New suspension upgrade ..... finally!

Hi Guys,

Finally bought my lift kit and suspension upgrade. Ordered the tough dog foam cell shockies and a set of 40mm tough dog lifted springs for the rear along with all the assorted hardware. I'm just going to wind up the torsion bars I have seeing as they're new.

Hopefully I'll have the parts in about a week, then a few days to find time to install, then happy days!

I'll take some before and after's once complete.

Yeeeow!

DJ

Good stuff..

Have fun with the install.

Can't wait to see it mate. Get lots of pics!

Nice work Deejay, you'll notice a massive difference.

Hey Jason,

You're right, I did notice a massive difference, too much in fact.

I installed the springs and shockies today and when I dropped it down off the jacks, the rear end was sitting 100mm higher than standard. I was after a 40mm lift. I though it may be a bit of settling required, so took it out and caned the suspension over speed bumps and flexed the rear end as much as possible. It now sits at 85mm higher than it was.

I wound up the torsion bars and they have settled back to a nice 40mm lift and look great, but the back end sits so high I can't get it out of my garage without disengaging the roller door to roll it up that extra inch. It rides extremely stiff too.

The shocks are great, nice damping from the front end now. I have a feeling I may have been sent 300kg rated heavy duty springs. I so don't want to change the back springs over again, but it has to be better than getting out of the car to roll the garage door up that extra bit everytime I drive in or out. Don't fancy putting 150kg of weight in the back of the ute.

Bugger!

DJ

Its certainly high alright!

There should be some sort of code or part number on the springs I would have thought that they can check if they are the right ones or not. You certainly didn't get what you asked for so for the sake of the smoother ride i would be getting them swapped over.

Looks great though!

Can you take a close up photo of the rear spring pack?

Hi Guys,

Part number is T63. Supplier said it may be because the bushes were all tightened whilst the suspension was hanging. I'm going to back it all off and retighten when the axle is loaded on the ground.

I do like the look but am worried about insurance issues and the bone jarring ride, although with the van on the back and the tray fully loaded it should sit perfectly.

I'm hoping for a simple resolution by easing the nuts and bushes off. I've attached pics of front and back lift as well as springs and shocks.

Cheers,


DJ

Hey mate did you get the package locally? If so where from?

Cheers

Hi Guys,
I also did the same with my 09 D22....till today......Had Hi Tech 4X4 at Penrith install EFS Torsion bars and WOW -what a difference.......still looks the part.....but the ride quality........SO different. ( Did approx 10000Klm with wound up bars......ARB steel winch bar - front Lokka - EFS shocks all round + rear springs with greasable shackles....so have travelled a bit and some "rougher" stuff since Lokka fitted......and the ride quality between wound up and replacement H/D torsion bars is incredible.) Cheers to all.

roundy said:

Hey mate did you get the package locally? If so where from?

Cheers

Click to expand...

Hi Roundy,

Nah, couldn't get it for a realistic price in Perth. Was quoted $3,500 for tough dog lift and airbags. I laughed and left the shop.

I got it from over east but can't say where, as I was asked not to mention by shop owner (mates rates). Sorry!

Update: I resettled the suspension with slack nuts on the bushes and a lot more driving around and it has settles at 75mm in the rear and 50mm in the front. I reckon it may settle a little further too. With the camper trailer hooked up and loaded it should sit perfectly and be ideal for touring.

Cheers,

DJ

Deejay said:

Hi Guys,

Part number is T63. Supplier said it may be because the bushes were all tightened whilst the suspension was hanging. I'm going to back it all off and retighten when the axle is loaded on the ground.

I do like the look but am worried about insurance issues and the bone jarring ride, although with the van on the back and the tray fully loaded it should sit perfectly.

I'm hoping for a simple resolution by easing the nuts and bushes off. I've attached pics of front and back lift as well as springs and shocks.

Cheers,


DJ

Click to expand...

Can't believe how flimsy the standard springs are!

Did you use plenty of rubber grease?

That's a pretty heavy looking spring pack, You'll always have a harsh ride unless heavily loaded but you could easily remove the bottom leaf, that'll drop you down 12mm with out altering the load rating too much.

If your not an off roader, having seen the standard spring I would have kept the standard and added a leaf with airbags for towing.

Problem with suspension is hindsight's a bitch!

G'day 08Kingcab,

Yeah, standard springs are pretty ordinary, the difference between stock and the tough dogs is amazing.

I used a reasonable amount of grease on the pins. All original Nissan bushes and pins were dry. Even more ordinary were some of the washers on the bushes of the stock shocks were installed backwards. Damn Thai built D22!

I do drive offroad occasionally, and as it is my work truck, and only drive it a couple of times a week on my own, I don't mind the harsh ride. When I really want the safety and use of the heavy springs is when I take my wife and baby daughters away camping. We load the hell out of the ute and hook up the Jayco hawk. She should sit perfectly with the new setup. My family safety is paramount and the reason I went with Tough Dog rear springs was it is better at carrying load.

If it really drives me nuts in the future, I may pull one leaf out, but I reckon she'll be right. I like the height now it has settled a little, I'm 6'3" and can slide up and in without stooping at all.