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StuntmanAd

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Hey I'm Adam and I have a 1980 88" Series 3. It's just an off road toy as you can see...

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I bought it in November last year as a standard looking 2.25 petrol, I put some 7.50X16s on it and was to be honest... Dissapointed. Them pesky Suzukis were showing me up all the time, particularly in thick mud where the landys lack of power, skinnier tyres and heavier weight were a problem.

Its been off the road since the MOT ran out in March but hopefully when it's back on the road in the next couple of weeks it'll be a different animal.

I've got some 265/75/16 Insa Special Tracks on it, just completing the finishing touches to a 200tdi conversion and contemplating my suspension options.

I've got to raise the suspension slightly as there can be clearance issues with the front axle and 200tdi crank pulley.

I'd imagine the 1 tonne shackles would do the job but I find the Series suspension doesn't offer much articulation so I'm thinking parabolic springs along with 1 tonne shackles and lengthend front spring mounts.

I assume that will probably give about 2" lift along with softer suspension able to flex to the terrain better?

Will 2 leaf springs up front and 3 leaf at the rear cope with the power of a 200TDI with my larger tyres?

Oh and this is how its looking now

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:P Adam

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Welcome Adam, good to have another Series along.

Will 2 leaf springs up front and 3 leaf at the rear cope with the power of a 200TDI with my larger tyres?

Yes, I think they'll just about hold up to the earth-shattering performance of the TDi :P

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Good stuff :) I'd been reading in to spring over axle mods as it's what the Suzuki group does alot of and came across axle wrap and how parabolics are prone to it. I'm not to be SPOA'ing the landy, too much work for neglible gain but the extra flex and the little bit more height from the paras is what I'm after...

Wheres the cheapest to get the 1 tonne shackles?

Thanks, Ad

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1-tonne shackles are probably cheapest from the likes of paddocks, be aware you need the spacer piece & extra bolt to hold them together. I have a dislike of unnecessary lift / SOA conversions, they just seem a bit of a redneck thing to do for relatively little gain. The Series can't reliably cope with tyres much bigger than 7.50's anyway so clearance under the axles is always going to be the limiting factor.

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Unless you alter the axles' spring saddle axis to keep the axle orientation the same while you incline the springs with the 1-ton shackles, then you're going to get a lot of prop shaft vibration which, in conjunction with the big tyres, will lead to rapid UJ wear and half shaft failures. Fit a good quality set of parabolics, like Rocky Mountain (or Heystee, if the budget stretches that far),and the matched dampers, and leave it at that. Measure the distance between the front diff and the engine pulley, and if it's smaller than the distance between the axle pads and rubber bump stops, then shim the bump stops down to prevent any possibility of pulley contact. Fitting 1-ton shackles will not help pulley clearance because the springs will still allow the axle to hit the bump stops on full articulation.

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Measure the distance between the front diff and the engine pulley, and if it's smaller than the distance between the axle pads and rubber bump stops, then shim the bump stops down to prevent any possibility of pulley contact. Fitting 1-ton shackles will not help pulley clearance because the springs will still allow the axle to hit the bump stops on full articulation.

Sorry, got to be picky here:

Measure the distance between the axle pads and the chassis above the bump stops, and add a spacer accordingly. Bump stops are compressible and can fall off, I've been taught you should always assume the bump-stop isn't there and work from that.

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Sorry, got to be picky here:

Measure the distance between the axle pads and the chassis above the bump stops, and add a spacer accordingly. Bump stops are compressible and can fall off, I've been taught you should always assume the bump-stop isn't there and work from that.

That won't leave much room for articulation. I'd agree to split the difference for rubber compression and to make weekly checks that the rubber is securely bonded.

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The 1 tonne shackle idea was to extend the front spring hangers too not to muck up the steering/prop shaft geometry...

To be honest what I will do is just space my bump stops out for now and then decide wether to change the suspension later on :P

I've been welding a down pipe today, and fitting the rad. Hope to have it driveable tomorrow, will take some more photos and hopefully a video or 2.

Heres some pics from a few months back, mostly of it stuck :P

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Well I've got it all up and running, wings on, home made snorkel on, floor panels on and took it for a blast. What a completly different machine it is now! Tops out at about 55mph but who cares, I've got a car for the on road stuff :P Flys up hills the Suzukis need a run up to get up. I'm happy :D

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Assuming you're getting full throttle travel, you might like to fit an overdrive or RRC/Disco diffs for improved cruising without the engine screaming for long periods.

Overdrive yes. But not a diff swap on a mud plugged with oversize tyres.

Given those tyres, you might benefit from fitting SII suffix B low range gears inthe transfer box (direct swap with 2.81:1 ratio instead of the later 2.35:1). Brand new genuine gears will cost about £90 in total.

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The gearing isnt to much of a problem. It will in reality do high 60s maybe mid 70s but it doesn't do enough road driving to make me want to mess around with gearing.

It's all MOT'd and on the road now. Fitted 1 tonne shackles and a 12000lb winch.

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Yes I've mangled my wings... Judged the strength of a fallen tree wrongly :(

It really is a totally different animal now. Does anything the suzukis can do with maybe the exception of real thick mud where the extra weight shows up but then the extra grunt from the TDi is awesome!

I had my frist proper off roading day today and bust both the rear axle and front free wheeling hub. I know the exact problem with the front... Too much play in the bearings caused the FWH to break. But the rear axle... It isn't making any extra noise, the rear prop is spinning but the wheels aren't. I've blown a good few rear diffs up on my days of Dolomite ownership but they've always made a good bang when they've given up and made a noise afterwards when trying to be driven... This is silent. I was giving it the flat out in 1st and reverse in about 2 foot of bog when somebody noticed my rear wheels were no longer spinning.

Whats the weakest link in the rear axle? Please say just a simple drive flange :P

Adam

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I have a dislike of unnecessary lift / SOA conversions, they just seem a bit of a redneck thing to do for relatively little gain.

Redneck thing? Little gain?104.gif

Guess I should go back to standard than :ph34r: .

Well if you're going to drive it into ditches then no amount of longness of shackle is going to help you :lol: maybe some nice portals? :ph34r:

Ditch? What ditch?

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