Leaf to Coil Springs ~ Modification

[sarmadqureshi]

Has anyone thought of and / or gone for a conversion to coil springs from leaf springs in a Hilux or any other pickup ?

Can it be done ?

What are we looking at in terms of modifications ?

Do you think its a stable solution to an otherwise stiff and bouncy ride ?

[saidhi]

Hey Sarmad, how r u man?

For the conversion i think you should also talk to Afzal Sahib, he owns a workshop and do the metal work/conversions in rally vehicles of most of the KHI guys. I had his mobile number but cant find it in my set now. Since Afzal Sb. is a famous personality in rally world, i am sure you can get his number from Sajid Dadaboy or Maj Osman(Mitsuman). You can also contact my friend Rasim 0305-222-6171 who is a customer of Afzal Sb.

[sarmadqureshi]

Hey Sarmad, how r u man?

For the conversion i think you should also talk to Afzal Sahib, he owns a workshop and do the metal work/conversions in rally vehicles of most of the KHI guys. I had his mobile number but cant find it in my set now. Since Afzal Sb. is a famous personality in rally world, i am sure you can get his number from Sajid Dadaboy or Maj Osman(Mitsuman). You can also contact my friend Rasim 0305-222-6171 who is a customer of Afzal Sb.

Hello Qasim, I'm fine thank you, how about you ? You Ok ? !

If its the same Mr. Afzal you are talking about then I think I have his number saved as Afzal Snorkelwala ending with 528.

I spoke to him once regarding a snorkel for my Hilux & he had a decent price for it.

How's the dear old Jimny ?

[deadly]

Hello Sarmad,
Recently I have changed my cj-7's leaf to SSR-X Coil springs in front and back tube I used to SSR but there are Leaf spring's at the back ! Haven't test it yet on off road but on road working pretty fine ... tho I wasn't a easy task but I glad I'm first in my gathering to do such an alteration

[SuhaibKiani]

Good Topic !

There have been a number of leaf to coil conversions on CJ5s/7s in Rawalpindi market since 2003/2004, usually coupled with the 1KZT engine conversion. I believe TLC70 parts were used in most of these though some may have used SSR stuff. Not sure if anyone has tried it on TLC40 but have seen it done on the net.

Have not seen or tested any of these myself but my mechanic and bodywork Ustads never encouraged me to pursue this option despite a few half hearted attempts. From what I understand, the conversion itself is not very tricky but nevertheless quite messy and probably quite easy to muck up given positioning and welding. Key issue is that Toyota coil springs are for significantly heavier vehicles and getting the precise suspension geometry on coil springs is quite difficult (as IJC members have recently witnessed ) . Hence its not surprising that most local conversions are said to have had high speed handling issues, though with much cushier rides on bumpy roads.

[sherwan_88]

Janj has done it before, though it was coil to leaf... ask him...

[ehsankiani]

Do you think its a stable solution to an otherwise stiff and bouncy ride ?

The bouncy ride in pickup trucks is because of stiffer and more leaf springs at the back. That ensures that when you put some weight in the back (to fulfil the purpose of a pickup truck), the rear will not sag down. I think, prior to getting into tricky leaf to coil spring modification, you should try on a softer set of leaf springs at the back specially.
The leaf vs coil spring performance is a debatable topic though and you can find lots of writeups on this at google.
Ehsan

[ehsankiani]

Pictorial thread on exactly this being done.

[sherwan_88]

Lessening a few leafs does the job...
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[ehsankiani]

//youtu.be/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swO8qqI2DBI

[sarmadqureshi]

Guys, I'm sorry but I guess I didn't clarify it in detail. What I'm talking about is the rear suspension of Hilux / Vigo being replaced to a coil spring.

Thanks Ehsan for the detail.

[saidhi]

Sarmad,

Afzal Sb has supplied many snorkels too, i think its the same person, talk to Rasim he will be able to confirm the contact details of Afzal Sb.

[noman8ff]

@ sarmadqureshi, brother any latest on the subject issue? Do share if any information gathered as it sounds a new thing and would be a new experience.

[sarmadqureshi]

@ sarmadqureshi, brother any latest on the subject issue? Do share if any information gathered as it sounds a new thing and would be a new experience.

Noman, the latest is that now I know that it can be done and have seen how its done ...... on to doing it would definately bring about more knowledge on it.
As for actually doing it, I need to get a donor vehicle 1st, dad's gonna kill me if I touch the Hilux with this mod.

The other thing I have learnt is that if the vehicle is used for any kind of loading and runs on dirt tracks, leaf springs still win hands down.

Must have a look at the link posted by ehsankiani above, its great knowledge and a great find by Ehsan.