Steelies Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 Hey gang, thinking about jamming some new stock suspension back in the coon , for various reasons. so i'm looking at a fresh bunch of shit, ie new leaves, shocks all round, ball joints. have any of you lot had experiences with the likes of Lovells leaf packs, Koni twin tube hydraulic shocks, etc? these are what i've seen available, i have no real preference yet, just don't want to buy junk. the goon currently has XF knuckles and disc brakes up front, and an XY(ish) diff. pretty sure it takes XF balljoints odds are the leaves will get reset and blocked to suit. i'd like to start with a new leaf set, but will resetting render useless the advantages of a new set vs. a 50yr old one? anyone familiar with this shelby drop? i see it lowers the mounting point of the upper control arm. if my UCA is (and it will be) somewhat more level than factory anyway, would a shelby drop be as advantageous, or make things worse? has anyone used a heavy aftermarket swaybar in a falcon? it looks like all this stuff will have to come from Aussy unless you lot know something i don't.. thanks yall! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KKtrips Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 Price balljoints, shocks and front springs from BnT. Gabriel or Monroe shocks are perfectly adequate and the whole package should be substantially cheaper than buying ex Aussie especially with hookups. You can go to HG Inghams in Lower Hutt and get them to inspect and reset your current leaf pack. Or they can build you a new leaf pack if you like. With the Shelby drop you can try it in both positions and see what handles better. Nothing beats a seat of the pants dyno. No harm in running a heavy duty swaybar. It won't be detrimental to the handling but will it cure what you want it to cure?. What is the reason behind wanting to run a HD swaybar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valiant Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 I've come across people jacking the inner guard/top arm mounting points back out and seam welding them as they can collapse inwards over time. Personally I'd look to buy parts locally due to price plus shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steelies Posted November 3, 2014 Author Share Posted November 3, 2014 sweet, chur. sweet will just replace the monroes i had in there pre-juice. swaybar- just looking to remove boatiness in corners.. thoughts? yep would prefer to get stuff locally. not sure i need front springs, have a couple sets to get me going. waiting for someone to pick the phone up at BNT. my current leaf pack is 1 full and one front half leaf. the rest will be a new hyundai by now. remember it's on coilovers too at the mo. wacky. talked to Inghams, they need the car on leaves in order to gauge what needs changing. i figured sourcing and buying stock leaves just to start the process of making a new set was a bit of a run around, could just buy new ones and get them adjusted... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spencer Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 Why the change man? trying to get legalish again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steelies Posted November 4, 2014 Author Share Posted November 4, 2014 yeah, needs more use and less languish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yetchh Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Got a heavy duty bar in the front of my wag and also a rear sway bar put in, handles pretty good for an 1800kg monster 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KKtrips Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Just dumping this here while I look for some more info FWIW:standard xp's (sedans/wagons)had 5 leaves in the springsutes/delivery vans had 7 leaveshere's the rates etc from ford manuals : probably academic interest only, as if its for a drag set up wont be relevant:-CAR- 5 leavescapacity at normal height : 702- 738 lbsdeflection rate 95-105 lb/inchlength : 50 incheswidth 2 inchesstandard -stationwagon-5 leavescapacity at normal height : 958-1002 lbsdeflection rate 115-125 lb/inchlength : 50 incheswidth 2 inchesstandard -UTE and delivery-7 leavescapacity at normal height :1025 lbsdeflection rate 177 lb/inchlength : 50 incheswidth 2 inchesas said above go to people that can make /reset leaf springs and get them to advise on the rate/number of leaves Ford XK, XL, XM, XP Coupe and Sedan = Lovells FLS10 L-S-R Low-Standard-Raised (no listing for Ute or Wagon) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ogre Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 With the shelby drop, need to be careful with top ball joint bind and snapping off if you are lowering it as well. Main issue is that the after market ball joints dont have as much articulation as the factory ford ones. If you can find Ford ones you will be sweet. other option is slightly modifying the top arms to change the ball joint angle. Thats what im going to do on the XE. You used to be able to buy a "mustang ball joint wedge kit" that corrected the ball joint angle also. it seems they are not made any more/you could make it yourself i guess. It sounds like the shelby drop does make a good difference. Edit - Adding spacers to the top bracket thing for the strut seems to work well also. Ive added 25mm to mine and i think Lee has the same on his falcon. Edit #2 - Noticed in your build thread that you already have... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yetchh Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Wouldn't the uca drop be hard to certify? Or is that irrelevant because factory option.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllTorque Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 I should be able to get stuff from bnt a bit cheaper for ya. Send me a list if you want me to price stuff up. Al probably has good hook ups at other places too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ogre Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 I think a read recently also that the later model falcons, XE/XF onwards had a larger front swaybar standard. Went from 22mm to 25mm or somthing like that. Look into that for a possibly cheap upgrade. Using the XG/XH steering boxes is good too. They have a needle roller bearing in the top of the case instead of the useless bronze bush that wears in about 10,000km and gives all that slop when straight ahead. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkle Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 wait, wait, wait, so the hydros are going? ohman.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steelies Posted November 4, 2014 Author Share Posted November 4, 2014 mmyyeh possibly. not that they'll be going further than my garage. could tek screw it all into the 5I eh lee? cool thanks dudes, may try looking into later coon swaybars dimensions. yeah ball joint breakage was initially my first big worry as my bumpstop position is 'slightly' different to facktory. actually quite amazed at what they've put up with. yup got a bit of slop in the steering box, not too bad though. cheers Rog, i'll blatantly ask Aaron which hookup he can give me the best price on haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steelies Posted November 9, 2014 Author Share Posted November 9, 2014 so, balljoints and shocks no biggie from BNT of course. ford needed a chassis number for the coon my knuckles came out of haha, refused/didnt know enough to discuss ball joint types over the phone. 'bring em in, the older guys may recognise them' fair enough, but flag. Ogre, could i trouble you for some sway bar dimensions off your falcon if you remember next time you're under it? no stress though will measure mine up next time it's not on it's bumps. ooh need new bump stops too haha. easy to find those though, just need to wave the credit card about the place. anyone got wisdoms on diff centre bump stops, and disadvantages of not having them? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ogre Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Yup will measure tonight if i remember. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steelies Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 thanky! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steelies Posted November 11, 2014 Author Share Posted November 11, 2014 mean. so Inghams were say they'd have to go from spring specs and photos to put them together. got on to Archers springs in Rotovegas, they still had their recipes from when they used to make em all the time! had a little chuckle about the old job card falling to pieces in his hands haha. so the jist was: stock spring specs (different to those posted above though) - 6 leaves, 7 1/4" set theyve suggested halfing the stock set, which will hopefully get me within 2" (blocks) of too-low but i'm unsure on that, will have to have a geez/measure under there. $255 plus per spring. time to sell some organs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ogre Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 Damn it, i forgot to measure sorry. Also Archers are just round the corner from me if you need things picked up or anything. They do good work tho and would be worth the extra $$$ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steelies Posted November 11, 2014 Author Share Posted November 11, 2014 oh cool, chur! they said if i went ahead soon they'd be done by dromageddon so i could grab em then etc. was about to ask if i should just get a stock set from wrecker and spend the other 500 clams elsewhere. then had a think about the future, the wag is a keeper, so may as well get nice stuffs. i see some company called 'ultima' make a short shock for these things, dredging through reviews says they're chinese, good, and all the rest. they'd be ideal if they are any good, i'm hesitant though.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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