swap torsion & leaf spring suspension for coils?

[nathan549]

im just wondering if its possible to swap out torsion bars & or leaf springs for coils?

[ari666]

anything is possible. how good at welding are you?

[Calaber]

Odd request for a Commodore forum - are you trying to upgrade a Valiant?

[vnathanx]

yes its very possible

[Dr HaxZaw]

Odd request for a Commodore forum - are you trying to upgrade a Valiant?

some of the older utes had leaf springs didnt they?? dont know models or anything cause most of my knowledge stops at vk lol

[nemesis_adrasteia]

if your going to spend that kind of money why not go coil overs or bags?

[Astranomical]

Odd request for a Commodore forum - are you trying to upgrade a Valiant?

Not that odd - Crewmans have leaf spring suspension, as do One Tonners (though why you'd want coil spring suspension in a 'tonner is beyond me)

[Calaber]

Not that odd - Crewmans have leaf spring suspension, as do One Tonners (though why you'd want coil spring suspension in a 'tonner is beyond me)

Yeah, but they didn't have torsion bars - no Holden ever did. Valiants were the only common make to have both torsion bars and leaf springs which is why I posed the question.

[nemesis_adrasteia]

Yeah, but they didn't have torsion bars - no Holden ever did. Valiants were the only common make to have both torsion bars and leaf springs which is why I posed the question.

holden/isuzus did have torsion bars

[Calaber]

holden/isuzus did have torsion bars

Umm, yeah, ok, but Isuzu's are trucks, not "Holdens".

I wasn't thinking about 4WD's or other such crap.

[nathan549]

this is for a holden colorado project im wanting to do. so it has torsion bars up front and leaf springs in the back. i wanted to do coils or coilovers in it all around. how much do you guys think it would cost? rough estimate haha

[nemesis_adrasteia]

Umm, yeah, ok, but Isuzu's are trucks, not "Holdens".

I wasn't thinking about 4WD's or other such crap.

the new isuzus are "sports utility" or whatever. still got holden badges on it i dont see the difference

[nemesis_adrasteia]

this is for a holden colorado project im wanting to do. so it has torsion bars up front and leaf springs in the back. i wanted to do coils or coilovers in it all around. how much do you guys think it would cost? rough estimate haha

best bet wouldbe to call a suspension shop. should be safe with a budget of say 10 grand(rough estimate)

[m1lky]

Don't think it would be worth it tbh.

Youd probably need to weld in shock mounts out of something else. Swap to their hubs for mounts. Then proving it's safe and getting it legal will be fun.

As above you might as well go to bags.

[Calaber]

the new isuzus are "sports utility" or whatever. still got holden badges on it i dont see the difference

The difference is:

I said no HOLDEN had torsion bars and leaf springs. Isuzu's are NOT Holdens. Same as Daewoos, Opels, Vauxhalls - marketed as Holdens but not built as Holdens.

I was obviously thinking of Holdens from 48-215 through to HZ, and Commodores from VB to VE. Likewise other smaller old models like the Torana etc.

Anyway, this is off-post, so let's refocus on the original thread, hmmm?

[naf33n]

its wouldnt be worth the money. its not going to be a racecar, a well sort airbag setup will be much better, and you will save a pile of cash for other bits and pieces.

[nathan549]

anyway to fit/customise a commodore irs to fit?

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

Do you want to lower it? It's easy to reposition the torsion bar so it sits lower, and then remove some leaves until it sits where you want it to.

[nathan549]

yeah the whole point of it is to make it low. but i want it to sit like a commodore on fe2 or sl's

[ari666]

Do you want to lower it? It's easy to reposition the torsion bar so it sits lower, and then remove some leaves until it sits where you want it to.

well then this^^^

just pull a leaf out and turn it round the other way or get lowering blocks

[m1lky]

yeah the whole point of it is to make it low. but i want it to sit like a commodore on fe2 or sl's

Sit like or handle like?

Wind the torsion bars down and use blocks to lower it. Much much cheaper than moding it

[Darren_L]

not worth all the hassle
most states would require that the modification be engineered/mod plated

as mentioned above, get lowered coils for the front and get the rear leaves reset.
A Colorado is going handle like shit no matter what you do to it, so may as well save your $$

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

get lowered coils for the front

Ummm torsion bars, remember?

Don't wind them down, reposition them.

[acex1138]

Not a good idea mate, I just finished working at Industrial Engineers and springmakers who are the only place in the southern hemisphere that do a lot of leaf springs like this.

I had someone come in every month who wanted to do something like this, unless there has been a spot on conversion kit made for it... there were for the valiants and the early holdens just dont even bother this will cause you so much heartache misery and money.

I could go into it for hours, but yeah..... we saw some pretty funny stuff at work, like guys wacking coils over their leafs, pulling them out welding in bars of angle iron and then welding a coil to the plate.

Golden rule to always remember.... never ever weld spring steel, theres only one situation you do it, and thats if your crappy trailer falls in the middle section you can whack a piece over each side and weld the sides but still u wont get far out of it.

Theres plenty of guides out there, on how to do conversions, and there was even an episode of monster garage where it was done, and just to let you know how that goes it was from the same know it all mechanic who was shoving coils in cars out of a bucket and said 'best advice is if your car isnt sitting low enough for you, pull out your oxy and shrink it down or cut off a few coils'.

This was what I had to put up with every week at work, remember your suspension is an engineered product, its like a mathematic formula, you change the variables you change the outcome.

[acex1138]

almost forgot mate.... if you want to lower it you can do it with your rear leaf springs no drama.

Avoid the following traditional fixes - Using a helper spring, booster spring etc and for f***s sake do NOT use a lowering block, thats asking a cop to defect you and an insurance company to void any claim you make in a car crash that has nothing to do with it.

The only legal way you can lower these is to have them reset, where you remove the springs from the vehicle, write down all the details of the vehicle (as leaf springs are prone to sagging within 2-5 years, moreso if overloaded) workout how much lower you want to go from the camber and send the springs into industrial springs to have it lowered, its important you workout what its reset height is, as resetting involves them disassembling the spring pack heating it up in a special furnace (only one of its kind in the southern hemisphere..... the next biggest one is at a place that does vintage car springs in melbourne but they dont do current cars). they then flatten out the camber of the spring to match the heights you want.

Now two more things to bear in mind with your leaf springs that always rock someones world - the weight has to go somewhere, dont expect to have a 1T ute, drop it down in height and still expect it to reduce its height, it is IMPOSSIBLE
to lower a vehicle and carry the same weight it use to (with leaf springs, in some cases with coil vehicles increasing hte wire diameter can allow you to maintain the loadout) carry the same weight.

We use to have to tell kids who came in and got their ute lowered it stopped it being a ute, most of them didnt care but we'd get kids all the time who want their brand new hilux to sit on its ass and still get loaded up.

And the second thing, I dont think it will be your vehicle but if its fitted with parabolic springs u cant do crap.... a parabolic spring is a leaf spring with a differant thickness all the way through.