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Springs vs shocks


yetchh

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Hi, In my 121 I have about 60mm of travel to the bumpstops which are cut down to about 15mm. Whenever I go over a reasonable bump it bottoms out with a bit of a bang, I should do something about it but what would be better, a higher spring rate or a stiffer shock? 

Cheers.. 

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First thing to do is make sure the bump stop is the thing that limits the travel

If you are getting a sharp bang /knock make sure it's not the shock bottoming out or the spring coils binding, diff hitting the floor, or something like that 

 

 

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15mm left is barely a piece of rubber lol. To keep that height though and not bottom out it's stiffer springs for sure. If going the cert road too for turbo, you'll want to do a bit of homework on what to put in it. Droop, compression and bumpstop requirements, it's a Rubriks cube. 

Where does one source bumpstops, is there a good place in NZ? 

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In most cars, bump stops do a lot more than just limit the travel at full compression. Most cars corner on the bump stops and they're a great way to create rising rate suspension if done right. 15mm isn't enough to create a smooth transition between the spring rate and the end of the travel, so it would be best to look for better options there. 

I buy my special bump stops from a store in the USA for the MX5's etc, but they only work for on-shaft applications. There might be a few good PU foam options to bolt to the body, but it'll take some searching to find the right thing (totally worth it IMO). 

Shocks and springs will also help a lot. What are the current springs in the car? 

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Bumpstops are cut down factories..

IMAG0279_83502960157569_copy_2016x1140.thumb.jpg.2e62b7d2ef0d5bb721657f2168b0d171.jpg

 

Cut down.. 

IMAG0329_copy_2016x1140.thumb.jpg.2ca0f9caa30f3dce88d90f8c1178d003.jpg

It pretty much sat on the bumpstops when it was first lowered.. There isn't a alit of room in the back of a 121 for lowering, fuck knows how they get them low in Japan.. Notched I guess. 

Springs are customs from Chamberlain's, shocks are from a hilux

 

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 I'm not sure, could really only put one one the back as it scraped more due to the panhard rod pushing the diff to one side, that's cured now. My guess is really the springs are a little soft. It rides pretty nice in the back until you hit a biggish bump.. Its definitely not hard

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Hilux  shocks might not be helping either. If you have too much rebound control or if your shock is too short, it won’t allow the suspension to droop properly when you go over bumps and recesses. Droop travel is at least as important as bump travel. 

Is the axle stand under the diff or the body in the above pic?

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On axle stands.. Hilux ones were just the ones that were short enough to hold the springs captive..

IMAG1242611_copy_1821x3230.thumb.jpg.249880be3d7623b133cbb2c75bf9d4df.jpg 

 

 

Edit* could it be maybe that the hilux shocks are too hard and that's causing the banging a opposed to hitting the stops.... hmmm

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Dude the hilux shocks always seem good on paper as they are short and have the right ends for heaps of applications. But every-single-time they ride like shit, they are valved for real high truck spring rates so behave like concrete shocks on normal cars. Think there was recently a GX60 guy on here who had hilux shocks, bounced down the road doing fuck all suspension things until he changed them, I tried them back in the day and they are toilet.

 

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