Leaves Over Axle Conversion - 18/06/04

When I bought the Samurai it had already had a DIY 'leaf over' conversion. Unfortunately this turned out not to be up to the job and after some green laning became pretty dangerous. The new spring perches had bent and collapsed allowing the axles to twist round and move from side to side. The springs were also all mismatched with the front drivers side one being broken which was causing the truck to wander about especially under braking.

I met a few members of the Surrey Suzuki Society for the first time at their monthly get together. One of the members known as 'Wavey Dave' modifies vehicles for off road racing (what a job!) and having heard my truck was wandering all over the road had a look at the suspension for me. He pointed out where the problems were and suggested I get it fixed quickly before the axles came off. I drove home very carefully after that!

I investigated replacement spring perches thinking I would do the work myself. Rocky Road Outfitters in America do a pretty solid set of perches and I very nearly bought some. However, they recommended good welding skills which I don't yet possess and I also don't have any of the equipment! I also wanted to be sure that the work was done really well because I didn't want my axles coming off, especially at speed! I decided to pay a visit to Rhino Rays in East Sussex to see an example of their leaf over conversion. It's not too far away and lots of people recommended them.

Rhino Ray turned out to be a really nice bloke! He took my girlfriend and I round the workshop showing us all kinds of modified vehicles and even took us for a drive over his test track! I was able to see a leaf over and Ray talked through all the parts. He also looked at my truck and discussed what was wrong with it. I decided that I would have the leaf over done properly by Rhino Rays and while the work was being done I chose to get new springs and shocks all round. Ray was happy for me to come and spend the day at the workshop seeing how all the work was done and getting involved where possible.

Here is the result!

The height given by the leaf over is great, especially with the new heavy duty springs that Ray used as I have a Long Wheelbase. It's quite a stretch to get my foot over the door sill! The increase in flex over standard is very noticeable too as the axles can apply more pressure on the springs.

Here is one of the new spring perches. These are seriously heavy duty to cope with the extra forces of the springs being over the axles and then for major off roading! The blocks are quarter inch steel and weld all the way round the axle and onto the original perches underneath. There's no way these are breaking!

This is the new heavy duty drop drag link steering bar included in the conversion. This is made using the ends of the original bar which are then welded really well into the ends of the much thicker bar. It would take a lot of bashing to bend this!

The original brake hoses were replaced with longer braided ones to allow for the lift and to be tougher off road. You can also see one of the new Pro Comp ES1000 gas shocks. The mounts for these are now welded to the axles rather than the spring plates.

The original rubber bushes in the springs were replaced with new polyurethane ones which are stronger and more resistant to wear. They just happen to be blue to match the jeep which I like (okay that's bad!)

Lifting the chassis so much means the props from transfer case to diffs aren't long enough anymore. The props are therefore fitted with alloy spacers to make up the difference. These look cool cos they're all shiny!

I was really impressed with the quality of work done by Rhino Rays and would definitely recommend them to anyone. Ray definitely cares about doing a good job and creating great vehicles!