16' Series Outback owners, do you have any packers under the spring seats?

[achjimmy]

Okay our outback has always had an extra packer welded under the spring locator (forget correct name) presumed to make the ride height correct? Now I am interested in gaining more clearance I am going to remove one, but it's a lot of work for 10mm! Curious to know who else has an extra spacer.

 

[Hubble80]

I had a look at mine (17.56-2OB) and mine has only one, but is an inch thick.

and needs a bath from Easter travels...!

 

[Hubble80]

by the look of the bird sh!t weld on there mate, shouldn't be too hard to remove!!! But wondering what you are trying to achieve by lifting it?

 

[crustt]

bigger tires?

 

[achjimmy]

Okay Hubble yours is an underslung so the plate is giving you lift where it's taking mine away.

The point of the lift is I would ideally like to clear 265/75-16s. These are a very common 16 with very good load rating available. Also since the 200s towbar is so damn high I raised my tow ball receiver 125mm to get the van level but now the angle plate and spare wheel basket act as a plow! There is another reason for changing my wheels which I will make clear soon. So ideally I would like to lift the Expanda about 40-50mm

 

[macca]

@achjimmy , why don't you just put the axle below the springs. Yours is a straight axle whereas hubbles is not. It will give you more than 50mm but if you are going to play around with re welding the plates then it will not be too much trouble. Or will that be too high for you?

 

[achjimmy]

@achjimmy , why don't you just put the axle below the springs. Yours is a straight axle whereas hubbles is not. It will give you more than 50mm but if you are going to play around with re welding the plates then it will not be too much trouble. Or will that be too high for you?

I am not a fan of underslung axles. Plus it would be more like 100mm I think.

 

[Gruntawat]

It is so the centre bolt of the spring doesn't hit when tightened up have just under slung my 16 we just back from 2000 km trip towed perfect

 

[Hubble80]

I agree @achjimmy the towball of the LC200 is VERY high, I bout both tow hitches, on and offroad and never use the offroad one. I am thinking of stiffening the suspension in the 200 as it squats a lot with the Expanda on it. I would like to raise the front also to level the thing out as they rake in standard guise. I will have to do something to level the Expanda out after that though. Probably gonna modify the hitch and would like to put higher profile tyres on.

I am looking at options so that if I go to a WDH it is not acting like a ripper on the rear of a grader!!!

 

[achjimmy]

It is so the centre bolt of the spring doesn't hit when tightened up have just under slung my 16 we just back from 2000 km trip towed perfect

Hi realise that but usually only one?

 

[achjimmy]

I agree @achjimmy the towball of the LC200 is VERY high, I bout both tow hitches, on and offroad and never use the offroad one. I am thinking of stiffening the suspension in the 200 as it squats a lot with the Expanda on it. I would like to raise the front also to level the thing out as they rake in standard guise. I will have to do something to level the Expanda out after that though. Probably gonna modify the hitch and would like to put higher profile tyres on.

I am looking at options so that if I go to a WDH it is not acting like a ripper on the rear of a grader!!!

The Lovells HD springs do this well. Guess ARB would be able to as well. Do all the van mods first before adjusting hitch. I will now have to lower my hitch once all the raising is sorted out.

 

[Drover]

2 plates seems more than enough to clear the bolt but the Jayco apprentice may have wanted to make sure. Using just one plate reposition it to the opposite side, drop the springs and roll the axle under, give you around 85mm lift. Some just roll the axle over but your brakes will be wrong, balance your load and should be no problem, at least I haven't found any problems. ( even getting hit by a truck it was stable)

Tow hitch on top of A frame or below.???

 

[achjimmy]

2 plates seems more than enough to clear the bolt but the Jayco apprentice may have wanted to make sure. Using just one plate reposition it to the opposite side, drop the springs and roll the axle under, give you around 85mm lift. Some just roll the axle over but your brakes will be wrong, balance your load and should be no problem, at least I haven't found any problems. ( even getting hit by a truck it was stable)

Tow hitch on top of A frame or below.???

Thanks drover. How do you figure 85mm? I came up with 130mm?

The hitch is the same as on top of the a frame currently by a 125mm spacer.

 

[Gruntawat]

You cannot just roll the axle as it has leading and trailing brake and would make the van totally unroadworthy the easiest way to check would b to remove u bolts lift and measure the clearance

 

[achjimmy]

You cannot just roll the axle as it has leading and trailing brake and would make the van totally unroadworthy the easiest way to check would b to remove u bolts lift and measure the clearance

I think Drover refered to that the fact you shouldn't roll it over? Presumably if you striped the axle you could reassemble the brakes around the correct way?

 

[Gruntawat]

That's cool you can not do it at all backing plates will not allow just done my 2012 16.49-1ob it lifted it 110mm only put one spacer under side of spring because it has the bolt head not the threaded end

 

[Drover]

I'm pretty sure when I did mine it gave 85mm I'll have to recheck it.

When you put the axle under the springs the easiest way is jack up the rig, remove the wheels, disconnect hand brake cable and drop the springs, well one end anyway, axle just rolls out , you just have to measure the position of the pack plates on axle, remove them and fit on opposite side of axle, reposition spring and bolt axle on under spring. I actually fitted another plate in case I want to return it back as an over spring. Ideally use new U bolts and fish plates but at least use HT washers not the mild steel jobs that seem to be used, they distort. Readjust hand brake cable.
You cannot just rotate the axle or rotate the brake unit as the backing plate only goes one way and it's a lot easier to relocate the small plate.
Also if your axle has been aligned using the plates or axle bending then you should keep the same aspect if your measurements were good enough.

 

[Jason]

Okay our outback has always had an extra packer welded under the spring locator (forget correct name) presumed to make the ride height correct? Now I am interested in gaining more clearance I am going to remove one, but it's a lot of work for 10mm! Curious to know who else has an extra spacer.

View attachment 21678 View attachment 21679

thats the same as mine i just had it underslung it gave me a good 75 mm in hight its unreal have more clearance leave them for only 10 mm but underslung it instead

 

[Moto Moto]

Could there be a difference between outback and touring srings? Maybe thats where the difference of 85mm and 110mm is @achjimmy

Just athought.......

 

[Drover]

Could there be a difference between outback and touring srings? Maybe thats where the difference of 85mm and 110mm is @achjimmy

Just athought.......

In my case it's "old timers" I think, 85mm is what I wanted but 110mmm is what I got, just went and put the tape measure over it and checked my notes on the shed wall. It's a tad high but alls level on the Jeep and tows better than before. Look into tyre sizes next, 195 to 215 or 225.