L Series rear shocks

Venom · Post by **Venom** » Fri Feb 25, 2011 7:11 pm

Bennie you might be interested in this. Late 90's Toyota 4Runner Shocks with Honda springs in L series. Excellent detailed write up here http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/sho ... p?t=110546

If you can fit standard 4runner shocks, then i don't see why a set of aftermarket shocks for a 4 runner couldn't fit either.

45mm lifted shocks for a 1990's 4Runner http://www.toughdogdealer.com.au/4runner.htm

poprock1 · Post by **poprock1** » Fri Feb 25, 2011 9:00 pm

Wouldn't it be nice to have access to a wreckers and be able to cut and paste parts like that guy did?:eek:

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 9:56 am

Venom wrote:Bennie you might be interested in this. Late 90's Toyota 4Runner Shocks with Honda springs in L series. Excellent detailed write up here http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/sho ... p?t=110546

I like that I idea and am glad you've posted that - thanks mate! I'm about to venture the now longer distance to melbs to look for those pneumatic rear shocks, buy with a warranty incase they're dead.

I'm still keen on seeing if I can hook these up for manual inflation to a set pressure, much like tyres are done. I'm just worried about the age and condition of the units, hence the warranty - at least I'll get a credit if they're dead.

If anyone knows how to tell if they're dead please let me know by calling zero for to won one ate four O three 1

I'm after a few other bits while I've got the ok to spend a little on my subi

Saving is good but when you see bits you need/want, it SUCKS balls!

Cheers

Bennie

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 11:05 am

Those Hilux front shocks have less travel than the suby ones

Post by **Alex** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 11:14 am

IFS fail

the truth is, we will never get boonta travel out of any shock fitted to a standard subaru driveline. The control arms etc just downt allow for it.

alex

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 5:45 pm

RSR 555 wrote:Those Hilux front shocks have less travel than the suby ones

Ah - hadn't thought about that! I looked at those pics in the USMB again and I can see where you're coming from Paul.

Alex wrote:the truth is, we will never get boonta travel out of any shock fitted to a standard subaru driveline. The control arms etc just downt allow for it.

True that, but I'm willing to work with what Mr Fuji gave us. I had looked into a liberty rear end with shortened control arms to keep the standard track width but I don't know how to go into the strut tower construction in the L's rear guards - I'm not keen on cutting and welding a tower into the mud guard, I would prefer a "bolt in" tower that's concealed in the guard.

Anyway - that's a distraction.

Today I got back to that Vortex - rear pneumatic shocks replaced with the standard L spring/shock combination

Bugger. Next thought was the honda springs - found out that the prelude, accord, civic and some other one I can't remember all have the small coil spring like the subi's rear ones. Thinking of getting a set from a civic - something on the lighter scale for the hondas - and putting the spring on the stock L shock for a stiffer/higher setup.

The honda springs all have 11 turns of the coil to the subaru's 7 or 8 (can't remember now) and the honda ones a loads fatter too. So a set of spring compressors will be sorted tomorrow before heading back. I'll see how the stock shock goes with this setup - thinking I might still need an upgraded shock in the end.

All that said, I'm still keen for an adjustable setup for different load ratings - if this doesn't satisfy me I'll keep looking for a setup with air that does.

Paul do you see any pneumatic rear's come through your workshop? Keen to know what they look like/serviceability are etc. Keen to know if I could actually setup the manual inflation for different load rates...

Hmmm... I'm sure I'll change my mind about something along the way!

Cheers

Bennie

spike · Post by **spike** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 6:06 pm

RSR 555 wrote:Those Hilux front shocks have less travel than the suby ones

but how many thousand 6 to 24 inch lift shocks for hilux and four runner are there

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 11:14 pm

El_Freddo wrote:Paul do you see any pneumatic rear's come through your workshop? Keen to know what they look like/serviceability are etc. Keen to know if I could actually setup the manual inflation for different load rates...

Cheers

Bennie

Bennie.. I'm thinking I already have a set up here at the shop, will let you know what condition they're in

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Wed Mar 02, 2011 10:13 pm

Well it was a great time away from work - but living the best part of 4 hours from melbourne (read the pick a part yards) sucks!

So it went like this: I worked yesterday morning on the brekky shift, finished super early (lack of people in

) so headed home to pick up the other half - who was still in bed! So anyway basically everything ran late all day - I only had 1 hr in the yard before they closed. Kez came up with the idea of staying at grandma's for the night so we did. Saved a pot load of time and allowed me to spend some more time in the yards.

Went to Kilsyth for some rear struts - only to find that every L series (3) in the yard had their struts taken. Not happy. But I did pick up a complete tailshaft that had 193k on it - better than my 420k+ unit! We then headed back to centre road where we were yesterday. My patient wife hung out in the car doing her cross stitch while I got to work in the yard with my rear shocks:

Started with a set of struts from the front of a honda civic - early to mid 90's unit. Below is the L series rear strut and the honda civic front strut:

After removing the struts here's the springs to compare - Civic on the left, L series on the right:

^ The civic spring is thicker and as you can see has more coils - its also *slightly* smaller than the L's spring diametre but still fits well.

After some playing around with my new spring compressors I ended up with the L shock absorber mounted with the civic spring - a good fit. In the centre is the L spring and the right is the stock civic setup that the spring was sourced from:

And here's my replaced strut setup beside the one that's fitted with the civic spring - that king spring is lose in that pic, its easy to rattle it around unlike the loaded civic spring:

<image deleted - too bloody large>

It took me about 15 minutes to fit the civic sprung strut to Ruby Scoo. Here's a before shot in my "workshop":

And the dodgy after shot:

I think it has settled down a little since that last pic. Going for a drive reveals a much firmer ride and a weird feeling that the rear is now taller than the front, I'll get used to it. After a test over some "local" speed bumps I'm pretty happy with them as the old units would really compress where as these units take the downward weight but resists it coming down - a good feeling that should go well with a load in the back.

I am thinking of having one turn of the coil cut off then heated and pushed flat to create the same top seat shape for proper seating of the spring - anyone know if this is doable? I ask this as the spring is much taller than the original unit and I think it might make ruby scoo sit a little flatter while retaining a decent spring rating - I think she's a little high in the rear but that could just be me getting used to her new look. Having a load might prove that the current setup is just fine like this

Best bit: The struts cost $40, spring compressors and torx/hex keys ~$80 (not so good but needed them without time to shop around). So a good result with some new additions to the kit. Happy so far!

Cheers

Bennie

Post by **Alex** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 10:05 am

just lop a coil off. no need to flatten it back out again.

maybe paint to stop rusting...

NOW..my next question for you. Your king springs must be a 2wd unit. Mine sat tight in my shocks, not loose at all. I remember brennyv having this problem. (but once you lowered the car onto them they came under load)

i dunno tho

alex

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 10:51 am

Alex wrote:NOW..my next question for you. Your king springs must be a 2wd unit. Mine sat tight in my shocks, not loose at all. I remember brennyv having this problem. (but once you lowered the car onto them they came under load)

Nah I found out that the king springs are just standard replacements - not lifted or upgraded

I'm sure you'll find that the springs in the 2wds are the same as those in the 4wd units, just that the 2wd shock is longer for the lower mounting point.

Cheers

Bennie

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 10:40 pm

Bennie.. sorry to say but the rear air struts I have are the Liberty model not the XT6

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Sat Mar 05, 2011 9:46 pm

RSR 555 wrote:Bennie.. sorry to say but the rear air struts I have are the Liberty model not the XT6

No worries Paul - thanks for looking anyway.

Mrs El Freddo says that Ruby Scoo feels more like her commodore's suspension around town now - not as sloppy.
I took Ruby Scoo out of town for a blart at 100km/h to see what she felt like unladen with the larger rear springs - all went well and I was rather pleased with the handling. I'm not sure if I've hit the kind of bumps that induce a frontal "bounce" where it feels like the front end runs out of downward travel at speed but I didn't feel any of this occur and hope that the stiffer rear springs have eliminated this behaviour as I don't like it!

So for a cheap lift and heavier spring rating the honda springs are a thumbs up so far. Need a couple of days off to start moving stuff back to M&D's before we're off to hotham again - that'll test out the load handling, but I reckon its already in the bag!

Cheers

Bennie

Post by **TOONGA** » Sun Mar 06, 2011 1:32 pm

here's an interesting read about mazda mx5 / miata adjustable shocks on an L series.

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/sho ... chux+miata

mind you it is for making the car lower but still an interesting read

I just got a set of aftermarket mx5 / miata shocks to play with for the rear of the brumby

TOONGA

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 8:34 pm

So I've been thinking about it - and I reckon I can flip the shock mounting bracket to drop the rear end a little bit, maybe by an inch... I might experiment with it as I think the look of Ruby's high rear end is growing on me - it kind of looks like Paul's new L's rear end.

Thinking I'll have a gander with the big tyres on to see what it looks like. I need to load it up too just to see what it looks like. Damn work (sometimes). Other than that I'm loving the rebound I get over speed bumps and when passing through driveways.

Much cheaper than a set of rear Kings if you could still get the lifted/upgraded set...

Cheers

Bennie

guyph_01 · Post by **guyph_01** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 1:38 am

This is what some guy did on USMB....
http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/sho ... ring+perch
Looks like using the Honda civic coil is easier and comes up with similar results.

I'm also looking at getting something better for my car but I wanted to eliminate the C lift used to extend the shock. The Toyota shocks looks great but as said before would have less travel:(

I might just swap to rear civic coil for now as the shocks/springs I have from Alex old wagon have been well used and I think are a bit worn. The front are still great tho:p

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 10:52 pm

guyph_01 wrote:I might just swap to rear civic coil for now as the shocks/springs I have from Alex old wagon have been well used and I think are a bit worn. The front are still great tho:p

The spring from the honda is the front - I went with the civic as I figured that the engine and gearbox are lighter than that of the V6 model that was also out there, there for has a lighter spring rating than the V6 units.

Either way I like what I've got. I'll upload some pics from our outing to the Nowa Nowa trestle bridge today... More on that later

Cheers

Bennie

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 11:16 pm

At the trestle bridge on levelish ground:

Looking good to me

Cheers

Bennie

guyph_01 · Post by **guyph_01** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 1:09 pm

So what year and exact model front honda springs you used?

Yeah looks all level and high:) How comfortable is the ride?

Post by **Alex** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 1:25 pm

looks real good Bennie...congrats on the successful conversion!

looks abit funny with small tyres tho!

alex