Good Troopy suspension???????
Submitted: Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 19:36
ThreadID:
43892
Views:
12093
Replies:
9
FollowUps:
11
This Thread has been Archived
Bluey221
We just got back from Fraser, what a great place it is when you are far from the over loaded troopys full of back packers! I noticed that their hire rigs sit a lot higher than
mine due to heavy duty springs I suppose??? I would like to hear of some good suspention set ups for my '96' Troopy. At the moment the shackle conecting the leaf springs to to the chassie is on a bit of an angle and during the weekend the front
suspension bottomed out a bit. I think I need more travel and better shocks as we are heading to the cape and to WA in a few months. I have heard Konis are good. Any info on the whole
suspension set up would be great. Might be a bit of weight on the old girl and pulling my small builders trailer.
Thanks, happy travels!
Reply By: Member - Troopytrek - Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 19:57
Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 19:57
G,Day Bluey221 we are on our third troopy our current one is a 1995 RV 4.5 petrol we have been fortunate to know a good spring bloke who has reset ours and we put a set of air bags in the rear for when we have extra weight works a treat. At the end of 2005 we did three and a half months travelling through the Gulf ,
Gibb River Road, Cape Levique and acrossn through the centre of Aus. Cheers.
AnswerID:
231072
Follow Up By: Bluey221 - Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 20:48
Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 20:48
HI, thanks for the quick follow ups. So you can get your springs reset then can you? Is this advisable? The bloke at TJM said I should get their XGS shocks and some spring savers i think he called them....like at upside down leaf spring that goes over your rear leaf set up if that makes sense...does anyone have any comment on them? Lots of corrigations up in Northern Oz I hear so need something good. What should I stear away from? Did you need a winch on all your travels?
thanks
FollowupID:
491977
Follow Up By: Member - Troopytrek - Monday, Apr 02, 2007 at 06:14
Monday, Apr 02, 2007 at 06:14
Bluey221,
We do have a winch on our troopy, we had no reason to use it on our travels.
But the story goes if you don't have it you will need it.
By the way our front
suspension has OME shocks we have had them on all our troopies and had no troubles.
We are heading to the Cape in Sept and at this point won't be changing our set up.We still have the same
suspension that we travelled with in 2005.
Troopytrek
FollowupID:
492052
Reply By: Member - Doug T (W.A) - Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 20:01
Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 20:01
I answered a question just like this last week , can't find the post
to make it short I have OME springs, Dampers, and steering damper,ride is good whole system is fantastic
AnswerID:
231073
Follow Up By: Bluey221 - Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 20:51
Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 20:51
This bloke told me the other day that OME arn't as good as they used to be cause they are made in China now.....don't know if this is true though. any idea what that would cost minus the steering damper?
FollowupID:
491979
Reply By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 20:16
Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 20:16
Its hard to get better leaf springs than the Old Man Emu. And if you go for their springs you may as
well use the shocks they suggest as
well. I have friends who have used them without an issue for 100-150 thousand k's on the 75's. I have them on the 79series.
Greasable shackles with poly bushes are probably worthwhile on the 75series, but they changed the bushes to a metal sleeve rubber bush on the 78/79's.
AnswerID:
231079
Follow Up By: Bluey221 - Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 20:56
Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 20:56
Thanks for your comments. When you buy OME leaf springs, what options do you get in regard to
suspension travel. I don't want to go over board, I just want to be
well prepared for the rough roads.
Thanks for your help
FollowupID:
491982
Follow Up By: Member - Doug T (W.A) - Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 20:58
Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 20:58
Phil
Mine has been on for about 320.000 klm and it still handles like a Rally car, Yeh I know that's a bit of an exageration but on girt it is very stable and predictable , It is hard to set to set it up into a slide because of the wide tyres, and diff lock , I always say if I were to drive a standard Troopy I think I would probably roll it if i drove it like this one
Doug
FollowupID:
491987
Follow Up By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 21:06
Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 21:06
Bluey,
Travel is determined by the shocks. The OME shocks have 40mm more travel than the original shocks. You probably don't want too much travel on the 75series because you can easily invert the shackles.
FollowupID:
491992
Follow Up By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 21:15
Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 21:15
Doug,
I guess it also depends on where you go as
well.
Mine have only done 40,000k but have done all the corrugated roads like Gunbarrel, Anne Beadell, Connie sue, Heather highways,
Madigan Line,
Simpson desert etc etc, so I don't give them an easy time. And the vehicle is packed tpo the hilt on our trips, so I've been happy so far.
FollowupID:
491997
Follow Up By: Member - Doug T (W.A) - Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 21:16
Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 21:16
I don't see the reason for lifting them too high unless your doing
Rock crawling, but a word of WARNING , GET LONGER BRAKE HOSES
FollowupID:
491998
Follow Up By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 21:35
Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 21:35
"GET LONGER BRAKE HOSES"
on the 79series, I checked that out after I fitted the
suspension, and the rear brake line was at its limit. I was able to simply readjust it so it had slack again.
FollowupID:
492005
Reply By: ross - Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 20:19
Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 20:19
If your
suspension is bottoming out ,new shocks wont help. As the name suggests shock absorbers absorb shock.
Its
the springs that support the load
You need to have your spring packs inspected.
Im using the Powerdown/Raw 4x4 41mm 3 way adjustable shocks on both my landcruisers and I get a good run from them
To do the whole lot would be $1500 approx
AnswerID:
231081
Follow Up By: Bluey221 - Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 20:58
Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 20:58
Thanks for the advice, I will look into it.
Joe
FollowupID:
491984
Reply By: The Rambler( W.A.) - Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 21:11
Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 21:11
Iwould get your springs checked and reset if necessary and also replace shocks at the same time.With heavier loads I would reccomend fitting Bellows(Pollyair or Firestone) and you would have no further problems.
AnswerID:
231091
Reply By: burnsy - Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 21:19
Sunday, Apr 01, 2007 at 21:19
I have a 95 troopy & have put coil springs on and taken some leaves out of the pack.
I have found that this works great on the rear as the car rides on the coils when lightly loaded with improved ride & the leaves take some weight when I load it up.
Personaly I would not put the coils on the front as I found that I got too much body roll but they work a treat on the rear. I believe that a mob called Outback
suspension may sell it as a kit. I run Konie shocks & they have done about 300000 ks and still seem ok. I have gone back to rubber shackle bushes as I have found the the poly ones chop out too quick on rough roads.
Hope this helps.
Mike.
AnswerID:
231093
Reply By: Member -Signman - Monday, Apr 02, 2007 at 09:16
Monday, Apr 02, 2007 at 09:16
Our Troopy ('94 HZJ75) sits at 550mm Front & 590mm Rear (measured from centre of axle to wheel arch lip)- currently light loaded with tanks almost empty.
In my opinion AirBags are not a good substitute for 'iffy'
suspension- rather they can be a handy addition to good
suspension.
When you do get your
suspension setup- the 'expert' should ask you things like: Bullbar/Winch, Fuel tank(s) capacity, Water tanks/ Towbar/ Spare wheel location/Type of engine and of course your intended usage.
We did a lot of research before deciding on our choice so for your information-we have a full OME setup with: Dampers F/N50 R/N75E
Springs F/571 R/3911. Recently fitted Urethane bushes all round (incl Sway Bar).
AnswerID:
231168
Reply By: longJohn - Monday, Apr 02, 2007 at 12:52
Monday, Apr 02, 2007 at 12:52
after my fraser trip last year i had the same problem, spent 1200 bux and got IRONMAN springs up front, greasable shackles, u bolts and pins, and in the rear got 30% extra rate springs also, all new. Very happy, its lifted it up a bit (old springs were shagged) and firmed it up heaps. Pleasure to drive now.
I got
mine done at a little mechanics
shop in Lobb st
ipswich,
Ipswich diesel.
AnswerID:
231219
Reply By: Member - Steve T (NT) - Monday, Apr 02, 2007 at 13:40
Monday, Apr 02, 2007 at 13:40
Hey Guys.
Go to photo's on my rig, have a look what happens when you beef up your springs to much.
Cheers Steve.
AnswerID:
231225
Follow Up By: Member -Signman - Monday, Apr 02, 2007 at 16:12
Monday, Apr 02, 2007 at 16:12
Certainly stuffed that up, and ruined a good weekend...
I think you can achieve a good ride height, and 'almost' comfortable
suspension- without having a bone jarring setup that shakes the fillings out of your teeth on the first dirt track.
A bit of thought and engineering required- not just throw the thickest springs and heaviest shocks you can find..
FollowupID:
492153