Can I remove leaves from my 6x6?

[Silenceisgolden]

Has anyone investigated removing one or more leaves from the rear springs on a 6x6? I don't expect to be running anywhere near GVM and would like to soften the ride a bit, and hopefully get the tray level. At the moment the tray is 60mm higher at the back than the front. Thanks for any advice.

[kreecha]

My experience comes from a 60 series cruiser, hilux and Suzuki sierra.

Could remove any number of leafs you like. But too many and you'll experience axle wrap (pinion rotating up towards to tray or down towards deck) and possibly axle walk (moving side to side when experiencing side loads).
An anti-wrap bar will stop the axle wrap. Bad axle wrap may result in a driveshaft dropping out or bent (banana'd) leafs.
A panhard would stop walk.

Then you could add in airbag helpers to retain carrying capacity. Just be careful of not overloading the 'new' load points on the chassis. Don't want to end up with a broken back like a navara.

Not sure how much $$$ you have to spend but they are some options. Or you could just remove a few leafs in a trial and error process.

Looking forward to the results so please post feedback.

[Mick_Marsh]

I believe that is what some have done to get their 6x6 "engineered" for a lower GVM.
This is so they can drive their "truck" on a car licence.

You are planning to put a camper on the back, yes? If so, I'd put the camper on and then reassess.

[Lotz-A-Landies]

As mentioned above yes you can remove leaves and yes that will reduce the GVM on the vehicle so you will need to get the vehicle engineered to make that official.

When removing leaves take them from the middle or lower part of the pack and don't remove 2 adjacent leaves and don't remove any of the top 3 leaves. You'll likely need shorter U bolts and centre pins. Do the same removal on each of the 4 spring packs.

I don't have perentie stats here atm but as a quick estimate a Defender front axle has a load rating of 1580Kg make your calculations by deducting this from your 6x6 GVM ?5.6 my calc = 4020 kg for the rear of the vehicle / 4 gives you 1005 kg per spring pack divide this by the number of leaves which will give you an estimate of the reduction of capacity for each leaf you remove.

Remember you can make the ride less aggressive by reducing friction between the leaves, some people use a wedge and oil between the leaves or you can get UHMW (ultra-high molecular weight) Polyethylene plastic tape and install that between the leaves.

[Phil B]

As Dianne said but also chamfering / rounding the edges and tips of the springs helped on my S3 springs

[Silenceisgolden]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Diana, my 6x6 was previously registered in Queensland at the reduced GVM but the springs have not been modified. I want to have the GVM reduced when I register it in NSW - do you know if the rules are different in NSW?
Mick, yes, I will be building a camper but there will be no problem in keeping the weight down. I will build it out of light weight sandwich panels like I used on my Oka - I expect it to be around 4 tons ready to roll. But yes, I will leave the springs as they are until that is all done.
Kreecha, I hadn't thought of the issue of the axles losing torsional support - I will need to tread carefully. Maybe I should just lubricate and chamfer as Phil suggests. It will al be fun!
Cheers,
Paul

[Phil B]

Watching with interest.
Photos please!!!!!