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[gus]

Point taken whatcharterboat about matching dampers to spring choice.

So, this packaging of suspension appears to start with which springs offers FG owners the best compromise between cost and effectiveness.

For some reason I’m drawn to soft, long span, long travel replacement leafs using the existing external hanger bracket holes.

But because I’ve never even crawled under a Canter, my views result totally from analysing the mass of posts I’ve read from over the years. Not the preferred way.

Does anyone have hard road experience with longer, softer leafs who could proffer a comparison with the ride quality of the ATW parabolics?

Alan, I hear what you say about re-setting the existing springs from a value-for-money viewpoint. But unless the cost was astronomical I’d prefer to have new springs made, given the number of stories I’ve heard throughout my life about re-sets sagging (even those not bent in a press!).

And Blackduck, despite that ‘kidneys for coils’ suggestion, if it’s ok with you I’ll keep exploring alternatives for at least a little while longer.

 

[alan]

If the leaves are reset in a furnace and operator know what he is doing they usually last 2-3 years, most leave springs in Australia are made out of recycled steel anyway, parabolics are good springs and you can actually download formulas to have your own made or multi leave springs, but at the end of the day coil springs rule for the front suspension, i would'nt bother with coils on the back.

 

[Aussie Iron]

Point taken whatcharterboat about matching dampers to spring choice.

So, this packaging of suspension appears to start with which springs offers FG owners the best compromise between cost and effectiveness.

For some reason I'm drawn to soft, long span, long travel replacement leafs using the existing external hanger bracket holes.

But because I've never even crawled under a Canter, my views result totally from analysing the mass of posts I've read from over the years. Not the preferred way.

Does anyone have hard road experience with longer, softer leafs who could proffer a comparison with the ride quality of the ATW parabolics?

Alan, I hear what you say about re-setting the existing springs from a value-for-money viewpoint. But unless the cost was astronomical I'd prefer to have new springs made, given the number of stories I've heard throughout my life about re-sets sagging (even those not bent in a press!).

And Blackduck, despite that ‘kidneys for coils' suggestion, if it's ok with you I'll keep exploring alternatives for at least a little while longer.

I can't speak about comparison to " ATW parabolics " but if you read my thread " http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/81539-We-Canter-ed-to-the-tip " it tells what I did to my suspension and it really improved the ride. But the tyres make the package come together.
Dan.

This is something I PMed to another member. It is my thoughts.

Originally Posted by Aussie Iron
When I got my Canter the ride was very rough so much so that the missus wasn't at all pleased and just about wouldn't ride in it. Looking at the front axle setup the rear shackle plates stood straight up and down so when you hit a bump the load carried straight to the chassis before giving then the axle would hit the stop. I only had 25mm clearance between axle and stop. This had to change so I had new springs made that are 30 mm longer from the center bolt to the rear hanger eye and with more set, so I had more clearance on the axle stop. It now didn't bump at all in the front much improving the ride. New shocks also helped. Fitting the new tyres made a lot of difference as well. The ride is so good now that the missus ( who by the way has a bad back ) can sit in it for a few hours now while we're traveling without complaining. Can't do this in our Landcruiser tray back. I'm not at all saying that parabolic springs aren't good, I have fairly good articulation on my front axle now as well but I would wonder if the dollars spent seeing that most of your running is not going to be offroad where it is needed. I believe money spent on a new tyre set up would be more beneficial, even if you choose to go 19.5's.( but then I would look at 17's) No I'll stick with my 16's. Look, this is my thought. Dan. PS. We're going back up to the Cape possibly end of July early August. I'll be putting out an invite on the open forum when we get a little more organized.

 

[whatcharterboat]

Does anyone have hard road experience with longer, softer leafs who could proffer a comparison with the ride quality of the ATW parabolics?

Hi Gus, I spent the first 7 years at ATW fitting and testing long span springs......drilling out rivets, moving rear spring hangers out fore and aft, drilling rivets, refabricating the front spring hangers, drilling rivets, fabricating new shackles, setting up dual shocks, fitting airbag or coil helpers, sway bars, getting feedback from all the private motorhome and commercial bus owners with various set ups, bla, bla....did I mention drilling out the rivets? .........there was a good reason we developed the parabolics (with Aeon bumps stops) other than you don't have to drill out rivets and that is that parabolics work....have virtually no friction so feel more like a coil.....bolt straight in without fabrication....use OEM bushes and are easy to alter spring rates for a range of tare weights. Why do I always sound like a salesman?....sorry. Long span do work well but still have a certain amount of friction so you tend to feel more through your bum especially on terrain like corrugations where it's good if you can get rapid but still controlled axle travel. ....and long span are a pain to do , if you do it properly that is.....basically you need to pull the chassis apart and move the crossmembers along with the hangers too.....so it is a LOT of work. The actual cost of the new long span springs used to be less than 1/3 of the cost of the whole long span conversion.

Then they still require massive rebound dampening so your usually looking at double shocks and all the extra fab that that incurs. Some ancient long span setups in the pics.



Also for your information, parabolics don't tend to sag like conventional spring packs do after they've been subjected to maximum loads either.

 

[alan]

How many rivets did you drill out?:wings:
They are a pain! you have my sympathy.

 

[SkiFreak]

The only plus with rivets being hard to remove is that then you know they were installed well.
I only removed a few on my chassis and it was a fun job, NOT.

 

[whatcharterboat]

How many rivets did you drill out?:wings:

How many ....... Too many to count. Actually for most of them we would grind the top off with out touching the chassis......then used to have a big punch on a 6' bar with one guy hanging on to that and another hit it with a 14lb sledgy!!!!

 

[blackduck]

How many ....... Too many to count. Actually for most of them we would grind the top off with out touching the chassis......then used to have a big punch on a 6' bar with one guy hanging on to that and another hit it with a 14lb sledgy!!!!

Ah precision engineering I love it
how many times did he hit your hands?

 

[Amesz00]

How many ....... Too many to count. Actually for most of them we would grind the top off with out touching the chassis......then used to have a big punch on a 6' bar with one guy hanging on to that and another hit it with a 14lb sledgy!!!!

know all about it.. the easiest way ive found was/is to grind the head off, try mark the centre and put a 1/8 drill thru it. then ********** it with a punch. seems to allow the rivet body to collapse a little easier.

 

[whatcharterboat]

Ah precision engineering I love it
how many times did he hit your hands?

Nah...... The punch was welded on the end of a 6' bar so you were we'll away from danger but it didn't matter how thick your welding gloves were the shock that would transfer up the bar was nuts. The worst rivets were always those couple underneath...... Yeah don't miss those days especially on a hot summer's day

 

[gus]

Hi everybody. It’s been a few months since I posted, even though I’ve been keeping-up with things on the forum.

I’ve been kept busy with some major developments on the home front, not the least being the marriage of our only daughter. Her English husband has now settled out here. And I can hardly believe it, he’s a carpenter/boatbuilder skilled in the use of sandwich panel construction and fit-outs!!! Could be useful.

Speaking of RTW trucks, our plans for an FG have had to be put on the back burner for the time being, but I’m still researching every aspect of the project.

On that front, could someone confirm the overall external length of a camper box that would fit a MWB 649 and end level with the rear of the chassis …the unit would have a crawl through at the front, if that has any influence on length.