Kevin
Administrator
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2008
- Messages
- 7,148
- Location
- Sydney, Oz
- Car Year
- MY'03
- Car Model
- Forester
- Transmission
- A/T
As mentioned in another thread, my Foz is at Wholesale Suspension Penrith this week for them to figure out a more suitable strut setup (as I bent both new rear KYBs crossing the Simpson Desert).
Here are my requirements:
"As arranged with Matt today, I'm dropping my car off to you this Monday morning for 3 days (longer if necessary) for you to determine what may be best for my needs.
As you know, both the new rear struts bent on the recent Simpson Desert crossing. I suspect the front struts may also have issues as there did not seem to be enough dampening on a series of ruts and this created a "see-saw" effect with one nose dive causing a fairly heavy hit at one stage. We were mainly travelling at 20-30 klm per hour but it was very very rough going at times. The fronts possibly overheated and lost performance.
The rears bent on heavy impact - the right hand side on a series of ruts which produced the see-sawing effect; the left hand side on a faster dune approach (probably 50-60 klm/hr) and hit a concealed rut. Yes, the load was heavy with an extra 60 litres of fuel, 40 litres of water, camping gear, fridge etc etc. Tyres were at 16-18 PSI.
Another issue I've had since the beginning. Initially you installed the raised King springs; +10mm (+30 reset down) in the front and +30mm in the rear. This I thought would make the rear sit up more than the front when unladen - but it doesn't - the rear seems a little lower than the front. In an attempt to rectify this last year I had Wholesale Blacktown install Kings 250 lbs/in +30mm in the rear thinking this would keep the rear up when loaded and also I was told by Blacktown (Mark) that the original raised springs were basically just normal road springs and not meant to be load carrying springs.
What would I like (my wish list I suppose):
- rear to be higher than the front when unladen, say at least 20 mm.
- spring perches to have a bit more clearance to the AT tyres (which are the smallest BFG ATs that fit)
- stronger struts
- reduced "see-sawing" on undulating terrain.
- the addition of a camber bolt in the rear (to compensate for the lift)
Other than the struts issue, the car itself seems to handle the heavy loads quite well."
I spoke with them last night and - they are rebuilding the struts with extra reinforcing/collar at the bottom hub connection (i.e. where they bent); then will use Koni adjustable inserts; and will move the spring perch up to give more tyre clearance for the BFG 21575R15 and also lift the rear a little.
I'll update when I get the car back - but it sounds good so far!
Here are my requirements:
"As arranged with Matt today, I'm dropping my car off to you this Monday morning for 3 days (longer if necessary) for you to determine what may be best for my needs.
As you know, both the new rear struts bent on the recent Simpson Desert crossing. I suspect the front struts may also have issues as there did not seem to be enough dampening on a series of ruts and this created a "see-saw" effect with one nose dive causing a fairly heavy hit at one stage. We were mainly travelling at 20-30 klm per hour but it was very very rough going at times. The fronts possibly overheated and lost performance.
The rears bent on heavy impact - the right hand side on a series of ruts which produced the see-sawing effect; the left hand side on a faster dune approach (probably 50-60 klm/hr) and hit a concealed rut. Yes, the load was heavy with an extra 60 litres of fuel, 40 litres of water, camping gear, fridge etc etc. Tyres were at 16-18 PSI.
Another issue I've had since the beginning. Initially you installed the raised King springs; +10mm (+30 reset down) in the front and +30mm in the rear. This I thought would make the rear sit up more than the front when unladen - but it doesn't - the rear seems a little lower than the front. In an attempt to rectify this last year I had Wholesale Blacktown install Kings 250 lbs/in +30mm in the rear thinking this would keep the rear up when loaded and also I was told by Blacktown (Mark) that the original raised springs were basically just normal road springs and not meant to be load carrying springs.
What would I like (my wish list I suppose):
- rear to be higher than the front when unladen, say at least 20 mm.
- spring perches to have a bit more clearance to the AT tyres (which are the smallest BFG ATs that fit)
- stronger struts
- reduced "see-sawing" on undulating terrain.
- the addition of a camber bolt in the rear (to compensate for the lift)
Other than the struts issue, the car itself seems to handle the heavy loads quite well."
I spoke with them last night and - they are rebuilding the struts with extra reinforcing/collar at the bottom hub connection (i.e. where they bent); then will use Koni adjustable inserts; and will move the spring perch up to give more tyre clearance for the BFG 21575R15 and also lift the rear a little.
I'll update when I get the car back - but it sounds good so far!
Can't wait to see and hear how it all works out.
