's what i came up with, rockcrawler rear springs, Front KING springs, and if need be...Tough Dog 45mm bore adjustable Foam Cells.

I must say, that if you've read this far, then I already love you...If you'd like to gain my adoration, then your feedback is appreciated.

Cheers PEEPS!!!

ROCK...(HOP)....ON

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Reply By: Member - Sparkie (QLD) - Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004 at 18:59

Reply By: member-skippyking - Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004 at 19:01

Reply By: pshowell - Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004 at 19:17

Reply By: GOB & denny vic member - Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004 at 19:30

Reply By: GO_OFFROAD - Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004 at 19:35

Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004 at 19:35

Can you please let us know exactly which vehicle you have, and what part no items it is currently fitted with, if you have that info?

To work out what you require you need to go to a weigh bridge, weigh the car total, and then a front axle and rear axle weight.

With this information you will be able to have the Koni shocks valved to suit your requirements, by a Koni reseller/dealer [best shock you can use for an overlaoded vehicle IMHO] and you will be able to speak with people who sell springs about what spring rate you will require, and the type of work you will do with the vehicle.

Try staying away from the retail store, and speak with someone who runs tours, and does 4wd work preferably, as they know what works and what doesnt.

Your total travel from bumpstop to shock fully extended will not change by more than about 20mm across the brands, but with a lift the vehicle will sit within a different position within that travel range, generally you should keep 60-80mm down travel in shock length, and because the springs "suspend' the vehicle, it should sit close to level loaded, if the rear sits down a little when full, this is ok, because after the first day you have used some water, drank some beer, eaten some food, so the vehicle should go through a transition from down slightly to up slightly in the rear from full to empty.

Now, we know the spring "suspends" the vehicle, and load, the shocks are what controls the "movement", so sometimes, if the car hits the bumsptops on the road, it may not be because the springs arent heavy enough, but because the shock isnt controlling the movement well enough.

Hope this helps.

AnswerID: 69938

Follow Up By: waveslave - Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004 at 19:55

Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004 at 19:55

Hiya,

Very helpful, thanks a bunch.

I have a 78 series Troopy. Rear shocks are Part No.-82 2312

Front Shocks are Part No.-82 2347sp1

The front apparently have 20mm more travel than the factory toyota ones. This is coming from Koni in melbourne. They can actually be sent BACK to melbourne and the "Rebound Spacer" can be removed enabling an additional 30mm of travel. However, on the rear, this can't be done.

Can I just clarify? Are you saying that shock travel only varies by 20mm between brands..PERIOD? Or are there heaps of different travel lenghts in the same and different brands? I thought the latter.

The people who fitted the Troopy, the Ambulance Fleet Netowrk, said that the Koni shocks would cope fine with a 2inch lift, but I rang Koni to get thjeir opinion, and they said "maybe". That helps doesn't it.

As for the weighbridge, I plan on that next week as we are doing a trip with 90% of the gear we will be travelling with. Then I will know how many springs/what type to put in.

Any more deeback regd. the Koni's would be muchly appreciated. Thanks very much.

FollowupID: 330159

Follow Up By: waveslave - Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004 at 19:56

Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004 at 19:56

Also, front springs in a 78 series are COIL.

\CHEERS!!!

FollowupID: 330160

Follow Up By: GO_OFFROAD - Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004 at 20:09

Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004 at 20:09

I fitted GQ rear shocks in Koni extra long to the back of my 2000 model 78 series troopy, which fixed the roly poly thing the troopies seemed to do with coil front leaf rear, I left the GQ coil valving in the Konis to help with this.

I also used OME rear heaviest spring, removed the shortest of the 2 second stage springs and turned the other upside down so it came in later, [because of the slight arch of the second stage] making for a smoother ride when less full, and slowing the suspension down on bigger bumps before the bumpstop.

In the front I used OME medium spring, then the heavy, when I fitted the Koni to the front, I have both those sets of springs still, if your in Melb /geelong area and want to try them/buy them.

If you want more travel in the front I used GQ extra long front Koni shocks, with 20mm sway bar spacers, as 100 series were to long, and the coils wanted to fall out.

I ran 36" swampers on 10" rims on my troopy, can send you some pics of spacer for sway bars, etc if you like.

FollowupID: 330162

Follow Up By: waveslave - Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004 at 21:03

Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004 at 21:03

Heya,

I'd love to see pics of the truck in general if you have any. That would be a mean lookin machine. Sounds like my standard Koni's aren't going to cut it. Looks like I will have to fork out the extra. Will prob. get the Tough Dog Adjustables.

I'm in Syd. so while ur trying a few combo's of springs would be good........

The rockcrawler springs are meant to be good...who knows?

What are you running now, if not the OME?

FollowupID: 330177

Follow Up By: GO_OFFROAD - Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004 at 21:10

Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004 at 21:10

I sold the truck about 18 months ago.

This pic is of where I fitted castor bushes to the rear of the front arms to move the diff forward 12mm, to give some more room for the 36" tyres.

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FollowupID: 330180

Follow Up By: GO_OFFROAD - Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004 at 21:29

Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004 at 21:29

This pic is in the front yard

[ View Image]

from the back

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the rear with drawers which slid under the rear seat, where the 2 x 40 lt water tanks were.

[ View Image]

early days with Q78's on 100 GXL rims

[ View Image]