How much to lower a ute?

[UTEK]

I get it now...
essentially, its the the top leaf that determines the ride height. Doesn't matter how many leaves are underneath the top one, its just that they will be more likely to scrape the ground. The only thing that really matters is the distance between the bottom of the axle and the top of the leaf pack. So flipping one takes one that was sorta doing nothing, as far as ride height, and uses it to its full potential by increasing that space.
Correct?

[Trev]

Not quite.
The flipped spring still gets bolted flat together with the rest but it flattens out the others, thats what lowers the car.


Undo the bolts that hold the diff onto the spring.
Put a stand under the diff to hold it above the spring (so you don't have to remove the rear end all together )
Undo the locator bolt that holds all the springs together (use vice grips to hold the springs together so the bolt will undo.

Hear we have 5 leaves.

Take this one.

Flip it upside down like this.

Use these to clamp them together using a screwdriver to line up the bolt holes.

Bolt them together and put them in your car (if they are out).
I also used 1.5 inch lowering blocks aswell.

Put the wheels back on and drop the car down to check the clearances.
The bump stops, I'll be cutting these in half .

And the tail shaft, I have about 2 inches.

This is what was like before. With the lowering blocks in

And after much better .




Hope this helps, and that I haven't done anything that will kill anyone .

Like I said, you can cover your ass and get it done properly and probably safer .

Trev .

[UTEK]

That is an absolutely perfect post Trev, thanks so much. And don't worry, if things go pear shaped i won't hold you responsible
Will give it a go if i have time this weekend

[UTEK]

Another question on this topic: I was just reading J's thread about lowering his car and all the replies that followed. The one thing that i need to add to that discussion is- do utes have taller/different springs to sedans? and if i decide to cut some coils for now how many should i cut off to start?

[Devilrod]

Safest way being over cautious is to cut a half a turn at a time till your happy with how it sits.

[jack_fc]

I had new (2" lowered) aftermarket springs, cut half a coil off them (angle grinder) and found that this dropped the car another 3/4 of an inch.
Doing the same with 'old' original springs may cause a different drop....
Just be aware that cutting springs will probably be classed as 'naughty' by the authorities
If going much more than 2" lower, you may want to consider shorter shocks and definitely new shorter bump stops.

As Devilrod said, try half a coil, then drive it to assess practicalities as well as just 'looks'...
The lower it is, the better it looks, but then there are speed humps, tyre clearance, load capacity, bottoming out, etc etc, not to mention unwanted attention from not-so-understanding members of the constabulary to be considered...

[mikey_ok]

hey Trev,

how much drop did the flip give you? hard to tell from the angle of the photos, but looks like at least 2" - if not more?
i take it that stiffens up the ride a bit as well - seeing as the springs are now working against themselves.

would sedan springs be different to a wagoon? how much drop would you get with sedan springs?
(sorry to hi-jack fom ute specifics! )

[UTEK]

Thanks guys.
No worries Mikey, i think we've all done it before.

I remembered the other day that when i bought my ute it had a spare set of springs that came with it. They might be Pedders seeing as they are red but how can i figure out if they are lowered springs or not? anyone know the height when they are out of the car???

[Trev]

Hi Mikey, This gave me a drop of about 2 inches at first then they settled down another inch, so 3" all up which ended up being too much so I pulled out the 1.5" blocks for the Nationals trip (fully loaded), now thinking of putting the blocks back in.
Sedan ones are the same (I did it to my sedan also), Trev .

[UTEK]

I just went out and found the red springs and measured them, they are about 14"(36cm) high and have 8-9 coils.
Does anyone have any ideas as to what these are? as in standard or lowered? I'm guessing they're not lowered and by looking at them i'd say someone has just painted them "Pedders red"

[Devilrod]

hey Trev,

how much drop did the flip give you? hard to tell from the angle of the photos, but looks like at least 2" - if not more?
i take it that stiffens up the ride a bit as well - seeing as the springs are now working against themselves.

would sedan springs be different to a wagoon? how much drop would you get with sedan springs?
(sorry to hi-jack fom ute specifics! )

Lots!!! I flipped the shortest spring in my sedan and have inch and a half blocks. The drop is good but it doesn't stop! Just before the nats I added another leaf (thanks to Trev) and this is the end result

When I first flipped the short leaf.


After a few years of use (no bumpstop clearance!!!)


And now with the added leaf its back to where I started. Not the best pick but you can see it has a slight downward rake at the front again.

[Trev]

Original ute, wagon, van springs were painted blue then over sprayed black on assembly, sedan springs were painted green before assembly then black.
Ute etc at curb weight, in stock form are 5 11/16" + or - 3/16", 8.09 coils and 12.02" free length. From the FB manual.

Red springs could be from HR?

I used HG spring, they are thicker (stiffer), Trev .

[UTEK]

Thanks Trev, i'll double check these will fit and then start taking them down in size. And if things go bad i've got the original ones for take two.

[mikey_ok]

thanks.

[EKjimmy]

DR, you mean you RAISED your car with another leaf?