Ke55 Rear End Options ???

[JDM55]

hay guys , been thinking about the rear end suspention on my 55 and what I'm going to end up doing with it,

any one got any good set ups for street driving that they like???

 

to be honest when i took the car off the road ,i had been driving around for over 3 years with a fliped leaf in the spring pack,

and never had any problems, also had gas shocks and the stock rear sway bar which looks like its match stick thin,

now since i have to go thru engineers at some point in time ,sorta have to do it properly ,and don't think flipped leafs will

cut the mustard,even tho i never had a problem with them and i would put them back in like that ,but vic rules are off there head,

so need to do a good job,

also thinking about double sway bar on the rear ,or a single thicker sway bar,are there any rear sway bars off other cars that fit the 55

with out to much mods?? actualy i don't have a 55 diff any more but yeah same thing ,still got the 55 sway bar mounts on the new diff.

 

ideas ??

[rian]

Whiteline make a 16mm rear swaybar for a KE55.

 

And I think I've read that AE86/KE70 rear shocks are interchangeable with KE55 rear shocks, and there are a fair few good shocks for AE86s. You could also use a VL-VS( I think) rear shock as well as they are shorter and good for lowered KE**s

[JDM55]

Whiteline make a 16mm rear swaybar for a KE55.

 

And I think I've read that AE86/KE70 rear shocks are interchangeable with KE55 rear shocks, and there are a fair few good shocks for AE86s. You could also use a VL-VS( I think) rear shock as well as they are shorter and good for lowered KE**s

 

 

ahh nice , yeah ive only got a set of munroe gas in the rear at the moment and it will get lowered, but not rediculous low,have to past engineers,

so gota be decent, vl commodore rears ,interesting and a 16mm sway bar sounds the go for sure, the thing in there is so thin ,doubt it realy does

all that much ,specialy being 30 years old. definatley look into that,

 

also i been reading about caltracs, but i think there more a traction thing on take off, I'm sure at some stage id like to get on the track and get a 1/4 time

but right now I'm mostly looking at the street applications that are safe,

 

have to get some specs on some of those shocks ....

[SLO-030]

I'm Running new leaf springs.

 

1 extra leaf, 1 anti tramp leaf. Reversed eyes to keep the camber (and rate) in the spring.

 

VN wagon short stroke shocks.

 

No rear sway bar (wagons never got them)

 

Coupled with KE36/38 and late 55 22mm swaybar, XT130 struts, TA22 GT inserts, 4.5kg springs and camber/castor tops in the front.

 

Even without a rear swaybar, body roll is minimal (keep in mind its a wagon too).

 

Had a few people comment on how well it handles.

 

Not too stiff for everyday driving either.

 

Hope it helps.

[JDM55]

I'm Running new leaf springs.

 

1 extra leaf, 1 anti tramp leaf. Reversed eyes to keep the camber (and rate) in the spring.

 

VN wagon short stroke shocks.

 

No rear sway bar (wagons never got them)

 

Coupled with KE36/38 and late 55 22mm swaybar, XT130 struts, TA22 GT inserts, 4.5kg springs and camber/castor tops in the front.

 

Even without a rear swaybar, body roll is minimal (keep in mind its a wagon too).

 

Had a few people comment on how well it handles.

 

Not too stiff for everyday driving either.

 

Hope it helps.

 

 

yip it does, when you say reversed eyes ,do you mean the eyes on the leaf springs are on the bottom of the leaf instead of the top ??? ,

and with the xt struts did you find the camber problem was sorted with the camber tops??? , ive got a set of xts in there now ,but got another set i was going to turn into coil overs so i could use the adjustable tops as well

sounds like a good set up tho ....

[coln72]

In my opinion - THROW AWAY THE REAR BAR

 

I found that my KE35 would single spin to a stop in tight corners with a '55 rear anti roll bar. It would even single spin at speed if I was doing a mountain run. This was with Monroe Gas shocks, 225/60/13 tyres and reset leaves on the rear.

 

Tried a K Mac rear bar on my club car and didnt like looking through the drivers window at around 100kmh at nearly full opposite lock. Disconnected the bar and the lap times didnt suffer and it was so much easier to drive. Eventually I softened the rear springs.

 

The best handling I had was with double bars (one was from a Mazda) on the front with gas inserts and slightly stiffer springs, and near standard rear suspension.

 

But handling is a personal thing. What I hate, you may love and if it works for you then go for it.

Edited January 2, 2012 by coln72

[oh what a nissan feeling!]

^^^ yep i have found that too, rear swaybar induces way too much oversteer, although it doesnt hurt to experiment.

 

Remember too that a swaybars ability is not measured in thickness alone, a lot of aftermarket ones are not real thick but much more effective than the factory ones.

[JDM55]

ahhh ok cool guys this is all very intersting stuff, i guess it comes down to driving style and getting a feel for the set up,I'm just trying to

sus out a good start point and then go from there,

ive got a new tight as f%^$ lsd diff so not sure if it would single peg,but then again it may do in some corners ,havnt driven with a lsd before

so will be interesting on its own to see how that goes, been in a few cars with lockers ,they just seem to skate across the road lol ,

 

ok well at this point I'm thinking getting the leafs reset to the height i want then maybe the vn wagon shorter stroke shocks sound like

be a good investment, the munroes i have now probably need to be changed any way they been in there a while with the flipped leaf set up,

and maybe just a another leaf in the front part of the pack ,leave the sway bar as is for the time being till i get to drive the thing and

see what its like , my prediction is its going to be front heavy ,what with all the engine and extra stuff going on in there ,not sure

 

but i have just spoken to my engineer today and i have an appointment for the 20th of this month ,so realy need to get my ass in to gear,

( not that i havnt been working like a machine over the past week any way) but will be nurvous times ,

after my last nitemare experience with the first engineer , has pretty much mad me hate the whole process of trying to get things legal ,

i know in my mind and in my work that its safe, if it wasnt i wouldnt drive it, any way bit off topic, but yeah cheers guys for some info, its good

to get different opinions i think ,specialy if you see something only one way , abit of input from else where is always a good thing ,

 

i wish adjustable lcas were legal ,lol

Edited January 3, 2012 by JDM55

[kickn5k]

,leave the sway bar as is for the time being till i get to drive the thing and

see what its like , my prediction is its going to be front heavy ,what with all the engine and extra stuff going on in there ,not sure

 

but i have just spoken to my engineer today and i have an appointment for the 20th of this month ,so realy need to get my ass in to gear,

( not that i havnt been working like a machine over the past week any way) but will be nurvous times ,

after my last nitemare experience with the first engineer , has pretty much mad me hate the whole process of trying to get things legal ,

i know in my mind and in my work that its safe, if it wasnt i wouldnt drive it, any way bit off topic, but yeah cheers guys for some info, its good.

 

I think you'll find it's going to be close enough you'd hardly notice. SR's are alloy block. So what you've lost in alloy block over cast iron you've gained back in turbo and intercooler.

Good idea with leaving the rear end as is with new leaves. I keep getting told by my local Peders "drive it and see what it's like"

Bad experiences with VASS engineers really? I'm not being sarcastic either. I've only had good experiences with them. I've been involved with a fair few cars and engineers and never really had a problem. You'll be right mate, most of them would happy to engineer a car that's built to a standard and condition of your car.

[BUZ440]

I have reset leaves in mine and no lowering blocks, there is a small smily face in the leaf positioning and wheel arches sit in line with the tyres

 

Koni shocks up the back, and no sway bar, car is very stiff and alot of rebound, would be the same without the full cage I would imagine,

 

With the hilux diff, and LSD, does leave some nice scars on the road, but have noticed the other day when changing the pinion seal, knocks the top of the floor pan, so must twist heavily under load, have thought of tramp rods etc, but figured must adjust the way i drive (striaght) and soften up the rear end also

[altezzaclub]

have thought of tramp rods etc,

 

Not being a leaf spring fan, I'd put them on the list ahead of a rear sway. You can get plenty of oversteer from a leaf rear end anyway.

 

The LSD, a pair of tramp rods and a panhard rod would do it.

[BUZ440]

IMO believe Leafs to be a great setup, as they are a great platform to build from, but don't have to centre the diff, too many links, and the floor pan design can be as thin as a coke can, not to mention the torque tube in some instances

 

I know of a few guys with coil over rears (near the centre of the housing) with the leafs still in for the street, and two link setup to stop the diff fromt twisting, and gets out of the hole quite well,

[JDM55]

I think you'll find it's going to be close enough you'd hardly notice. SR's are alloy block. So what you've lost in alloy block over cast iron you've gained back in turbo and intercooler.

Good idea with leaving the rear end as is with new leaves. I keep getting told by my local Peders "drive it and see what it's like"

Bad experiences with VASS engineers really? I'm not being sarcastic either. I've only had good experiences with them. I've been involved with a fair few cars and engineers and never really had a problem. You'll be right mate, most of them would happy to engineer a car that's built to a standard and condition of your car.

 

 

 

ahh yes i sort of didnt think of it like that, just the gear box and engine and everything thats gone in so far , seems to be heavy duty,even the clutch and fly wheel were dam heavy by them selves,only guessing at it being a bit on the heavy side, eventualy it will get weighed so ill find out then how much difference fromt front to rear there realy is,as for the engineer experiences ,the first year of the build was completely wasted,in time and money and labour,the engineer i was dealing with wasnt going to give me a tick at the end of the day, he made me do things 3 times and would change his mind again and again about what he wanted,in the end i told him to get F^$^%&$**$*$& complete waste of a year of work and prety much had to start over,so you can see why I'm bitter about dealing with another one,i have spoken to most of the engineers in victoria,some said i couldnt even have the engine in there,some said i wasnt allowed to use nolathane bushes , some just flat out said no not interested, don't get me started i could go on for hours about dealing with these "engineers"

the guy i have coming to look at the car has already seen some of my work thru pics and seemed happy with most of it ,,tho that was a fair while ago and ive done so much since then , I'm just don't want to go thru the whole experience again , being told stuff like " you have to move your engine up 3 mm, you have to weld full chassis rails fromt one end of the car to the other ,you have to weld a rubbish bin to your bonnet and spin on your head 3 times ,etc etc , seems to me through talking with alot of these guys they all interprate the rules in a different way ,thus leading them to have there own input on what you should do and what they don't want to see,

 

"most of them would happy to engineer a car that's built to a standard and condition of your car."

 

thanks for that comment mate , ive definatley put the time and effort into doing the best job that i can do,after all I'm driving the thing ,i want it to be strong ,reliable and tidy, well there the main goals any way,think ive got most of that covered.but thanks for that ,even tho you can only see what you can see in the pics , its good to know ive impressed some one at least haha

Edited January 3, 2012 by JDM55

[SLO-030]

yip it does, when you say reversed eyes ,do you mean the eyes on the leaf springs are on the bottom of the leaf instead of the top ??? ,

and with the xt struts did you find the camber problem was sorted with the camber tops??? , ive got a set of xts in there now ,but got another set i was going to turn into coil overs so i could use the adjustable tops as well

sounds like a good set up tho ....

 

Factory leaves have the eye above the main leaf. Reversed eyes move the eye to the bottom side of the main leaf. Lowers the height without losing the camber out of the spring pack.

 

Currently running .5deg of negative camber. But yes, it would seem that the XT struts induce a little positive camber into a KE when running std LCA's and Camber tops.

 

I've got the HSD coilover conversion kit on the XT's. Cambertops would be of no use with Std springs and hats.

 

 

I know of a few guys with coil over rears (near the centre of the housing) with the leafs still in for the street, and two link setup to stop the diff fromt twisting, and gets out of the hole quite well,

 

You can have a really basic 2 link rear end whilst keeping a completely factory floorpan.

 

If you stiffen the FRONT half of the leaf pack (reduces tramp) This effectively turns it into a 2 link.

 

Where the front half of the leaf pack is an improvised control arm and the rear half of the spring pack becomes the "spring"

Edited January 3, 2012 by SLO-030

[JDM55]

I have reset leaves in mine and no lowering blocks, there is a small smily face in the leaf positioning and wheel arches sit in line with the tyres

 

Koni shocks up the back, and no sway bar, car is very stiff and alot of rebound, would be the same without the full cage I would imagine,

 

With the hilux diff, and LSD, does leave some nice scars on the road, but have noticed the other day when changing the pinion seal, knocks the top of the floor pan, so must twist heavily under load, have thought of tramp rods etc, but figured must adjust the way i drive (striaght) and soften up the rear end also

 

 

 

interesting there mate, have you looked at caltracs at all? been reading up a bit latley on them and was thinking of making my own set ,but not sure how much there going to help, take offs are mainly what there used for ,but can't find much on street driving with them in there, i would imagine they would help with holding the diff in a more solid position, that hilux diff must be fair heavy tho??? i got the r31 skyline lsd 3;9 gears and that things fair heavy too , hmm theres so much involved in the setting up of your suspention may have to investigate further,

btw how much were your konis in the rear if you don't mind me asking, i payed like 500 or something just for my front inserts, crazy price for some shocks ,tho adjustable too still crazy

also soften the rear up?? would have thought it be better on the slightly firmer side???