jefe's suspension and off-road trailer update
The suspension modification is done. Today I replaced the U bolts on the rear springs. The 3 year old ones were rusting fast. And once you tighten them down the first time with that mongo torque the b...
Forum Discussion
My, you boys have some good looking suspensions; some of the very best I've seen. My whole premise was to make a package on a budget, just adding leaves that were given to me or were cheap. I checked into complete new spring packs and the going rate was about $1200 per axle.
As we get older and get off-road, we need to truss-up to stay afloat.
Cal wrote:
"Do you ever have any trouble with the top stack twisting wrt the main stack?"
jefe: not yet. The upper secondaries are bound by the U bolts and have a separate centering pin that holds them together. The main pack has that 1/8" shim which little ears to contain the lowest springs. The u bolts allow only 1/16th inch clearance on each side also limiting spring shifting.
Mello wrote:
"what prompted the upgrade? Did the original springs lose their effectiveness?"
jefe: I just wanted the rear up maybe 2 to 3 inches to bring the camper loaded level with the 3 inch lift on the front. I had plenty of springs already. I was already at the recommended max on the factory lift blocks (4" is the max before axle wrap consumes you) and looked at replacing the lower, thick and useless overload spring with a 5-leaf mini pack which would have softened the ride and given a 1 inch lift. For the price, not enough lift. I looked at all the alternatives to see what was out there and decided on $99 add-a-leaves which proportedly give a 3" lift to an unloaded truck. What I could not find out was what a 2000 pound load over that axle would net result be.
The answer is: 2" lift. The add-a-leaf is pretty stiff and has a lot more curve than the main spring pack so the ride of the loaded truck, so far, is directly attributed to that one spring doing it's job without much help from the factory leaves. This will change when the upper secondaries are fully engaged, which should happen after adding 500-600 more pounds of cargo. I have used add-a-leaf packs in the past on various applications with varying success. They are a quick and dirty way to add either height or carrying capacity but have some strange quirks, like a stiff, jerky ride on my XJ.
Another quirk is the inexorable flattening of the add-a-leaf. They simply loose some of their spring as time marches on, which in some cases is a good thing. They are like old men, loosing some of their spring over time.
DJ's springs look like he had no upper secondaries from the factory as evidenced by the new looking upper frame secondary bracket, newly attached thru the appropriate holes in the frame. Each of those springs has a 500 lb. load rating. 6 total giving a 3000 pound load rating. Notice this is done with no Stable Loads, just the stock rubber snubbers.
I should tell you of my experience with re-arching of spring packs. In about 1972 I was driving a 1970 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ55 (Chevy V8/Overdrive/Warn winch/53 gallon gas tank/tomba burro/Power lok rr diff, sleeps 2+2), a wagon with pretty flat springs and wanted to get more 'up', maybe a few inches to clear my HUGE 11x15 True Trac tires on 10" wide rims. I had a very reputable spring shop re-arch the springs using oil quenching and various springy techniques to re form them. I was great with a net 3" lift and no loss of ride quality. My smile turned to a frown however as, over a two year period the springs started to sag, slowly and inexorably back down to 00.0. Only my experience. So, keep that in mind when you discover that you can re-arch your springs for cheap. Yeah, cheap and made to stay that way.
regards, as always, jefe
As we get older and get off-road, we need to truss-up to stay afloat.
Cal wrote:
"Do you ever have any trouble with the top stack twisting wrt the main stack?"
jefe: not yet. The upper secondaries are bound by the U bolts and have a separate centering pin that holds them together. The main pack has that 1/8" shim which little ears to contain the lowest springs. The u bolts allow only 1/16th inch clearance on each side also limiting spring shifting.
Mello wrote:
"what prompted the upgrade? Did the original springs lose their effectiveness?"
jefe: I just wanted the rear up maybe 2 to 3 inches to bring the camper loaded level with the 3 inch lift on the front. I had plenty of springs already. I was already at the recommended max on the factory lift blocks (4" is the max before axle wrap consumes you) and looked at replacing the lower, thick and useless overload spring with a 5-leaf mini pack which would have softened the ride and given a 1 inch lift. For the price, not enough lift. I looked at all the alternatives to see what was out there and decided on $99 add-a-leaves which proportedly give a 3" lift to an unloaded truck. What I could not find out was what a 2000 pound load over that axle would net result be.
The answer is: 2" lift. The add-a-leaf is pretty stiff and has a lot more curve than the main spring pack so the ride of the loaded truck, so far, is directly attributed to that one spring doing it's job without much help from the factory leaves. This will change when the upper secondaries are fully engaged, which should happen after adding 500-600 more pounds of cargo. I have used add-a-leaf packs in the past on various applications with varying success. They are a quick and dirty way to add either height or carrying capacity but have some strange quirks, like a stiff, jerky ride on my XJ.
Another quirk is the inexorable flattening of the add-a-leaf. They simply loose some of their spring as time marches on, which in some cases is a good thing. They are like old men, loosing some of their spring over time.
DJ's springs look like he had no upper secondaries from the factory as evidenced by the new looking upper frame secondary bracket, newly attached thru the appropriate holes in the frame. Each of those springs has a 500 lb. load rating. 6 total giving a 3000 pound load rating. Notice this is done with no Stable Loads, just the stock rubber snubbers.
I should tell you of my experience with re-arching of spring packs. In about 1972 I was driving a 1970 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ55 (Chevy V8/Overdrive/Warn winch/53 gallon gas tank/tomba burro/Power lok rr diff, sleeps 2+2), a wagon with pretty flat springs and wanted to get more 'up', maybe a few inches to clear my HUGE 11x15 True Trac tires on 10" wide rims. I had a very reputable spring shop re-arch the springs using oil quenching and various springy techniques to re form them. I was great with a net 3" lift and no loss of ride quality. My smile turned to a frown however as, over a two year period the springs started to sag, slowly and inexorably back down to 00.0. Only my experience. So, keep that in mind when you discover that you can re-arch your springs for cheap. Yeah, cheap and made to stay that way.
regards, as always, jefe
