new torsion bars

well my new torsion bars arived today.
efs bars $385 delivered... think its a fairly ok price.
just got to find a place that will fit them for me. out of interest is i worth me trying to do it myself? is there much in it?

next is my shockers and then springs gonna go tough dog shockers. Is it worth going the ajustable in the rear? only an extra $80 but are they actually better/worse than normal tough dog shockies?

prolly gonna go efs leaves cause i really haven't heard anything bad about them and they seem right for price. one question is should i go for comfort or HD? now i reckon that might get asked a fair bit and i know it does cause i've searched a bit on this forum. but i have a good reason for asking and that is that i'm looking to put a tray on the nav in the near to far future haha.

now i reckon i will go with an aluminium tray for lightness over the steel tray. how much does the tub weigh approx? cause i'm thinking that an alluminium tray would prob weigh less or around the same as the tub? this gets me thinking that i might just go with comfort in the rear as i most likely wont be carrying much weight in the rear except for camping.

i would think that if i decided on going with the steel try i'm going to need HD springs.

what are the pros and cons for steel and aluminium trays?

so basically what i'm asking is advice on trays, adjustable shocks, and HD/comfort springs.

anyway i've writen enough for now. any advice would be much appreciated

I recently swapped my steel tray over for a ally tray as I was putting a steel framed canopy on. It ended up being a perfect swap.... Weight wise but oh do miss my steel tray, if your strapping stuff down you can't go past the good old steel sides, mine never even had a buckle no matter how tight those ropes got. I think the worse part of the ally tray is that rattle... I am slowly winning that battle by placing ally sheets on the inside of the tray to make them a little more rigid.

mmm fair enough do you run standard suspension???.
i drive a falcon for work with a ally tray and never really notice a rattle...

anyway... might get a black mark against my name if we talk to much about trays in the suspension section :O

but still any more advice on trays would be appreciated.

I did the torsion bars in my Nav myself, wasnt much to it

I've got 2" EFS elite front shocks...enforcer rear hd torsion bars and rear leafs. The tray only rattles off road but on those long trails it starts to get on your nerves a little but it definitely has it's benefits as well

thanks alphabet for the replies.
just wondering if i was to go with the comfort springs and the tough dog adjustable rear shocks, could i just adjust them so they were stiffer once i put my tray on? would this give the similar outcome to just going HD leaves?

I am no expert in this department but if it's going to be long term thing I would probably go with the hd springs. My understanding is the adjustable shocks are better for situations where you are towing boats...campers ect but as I said I am no expert but neither are a lot of the people selling it too you.... Chase up zordo on this site, he seems to be the man to ask and does great deals.

Jack I believe your in Victoria.....not sure where but talk to Brett at 4x4 Obsession in Melton.
He is bloody good and the cheapest on parts and labour I have come across.
Those bars you just paid $365 for he fitted to mine for $350. Getting EFS leaves fitted with greasable shackles and an alignment for $650 next week.
No matter what you do DONT GO NEAR OME / ARB SUSPENSION.

thanks for that aido. i'm in central vic around kilmore area.
normally i go to bendigo for anything and not really interested in going to far into melbourne area but certainly seems like you have got a good price.

not even considering OME or arb.... i reckon people are gonna get a better service and understanding of anything to do with 4x4 by going on this forum rather than spending any amount of time with arb........


never mind... hopefully i'll get these torsion bars fitted for little amount of money and then work on shockies, etc.

thanks alpha. makes sense what you say. and i think if i'm serious on a tray which i'm 80% sure i am. then i will go HD

I reckon adjustable shocks are just a gimmik and the notion of adjusting your dampning rate for load carrying ability is rubish spun by salesmen. Springs carry the load not the shocks. I figure the less parts in your shock the better for reliability and longevity.

Heavy duty leafs will carry load better but will reduce aticulation. To overcome this trade off get the softer comfort springs and air bags which you pump up on occasions you are carrying a load.

It sounds like you are doing the suspension in stages which means the torsion bars will need to be re-adjusated to match the rear. Installing them and adjusting them is realy simple, download the service manual and jump under and have a look at doing it yourself, nothing beats getting to know your own truck.

Cheers

Peter I got the hd leafs as I often tow a boat around as well as the permanent canopy... Will these hd springs let go enough to give me decent articulation. I had heard of some bad stories with Towing boats with air bag suspension and recently saw a 2.5 d22 nav snap in half towing a boat on fraser with air bags. The guy was not happy and blamed the air bags. I am no suspension guru and wont pretend to be.. Just going of what he was complaining about.I'm not complaining about what I have but we always want a little more don't we!

cheers peter. sound like you know your stuff. and i deffinatly agree with you. nothing is better than knowing how things work. exspecially things you own and may be able to fix.
sounds like i'm going normal shocks in the rear saves me $80 haha.
preter the only thing i'm worries about is tray weight now. when and if i decide i want to fit a tray, i still want a decent ride and hopefully good flex if i have to compromise on anything i would prefer a good ride i think...

therefore at this point in time i'm leaning towards comfort springs. and the maybe an alluminium tray to match weight of tub, leaving me with a good ride.

am i right in assuming this haha?

alphabet said:

Peter I got the hd leafs as I often tow a boat around as well as the permanent canopy... Will these hd springs let go enough to give me decent articulation. I had heard of some bad stories with Towing boats with air bag suspension and recently saw a 2.5 d22 nav snap in half towing a boat on fraser with air bags. The guy was not happy and blamed the air bags. I am no suspension guru and wont pretend to be.. Just going of what he was complaining about.I'm not complaining about what I have but we always want a little more don't we!

Click to expand...

Hey Alphebet, I too have seen plenty of examples of chassis bending when towing big loads with airbags most of which are on the beach. There is a lot of distance beween the towbar and the air bag, the distance gives leaverage and the airbag acts as a pivot over which the chassis bends. There is no way in hell I would tow anywhere near the 2800Kg with my Nav any distance and offroad/beach I wouldn't go over about 1/3 of that as the bouncing around increases the stress so much. Best sollution for towing big loads is a fith wheeler setup in the tray to keep the weight over the axle. The airbags are better suited to in vehicle load where there is no leaverage on the chassis.

If you have a heavy load when offroad then your heavy springs should still flex up, but iff offroading without that load they will roll the body rather then flex up.

Cheers

JackTheRipper said:

cheers peter. sound like you know your stuff. and i deffinatly agree with you. nothing is better than knowing how things work. exspecially things you own and may be able to fix.
sounds like i'm going normal shocks in the rear saves me $80 haha.
preter the only thing i'm worries about is tray weight now. when and if i decide i want to fit a tray, i still want a decent ride and hopefully good flex if i have to compromise on anything i would prefer a good ride i think...

therefore at this point in time i'm leaning towards comfort springs. and the maybe an alluminium tray to match weight of tub, leaving me with a good ride.

am i right in assuming this haha?

Click to expand...

Hey Jack...
I run comfort toughdog rear leafs and foamcell shocks with the standard tray,canopy and roofrack loaded up with camping gear no problems. I wouldn't go HD springs unless carrying very heavy loads like trays full of gravel, fertilizer, drums ect.

The standard tray is pretty heavy, two blokes can lift it but not easy to move around. I reckon it would be about same for steel tray and alloy would be lighter. Empty alloy tray with HD springs would be terrible on any rough road, best to go comfort I reckon.

Cheers

Hopefully my decision to get the hd springs was the right one. based on the weight and constant load of a steel framed canopy, it's got a bit of weight...4 blokes to lift ...just! Hopefully I will still get some decent articulation.

I have a 95 Blazer with the torsion Keys installed. the more you crank it up the more trouble your asking for.

Aido said:

No matter what you do DONT GO NEAR OME / ARB SUSPENSION.

Click to expand...

WHY...

please explain!






.

Peter ST_R said:

I reckon adjustable shocks are just a gimmik and the notion of adjusting your dampning rate for load carrying ability is rubish spun by salesmen. Springs carry the load not the shocks. I figure the less parts in your shock the better for reliability and longevity.

Heavy duty leafs will carry load better but will reduce aticulation. To overcome this trade off get the softer comfort springs and air bags which you pump up on occasions you are carrying a load.

It sounds like you are doing the suspension in stages which means the torsion bars will need to be re-adjusated to match the rear. Installing them and adjusting them is realy simple, download the service manual and jump under and have a look at doing it yourself, nothing beats getting to know your own truck.

Cheers

Click to expand...

x 2..there wouldnt be many guys that adjust the shocks...they put them in and forget or couldnt be bothered to adjust them..
just a gimmick...i agree with pete str

thanks guys for the comments. looks like i might go comfort springs after all...

Peter ST_R said:

I reckon adjustable shocks are just a gimmik and the notion of adjusting your dampning rate for load carrying ability is rubish spun by salesmen. Springs carry the load not the shocks. I figure the less parts in your shock the better for reliability and longevity.

Heavy duty leafs will carry load better but will reduce aticulation. To overcome this trade off get the softer comfort springs and air bags which you pump up on occasions you are carrying a load.

It sounds like you are doing the suspension in stages which means the torsion bars will need to be re-adjusated to match the rear. Installing them and adjusting them is realy simple, download the service manual and jump under and have a look at doing it yourself, nothing beats getting to know your own truck.

Cheers

Click to expand...

by adjusting the bound and rebound (ie adjustable rear shocks) you will be able to adjust comfort/ handling to suit you
they wont help with load carrying ability
just be sure to buy a quality adjustable shock and you wont be sorry
used and adjusted properly they are no gimmick IMO