Offroad-Express

Hello, just recently joined and have a few questions for those who are in the know Got myself a '96 solid axle Hilux with 1uzfe, r151f trans, 2"shackle lift and aussie lokkas front and rear.
Thing is ride is harsh and axle flex is poor so am thinking of going over to coils all round, but am looking for some advice on the best way to go about it (3link/4link). Over here in the England there are very few coil sprung Hiluxes so thought I would ask here. Don't really carry any weight in the back and am looking to run 33" tyres i the near future. Was even thinking of putting a pair of Patrol or Landcruiser axles under but second hand they are BIG money over here. (last pair of cruiser axles on ebay were £895) Have been looking on the Trail Gear website for ideas also. Any advice/help/pics form people who have more knowledge than me would be a great start, can collect a few bits together then and make a start. Thanks in advance,
Cheers Chris.

HLXCRS wrote:Hello, just recently joined and have a few questions for those who are in the know Got myself a '96 solid axle Hilux with 1uzfe, r151f trans, 2"shackle lift and aussie lokkas front and rear.
Thing is ride is harsh and axle flex is poor so am thinking of going over to coils all round, but am looking for some advice on the best way to go about it (3link/4link). Over here in the England there are very few coil sprung Hiluxes so thought I would ask here. Don't really carry any weight in the back and am looking to run 33" tyres i the near future. Was even thinking of putting a pair of Patrol or Landcruiser axles under but second hand they are BIG money over here. (last pair of cruiser axles on ebay were £895) Have been looking on the Trail Gear website for ideas also. Any advice/help/pics form people who have more knowledge than me would be a great start, can collect a few bits together then and make a start. Thanks in advance,
Cheers Chris.

trail gear is good stuff, had a 3in lift kit in my hilux and it rode better than my coil sprung landcruiser, they do a good coil kit too I think

Don't fawk about. If you are going to do it. then do it.
4 link double triangulated rear and 3 link with panhard front.
Do your homework on pirate with link suspension (should take about 4 mths reading) and if you are still keen just do it. If you are contemplating using other makes for all the bits and pieces, then just go and buy one of those instead of shagging about with the lux.

My last rig had A frame rear and 4 link with panhard front and flexed very well but had atrocious road manners (50kph max).
New rig has above setup but is still in build process, so.........

What sort of offroading are you planning on doing? How many road miles vs offroad?

Just as a spanner in the works the rear of a surf with the arms lengthened can work well (use the bottom arms on top and extent the bottom arms by the same %age as the top grew).

Find something that articulates the way you want it, take measurements and duplicate it, there is a lot of work in putting coils under a truck but the front leaf's work well it is usually the back end that needs work and that is the easier to modify not too much in the way other than the petrol tank and spare tyre.

Ok thanks for the replys so far, the truck only does about 5k miles a year anyway. Will do some more homework then.
Cheers Chris.

It is worth doing, coil sprung comfort but 5k miles you should be able to make the leafs comfy enough, you want as few leaves as needed and as long and flat as possible for good ride.

There are many ways to achieve a result but Rok above is running close to 40" tyres and will be an impressive piece of engineering.

Start with one end (the back) if going coils and if you want flex well there is a bit of engineering involved and a 4 link is best.