spring spacers

[paulyg]

Its time to change the springs and shocks on the old troll,
Front springs have 20mm spacers which I want to get rid of, the spring insulators are missing,
Would it be okay to just use 10mm spacer instead of the spring insulator?

[BigRAWesty]

Yes, many do.

[threedogs]

I have 15mm spacers ready to be fitted

[mudski]

Yeah I used them when fitting my flexy kit...

[threedogs]

I might add I'm not fitting them to lift my Patrol, only fitting them to replace the old OE ones

[paulyg]

Thanks guys, I was hoping it would be okay.

[bazzle]

May squeak a bit on the top. You can get replacement poly tops if needed.

[TimE]

I have 15mm spacers ready to be fitted

Exactly what I did with my GU IV. Mechanic reckons cheaper than replacing with genuine insulators and should not chew out as quickly as my genuine Nissan bits did.

[Patrol'n]

Sorry to revisit a old thread but thought I'd avoid an unnecessary extra thread.

I have a 2 inch lift in my GQ LWB, fitted a few months ago, tough dog springs, shocks, damper etc. it all works very well, and as I will be fitting a winch bar and winch in the future, the shop that did the lift for me fitted slightly heavier front springs to work with the weight of the bar and winch.

Only problem I have is, that due to not having that weight over the front right now, the car sits dead level or maybe just a fraction high at the front when unloaded. And slightly tail down when loaded. Not severe but noticeable to me and I don't like the tail down appearance...

While it will be fine no doubt once I fit the winch and bar, I can't afford to do it for a little while, and it's giving me the s#%@s. So my questions are, could I fit some rear 30mm coil spacers, (the type that slip between the top of the coil and the spring seat), as a temporary measure till I can afford the winch etc, is there any reason it wouldn't lift the ride height at the back that little bit, and are there any problems I would be likely to encounter if i did it?

Thanks all, my previous experiences with springs and shocks have always been lowering them, not raising them, so thought I should ask first.

[my third 256]

why not put poly bags in the back to level the load

[threedogs]

I think he wants to spend as little as possible, me I'd remove a rear spring
measure it and buy two slightly longer. remembering drivers spring is longer than the left hand one.
Fit the 30mm spacers but make sure shocks are long enough

[BigRAWesty]

X2 with td. Shouldn't be an issue for the interim but just be carful with shock length of your doing and hard 4x4'n

[Patrol'n]

Thanks blokes, yep it's only an interim measure, since I'm assured that the front springs will drop a little once the winch and winch bar are mounted and the extra weight is hanging over the front. I've had a good look at it over the last couple of months and it only needs the front a tiny bit lower or the back a tiny bit higher for it to sit the way I want. Since I'm not in a financial position to get the winch yet, I figured the spacers in the back might be a temporary fix.

Then when I fit the winch I can pull out the spacers and all should be good with the world... Well with my ride height level anyway!

To answer the question about the poly bags, the expense of getting those would probably be the same as longer springs that TD mentioned, and I've also heard stories that they contribute to the rear spring hanger problems some people have.

My shocks are tough dog and are longer than standard to work with the new springs, are they likely to be long enough?

Test by putting the spacers in and seeing if the shocks will droop to the same level?

[mudski]

They're big spacers. Zip tie them up against the spring seat so if you do ever flex the coil right out the spacer doesn't move on you or worse, fall out.

[Rock Trol]

You shouldn't have any problems with 30mm spacers in the rear as long as your shocks are long enough. I had them in my truck for 2 years as the rear springs where sagging under the weight of the rear bar/drawers. I did all sorts of off-roading during that time. Sand, corrugations, washouts, ruts etc without a problem.

They masked the true problem which was the rear springs not handling the weight but the spacers themselves did not give me any problems during that time.

[morton2478]

Shouldn't be an issue as long as you have plenty of travel in your shocks im running 30mm spacers as well as a 2" lift on my big girl and had her flexed up quite few times now and have had no issues

[MudRunnerTD]

I think he wants to spend as little as possible, me I'd remove a rear spring
measure it and buy two slightly longer. remembering drivers spring is longer than the left hand one.
Fit the 30mm spacers but make sure shocks are long enough

Nah that's ass about mate, if your going to buy a pair of springs then logically buy some softer Front Springs as the rear is matched to the car and the fronts are matched to a weight not there yet so not suited. Swap out the fronts until the front bar and winch goes on for the win.

[Patrol'n]

Nah that's ass about mate, if your going to buy a pair of springs then logically buy some softer Front Springs as the rear is matched to the car and the fronts are matched to a weight not there yet so not suited. Swap out the fronts until the front bar and winch goes on for the win.

Yeah I have thought about getting some softer front springs for the time being, but then that seems like wasted money when the winch goes on..... Although the ride might be a bit nicer for a while! That's why I was thinking of the spacers, not fancy but cheap

[MudRunnerTD]

Look for a pair of second hand front springs with a 2" lift. Probably grab a pair for $100 to $200 and will be way better than spacers. Even a pair of new springs will only cost you that and you would move them on when your ready too.

[Cuppa]

Not sure if this is related - apology for hijack if so.

When I had the new front springs fitted as part of the GVM upgrade the fitter commented that a OEM top spacer/shim/washer/something was split (I assumed it was ‘rubber’) & that it wouldn’t be a problem, other than it possibly might result in noise. Well I do get some noise. What is the part in question & how easy would it be to replace? I can’t see anything without removing the springs I think.

[MudRunnerTD]

Not sure if this is related - apology for hijack if so.

When I had the new front springs fitted as part of the GVM upgrade the fitter commented that a OEM top spacer/shim/washer/something was split (I assumed it was ‘rubber’) & that it wouldn’t be a problem, other than it possibly might result in noise. Well I do get some noise. What is the part in question & how easy would it be to replace? I can’t see anything without removing the springs I think.

Really easy. Drop the spring out for 10seconds, install the rubber ring and reinstall the spring. I cut my own rubber rings from reinforces rubber from Clark rubber for the win.