V6 springs + VL Commadore shocks

[crzyfl]

Obligatory flex shots. Testing the set up with the new additions. Checking what the current limitations are etc. The 'wheel ramp' was 900mm high.

The front has the sway bar still on it. Actually the sway bar limits the travel on the front.

I had to stop on the ramp as the front drivers side wheel started rubbing on the arch. I didn't cut any of the fender material out when I put the flares in. Just metal out of the inside.

The rear passenger side tyre still has some space to travel into the wheel arch. The spring was fully compressed, so should not hit the arches.

Note that this is without cutting the rear guards.

[crzyfl]

It is hard to see, but there is 10-15mm gap visible between the rear spring spacer and spring. When on the jack stands there is 60mm.

Spidertrax wheel spacers, FTS struts, Extended brake lines, Strut spacers, 15mm + 32mm Spring spacers, V6 springs. Would love to add control arms too, (and bigger springs). I bought some spring compressors to help install the springs. Big help. At full articulation the tie rod sits on the sway bar. The sway bar would have to be removed to go higher.

This shot just shows the FTS shock repositioners. Can't be seen in this shot, but they are also held by the pin that holds the rear control arms in addition to the original shock mount holes.

New control arms and spring angle.

[spanky]

how high can you get the front wheel off the ground with the other 3 still on the ground?.

[crzyfl]

Right now its 900mm+.

Expect if I do something to increase guard clearance in front it will be up to 1200mm.

Waiting on cash now, and in the front, considering;
Hagen mod
New control arms
Cutting guards
Caster bushes

[spanky]

i mean under the wheel, it looks like you got about 500mm or so at the most, if 900mm like you say you could put a 31/10.5/15 wheel under your front wheel and still have space, on my old one i could get about 650mm with more wheel travel in the rear and no sway bars and longer shocks in the front and the front suspension was compressed ,the pics of it were on the cheap vitara lift thread but seem to of gone now. they are a awesome little 4x4 but let down by the front suspension, and the front diff is about as strong as bluetack ,i blew 7 front diffs and 1 front axle in 3-4 years of hard 4x4ing including a couple of comps,probaly still bits of alloy scattered through 42 traverse and ngaroma . rear locker will help preserve front end, i locked both diffs in the end and was good then,need some pics of it dirty.

[crzyfl]

That bit of garden the ramp is resting on is 900mm. It might look a bit smaller as I was moving around to make the photos look more dramatic.

Did you use air lockers or lock right/ lokka type?

Should I cut the front guards to get more clearance, or do something to move the front wheels forward?

When Cert is finished the 42 will be high on my list.

[spanky]

mine wasnt road legal so my diffs were welded,any type of rear locker will help preserve the front diff as you can be a bit gentler on it. i ran late model jimny steel wheels on mine and no front guards so didnt really have clearance issues.will dig out some pics on my ramp,always keen on a drive through the 42,a pic from up there years ago.

[Pico42]

Right now its 900mm+.

Expect if I do something to increase guard clearance in front it will be up to 1200mm.

Waiting on cash now, and in the front, considering;
Hagen mod
New control arms
Cutting guards
Caster bushes

Trimming the rear part of the front arch is relatively simple. Hammer down that inside seam and cut/fold the guard lip back to suit. You will get some 50mm at the bottom of the guard which is your worst contact point.

[crzyfl]

I have already ground off that seam. Just need to do the folding of the sheet metal on the fenders. That to do, plus installing electric fuel pump, fuel pressure regulator, and gauge.

5 Door handbrake cables done.

Those wheels are on trade me if anyone wants them. $400. The cert guy said they can't get a cert, but can get a warrant. The issue is that they are multi slot for 5 or 6 stud. Two of the slots overlap which I understand is the issue.

I still have the manual gearbox too if anyone needs one.

[lincooln]

so the VL shocks I am after are the wagon ones? or will sedan ones be alright?

[spanky]

sedan.

[spanky]

found some pics of my old gem,ramp is 620mm high .was a bloody good little 4x4.

[crzyfl]

Spanky,
Nice.
What are you currently running?

[spanky]

gone to a jeep cherokee, again not road legal,i wanted a bit more room and windows so its a bit nicer for my kids to go bush,also beam axle front with coils,plus a good 6cyl motor and auto,will probaly re axle and mod the suspension after summer to make it even better.search you tube for"mrspankynz" and there is a couple of vids of my old zuk on there pre lift and lock.this is my new gem.

[Mr Zuk]

P6250016.JPG

New control arms and spring angle.[/quote]

Are you sure the trail arms are around the right way? also have you fitted a hemi joint spacer? If so has it mad much difference?

[crzyfl]

I'm not sure if they're around the right way. Checked the fts website, and they look the same. Had to travel for work, so progress has been nonexistent. GSXR CV carbs arrived though.

[crzyfl]

Here are the carbs. Got a couple intake gaskets. Waiting to hear about fabrication of the manifold.

Will check the jets and change them to 140s if that is not what is already there.

Need to sync the carbs.

[crzyfl]

I need to sort out the problem where the drivers side sits lower than the passenger. It occurred when I put the extra urethane spacers over the springs. The vit was even before this with the same springs on the front.

I thought that the drivers side was compressed when I drove it up on that ramp and so I did the same to the other side, no joy.

I changed the rear springs to c33 laurel ones at the same time to help make them captive.

[crzyfl]

On further inspection the problem seems to be the c33 springs, ie one of them is sagging. Even putting a shorter spring on the long side does not completely fix it. Will get some new springs from winch.co.nz next couple of weeks.

Some new shocks arrived from low range off road. The cool bit about theirs is that they have lots of compressed/extended lengths to choose from. Fitting them sorted the non captive rear springs issue.

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Stripped the carbs and cleaned them. My carb advice guy is getting the jets for them right now. Then will give them to get the runners added to the back plate for the intake manifold. Someone cut it out with a laser cutter using a gasket as a template.

[crzyfl]

Shipping is expensive on the gears. If anyone is interested in getting a set I would be open to combining the shipping and splitting the cost.

BTW 4xfourart seem to have no issue selling individual pieces of their lift kit if anyone is interested. Calmini seem to only ship complete kits. The 4xfourart kit seems to be exactly the same/a rip off of the calmini kit.

[crzyfl]

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Some stuff arrived.
Got 3" fts springs from winch.co.nz, they appear to be 1.5" longer.
9500 lb winch.

Got 5.71 ratio ring and pinions and front control arms from 4xfourart. Great to deal with.

The guy put an undervalued invoice on the package so I didn't have to pay GST.
The control arms will correct camber some more. When I install them I will be doing the Hagen mod. Going up to 3 inch springs and retaining the spacers on the front would mean camber was way out without the arms.

Looked at plate winch bars, and decided I liked tube ones better. Measured up today. Ordering steel tommorrow. We are going to copy the trail tough design.

Rear springs are fitted. Happy with the height now. Will test the travel when I get an opportunity. I think I will end up with 5" suspension, and 2" body lift.

The fts rear control arms are the other way to that intended. I think they are better this way around. But please comment.

Cert guy did not like the bits4vits steering spacers. Had to get a block machined. I like it better this way.

[crzyfl]

On fitting the control arms I found an issue...they do not fit. Contacted the supplier, and showed him. He said this is often encountered with vehicles that are driven hard off road, and that they spread the control arms to fit with a hydraulic. My vit was towed with an a frame (I still hit my head on the brackets). Something to be aware of. The difference is 12mm! See below,

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I tried spreading the arms with my trolley jack, and managed to get a few mm, might go try to get some more now.

Here is the difference between v6 springs, and 3" fts ones.

[crzyfl]

The rear wishbone mount is bent back. The other side is stock length. The rear mount is the crossmember that the diff is mounted to.

Okay.
Borrowed 1.5Ton come along. pulled from the front of the chassis rail. Wrapped the chain around said crossmember. All up the job took 10 minutes max. Actually it was a bit of a worry how easy it was. All fixed.

[crzyfl]

Bolted up front end. Camber was crap. Surprising how much alignment was out. Found passenger side axle sitting proud of axle. Slid that back in and for some reason camber snapped back in to perfect. Sweet. Suspension travel and height are awesome now.

Spend half of today building winch bar with a mate. Gonna be sweet.n pics on completion.

[crzyfl]

My mechanic estimated 20 hours to fit ring gears to front and rear.

He thought it would be $1400 for labor. (Sound reasonable?)

Decided to go for a steel front, and air lockers front and back at the same time to save repeat labour costs later.

Going to paint the steel housing in the front. What is the best paint to use? How about septone hammer finish?

Back plate of intake manifold for carbs is cut. Just need to get runners welded on. Mate just put two sets on his v8 rover track car.

[crzyfl]

Got a deal on arb lockers thanks to father in law. Waiting on them to arrive, then them and the ring gear goes in! After that will hit some trails for a while, then maybe do alternator as per Pico42 post, battery now though. Will still do carbs when the manifold is done.

[crzyfl]

Finally got my machine back after waiting on air lockers to be made, old diffs removed, guy to rebuild diffs, then put back in…

What a difference though. On the open road I am 100 Km/h at 4000 RPM. On 31s.

Now we got 5.72 R&Ps in, steel front axle, front and rear air lockers.

The testing paddock beside the house that I got stuck in (and embarrassingly got the wife's XL7 to tow me out) I cruised through in 2wd (unlocked). Definitely much more capable now.

My gearing calcs tell me I am lower than stock. If I can work out a way to attach excel files I will put them up here..

Took all day to install ARB compressor and wiring for lockers. Was pretty easy.

Fully locked I noticed that she doesn't want to turn as one would expect.

Mechanic was concerned about CV angle and took the extra 1" spacers out.

BTW that XL7 is a beast. Kids and I did some skids at Tukino a while back and it goes good. 2.7L V6.

Will post some photos later. Still don't have a WOF, but certed and ready to go. need to get some pedestrian guards on the winch bar. Maybe do that today if I can.

Still got the teeny tiny stock battery, when my wallet recovers (never) will put a big sucker in.

The R&Ps and lockers remove the weaknesses due to taking a hairdressers car and sticking big mudders on it and now it is much more suitable.

My thread title is inaccurate now as the V6 springs and VL shocks are gone.

[crzyfl]

This is her now.

[madlux]

Camber looks a bit off...

[crzyfl]

Front alignment is not done.