Thread: Spring Over Lift

Originally Posted by Tonestar

G'Day,............

I want to do a "Spring Over Lift",put the Diff's under the springs like they do on Hi-lux's.Has anyone done it and how hard was it to do,what am I looking at.????????
Just a general opinion please.

Thanx Tonestar.

Yes..... Not realy worth it in my opinion. Brake pipes,Drive shafts, Steering geometry, Need coiler axles to widen its track. Mine drove like an upright piano on roller skates. But has been done with great success.

Cheers Tony

I've done it and describing difficulty is a relative thing.

I really wouldn't use series axles to do a SOA (Spring Over Axle) conversion. I think that you'll find it too narrow. Even standard I think that they're too narrow.

Anyway, I did mine with Toyota Hilux axles. This is on 31's (measuring 30")


This pic is on 38's (measuring 36")



The front axle just bolts in with some flexing of the springs.


The steering will connect up to the relay using a LR steering link. At the axle (PS) I made up whats called a X-over steering link and reamed to accept a LR ball joint instead of a Toyota one. If you need one of these I'm happy to swap you for a standard one as I'm no longer running a SOA setup. The keeps the steering link relative flat to prevent bumpsteer (ie so it drives straight over the bumps) It's different to the Toyota ones as the top arm is relatatively flat so that it clears the chassis.


The rear

Weld in perches and put the axle in. You would run the lower plates on the opposite side to mount the shocks properly. Like the front you will also have to drill the plates to accept thicker U-bolts.



I never completed it but here are the problems:
Front tail shaft clearing the Xmember - scallop the Xmember
SWB angle on rear tailshaft - high flex unis, but will vibrate
Duel front brake hoses - Run Hilux brake MC onto Series 3 pedal
Centred rear diff - use a Bundera rear diff which has an offset centre.

There are of course other things which you'll need to do to make it work such as brake lines, new shafts, revised upper shock mounts, shocks etc.

In the end, I coiled it and brought it out to 100" which I think will be a minimum length - so if its a shorty I wouldn't bother. I scrapped it in the end due to a chassis problem (rust)

On 37's and 100" with coiled rear.


The SOA does give more scope for suspension articulation though.

If you are planing this horrible excersise id do as simon has done and remove some spring packs so it allows the axle to articulate in both directions

Originally Posted by rangieman

If you are planing this horrible excersise id do as simon has done and remove some spring packs so it allows the axle to articulate in both directions

You'll also then need to add an anti wrap bar of some descript to prevent the axle from twisting.


In all honesty, when I started the construction of Ute2 which I'm building now it was very much a hindsight vehicle being built with what I learnt and what I knew it needed to do to perform in the bush. The new setup for suspension is a slight lift 2-3", front and rear axles move rearward by about 40-45mm (tyres to clear headlights) with LandCruiser springs to fit 37's, Landcruiser axles for width and strength and make the body work suit. I also think the SOA conversion will be not very nice to drive, not only due to body sway, but also the driveline vibrations which you'll get. It'll look really cool though. SUA is just a lot more stable and easier to do generally. The ride height difference is that SOA will give about 6" lift and the SUA will up to about 2-3" lift. The SOA will give more articulation but I think you can get some similar results for the same level of fabrication with SUA with the added advantage of stability.

Originally Posted by Slunnie

I've done it and describing difficulty is a relative thing.

I really wouldn't use series axles to do a SOA (Spring Over Axle) conversion. I think that you'll find it too narrow. Even standard I think that they're too narrow.

Anyway, I did mine with Toyota Hilux axles. This is on 31's (measuring 30")


This pic is on 38's (measuring 36")



The front axle just bolts in with some flexing of the springs.


The steering will connect up to the relay using a LR steering link. At the axle (PS) I made up whats called a X-over steering link and reamed to accept a LR ball joint instead of a Toyota one. If you need one of these I'm happy to swap you for a standard one as I'm no longer running a SOA setup. The keeps the steering link relative flat to prevent bumpsteer (ie so it drives straight over the bumps) It's different to the Toyota ones as the top arm is relatatively flat so that it clears the chassis.


The rear

Weld in perches and put the axle in. You would run the lower plates on the opposite side to mount the shocks properly. Like the front you will also have to drill the plates to accept thicker U-bolts.



I never completed it but here are the problems:
Front tail shaft clearing the Xmember - scallop the Xmember
SWB angle on rear tailshaft - high flex unis, but will vibrate
Duel front brake hoses - Run Hilux brake MC onto Series 3 pedal
Centred rear diff - use a Bundera rear diff which has an offset centre.

There are of course other things which you'll need to do to make it work such as brake lines, new shafts, revised upper shock mounts, shocks etc.

In the end, I coiled it and brought it out to 100" which I think will be a minimum length - so if its a shorty I wouldn't bother. I scrapped it in the end due to a chassis problem (rust)

On 37's and 100" with coiled rear.


The SOA does give more scope for suspension articulation though.

Question.......How hard was it to convert to Coil Springs and what would I be looking at to do that....?????
I like that idea, my plan originally was to put IIA Body on a Rangy coil sprung chassis and use Rangie V8 and Drive Train.

Tonestar.

the easy way is to find a rolled coiler that has straight axles...

cut out the suspension mounts dummy the axles into position, mount the linkages mount the brackets then weld up the mounts to suit.

then cut your propshafts to length (or stretch them) and sort out the brakes.

Originally Posted by Tonestar

Question.......How hard was it to convert to Coil Springs and what would I be looking at to do that....?????
I like that idea, my plan originally was to put IIA Body on a Rangy coil sprung chassis and use Rangie V8 and Drive Train.

Tonestar.

It can be as easy or difficult as you want really.

For the rear I bought lower link mounts and welded them onto the axle. Used Nissan Patrol rings and bushes for the lower links and set these into the original leaf spring mounts. For the A-Frame I made a Xmember and bolted this in using a factory A-frame, and them fabricated a Ball joint mount perch onto the top of the axle and used a ball joint mount from a Salisbury onto the perch. The lower spring perches are just D1 units sitting on top of little RHS risers which are welded to the axle. The uppers in that pic is just RHS welded to the chassis with another axle D1 spring perched welded to it, but dont do that! I also have spring perches which were cut off a bent D2 chassis. Shocks were mounted using an aftermarket axle shock mount. The chassis was scrapped after this due to rust. If you want to simplify it and are not chasing loads of articulation, then I would also recommend running D2 front radius arms from the bottom of the chassis to the axle and a panhard rod setup. Relatively easy and simple brackets to make or cheap to buy.

I can't comment too much on putting the series body onto a RRC chassis, but there are quite a few people that also recommend this. Its not how I'd do it, but each to their own.

Lower link mounts:


Lower Links from axle to chassis fixed spring mounts:




RHS risers to plate and then Salisbury A-frame mount. Note also lower links to fixed leaf mounts.


I haven't got a pic of the crossmember. Also, don't do the spring perches as above!

You have to forgive me...I'm new to Landy's.........so can you tell me what D1 - D2 means please.And also its only the Rear End you made Coil,
how does the Front End behave with coil Rear End when articulating..???
and how did you get the Front up so high to match the height of the Coils in the Rear when the Front is still Leafs....???

Much Appreciated
Tonestar.