Lowering Leaf Suspension

[styler]

well i want to lower, stiffen and anti tramp the rear leaves about 30mm or so on the ke25,

 

seems like everyone has a different method, some i come across so far:

 

lowering:

lowering blocks (not good)

invert eyes

invert leaves

reset entire pack

 

stiffening:

add 1 leaf

add multiple leaves

add thicker custom leaf

use wagon leaves (not true apparently)

 

to stop tramp:

add half leaf cut off at front

clamp front end

add leaf

 

now i want the car to handle and from what i can see that would mean

a slightly lower, slightly stiffer rear end without too much tramp.

 

the setup on the car:

 

stage1:

front low king springs 30mm, monroe gt gas dampers front and rear,

30mm RCA's, strut brace front, more caster, neutral toe.

 

for the future: stage2

a small amount of neg camber 2 to 4 degrees not sure on camber method yet.

maybe a slightly thicker swaybar 150% or so on the front

 

so what does everyone recommend to lower, stiffen and anti tramp the rear springs?

come on all you leaf guru's!

[kryton brown]

Sorry i don't have any info but i'm keen to hear anyones ideas. i have been thinking about the rear springs in my ke30 for a while and don't know what direction to go in..

[oh what a nissan feeling!]

Go the spring reset to lower the leaves, if you are building a diff it is also legal to build 50mm of lowering block into your diff mounts. :D

 

To stop tramp. One good idea is what you said, to actually cut the ends off another top leaf and add it. Also remove the slipper pads from where your diff mounts to the spring, and solid mount it. Less rubber is better :D . Another one i did is to get a custom top leaf made so that you use the same rubber as at the rear eye, on the front, this was only $80, and when you look at the size of the front rubber, i was glad to say goodbye to it. The real trick though is to add an extra link to your rear end, from the existing front eye bolt to below the spring plate ...well kind of.This setup will give awesome traction and eliminate all tramp. I have no photos yet though, and will take some as soon as mine is reassembled. :D :D :D

[Old-Skool-Rolla]

i heard that you can just flip the leaf to lower them??

[Rolla__Boy]

Clicky

 

Yes it's illegal, yes it's not the best way to lower a car, but do I care? No

 

And how much axle tramp do I get? None.

 

How much did it cost me? Nothing

 

How long have I had flipped leaves? 6 years

[ScottKE1X]

I've tried the flipped leaves method (not all of them) and i've had a leaf pack professionally

reset and an extra leaf added (cost over $200).

 

If i was to do it all again I would go the inverted leaf eyes. Its cheaper than resetting the pack,

it seems to lower the car a fair way and it keeps the same arch in the leaf springs which would give

a better ride. chuck one more leaf in too while you at it.

My reset pack sits flat and the hangers, which i believe are supposed to be vertical, are way out.

 

If it isnt low enough with the inverted eyes, go with the built in lowering blocks on your diff idea

oh what a nissan feeling mentioned (I remember seeing this on that famous te27 built on the web)

and I think he's on the money with the tramp too by the sounds of it.

 

Scott.

[Redwarf]

I have an inverted eye leaf pack. You have to shorten the rear bolt on the forward eye shackle, otherwise the spring pack will hit them.

 

Gotta go to Mackay for the day tomorrow, but I'll try to get a pic tomorrow night.

 

My low pack is around 70mm lower than my forest rally spring pack

[Jordan]

Just lowever the back of my LE55 coupe using the inverted leaf trick, took all the photos to post up a 'how to' but it's aready been done.

 

Took us less than an hour form start to finish, however this is the 4th time I've done it, and the results are 1.5-2" lower + slightly stiffer.

 

Jordan

 

P.S: why pay to have it done. unless you want to give me $50 for anyone in SA :thumbsup:

Edited September 2, 2006 by Jordan

[coln72]

Used a hydrolic press to straighten the main leaf in my old ke35. Once the leaf pack was reassemnled it was about 2" lower and ounce the weight of the car was on them it ended up being just off the bump stops.

 

Ended up being a sook and cut the bump stops in half to give it more than 10mm of travel :thumbsup:

 

On my current KE20 i just removed the bottom leaf altogether :)

Edited September 2, 2006 by coln72