Front struts fitted with poly spacers

[samo Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close samo]

well seeing my front end had sagged abit over the few years,the ironman springs have been in i decided to put some poly spacer blocks in the front end, i went about it a different way, i had some help in the way of damo and we pulled out the front struts and put the spacers in on top of the coil, with a little file here and a trim there they fitted like a glove, the spacers we 16mm thick and were out of a suzuki vitara, in the end i went from 780mm to 810mm in the front so 30mm over all lift is great, and they only cost $60. the prado now sits 810mm in front and 830mm in rear here r a few photos. thanks to damo for the help. cheers samo :wink:
before spacers

on the bench

spacer fitted on top of spring rubber

up the right way

back on the car

close up

after photo

[Schaffer Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Schaffer]

Re: Front struts fitted with poly spacers

Gotta be happy there Samo. How much did you pay for those spacers? You reckon that the 30mm gain will is partially as a result of the tension on the spring being released and reseated? If that is the case then maybe in a few weeks then you find the 30mm drop down some.

[samo Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close samo]

Re: Front struts fitted with poly spacers

the 30mm of lift is because the 16mm spacer is close to the pivot point, because the arm travels in an arc the 16mm spacer is around 30mm at the end of the control arm, the further you get away from the pivot point the greater the distance, and yeah it will sag over a period of time but by then i will by some new struts and springs. cheers samo

[joey Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close joey]

Re: Front struts fitted with poly spacers

really notice the difference mate....

ive lost 20mm on the front and have it booked in to have the bilstien shocks have a new grove machined..cost 250 bucks...

maybe a re think ?

cheers
joey

[samo Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close samo]

Re: Front struts fitted with poly spacers

lets do the spacer on top of the spring retainer, 6mm spacer will give you 10mm or so mm. cheers samo

[Madkore Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Madkore]

Re: Front struts fitted with poly spacers

really notice the difference mate....

ive lost 20mm on the front and have it booked in to have the bilstien shocks have a new grove machined..cost 250 bucks...

maybe a re think ?

cheers
joey

Any reason you aren't replacing the springs with HD items joey?

[RustyTruck Member Find all posts View Profile Close RustyTruck]

Re: Front struts fitted with poly spacers

Anyone found any other spacers around?

I'm looking for a spacer to add another 20mm or so. Only thing I have found are these: http://www.4x4suspensions.com.au/produc ... ts_id=6496

And they are way too big

[Seththecursed Member Find all posts View Profile Close Seththecursed]

Re: Front struts fitted with poly spacers

How about these http://72.34.32.141/~snakerac/product_i ... 0df4fb1b51

[samo Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close samo]

Re: Front struts fitted with poly spacers

hey rusty truck, do you have aftermarket suspension or std. cheers samo

[RustyTruck Member Find all posts View Profile Close RustyTruck]

Re: Front struts fitted with poly spacers

Thanks a heap Seth :wink:

Samo, Aftermarket mate. Just about to put new shocks in as whoever did the lift before I bought it put in lifted King Springs and left in standard Toyota shocks. Might consider new coils too, along with a spacer front and rear for that little bit more

[Auto-Craft Inactive Find all posts View Profile Close Auto-Craft]

Re: Front struts fitted with poly spacers

Dont forget, if spacing up the front, you

MUST keep a minimuof 60mm of down travel from ride height

or you will top your shocks out, lift wheels doing left turns at round abouts, and end up damaging or pulling apart your front shocks.

To work out your droop, measure from rim to fender edge at ride height, then at full droop, wheel hanging, there must be 60mm difference minimum in those 2 measurements.

Personlly, I have seen so many poly spacers fail, crack, tip springs over to rub on suspesion arms and chassis, I would be putting a solid spacer on the top of the strut, not poly under the coil.

[We do use up to 5mm thick units to insulate and trim vehicle loaded unevenly, like patrols with spare wheel, full fuel tank, and driver, all on the RHS.]

Another thing you must calculate
as the front prado coils are such a tight design, is that there is enough gaps at ride height, to = the amount of up travel to get to the bump stop, otherwise, as the coil and spacers become the solid lump that become the bump stop, transferring loads into areas of the chassis it wasnt designed for, you start creating new stress points, and problems.

The bump rubbers do unscrew, if you need to space them, remember to work out the distance from point of axis, to get the right amount of spacing at the bump stop, vs distance travelled up or down at the wheel.

[samo Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close samo]

Re: Front struts fitted with poly spacers

poly spacers removed and struts replaced with ironman 41mm foamies, using the 15mm spacer that comes with the kit ,30mm more down travel on new struts, approx 55mm down travel until wheel comes off ground, thats better than 25mm. cheers samo

[RustyTruck Member Find all posts View Profile Close RustyTruck]

Re: Front struts fitted with poly spacers

What height are you running in the front now Samo?

[Auto-Craft Inactive Find all posts View Profile Close Auto-Craft]

Re: Front struts fitted with poly spacers

5mm to much :cry:

[RustyTruck Member Find all posts View Profile Close RustyTruck]

Re: Front struts fitted with poly spacers

5mm to much :cry:

5mm to high in front? After puting in a new kit yesterday I'm up to 815mm in the front :cry: Hoping it settles 5-10mm