hilux suspension softening (leaf sprung)

[chrome]

hey all, iv got this 87 hilux that was set up as an farm truck, it sits high as in the back and since ive pulled off the ton and a half of deck off it and made a new lightened model it now bounces around corners at higher speeds.
now I know you can remove leaves and all that but which ones????
can someone have a looksie and suggest where to start please
thanks
6 leaves and 2 overloads


something tells me that i need to pull the 5th one down from the top for a start??

[chrome]

coon rears in the back??

[The WEHI]

If it was me i would just start pulling them out 1 at a time till you get roughly the ride you want then play with swaping leafs to try fine tune it.
but id leave the man overload just to help combat axle wrap

[Ashohman]

I see your hand break cable is also on top of leaves I had to make up an extension piece so it would clear and engage the hand break properly I too am looking at playing around with leaves on my rear too as much to stiff these look to be aftermarket leaves

let me know how you go my trucks in workshop getting a list of jobs for me too do before cert but its one of my to do is remove leaves from the rear pack to soften up and thus for flex for offroad atm mine is good flex front little to no flex rear.

keep me posted

[kbjj]

If it was me i would just start pulling them out 1 at a time till you get roughly the ride you want then play with swaping leafs to try fine tune it.
but id leave the man overload just to help combat axle wrap

^^ I agree with wehi. Try removing #5 first, then maybe #3.
As you soften the leaf pack, it may feel a little harsh when nudging onto overload spring, you can remove it, but can bend springs easier due to axel wrap. There is ways to combat axel wrap if you wish to go down this path, worth it for a softer ride and more suppleness imho

[KIWI_TERRANO]

Correct me if im wrong,

But arent the shackles ment to sit on a 45 angle from chassie for optimal ride quality? Maybe that ant helping

[chrome]

yep iv thought about that too, I dont even know whether these spring are even lux ones. it sits way higher than the in laws hilux of the same era

[Petemcc]

Those springs have at least been reset heaps if they r lux springs at all. My standard ones dont sit that round when on the bench! Start taking out leaves out or even better look around for some 2nd hand springs. . As the spring gets flatter shackle angle will increase

[chrome]

iv got a set of spares i think just not sure if theyre front or rears.
is there an easy way to tell em apart??

[J_Dub]

iv got a set of spares i think just not sure if theyre front or rears.
is there an easy way to tell em apart??

Typical standard used fronts generally sit quite flat.
If they haven't got overloads and sit quite flate their fronts, if they have a good arch their rears.
Otherwise couldn't you measure the pin centre's to compare

[chrome]

sweet so overloads makes em rears then I guess,

[diogenese]

It looks to me like the two above the helpers are added extras, the size is different and the ends are not finished the same. I'd pull those two and see what happens.

[Ant]

im sure there are many varieties of hilux springs but mine only had 4 leaves with one helper at the bottom. yours looks very similar to many of the "lift kit" ones
(just a google image search)

http://aimiky.en.alibaba.com/product/83 ... _2005.html

http://www.fnb4wd.com.au/index.php?rout ... ct_id=1936

Try removing the bottom ones and one of the "helpers" but you will then loose your height (if you want it). You could then try some gresable shackles (I dont have any experiance with these so seek more info first). Otherwise sell them off as lift springs and buy some factory ones (maybe from the person you sell these to) and you will still have some cash for new bushes and maybe the greasable shackles

[chrome]

yep I know im going to lose height but at the end of the day its justb a run of the mill hilux and will only ever be on 31s so i dont NEED lift.
I just want it a little softer in ride to compensate for a lighter deck.
thanks for all the info tho, makes sense to me

[3VILC]

Agreed, theres too many leaves in there thats why the handbrake cable is touching the top of the pack. Both sets I had for the rear of mine same model, are only 6 leaves total, 4 main 2 overload, so as everyone else has suggested it looks like the 2 above the overloads are probably the "add-a-leaf" type lift kits (you'd be amazed how much extra arch those short leaves add, you'll find out when you take the pack apart and cant push them all back together again ).
I think the rule the shackle is a 90deg right angle to the end of the spring, so yeh not quite 45deg on a flat chassis. They definately shouldnt be near vertical at ride height like yours are
I can probably get you a photo of what my rears look like if that would help ?

[chrome]

na its all good mate, everyone that has chipped in with info has let me make a decision on whats needed.
good to still get relevant info from people that know, saves me a bit of legwork
thanks

[chrome]

well i pulled out the two springs on each side tonight after work. Its got a hell of a lot more movement now and has only dropped 30mm. turns out the shocks were stretched out to their max length.
so next question i need to figure out is how much higher than stock i am so i can buy new shocks

[Ashohman]

http://www.4wdbits.co.nz/ProductDetails ... uctID=4064

I got these for my truck very similar spring lift looking.

they are really good got the versions for the front loads of travel.

haven't removed leaves from my rear springs yet but when I got them the look like they will do the trick. or they also have 75mm on standard shocks too.

[Ashohman]

Bump (top) to frame (bottom)



Bump stop rubber to bump box thingy



Overal pic of my rear leave spring. standard hangers atm ive got extended ones just gota get round to putting them on.



Oh and my handbrake extenders too if anyone was wondering



these are the spring I got too
http://www.4wdbits.co.nz/ProductDetails ... ductID=357

[chrome]

thanks ash. your a good bugger. im sitting at 140 now from bumpy to box with no deck fitted, so I guess that is back to stock spring height as its gonna drop a bit more, Il refit the deck and look at adding one of the extras back in maybe

[Ashohman]

Oh should add mines got a full tank of gas and some weight in the tray mayb about 70kg.

[Ashohman]

some photos harry took show some front flex with the efs springs.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/801/odcm.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/39/ybdl.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/818/d1l7.jpg/

[3VILC]

That's some good front flex, is that the standard push/pull steering or X-over conversion? I can't get near that with mine

[Petemcc]

Torque rod removed?

[bigstu]

Id say high steer you can see the tierod above the springs