G'day guys,

Alright, i've been having a few issues with the suspension on my ute, mainly the rear end and especially since the freshened up motor has been in.
First of all the tailshaft hits the floor under hard acceleration and over bumps etc, never used to do this with old motor. I suspect the extra weight of the new exhaust made matters worse.
Second, the rear end is very rough. Feels like theres no suspension at all, any slight bump is felt right through the drivers seat. I know because it is so low that this would be a major contributor to this, but i've seen XH's as low, if not lower, than mine and havent heard of any issues.
Third issue is traction and axle tramp. The axle tramp is not that excessive, i get a slight hint of it on the street but i'm getting ready for the motorplex next month and i know if i'm getting tramp on the street its gonna be twice as bad at the strip. But the traction issue is the biggest, launching off the mark is VERY hard to do without wheel spin. I have had two different types of 235/40/18's and now running 255/40/17's Potenza S03's with only bout 50% tread, these are better but still wont hold up.

So i went and seen the suspension joint i use today to see what they reckon. This is what they suggested for the whole car;
Bilstein front struts(adjustable)
Bilstein Rear shocks
Reset Rear leaves with rebound leaf
Rebush rear end with new shackles etc
All fitted with Full wheel alignment, camber/castor adjust etc.
PRICE = $1500

I'm happy with the sound of the set-up, sounds like its gonna do the job i want, the bloke was pretty confident in that. I like the bilstein struts and shocks aswell, very happy with the performance, a mate has full bilstein set-up in his AU 220 and it handles awesome.

What do you guys think? Good set-up? Good price? Do you think it's gonna solve all the problems? Any feed-back is appreciated.

Cheers Jeff

Firstly with the driveshaft hitting the floor you will need springs reset and maybe an extra leaf put in to stop the diff pulling up on the front under hard acceleration or insert wedges to tilt the diff forward but not exceeding 4deg pinion angle. Also ensure engine mounts and trans mounts are in good condition.

Cheers joolz, im pretty sure thats what he meant by adding the rebound leaf, he said that will control the twisting sort of action under hard acceleration and help the traction issue out.

ATM i'm running reset rear leaves and 1 1/2" blocks (had the leaves reset then went back at a later date and had the blocks fitted as it wasn't low enough ) and std shocks in the rear. The way we are gonna go its gonna remove the need of lowering blocks all together, which is what i want. You can see how its sitting in my avatar pic.

The lowering blocks give the diff a "lever" to twist the springs. Also, having low profile tyres wont help with traction, as there is no side wall give. How are the shockies??? they can help with axle tramp too.
Length of the footprint of tyre also gives traction.

I'm pretty sure the std shockies are rooted, especially being used for so long with the leaves set so low.
I will probly just run the strip first with my 18's with a decent tyre on them, then try something like a pair of 225/60/15's and see how i go.

What do you guys think about the price i've been given?

Throw away those stupid f**king blocks, you will be amazed at how much better it is.
Reset the leaves, blocks are dangerous, and s**t.
$1500 for Billies all round, with adjustable seats sounds extremely cheap to me......

Its a ute , half a ton of sand in the back will kill both birds with one stone . On a serious note 15 inch tyres and play with pressures may help with your traction problems.

Yeah dont worry thats what i said above, one purpose of this is to remove the need of lowering blocks altogether. Leaves will be reset with the use of a reversed rebound spring.
The bilstein front struts have the adjustable seats, the rears are just fixed. I'll be booking it in tomorrow for later in the week, i was pretty happy with $1500 for the whole job, i've used them many times before and given them heaps of work through mates etc. And having you say its an excellent price makes it even more re-assuring.
Cheers

Haha, dunno how a few bags of sand will go with helping my quarter mile times, im heavy enough as it is. I actually spoke to a mate tonight whos got some spare EB XR 15's with 90% 225's on them that i can use for the strip, What sort of pressure with that size tyre will work well? 28psi or so?

depends what profile your useing but about 18/20psi 225/60 /15" for the strip

Well guys its all booked in for Thursday, goin for the whole lot front and back. Thought i may aswell get it all over and done with.
Hopefully it'll get rid of the violent traction problem and finally give me a comfy ride again.

Thats gotta put a hold up on the Paint job though, unlucky Jeff mate.

Yeah i know its a bit of a PITA. Wouldnt really say unlucky though, i could have avoided doing it but i decided i'd rather have it handling well before i worry about making it look better. Its all about prioritising . At least i wont have to worry about suspension again, although a sway bar upgrade would be nice

30mm front/20mm rear whitelines do work well.

Whats the sway bar upgrade worth?