Are you breaking stuff now? You can get drums to work pretty well if you want to play around with them. In any case ,it would save you a lot of work to just modify what you have to discs.
leaf spring vs coil spring
- Thread starter coldtaco
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Are you breaking stuff now? You can get drums to work pretty well if you want to play around with them. In any case ,it would save you a lot of work to just modify what you have to discs.
This. Axle swaps are not a small job. Although I have no time for drum brakes on a 4x4 used in muddy conditions - they can be adjusted to work well but that only lasts until the next mud hole. Later model LJ/KZJ/71/78 had rear discs but still have a horrible drum-in-disc handbrake.
However - if you have reasons to do it, & the rig is to be used for serious offroad, I would (& did) go for wider axles than std 70 series. (In my case the FF Rear out of an 80 series & a GQ Nissan front for the bigger R&P). Plus revise the rear suspension setup - I used the 80 series 5 link with a few mods to make it fit. Works great on & offroad.
Cheers
Clint
Any chance you have pictures of your suspension setup from underneath? Especially the rear axle? Always been curious about this setup.
Thanks.
Thanks Clint for the reply, looks like a good thread. I can't weld so all the fabrication makes this a non starter for me. I'm now thinking I might eventually put them onto the BJ70 frame that has a leaf setup. Now to find out whether they will bolt straight up or what mods I have to make to make them fit...
While the Bundera/Prado running gear & suspension isn't perfect the coils are still a nice improvement over leaves in most situations. I sure wouldn't throw a lot of time & money at building up a leaf sprung vehicle for general 4x4 fun & touring.
It's not something I've ever measured but I think for leaf sprung BJ70 vs leaf sprung troopie the axles would be close to a straight swap. Another option for upgrading a drum braked BJ70 could be the disc brake conversion kits sold in the USA for 60 series wagons from the same era, you'd need to confirm they are actually a bolt-on deal but there'd have to be a good chance.
Cheers
Clint
It's not something I've ever measured but I think for leaf sprung BJ70 vs leaf sprung troopie the axles would be close to a straight swap. Another option for upgrading a drum braked BJ70 could be the disc brake conversion kits sold in the USA for 60 series wagons from the same era, you'd need to confirm they are actually a bolt-on deal but there'd have to be a good chance.
Cheers
Clint
- Thread starter
- #48
Just read through your post, nice job
Sorry for the thread hijack cold taco. As of this week I own a leaf sprung BJ70 (had this a while) and a coil sprung RJ70. The xoil sprung ride is definitely smoother but does tend to feel a bit like it's floating and tends to rock around a bit more. The leaf suspension feels a lot quicker to react and a lot more solid on the road if that makes sense. I'm yet to check all the bushes and linkages but that may have something to do with it. The original plan was to swap the body from the RJ70 onto the BJ70 but in light of this thread I think I may try and get a diesel engine into the RJ70 and be done with it.
JMacX sells a rear coil conversion kit for the 70 Series in Australia, the VDJ 76 and 79. It's designed to be bolt on. New rear axle too, which fixes the rear track problem. But it is not cheap.
I think coils are better but not enough to invest in a kit like this at the moment.
Jmacx suspension
I think coils are better but not enough to invest in a kit like this at the moment.
Jmacx suspension
