front suspension

michael cook · Post by **michael cook** » Wed Apr 26, 2006 2:30 pm

how are you guys and gals setting up your front suspension for street only such as how many and which leafs I have a select a drop to lower it any help would be nice

CairoManx · Post by **CairoManx** » Wed Apr 26, 2006 3:20 pm

Do you have link pin or ball joint? If you have a shortened pan, camber shims will improve your highway stability. There is also an anti-sway bar that Formula Vee cars use that replaces all the leaves in one tube. It would give the same benefit of fewer leaves plus a sway bar with a much cleaner look. http://www.campbellmotorsport.com/products.htm

Lee · Post by **Lee** » Wed Apr 26, 2006 3:50 pm

CairoManx means caster shims, not camber shims. I'm not trying to be picky, just helping to avoid confusion. He's right - a set of shims between the lower tube and the frame head makes a big difference, especially in cross wind conditions. http://www.geneberg.com/cat.php?cPath=384_2917 I don't have an adjuster in my front end, so here's what I did: I went to the junkyard and got a complete set of torsion leaves from a Bug. I really only needed the split leaves, but I grabbed the whole set. I then took two of the solid leaves out of each of the stacks in my buggy's front end. I removed the outer solid leaves, leaving the center ones in place. I replaced the solid leaves I removed with sets of split leaves from the junkyard set. So in total, four solid leaves got replaced with four sets of split leaves. The front end is much softer now, and it works equally well on the street and off road. Be sure to keep the leaves in order so they continue to twist in the direction they always have been. Twisting them in the opposite direction can stress them and cause them to break. You might have to grind the ends of the leaves into a taper in order to get them through the center anchor of the axle beam. Tapping them in with a plastic hammer can help. Shocks also need attention. I have Fox shocks, and I had them revalved several times until they were right. We ended up with very soft valving, bypass holes drilled out quite a bit, the lowest nitrogen pressure allowed, and zero weight oil. Sorry, but I don't have all the specs, but they were done by Rich at McKenzies. He would probably remember me, as he says he has never softened shocks up as much as I had him do mine. I am very happy with the results!

michael cook · Post by **michael cook** » Wed Apr 26, 2006 6:10 pm

one thing I forgot to mention is that right now I have a dom tube in the bottom to take place of leaves then in top I have to solid then the rest split leaves gas shocks if I push down on frontend it stays down and does not come back up any ideas thanks mike

fubar · Post by **fubar** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 12:54 am

Have you looked at coilover shocks? The guy that media blasted my tub said he ran his sand buggy with zero spring and 200 psi of nitrogen in the Fox shocks. He claimed it worked really well in the sand. I don't know if they make them short enough for a street buggy unless you want to cut holes in your hood...

CairoManx · Post by **CairoManx** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 1:24 am

Lee is right, I did mean caster shims, not camber shims. I'm not clear on how or why you would replace the leaves in a torsion tube with a DOM (drawn over mandrel) steel tube. A DOM tube would have zero spring. If one wheel hit a bump both would rebound or more likely your suspension would just seize. Each end of whatever you replace the leaves with has to be a solid square, so the trailing arms can fit over them and be attached. If the end of the tubes are round, the arms are probably spinning on them. Also, the Fomula Vee anti-sway bars are tempered spring steel rods with square blocks on each end and they don't contact the center anchor at all. Something is causing your front suspension to bind up. I think the DOM tube is the most likely cause of why its binding. I've never heard of replacing torsion leaves with a steel tube. Who recommended it?

michael cook · Post by **michael cook** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 1:41 am

the dom tube is just like AIRKEWLD does on there frontend set up it is threaded on the ends but I have left the nuts loose so they are not binding I must have not put enough solid springs in top tube will redo this weekend and see if it helps I just want a nice ride so I do not get beat to death on the street if you know what i MEAN

CairoManx · Post by **CairoManx** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 2:15 am

I think I see what you mean. I guess the DOM tube is very small diameter and spins freely in the trailing arm and the nut and washer at each end just keeps the trailing arm from coming out. I still think something is binding someplace.

michael cook · Post by **michael cook** » Wed May 03, 2006 11:38 pm

well I put 4 solid and 2 sets of split in the top tube today still have dom in bottom tube ,gas shocks when I push down on frontend goes down but no rebound just stays down HELP want a good ride but I'm lost now about ready to give up

jsturtlebuggy · Post by **jsturtlebuggy** » Thu May 04, 2006 7:13 am

If you have a link pin front end (1965 and earlier) I would say that you have the link pins are adjusted to tight and they are causing the bind. When you adjust them you tighten them as far they will go then back off just a litte so they can move.

michael cook · Post by **michael cook** » Thu May 04, 2006 7:23 am

it is ball joint

newmanx59 · Post by **newmanx59** » Thu May 04, 2006 12:21 pm

I have a link pin beam in my buggy with 2 adjusters. I run it on the street with the all the tension removed from the top adjuster then I adjust the lower adjusted to obtain the ride height I desire. zWhen I take the buggy in the dunes, I crank some tension in the top torsions to prevent bottoming. The ride on the street is very soft. Anti sway bars will stiffen the suspension a bit.

michael cook · Post by **michael cook** » Fri May 05, 2006 1:52 am

went today got a front end at junk yard just the beam and springs got it at the sandblasters when I get it back will do as suggested repace 2 solids with 2 splits in each tube see how that works I have a set of gr2s will try those in stead of gas shocks gota wait and see how it works if I need it lower might get dropped spindles question are gr2s gas filled???? thanks mike

fubar · Post by **fubar** » Fri May 05, 2006 4:57 am

The gas charge should no affect the rebound unless they are upsidedown.

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