Hey everyone,
Ive been thinking bout giving my cruiser a bit of a lift, id like to give it a suspension lift, and just have a few questions sum people may have a few anwsers too:)
I have a 1987 toyota Landcruiser with leaf springs....
I was interested to know the max height of a lift before you need certifiing.
Also from what i understand to lift a leaf sprung truck you get new shackles, one on each leaf, do you need to alter the other end of the leaf??
also what kind of suspension left would you say would be enough without altering drive shaft angles and stuff.
Also where do i get these shackles from !!!????
Cheers everone.
Sam
shackles
Mine is a LWB, easier to modify suspension wise due to drive shaft angles. No changes were needed to the drive train on a 120mm spring height lift.
Can't answer question re boot space in a SWB model, but those people that I know who have them say there is barely enough room to put a breif case, let alone luggage. The LWB model has more than enough room for all my gear and luggage for a family. Approx 1200mm square. ( without going outside in the rain to physically mease it )
Plenty of room for a 2nd battery, some come already equipped with this option.
I have removed the front bumper and fitted a custom made steel bull bar, incorporating a bumper and electric winch, 2 tow hooks and 2 welded on shackle points ( properly engineered ) to allow secure attatchment when returning the winch cable to the vehicle while using a snatch block.
A new rear bumper is on it's way, with tow hooks and mountings for my military style tow hook.
The computer is in the compartment between the front seats, well out of harms way, but easily accessable.
Remove the sway bars, I can give you the name and address of the Christ Church firm who have developed after market spring and shock kits especially for the Prado's of this age and model. They are very good and well priced.
This an email I got from the NZ4wd yahoo group. Would be worth joining that and asking there too....
-----------------------
Who knew Prados could fly?
Who knew Prados could fly?
The height changes as much as a politicians mind (since most of the plonkers at the LTSA seem to be politicians whipping boys anyway)... but I believe the current height over standard is either 50 or 60mm.
You can lengthen your shackles without changing the other end of the spring, as it just pivots on one bolt anyway - but be aware that making the shackle 50mm longer will only lift the vehicle about 25mm (geometry, draw yourself a picture of it to see why)
Lengthening them too far will give nasty steering problems and make the truck 'rolly' so be aware of that.
I normally make cruiser ones using the original pins and 50 x 8 flat mild steel bar and drilling them with 14 and 18mm holes as required - I can make these for you, but you could probably make them yourself. You just use the original pins which can be pressed (or beaten
) out of the old plates. This makes them slightly narrower, but seems to have no real adverse affect otherwise. They end up far beefier.
Anyway, if you are in Chch give me a call and come have a look at a cruiser I am working on at the moment, which I have made bigger shackles for, otherwise I can send a couple of pics of it over the next few days when I get a chance.
regards
Steve
You can lengthen your shackles without changing the other end of the spring, as it just pivots on one bolt anyway - but be aware that making the shackle 50mm longer will only lift the vehicle about 25mm (geometry, draw yourself a picture of it to see why)
Lengthening them too far will give nasty steering problems and make the truck 'rolly' so be aware of that.
I normally make cruiser ones using the original pins and 50 x 8 flat mild steel bar and drilling them with 14 and 18mm holes as required - I can make these for you, but you could probably make them yourself. You just use the original pins which can be pressed (or beaten
) out of the old plates. This makes them slightly narrower, but seems to have no real adverse affect otherwise. They end up far beefier.
Anyway, if you are in Chch give me a call and come have a look at a cruiser I am working on at the moment, which I have made bigger shackles for, otherwise I can send a couple of pics of it over the next few days when I get a chance.
regards
Steve
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cruiser_beast
- Hard Yaka
- Posts: 113
- Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2004 12:00 pm
Cheers Steve.
I Live in Orewa, just north of Auckland, so i cant pop round. If i was in Chch i would pop over for a look!!
Ive been talking to a guy and he reckons the way to get a lift is to take the springs into a spring shop and get them lifted to about 75mm above standard and they will settle down after awhile.
A picture of the shackles your making would be great!
Sam[/b]
I Live in Orewa, just north of Auckland, so i cant pop round. If i was in Chch i would pop over for a look!!
Ive been talking to a guy and he reckons the way to get a lift is to take the springs into a spring shop and get them lifted to about 75mm above standard and they will settle down after awhile.
A picture of the shackles your making would be great!
Sam[/b]
shackles
found this last night might work http://www.off-road.com/tlc/reviews/hypershackleys/
Extra Y
I believe it's
http://www.off-road.com/tlc/reviews/hypershackles/
You just added the extra y in at the end.
Kent
http://www.off-road.com/tlc/reviews/hypershackles/
You just added the extra y in at the end.
Kent
-
Guest
Those hyper-shackles are great... if you have massively long shocks to accommodate the travel they allow... but with standard, or just over standard shocks they won't produce the results their price would make you expect - so unless you are going to change everything in your truck suspension I wouldn't bother.
Having said that, if you do go with new shock mounts and longer shocks they are a great idea - assuming you can get them certified...
Having springs reset is another one of those "maybe it will... maybe it won't" situations. Depending on the age and life of your springs, they may settle back to standard in 6 months
, or they may last years 
. The major improvement in suspension travel comes from longer shocks and better springs, which generally means making new shock mounts to accommodate the longer closed length so you don't crush the shock during suspension compression... and softer flatter springs - maybe combined with a shackle lift to replace the lost height... how far do you want to go? And how much do you want to spend?
The softer flatter springs allow better droop than springs with a heavy arch in them (which 70-series springs have from factory) which means better terrain-hugging over rough ground, but often means the truck doesn't look 'cool' when sitting on flat ground, because it doesn't look like it sits high enough.
its all trade-offs. The longer shackle also means the spring can droop further, once again providing more travel - which, in my humble opinion, is far more important than the trucks height at rest.
Of course, this is also just my opinion - someone else will have a better idea, as always... best idea is to take everyones advice, pick the path that best suits your engineering ability and/or wallet and try it - you can always change it again... and again... and again
regards
Steve
Having said that, if you do go with new shock mounts and longer shocks they are a great idea - assuming you can get them certified...
Having springs reset is another one of those "maybe it will... maybe it won't" situations. Depending on the age and life of your springs, they may settle back to standard in 6 months
, or they may last years . The major improvement in suspension travel comes from longer shocks and better springs, which generally means making new shock mounts to accommodate the longer closed length so you don't crush the shock during suspension compression... and softer flatter springs - maybe combined with a shackle lift to replace the lost height... how far do you want to go? And how much do you want to spend?
The softer flatter springs allow better droop than springs with a heavy arch in them (which 70-series springs have from factory) which means better terrain-hugging over rough ground, but often means the truck doesn't look 'cool' when sitting on flat ground, because it doesn't look like it sits high enough.
its all trade-offs. The longer shackle also means the spring can droop further, once again providing more travel - which, in my humble opinion, is far more important than the trucks height at rest.
Of course, this is also just my opinion - someone else will have a better idea, as always... best idea is to take everyones advice, pick the path that best suits your engineering ability and/or wallet and try it - you can always change it again... and again... and again
regards
Steve
thats me above - forgot to log in again 
-
cruiser_beast
- Hard Yaka
- Posts: 113
- Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2004 12:00 pm
Lift
Well im on a budget as im a student, so im looking for prob the more cheaper options.
I agree that the drop is important, and when i have been 4wd i havent bottomed out to much yet, i did once on a big boulder on the 42 traverse, which ended up dinging my suspension mount anyway.
Im running 33 inch tyres so that gives me a bit more clearence and the springs had been reset to standard or slightly above standard the guy that owned the truck before me reckons, so they are in quite good condition and arent looking to saggy yet from my knowledge. (ill get a pic on) And i have Rancho shocks all round. (not the adjustable ones)
So i think that i should go with getting slightly longer shackles to increase the drop i can get and also will this slightly increase ride height?
Because increasing the set height from a spring maker will indeed raise the height of my truck which i thought would make the car higher and therefore give more room for articulation but this wont nesssarily do that right?
So if i go for the longer shackles for a bit more drop and then when my springs start to sag i can look inbto that situation. Ill put a pic of my springs on here soon to let you see what kind of condition you think they are in.
Just another question, what about this problem of inverting shackles?how long do the shackles need to be increased for this to become a problem?
Also, about these greasable shackles, is the greasable bit just to keep the leaf spring spinning freely on the shackle to maximise drop?
Cheers for you help , its much appreciated, im learning a lot here!!!!
Sam
I agree that the drop is important, and when i have been 4wd i havent bottomed out to much yet, i did once on a big boulder on the 42 traverse, which ended up dinging my suspension mount anyway.
Im running 33 inch tyres so that gives me a bit more clearence and the springs had been reset to standard or slightly above standard the guy that owned the truck before me reckons, so they are in quite good condition and arent looking to saggy yet from my knowledge. (ill get a pic on) And i have Rancho shocks all round. (not the adjustable ones)
So i think that i should go with getting slightly longer shackles to increase the drop i can get and also will this slightly increase ride height?
Because increasing the set height from a spring maker will indeed raise the height of my truck which i thought would make the car higher and therefore give more room for articulation but this wont nesssarily do that right?
So if i go for the longer shackles for a bit more drop and then when my springs start to sag i can look inbto that situation. Ill put a pic of my springs on here soon to let you see what kind of condition you think they are in.
Just another question, what about this problem of inverting shackles?how long do the shackles need to be increased for this to become a problem?
Also, about these greasable shackles, is the greasable bit just to keep the leaf spring spinning freely on the shackle to maximise drop?
Cheers for you help , its much appreciated, im learning a lot here!!!!
Sam