Mitchs' build up- roll cage and suspension added

[macca002]

Looks good. That is a massive arc in the load leaf! No wonder you had such a hard time trying to tuck a wheel!!!
Would ride a bit more plush now too?

Also - might need to get some fish oil/lanolin happening under your rig
Time to Dexter it up!

[Richard Noggin]

Nice set up mate

I love your front bar

[DocBassett]

Cheers richard! Yeah macca, it certainly is quite an arc. The ride is completely different. It was great before, but since removing the canopy and taking some weight out the back made for some rough bumps etc. Now I hardly even notice the back end over rough terrain. I have been in contact with ultimate over the last few weeks to get some long travel shocks. Sad to see the bilsteins go. Rate them highly, but ultimate have been very helpful so will give them a try.

You think I need to lanolin? How come? Apart from being dirty, it seems ok.

[macca002]

You think I need to lanolin? How come? Apart from being dirty, it seems ok.

Looking a bit sand blasted under there? The leaves would love a coat of lanolin....makes them work even better again.
Treat it like a woman, you never go in dry!

If you are keen, coat the rest of the undercarriage. Helps combat rust

[DocBassett]

I probably should.... but effort factor. Lol

[StiddyGLX-R]

Now that leaf is inverted can you cut it shorter or ??

[DocBassett]

Yep, macca mentioned something about that. Haven't looked into it though

[macca002]

Cutting stuff is a big commitment and you kinda need to know what youre doing to get the stepping right.

If you do cut, remember to taper off the ends and round the corners. Main thing to remember - Leaf springs snap on straight edges.

[macca002]

Mitch - is the other load leaf you took out longer or shorter than this one? This one seems pretty long...

[DocBassett]

The other one is shorter by a fair bit.

[FRDESP]

Your truck looks great Mitch how do u find the angel eye headlight are the worthwhile or really just cosmetic mate

[DocBassett]

Cheers mate. The angel eyes are purely cosmetic in my opinion. The light output isn't as good as standard. Even with upgraded bulbs.

[DocBassett]

Few pics of some fun in the mud today. 4 tritons but got no pictures of the trip apart from these as I tested the rear suspension out.

[DocBassett]

Got too close to the intercooler with the high pressure cleaner whilst not paying attention today. Made a fair mess of it. Does anyone know how blocked off is too blocked off??? What would be the negative effects of this? A very small section of the radiator was hit too.
Tried straightening the fins out with this but it wasn't helpful at all. Cheers.

[macca002]

Gotta push through from the back side on the intercooler mate - maybe use something a bit thinner to get through to the front. I have used the ol butter knife to fix a radiator that got smashed closed with mud. Easier if you take it out and do it in front of the TV. Cool looking invention though.

[DocBassett]

Ahhhhh..... so take it right out. Effort factor haha. Might be a weekend job as ill need to take bullbar off.

[viking shippy]

Mitch a butter knife won't do it...lol.....and coming from the other side won't work either....the fins are very soft ...I've done exactly the same thing I used a slot jewellers screwdriver..and very carefully re aligned the miss shapened fins and removed the smashed ones....with the inter cooler out...when I was replacing my harmonic balancer..it won't cause any problems as long as you haven't put a hole in the actual vertical tubes that Cary the turbo charged air...
leave it alone as their is really nothing you can do other than removing the inter cooler and making it 50% better...and it will still look a mess...

[Cowboy Dave]

I wouldn't see that as urgent mate, it's a pretty small part of the overall real estate and I'm sure we all have a spot or two like that from bigger bug strikes and stuff over time.

[DocBassett]

Cheers guys, thats what I like to hear. It shall be left alone. VS, my butter knifed screw driver is by far the best tool for the job. It took me forever to fabricate with all the duct tape. I'm just waiting for a call from snap on to patent my idea. Any moment now.

[Cowboy Dave]

If you do remove it at some point maybe something a bit softer like wood - a wooden skewer or paddle pop stick or something might be a bit safer than poking around with a sharp item. I'd agree it looks easier done by poking from behind. Hmm poking from behind with a blunt stick... I worry myself at times.

[DocBassett]

Hahaha gold. If it doesn't give me symptoms, I won't worry about it. I'm happy if there is a functional reserve.

[viking shippy]

If you do remove it at some point maybe something a bit softer like wood - a wooden skewer or paddle pop stick or something might be a bit safer than poking around with a sharp item. I'd agree it looks easier done by poking from behind. Hmm poking from behind with a blunt stick... I worry myself at times.

A wooden skewer sounds like a good idea!
As I said and I've tried straightening the fins from the other side and all it does is pushes the mess and compresses it more..the fins are not far from the thickness of aluminium foil....my dad was a fridgie and it was my job to use a fin comb on aircon units.....and sometimes they would have a condenser similar to this inter cooler ...
dad would say just leave this type alone and if it looses efficiency we will just replace it...
Not much choice really.....somewhere I've seen the fins just removed completely...but i don't think it would Improve the cooling that much....as a blocked fin still has the cooling effect of a heat sink...cheers hope this helps...

[DocBassett]

Ordered a few little goodies from ultimate either today or yesterday. ..cant remember.. Can't wait to get them and get them in.

[DocBassett]

On friday, my rear suspension gear rocked up (happy birthday to me, love from me). Brendan from ultimate was super helpful via email in organising and educating me in what I needed. As per everyone's recommendation, 5* service. And a big thanks to macca for giving me a kick up the butt to get it done.

I need to say up front that I didn't change due to being unhappy with the current set up. I loved it, but it wasn't set up to full capabilities/what I needed/wanted. I went ultimate partly to see what the fuss was about and because of their service they provide.

My original set up was purchased from climax suspension. It was a 2 inch lift using bilstein shocks and modified king springs. The springs were also set up to carry a canopy and some weight (which I no longer carry). As a result it ended up being quite firm, and therefore little abilitu to flex. It did sit quite high though. I began to play around with the rear springs to see if we could get it softer. I succeeded, however needed to be done properly. What I did can be seen above in previous post.

So on friday I took some measurements:
Height on flat surface: 595mm rear end on both sides. I then went and flexed the rear end. Don't have any ramps locally so no RTI available, however I took centre hub to arch measurements again. At full tuck, measurement was 400mm. At full droop was 790mm.


Continued:

[DocBassett]

The gear I recieved from ultimate were a set of rear long travel shocks, a set of standard secondary leaf, and a spacer. The reason behind this set up was to
1)get better down travel.
2) maintain some up travel
3) maintain some height.

First step was to jack car up, remove wheel and shocks, undo U-bolts, remove bump stops and shock bracket. I then had to separate leaves from diff and remove the centre bolt. Then the U-clamps pryed open.