Suspension options for 80s

[Nick Shepherd]

http://www.motorsportworld.co.uk/

They seem to be fairly cheap. I assume they haven't got stock of the LC items as they are geared towards the lowering, rather than raising of vehicles but they have a price with postage for the UK so I'd expect them to honour it.

Koni and Bilstein are big in the sporty replacement shocks market, there seem to be a lot of sellers in the UK.

 

[paulm]

Hey Nick,

If the height doesn't bother you why not just upgrade your shocks and see how you go from there.

I have been looking into bringing in a set of 10" Fox 2.0 Remote reservoir shocks from http://www.downsouthmotorsports.com in the US. They can build the shock up for you so it is bolt on and tune it for you too. Something else that can be added are their compression damping adjusters which allow you to firm up the shock for say daily driving and then if you so wish soften them for offroading.

Some good reading here on them fitted to 80 series cruisers: http://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/245970-fox-shox-2-0s-4.html

I was quoted the following prices:
Front - Fox 2.0 smooth body shock with remote reservoir in stem to stem mounting in 10" Travel and the shock would be $219.00 each. (£135)

Rear - in a 10" Travel would be $175.00 each. (£110)
CD adjusters are $85 extra per shock
Shipping is $175.00

Not bad money when you look at what OME shocks cost, never mind a full lift kit. All in you could have a set landed for about £650.00 and you'd have a far superior shock.

have you had any more chance to have a look into this Ryan?
which springs would you use with the fox shocks? how would this setup cope with overlanding with a fair amount of extra weight? thanks

 

[BRE Fabrications LTD]

Hey Paul,

Haven't oredred them yet. Looks like I'll have to wait till the end of the year to pull the trigger on those bad boys.

Coil wise I am going to go with Julian V's Flexy coils which will yield a 3" lift.

With regards to overland use, I can't comment from experience, but I would say it makes far more sense to have a shock that is fully rebuild able and serviceable on your truck than the likes of a sealed OME unit. If the Fox blows a seal at least it is feasible to carry spares and tools to service them whereas if an OME unit failed on you you could just as well bin it.

If you get time check out you tube for rebuild videos of Fox shocks (there are a few King Shocks rebuild videos on there too which are much for much the same) and you will see how simple they really are. I have rebuilt a few Fox bicycle forks which are basically light duty versions of the car shocks. Very simple and interesting stuff to be honest.

Weight wise, it's the coils that support the weight of the vehicle so as long as you are suitably sprung you shouldn't have an issue. Also as a bonus if you went with the CD adjusters and air bags you could dial in more compression damping when you stiffen up the rear (by inflating the air bags) to compensate for a firmer spring rate. The cool thing is that downsouth will valve the shocks appropriately for you. Tell them what vehicle, weight, spring rate you are running and they should know what a good setup will be. If your not happy with the valving then you can change it... Thats the beauty about these shocks - Fully rebuildable, servicable and tunable.

 

[SimonD]

Coil wise I am going to go with Julian V's Flexy coils which will yield a 3" lift.

Ryan, what swung you towards these and why were you not interested in the slinky or ridepro shocks JulianV normally suggests with them? Obviously Fox wins on the top end but I was wondering if you considered these shocks as well when looking at the flexy coils.

 

[BRE Fabrications LTD]

The main reason is that they are fully serviceable and rebuildable. These shocks are by no means cheap so I want something that will last for as long as I am prepared to service them for.

My understanding is that the ridepro units are not serviceable or rebuildable. Though after being in touch with Julian re the coils he did mention that ridepro are developing a similar unit to the fox 2.0 that will also have a remote resi and will be serviceable.

Also price wise if you bring the fox's in yourself, shipping and duty included, they come out a fairly competitively compared to buying that type of shock locally.

 

[Julian]

Ryan, dont forget to check with milners motorsport on fox prices before ordering, I managed to get a decent deal
Oh yes by the way they are well worth it IMHO

 

[paulm]

many thanks for your replys guys

 

[BRE Fabrications LTD]

Just pulled the trigger on the fox's and slinkies. Should hopefully have it all delivered by mid sept. Watch this space...

 

[paulm]

look forward to seeing how this turns out

 

[BRE Fabrications LTD]

My shocks have landed. Picking em up on sat so will post a teaser pic then.

For anyone interested landed cost (import duty and shipping) was £800. I did go for the CD adjuster which added £200 onto the price. So you could have a set landed without CD adjusters for £600.

Not bad when you look at what set of nitrochargers go for...

 

[Andrew Prince]

You got the springs already? You're going for a bigger lift right?

 

[Gav Peter]

Whoo whoo

 

[BRE Fabrications LTD]

Hey Andrew,
Still waiting on the coils. Going for Julians slinkies. So only1" higher.
Total lift will be 3". I'm getting some 3' hi flex castor correction bushes for the radius arms too to keep the geometry in check. Will be fabbing up drop brackets myself as well.

 

[Andrew Prince]

You going to play with the panhards or leave as they are? Sounds like a fun project but quite a lot of £££

Cheers,

 

[Chris]

Mine's at about 3" now and I haven't needed CC. OK it feels very slightly lighter perhaps, hard to tell, but certainly doesn't need any correction as far as I can tell. Maybe if I took all the junk out .......

Chris

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

It's worth adjusting the panhards at almost any lift height IMO. I plan to make a drop bracket for mine this time rather than going for an adjustable, to reduce bump wiggle

 

[Toby]

Jon, this is a very good point; in theory at least, extended panhards cost travel (or at least increase rubbing) and do nothing for handling, whilst installing a drop bracket to the chassis or preferably a lift bracket to the axle (to keep the roll centre closer to stock) won't cost travel and should bring the handling characteristics back closer to stock.

Of course whether anyone can really tell the difference on an off road 80 is another question...

I guess in a 100 a watts linkage might be best for the rear axle? Fancy a project?

All the best,
Toby
1990 HDJ80
1994 HDJ80

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

I wasn't planning on getting too clever Toby although a watts linkage is an interesting idea I think there are a few clearance issues that would mean compromising some other aspect of the suspension. Some care will be needed to make a lift or drop bracket avoid hitting something at full compression so a little of both might be needed.

 

[BRE Fabrications LTD]

Well, Santa came early today...

Front Shock:

Rear Shock:

And some 3' Hi Flex castor correction Bushes from Slee Offroad

These apparently don't bind up like traditional caster correction bushes.

Front and rear shocks are 12" travel units. Just waiting for the coils from Julian now. Can't wait to get these onto the cruiser

 

[Gav Peter]

Watch out, here comes the flexmeister!!!