Hey everyone,
My D22 had an extra leaf added to the rear suspension before I bought it, and I'm looking at removing a single leaf from my rear suspension to lower the height and soften the ride. At the moment the rear sits a good 2 inches higher then front which has already been wound up (will be adjusted to suit new rear height), and the ride when unloaded (95% of the time) is frustratingly hard. When the tray is loaded it's generally only a weekends worth of camping gear. As I'm on a budget, I've decided removing a leaf is the best place to start.
I've never removed leaf suspension from any vehicle before, so I've got a few questions I'm hoping some one can help me with. Firstly I'm looking at removing the middle leaf (5 in total per side), as this will soften up the ride and lose some height. Is this the best leaf to remove?
Will I have to remove the entire leaf setup to remove the middle leaf, or would I be able to simply remove the U-bolts and centre retaining pin/bolt, and drop the bottom three leaves out, and refit the bottom two? There are no C-Clamps or anything else besides the centre pin that I can see holding the centre leaf in place.
And lastly, does any one know if I'll need a shorter centre retaining pin/bolt if I remove a leaf?
I'm not at all familiar with the leaves on the Nav, so I'd much rather go in with an idea of what to expect before pulling everything apart and figuring it out that way. I've attached a couple of pics of my leafs, and as you can see the middle leaf isn't held in place by any C-Clamps or other bolts other then the centre pin, which is why I'm hoping I could remove it with out removing the entire leaf pack.
Any advice/help is greatly appreciated. Definitely looking forward to having a more comfortable car to drive around in!
Cheers
My D22 had an extra leaf added to the rear suspension before I bought it, and I'm looking at removing a single leaf from my rear suspension to lower the height and soften the ride. At the moment the rear sits a good 2 inches higher then front which has already been wound up (will be adjusted to suit new rear height), and the ride when unloaded (95% of the time) is frustratingly hard. When the tray is loaded it's generally only a weekends worth of camping gear. As I'm on a budget, I've decided removing a leaf is the best place to start.
I've never removed leaf suspension from any vehicle before, so I've got a few questions I'm hoping some one can help me with. Firstly I'm looking at removing the middle leaf (5 in total per side), as this will soften up the ride and lose some height. Is this the best leaf to remove?
Will I have to remove the entire leaf setup to remove the middle leaf, or would I be able to simply remove the U-bolts and centre retaining pin/bolt, and drop the bottom three leaves out, and refit the bottom two? There are no C-Clamps or anything else besides the centre pin that I can see holding the centre leaf in place.
And lastly, does any one know if I'll need a shorter centre retaining pin/bolt if I remove a leaf?
I'm not at all familiar with the leaves on the Nav, so I'd much rather go in with an idea of what to expect before pulling everything apart and figuring it out that way. I've attached a couple of pics of my leafs, and as you can see the middle leaf isn't held in place by any C-Clamps or other bolts other then the centre pin, which is why I'm hoping I could remove it with out removing the entire leaf pack.
Any advice/help is greatly appreciated. Definitely looking forward to having a more comfortable car to drive around in!
Cheers