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ZUKIWORLD Discussion Forum => Suzuki 4x4 Forum => Topic started by: khan_sultan on July 11, 2009, 04:56:28 AM

Title: Installed Composite Fiber (Carbon Fiber) Leaf Springs for Samurai SJ 413
Post by: khan_sultan on July 11, 2009, 04:56:28 AM: Friends,

We all know how horrible the ride quality of a Samurai is -- especially over bad roads.

I just installed composite fiber leaf springs and must say that the ride quality is very good now. I will be testing them out extensively in next few weeks/months on/off-road.

BTW, Before installing these I took feedback from a fellow zuk owner who had installed these in his ride and travelled some ~6000 miles all over India in all possible kinds of terrains.

Read about 2 Zuk owners on a 6000 miles ride here. Some beautiful terrian & naturural landscpape from India.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/61164-bangalore-leh-two-gypsy-s-covered-8000-km-18-days-2.html (http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/61164-bangalore-leh-two-gypsy-s-covered-8000-km-18-days-2.html)
Title: Re: Installed Composite Fiber (Carbon Fiber) Leaf Springs for Samurai SJ 413
Post by: bentparts on July 11, 2009, 05:00:23 AM: ;) Great looking rig kahn. I've seen photos of India only, but some places sure look beautiful. Looks like a great place to explore. Gotta watch out for those tigers though!
Title: Re: Installed Composite Fiber (Carbon Fiber) Leaf Springs for Samurai SJ 413
Post by: khan_sultan on July 11, 2009, 05:07:14 AM: Quote from: bentparts on July 11, 2009, 05:00:23 AM
;) Great looking rig kahn. I've seen photos of India only, but some places sure look beautiful. Looks like a great place to explore. Gotta watch out for those tigers though!

Yeah, lots of places to explore -- it's a VAST country.

hey, no tigers now mate -- they are ONLY in the reserved/protected forest parks. ;)
Title: Re: Installed Composite Fiber (Carbon Fiber) Leaf Springs for Samurai SJ 413
Post by: bentparts on July 11, 2009, 05:15:21 AM: ;D Great, I'll be over soon to go wheeling! The only thing stopping me before was my fear of Tigers, not the 10000 miles between us!
Title: Re: Installed Composite Fiber (Carbon Fiber) Leaf Springs for Samurai SJ 413
Post by: Rhinoman on July 11, 2009, 05:41:18 AM: Great pics, look like you had a really cool adventure. Any more details on the springs?
Title: Re: Installed Composite Fiber (Carbon Fiber) Leaf Springs for Samurai SJ 413
Post by: khan_sultan on July 11, 2009, 06:01:10 AM: Quote from: Rhinoman on July 11, 2009, 05:41:18 AM
... Any more details on the springs?

Here is the summary about these Leaf Springs (info I got from the supplier):

They can be fabricated as per ones suspension needs
soft: for regular road usage -- a replacement for the stock leaf setup
stiff: this is for folks who go rallying etc.

The 'soft' ones are available of the shelf, where as the 'stiff' ones have a lead time of 2 months.

They don't advise to put these in the front, as for some reason there seems to be a wobble in few vehicles where they have put it. They want to investigate this and fully test it out before recommending it for the front of the vehicle. They don't want to recommend/sell for the front just for the sake of it.
However, if someone insists they will fabricate as per requirement

These have been tested extensively and for past 4 years these are in use in various vehicles. Absolutely NO complaint so far. He even mentioned that many Ford Endeavors get this setup done.

It has enough flex & even somehat similar to wringing of clothes type of flex is possible and the setup won't fail/break

In off-road, even if hits a rock etc, it will not break/fail. At most, if it is hit by a razor sharp thing(maybe a razor sharp rock/edge), it might get bruised/defect -- but that also he said should not happen as per his experience. Even in that case he mentioned free replacement.

Here is a video that shows some more details about these leaf springs
http://message2.myvideowebstream.com/view/?id=TDHE9679BS4UVVCHWGKK (http://message2.myvideowebstream.com/view/?id=TDHE9679BS4UVVCHWGKK)
Title: Re: Installed Composite Fiber (Carbon Fiber) Leaf Springs for Samurai SJ 413
Post by: Rhinoman on July 11, 2009, 06:13:01 AM: Have you got a contact email or web site address for the supplier. I am looking for a set of +2" springs for a 413K pick up.
Cheers
James
Title: Re: Installed Composite Fiber (Carbon Fiber) Leaf Springs for Samurai SJ 413
Post by: Drone637 on July 11, 2009, 10:07:11 AM: Those are pretty cool. I have seen them mentioned before but I have never known of anyone running them. Let us know how well they end up working out in your Gypsy.
Title: Re: Installed Composite Fiber (Carbon Fiber) Leaf Springs for Samurai SJ 413
Post by: chevytracker on July 11, 2009, 01:40:54 PM: We used to get fiberglass mono leaf springs from Vette Brake/Vette Products in St Petersburg FL in the late 80's. We would use them on lowriders and if the springs were too long we would unbolt the eye mount and use a hack saw to trim both ends. Fiberglass is great since it has no memory, we never use them for offroad so I can't comment. Corvettes use a single spring on the front and back, Vette Brake/Vette Products used to make kits for Camero's. Even boat trailers have fiberglass springs, check your city for an industrial spring supplier, you may find one.
Title: Re: Installed Composite Fiber (Carbon Fiber) Leaf Springs for Samurai SJ 413
Post by: Cuthulu on July 11, 2009, 03:14:50 PM: Thanks for posting the picture thread link, really pretty country. The "Unbelievable is not it?" on the Taglangla sign had me laughing. So it looks like you have been over both of the highest mountian passes in the world on one trip. Looks like alot of fun.

Thanks again for posting.