My 05 GU ute was leaf rear. It was my work ute towing a dual axle trailer, so the leaf rear was great for the weight but it was also a very capable 4x4.

The only down side is less flex and a rougher ride but that honestly didnt bother me.

 

For what your looking for I think you would get better use out of the Leaf rear with the weight your going to carry.


In saying that, I have a coil cab ute set up for touring with a Steel / Canvas Canopy, Water Tank, Sub Tank, Fridge, Full Tool Box and Bed, All with Airbags in the back Coils when loaded and it sits as level as and is SUPER COMFORTABLE!!!!!!!!

If your after a Long range tourer IMO Comfort is Second to None, might pay a bit more but at the end of a long day on the rough stuff i know which car id prefer to get out of!

Cheers

 

Or do what jacket is doing and try find a cheap coil ute with blown motor and convert!

You would have real power to tow the boat and caravan where ever you wanted

 

i don't have the time or the funds to do that.
but thanks for the idea anyways.

 

I've got a mate who bought a leaf sprung patrol ute and asking him 'when he's going to convert it coils?' is a running joke, he gets the sh17s pretty quick. So cop'n flak from people about it not being coils would be a con.

They're sprung under too, so they get beached as easier. Leaf sprung vehicles are usually rougher and to make them comfortable you have to loose your weight carrying ability. I personally would spend the extra on a coil cab and get air bags if you need to carry loads regularly.

 

It is a verry simple comparison.

Leaf:
Pro: can carry more weight with the load spread along the chassy.
Con: ruff as guts to drive in.

Coil:
Pro: super comfy, especialy for long distance driving.
Con: cant carry as much weight as the Leaf, But with coil tower bracing is capable of carrying all your turing gear with out fear of failure.


Coil wins hands down in any situation except for somone who is doing short trips carring big loads( big loads been constantly full of sand or bricks.)

Find somone with each if you can, Test drive them both for atleased a 2hr trip and you will see a world of differance.

No matter what you do to leafs they are ruff.

 

I was patient and waited untill a coil cab ute came along, Outback and the others are corect in my opinion as well, 2" lift with std weight springs and bags for when u need to be loaded up.
Comfort on a long trip is king in my book.

 

Buy a leaf an get it converted to coil rear ! There's heaps of places that do it pretty cheap an leaf has bigger diff !

 

Its also 90 mm narrower than the front dont forget. Coil axles line up front to back Leaf axels don't!

 

Before I bought my Patrol wagon I nearly bought a leaf sprung ute and like you I was not 100% sold on leaf springs.

I rang Superior Engineering and they suggested using drop shackles:

http://www.superiorengineering.com.au/product_info.php?products_id=2251

And spacing out the rear wheels as they tend to touch on the chassis rails.

Superior suggested leaf wasn't all bad and could be made to work very well.

However that may be subject to weight carrying ability.

Cheers

Justin

 

My mate is sell his 2000 model td42 coil cab ute has a full 6" lift with all superior arms does have a dints and scratches
Pm if interest or txt 0421738610

 

I converted mine to coils only after 9month having from leaf rough ride I never took it offroad so can't say anything about flex or offroad

 

i think coils come with disc rear brakes and leafs come with drum rear brakes