84 surf rear leafs into front problems plz help

[jonossiksilvia]

hi i new to the forum. hi to all

i just brought this surf and have noticed a few things i concerned about. i done a search but cant find answers.
i was told this truck has coon leafs in back and have been drill to get axle in middle of guard. the old rears are now in the front.
concerns:

1. the shakles at front are thouching chassis at rest. how do i fix this?


2. front springs look flat as in w shape instead of u shap if u know what i mean. not sure why.


3. this is the height difference between front and back. i would like to have front even with back


thanks in advance

[Smurf]

I have the same set up in my surf.
From memory I have five leaves in front. my third leaf is a second main that has been shortened a bit, is still longer than the third leaf. I also have longer shackles.
I would suggest getting another set of rears from a hilux, remove the lower/shortest two leaves and adding in another longer leaf, it should add a bit of a curve back to your spring pack, and keep the flex you want.
Alternatively, go new and remove the lower two leaves. (dearer option. Will be stiffer though.
I will take a few photos of my front suspension if you like?

[jonossiksilvia]

I have the same set up in my surf.
From memory I have five leaves in front. my third leaf is a second main that has been shortened a bit, is still longer than the third leaf. I also have longer shackles.
I would suggest getting another set of rears from a hilux, remove the lower/shortest two leaves and adding in another longer leaf, it should add a bit of a curve back to your spring pack, and keep the flex you want.
Alternatively, go new and remove the lower two leaves. (dearer option. Will be stiffer though.
I will take a few photos of my front suspension if you like?

that would be great if you could post your pictures up .
the current front leafs have 4 leafs only.
could my shocks also be part of the prob if they were the oe size for old front leafs?

[Smurf]

shocks aren't load bearing so don't provide lift.
the original shocks will be way too short for the front now though.

[GotFlex]

you need a set of extended shackles in the front

[jonossiksilvia]

shocks aren't load bearing so don't provide lift.
the original shocks will be way too short for the front now though.

if you could post up similar pics to mine with shackle sizes, shock models etc that would be awesome. i new to this solid axle leaf stuff as use to have 1990 surf

[haynzy]

search rears up front on here and you may find that you need a dropped front cross member to get it to work properly

[GotFlex]

i see the truck doest have a drop box, its not nessecary so what you what in a set of extended front shackles with a kinkback so they look like a backwards L when looking side on, ill try get a pic of my mates with the same setup

[Smurf]

I missed the fact you have cross over steering. A dropped front crossmember would be useful, gives more clearance between your drag link and sump. It also gives the option of moving the cross member forward a bit which will help the angle of your rear shackle, shackles do need to be longer.

[jonossiksilvia]

so i guess next questions would be keeping in mind wanna get height even:

1. would it be cheaper to use a drop box and longer shackles?

or

2. get longer shackles and aftermarket leafs instead of dropbox?

i know both options would mean longer shocks.

advice?

re xover steering gonna get redone soon to get tierod above leafs.

currently truck is 5m but changing to 1uz in near future but wanna get suspension and steering sorted first

[Smurf]

You're better off with dropped front spring hanger/cross member, it gets castor angle closer to factory with the rear springs in there. Gives approx 1 inch lift in height. If you keep your flat springs you may need longer shackles as well to get more heaight. a shackle 2 inches longer than factory will give approx 1 inch lift also.
Shocks to suit once you have your ride heaght sorted. Some use cruiser shocks, Commodore rear shocks.

http://www.snr4x4.co.nz/front-spring-hanger-p-140.html

Start searching the site, for cross over steering and rears up front, all the info you should need is here.

then you will also find the IFS front hub swap, rear disc brake conversions, power steering pump replacement for your 5M, hi mounting your 5m alternator. etc etc etc.

[bigstu]

Those front springs were a nice curved shape when i sold it to the guy you brought it off it was still work in progress when i sold it he obviously didnt take my advice and fit longer shackles in the front and setup the bump stops to suit without doing that the spring cant flatten out longer cos the standard shackle cant move back anymore combined with it inverting bigtime has caused them to bend like that hope that helps, From memory the 5th leaf and overload springs are on the coons to beef them up as they were only the 4 leaf packs