Thread: Cranked trailing arms ... articulation?

Hi Simon,

I run OME 755 springs in the rear (280lb/in spring rate I think) and a pair of polyairs. I compromised when it came to respringing the truck and went from 330lb/in spring rate down to 280lb/in rather than go softer still. The polyairs get a lot of use. I have repaired one of them once using polyurethane glue that i use to patch my neoprene fishing waders... It has worked well.

I use the polyairs two ways - first is the obvious, lift when loaded (12-22psi); second is to dampen movement when on the road at speed (5-12psi). The higher pressure gives lift and the lower pressure causes the springs to sway less much the same as a swaybar would I guess. Seems to work out OK. If I am wanting full and free articulation (who doesn't ), I get a broom handle and push air out of them so as they are shrunken inside the springs and not able to cause articulation dampening...

You need to be able to do this...




without this happening..



Phil

Originally Posted by flagg

Serg,

I am putting 7100 10" short body RRs onto my 110. I ordered them with the pin-2-eye converters. Don't - they are for converting pin shocks to eye mounts, not the other way around

Heasmans said that they were pretty sure they could mod the shocks themselves, but would get back to me.. I will have to chase them up on this.

Would be good to find some +2inch turrets with an eye mount on the top. I've seen some made up, but they were for RR.

The converters being the wrong way around put a bit of a spanner in the works for me and I've not yet decided how I'm going to go.

Good shock, thanks for the info on the conversion, where did you get them from? Rick130 knows some excellent Bilstein tuners in oz.

regarding the turret it would be pretty easy to fab some up if you have an oxy, welder and drill.

good luck and post pics when you have them mounted.

cheers,
Serg

Originally Posted by Tikirocker

Serg, Ben & Wayne ...

Thank you all, lots of great advice here and plenty of food for thought. On the subject of the front end ... what are your thoughts regarding slotted bushes? I basically want a tourer that has excellent off road capability ... I will buy Lockers down the road. Right now I want to get my suspension set up as best I can and I am thinking if I go for a lighter spring in the rear I could move to Polyairs later on for adjusting for loads when touring ... your thoughts?

Shocks are another can of worms ... people have posted being VERY happy running the Sus Stuff brand shocks ... tough to know which way to go when others say the Billies are too hard.

Simon.

Simon
With regards slotted bushes in the front.They will definately give more flex,but at the cost of longevity,not really ideal for a touring type vehicle.I tried chasing a set for my vehicle not so long ago,and haultech never had any.
I wouldn't run the polyairs if you are just playing on the weekends,but fit if you do extended touring would be ok.Better still,you could fit air bag rear suspension down the track and have the best of both worlds.
Many people are very happy with the standard shocks on vehicles,does that mean that they are any good?
All the people that I have seen making those sort of statements have not been what I would call people that live and breathe 4wds,more the types that have just uprated from standard shocks and don't have a lot to compare against.And for that purpose they would be fine.But I firmly believe that you would not be happy for very long for the intended use of your vehicle.And then buying another set of shocks would become false economy.I firmly believe in buying the best shocks for your intended use that you can afford.

Wayne

Regarding the slotted bushes, they will flog out quicker than normal, but that is to be expected as there is less rubber/bush doing the same job. They do a great job at articulation and still drive pretty well on road. I ran 2 sets both past their used by date and 95% on road. I dont have them now as I needed them changed and didnt have time to get onto Haultech and get them. My truck is my DD. I would have no problem running them again.

Rick130 changed his RA chassis end bush with some super pro from fulcrum. They are a poly bush but not super hard like the old days. The advantage of them is they are installed with a liberal amount of grease, so they dont bind themselves onto the arm/chassis mount like the OEM one do. This inturn allows more twist of the arm, which helps slightly. I have now done this but havent had a chance to see how it flexs. I also had super pro fitted to the TA at chassis end and the chassis end of A frame. My ball joint is a MD/MR Automotive "high ball"

it is always going to be a compromise as the RA set up is like one big sway bar. The LR engineers did a pretty damn good job of the original design on the original Range Rover. basicly the more flex you get from the front end the less it is binding there fore it more body roll is to be expected...

good springs and shocks can go along way to improving this......but that is a science unto itself, plus only you can determine what suits you best.

re shocks and brands. Everyone is on a budget....except the lucky few that have the bucks to spare. I have always been told that there most shocks are pretty average but will get the job done. If your building a heavy tourer, I would recommend spending us much as you can on shocks and get to know someone that can help tune them....the better shocks are rebuildable and you can change the valving on them.

good brands I know of are: Koni, Bilstein, Fox, Olhins ($$$$$$) king, sway away.

I would stay away from Rancho and OME etc....but alot of this is personal opinion.


plenty of guys on here know way more than me reagrding most of this stuff. There are some very clever guys here. Dougal and Rick130 are the first that come to mind re shocks, but there are plenty more

cheers,
Serg

Originally Posted by flagg

Serg,

I am putting 7100 10" short body RRs onto my 110. I ordered them with the pin-2-eye converters. Don't - they are for converting pin shocks to eye mounts, not the other way around

Heasmans said that they were pretty sure they could mod the shocks themselves, but would get back to me.. I will have to chase them up on this.

Would be good to find some +2inch turrets with an eye mount on the top. I've seen some made up, but they were for RR.

The converters being the wrong way around put a bit of a spanner in the works for me and I've not yet decided how I'm going to go.

flagg

That was one of the main reasons I never purchased the Bilsteins,as my shock mounts and extended turrets are made for pin/pin type shocks.Otherwise they would have been the perfect size to fit

Wayne

Wayne,

I hear what your saying....a guy on pirate was telling how he helped set up a race car he stated "the owner thought he was racing untill I showed him what fast was"... I think its a case of not knowing better. Is that a bad thing, not really. The only way to get the best set up is time+money. Trial&error.

re the poly airs. I know a guy that has them in the rear of his truck,modified. He has a control valve that when the difflock is engaged, it links the 2 bags. he has onboard air so he can change the pressure also.

DO NOT RUN LINKED POLYAIRS ON ROAD EVER

cheers,
Serg

Wayne & Serg

Good advice, I am firm believer in buy best once, buy average repeatedly. I was reading a thread on Slotted Bushes that had several people claim that the Haultech Slotted Bushes were not very good and gave a very limited life span. These same people recommended getting the slotted bushes from another company and one fellow had been running his bushes for 5 years. I think I will try to chase up some of the type they were talking about.

Wayne, as for shocks ... what/who do you personally recommend? I have about 1k to play with to get both coils and shocks ... I need to make it good.

Best, Simon.

Originally Posted by Tikirocker

Wayne,

Good advice mate, I am firm believer in buy best once, buy average repeatedly. I was reading a thread on Slotted Bushes that had several people claim that the Haultech Slotted Bushes were not very good and gave a very limited life span. These same people recommended getting the slotted bushes from another company and one fellow had been running his bushes for 5 years. I think I will try to chase up some of the type they were talking about.

As for shocks ... what/who do you personally recommend? I have about 1k to play with to get both coils and shocks ... I need to make it good.

Best, Simon.

life span is proportionate to flex..... maybe the other company made them from poly???

if you find out who and specs please post up. haultech have always made it very clear they wont last as long as OEM.