[MQ MAD]

Leaf springs,

Lets throw the fors and against in here hey
Keep the other thread for the build its intended for


Ill start
Running the diesel springs(which are heavier springs due to engine wieght)
Removing too many will result in not only a softer ride but the springs will sag if you like at a quicker rate

Whos running the diesel leaf pack under a pettie ???
Any difference ??? and what
Remember also 30 years later most springs need replacement , so how do we determine a correct ride height or suspension charactoristics with half buggered suspension ???

All the toys here have either 2" EFS (SWB pettie)2" body or
The SWB diesel has 2" (who knows) 2" body also but theres like 9 leafs on the front and tight as a nuns you know what,and the ute has brand spankin leafs
So no comparison with stocka or sagged
So maybe lets throw out there what were running and whats its like

 

[bigkezz]

i run a swb diesel with 2" ironman lift with ironman nitro shocks and soon 2" body and its bouncy and all hell

 

[Jelmer160]

Im running stockies in the back and diesel 5 leave packs in the front. Tried them with the botom leave removed but than the leaves sagged like 6-7cm!! So these botom leaves are very importand!

 

[OutbackMK]

I have EFS 2" light weight (100kG) set front and rear... bouncy as all, had to take the stirrups up two notches.
Have now removed # 3 leaf from rear paks and will do fronts over the next few days. (rears are now better but shockies may be a little stiff. Carrols told me that all 2" lift packs are much too heavy for light touring and were really made for towing with heavy bars and winches.
Noticed before hacking the spring pack that even with 200kg in the backit hardly moved the rear shackles. Now they start to rotate with just 80kg bouncing on the rear bar.

 

[stag hunter]

gday there i run 2' efs springs the lightest pack which is 100 kg too heavy in front and about 50kg in the rear with superior engineering 2' anti inversion in front and 2' rear straight ones also a 2'body the $1700 spent on springs and efs shocks was terrible but i have since removed the 3rd leaf from every pack and it is much better it is quit tolerablenow

 

[OutbackMK]

i have since removed the 3rd leaf from every pack and it is much better it is quit tolerablenow

Good news,
Pity they couldn't build them like that!

 

[Baja Burley]

Ive got the efs 2in lifted packs allround with a custom rear set up which i will post up soon. Ive taken the 3 bottom leaves out of the back and havnt got around to softening the front yet. The back is too soft though i think. I will put bottom leaves back in and try removing 3rd and 4th. As it is now it rides really well. I may not even soften the front. Also it flexes really well in the back!!

 

[OldBlindDog]

Dobinsons HD suspension. Front 5 leaves, rear 7. I hate it.
In a month or two gonna swap to air suspension and radius arms.

 

[OutbackMK]

Pulled #5 leaf from front 7 pack, EFS 2" front springs, have straps and not the bolt up type clamps so removing a spring loosens the spring pack clamping which should help articulation. After reading posts re removing too many leaves and sagging suspension I went with one to start. Feels much better now and height is unaffected.

 

[millsy]

I just have the factory 3 leaf pack, front and back, in my SWB MQ. I think they are great!

I am careful about how I load the car for a trip, so that I don't put too much weight at the back. I also took the roof rack off. So the car goes round corners like a sports car - no body roll. Better than my two Commodores with their soft coils. And the standard springs are just right for hitting the bumps on a rough road with a bit too much speed. They are not too stiff. So they bend a bit and take the shock well - just as Mr Nissan designed them for!

All this with an LPG tank sitting in the cab over the back axle. There is only a bit of 'sitting down on its haunches' when I have both the petrol and LPG full at the same time. But otherwise she sits level, or when not loaded up for a trip, just a tad nose down.

I guess my spring packs have lasted well in the 28 year old car.

 

[seehuusen]

rebuilt my Iron Man 2 inch lifted front springs, removed two of the leaves. Changed the MQ shackles for MK ones (as my leaf packs was off my MK, but I now have an MQ chassis)

Here's the full specs of what I did: Suspension Optimization | msDesigns

The ride is very comfortable, in fact, I'm probably going to have to do something radical with the rear, coz the front just flies over bumps, but as soon as the rear end hits it, JOLT IN THE BACK!!

I can take a photo or two of what the front leaves look like under load. The theory I had was, use the 2 inch lifted leaves, which are longer. Remove a few of the leaves to make the leaf pack stretch out a bit more, giving better shackle angle and ride

After a few days driving with this, I can only say that I'm pretty happy with it. I'd like to put some new bushes in the front

I had the same original leaf packs in the front as Millsy, and I'd agree, they are pretty bloody good, but not quite as good as my new front setup ;-) I'd love to have the 3 leaf rear though!!

 

[Gympietech]

3-leaf pack??!! Man, I've got to go count Busters leafs!...

...OK, Buster has 6-leaf packs in the front, under the 351, and 8-leaf packs in the rear, under an empty SWB tray! All sets are 60mm wide.

Haven't taken Buster off-road yet, so no idea of articulation.

Trevor.

 

[seehuusen]

Hey GympieTech

You've gotta remember that a leafpack's spring rate is not only calculated on width and number of leaves, but also length and thickness of each leaf ;-)

Cheers
Martin

 

[CRICKET]

Which way you count your leafs?

 

[GQ TANK]

Im running standard on my lwb MK, but have polyairs on the rear.

They take a lot of bounce out runing around 15 PSI

 

[seehuusen]

Which way you count your leafs?

from top to bottom or bottom to top, hopefully it will still be the same number either way :grinroll:


imagine this is your leaf pack standing up (removed from the car)

it would look like this: ((
and in this case there would be two leaves in the pack

 

[james008]

Front: 5 leaf pedders springs, pedders shockers.
Rear: 8 leaf pedders springs. These are all part of the main pack so I have no helpers. Pedders shocks.

I'm running MQ bushes on an MK chassis, but I want to change this soon.
Flex.... The front is embarrassing, theres maybe 4 or 5 inches max. The rear flexes a little better, but I think it limited by the shockers which seems strange for such a heavy pack.
Ride.. front rides alright, takes bumps well, the rear is shocking, way too stiff.

 

[CRICKET]

I'm EFS 2" and it flex's ok but chasing better ride, flex and hight. If I get a cruiser spring pack from a 79 and remove my top leaf and replace it with the top of the 79, would that help out shackle angle with the extended shackles as they are longer? I have rancho 5000 coming which are 4" longer than stock

 

[CRICKET]

Well put in the extended shackles and fitted the rancho 5000's (4" longer than stock) I left the EFS 2" leaf srpings alone and just removed the sway bar, rides heaps smooth and flex's really well. This is on my 92 GQ leaf sprung ute

 

[MK nut]

fark only knows who the rear leafs in my fire truck (MK)are made by. Put 2 tonne on the back and the springs still dont hit the bump stops. It takes 1 tonne just for the helpers to start working.

Flex, Huh, whats flex, a Swb is like a limo comapred to this thing empty.