sheeppimp Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 I will be shortly be starting the build of my 1952 series one 80inch and i have a few questions. It will be mainly used for trialing and off road so on road drive not too important. I need new springs and shocks so any suggestions - I want to go parabolic but which ones? Since it's not intended to carry anything more than two people and a weekend's gear i presume that two leaf rears will be adequate and offer more articulation? To go with that any recommendations on shock absorbers? I was thinking of Pro comps but what's the difference between 3000s and 9000s and which are likely to be better for my requirments? Longer term I was tempted by a gon2far style system but the website appears to be down and from reading elsehere on the forum have got the impression that they are no longer supplying the kit so anywhere else i can go to get the parts? Thanks in advance for the advice, once i start in earnest I'll post up some piccys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corrode Finger Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 Coils????? Only joking, as i know you are keen to keep the leaves. I'll go know as i have nothing helpful for you, hope you get some positive help mate. Fridegfreezer might be worth a PM for the gon-2-far bits though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 Coils??? Cheeky git! 2-leafs should be fine for an 80. ES3000's are oil/gas, ES9000's are gas. I've heard people say you want 3000's on a SWB as 9000's are too bouncy, but I'm not sure how much truth there is in that. I had 9000's on the 109 (and am in the process of fitting a new set) and they were fine and dandy. I believe CPC are now supplying the Gon2Far gear, Nigel having sold the rights/company or something. No-one's contacted me about the website so far, you'd think they would as it gets a few hits... oh well, space for rent anyone? As for makes of spring, broadly speaking you seem to get what you pay for and that's about it - pay your money, take your choice. Mine are TIC, I think Tonk runs CPC and seems to flex OK Nige (Gon2Far) tested a hell of a lot of parabolics and reckoned the cheap ones didn't stand up so well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 80-inch has narrow leafs doesn't it? 1 1/2" I think, in which case you'll have a job getting std, let alone parabolics for it. I think you would have to make the necessary mods to make it accept 2" springs. Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonk Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 i actually run rocky mountain ones now, they stand up well but my series is heavy. i think you have thinner leafs so the options are modify chassis to take later wider springs or maybe (never heard of this one done) slim down the springs to fit your chassis. 2 leaf rears will be more than adaquate for what you want to do, i'd stick 3000 shocks on a swb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheeppimp Posted December 8, 2006 Author Share Posted December 8, 2006 Tonk, Les you are both right it does have narrow springs and i probably should have menyioned that I will be fitting the later wider spring mounts - as far as i am aware this should be fairly straightforward tho (famous last words) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
istruggle2gate11 Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 Yeah, fitting later type springs is not beyond most peoples abbilities. For my series 1 trialer, I just used el-cheapo paddocks black parabolics, they gave very quickly and articulated well, if you can, try and fit good "used" bushes - or quickly break in your new bushes as these can hold back any potential movement significantly. I used pro comp 3000's with good results - very often embarrasing coilers, although the front could bennefit from 9000's to reduce axle tramp when climbing hills etc. Why not have a go at fabbing your own gone too far system, its very simple, the front twisty shackles were made and fitted within 4 hours on my trialer. Although this picture does not show any detail, you can see that droop alone was good on paras, front and rear axles. It would better any standard coiler (honestly - DD can back this up). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MECCANO Posted December 10, 2006 Share Posted December 10, 2006 Droop you say 2 leaf front and rear CP springs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted December 13, 2006 Share Posted December 13, 2006 OK, I'll join in - 2 leaf fronts, 3+1-leaf rears, ES9000's and a lovely V8: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonk Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 old suspension set up of TI springs and procomps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheeppimp Posted December 14, 2006 Author Share Posted December 14, 2006 excellent, thanks for the responses and the photos - it is nice to get some positive response rather than the usual "fit a rangey chassis with bedsprings" that is currently leading the chart when i ask for advice! I've had a 90 and decided to go down a slightly different path than most people and should be able to surprise a few trucks sounds like the package i'm looking for is procomp ES3000's, 2 leaf front and rear and military shackles initially, then once i've got to grips with it a bit move on to revolvers (any reason why gon2far didn't use revolvers at the front), will i need different propshafts at that point? if so any recomendations? also will i need to offset the wheels? While i'm postings and slightly OT I will need to fit a cage any recommendations, want an internal so i can keep a standard canvas and profile Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonk Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 you'll ned to change your front prop because the length of the slip in it will pull on the gearbox and stop axle droop gon2far fitted swivelly bits on the front dumb irons to allow twist at the front, these AFAIK had to be locked out with a bolt before driving on road. i have fitted collapseable/expandable shackles to the rears of the front springs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid_From_Hell Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 Narrow Springs, decent shocks and extended shackles gives good movement - my old 80 er from the late 80s ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spanners Akimbo Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 Hi, I recently fitted CPC 2 leaf parabolics to my V8 86" series one. I have to say that while the articulation is huge the trade off has been in the vehicle pitching backwards and forwards terribly under acceleration/braking, so much so that it's quite difficult to keep a steady throttle. I think there are possibly to reasons for this, firstly Chris matched my springs to a motor which at the time a a 2.25 lump in, which is considerably heavier than a V8 and secondly I'm only running standard dampers. I have spoken to other series one drivers who have also fitted parabolics of various different makes, and they are all of the same opinion, in that the vehicle pitching gets worse with parabolics fitted. I suspect this is due to a the fact that because the parabolics have no effective built in damping, they just amplify what is already a noticable handling trait with the shorter wheelbase landies, also because they are more flexible they also allow a lot more axle tramp. What I intent to do on mine is firstly replace all the shocks with gas dampers, but use dampers for a coil sprung motor such as a 90 or Rangie, as they will provide a higher level of internal damping. Odviously this means modding the mounts to suit. If this doesn't improve things then I suppose I'll have to consider fabricating some kind of axle location, such as a radius arm or watts linkage. Don't get me wrong overall, the handling of the vehicle has improved considerably, but when I removed the standard suspension I found that every bush was knackered, some of the spring leaves were broken and the shackles on the front were different lengths!! Just refitting new standard components would have been a vast improvement. I guess it depends on what you want, articulation or good road manners. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 Why go to all the fuss of modifying the vehicle to suit coiler dampers when you can buy gas ones that bolt onto a Series? ProComp will do you any shock, any ends, any length for about £35 a corner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spanners Akimbo Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 Why go to all the fuss of modifying the vehicle to suit coiler dampers when you can buy gas ones that bolt onto a Series? ProComp will do you any shock, any ends, any length for about £35 a corner. All the gas does is stop the oil in the damper body from foaming under sustained use meaning the damper remains effective for longer if used hard. A gas damper designed for a coil spring has much different rates of bump and rebound than one designed for a leaf spring. This is because with a traditional leaf spring there is an element of damping provided by the leaves of the spring rubbing together as the spring deflects, when you fit a parabolic spring the leaves don't touch so you lose that damping. A coil spring has no "internal" damping so this must be provided by the damper, that's why I want to fit rangie dampers, so that the dampers provide this extra element, in truth I think that if I fit rangie shocks then I won't need to fit gas versions as the O/E jobbys will be well up to the job for road & green lane use, on account of a rangie weighing about twice what the series one does. Also as there is more articulation with parabolic springs, the rangie shocks will provide a few extra inches of travel over standard leafer shocks. I know that many companies providing parabolic springs also sell gas dampers to suit but I was never really conviced that they were anything more than gas versions of standard leaf sprung dampers. Mind you if procomp will do me a set of rangie damper bodies with series type loop ends then i'll give em a ring, because despite all my ranting, deep deep down inside I'm just really really lazy!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted December 31, 2006 Share Posted December 31, 2006 The procomps are self-adjusting valving, so they should be fine. I think you're creating problems that don't exist! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amun1000 Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 My two penny worth: I've had es9000 on series III for about 5 years now and have held well but the ride is harder than es3000. I dare say that the es9000 are more suited to aggressive off roading whereas the es3000 lend themselves to greenlaning/moderate off road and on road riding. Its ultimately down to what makes the landy 'fit for purpose' Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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