I decided that an upgrade was in order and after much research and contemplation I decided to go for OME.
I spoke with various guys about various options, the two main ones being:
Ronald (Dieseldog) put together a fantastic list of mods including LC shocks and higher shock towers to accomodate them.
Had i had the extra cash to get me to Ronalds shop in Polokwane, I would have jumped at the chance but after some deliberation I just could not afford it. Sorry Ronald but thanks for the great service and advice.
I then decided to chat with Louis of 4x4 Mega world Menlyn (I'm sure most of us know him). He suggested a few things and after getting an awesome price from him, I decide to go ahead and do it.
I drove through to pretoria and spent the day making sure they did it right
. Louis team consisted of Abri (Spyker) and himself with an Appy to take the brunt of the blame
for things going wrong. What workshop doesn't have them :!: Anyway on with the upgrade. On inspection we could tell that the poor lux needed a new set of legs and this was confirmed when the first shock came out. The shocks had been Monroes' but who knows how long they had been in and that meant that the springs could be equally shot. The shock felt that it was better to remain inside the housing when compressed rather than provide the vehicle with the absorbtion it was intended by moving in and out under its own steam
Shocks out, springs out, it was time for the saddles to be checked for squarness.
what a shock to find that they were no where near square so out came a tool of persuasion and corrected them in preperation for the saddle correction plates. Abri did a sterling job of welding the plates into place and I expect this to last a life time Louis (or I want my money back )I opted for the heavy duty springs and I can tell you that compared to what I had, they are a soft cloud floating in the sky. I never expected too much lift and what I got was around 20 - 50mm all round. As it depends on your how shot your springs were in the first place. I guess mine were not too bad. The final measurement will be done in a week or so and I will let you know the final figures.
When the rear was attacked it was found that one of the shackles was bent so a new pair of greasable shackles were sourced from N1 4x4 at a reasonable price. Anti inversion plates were fitted to the rear shacles as well.
The lux feels 100 x better than it did but it does take a bit of getting used to the new feeling. Unfortunately I havent had a chance to let her stratch her new legs off road yet but hopefully that will be soon.
Thanks to Louis, Abri and Appy for the hard work. The day was most enjoyable and the van is now more enjoyable.
A few pics of the day:
- Out of natural habitat!
- Crouch, hold, touch, engage, no release!
- Service from the owner!
- All straight now!
- Looking Good!
- OOPS! What happened there?
- Nice shiny new shackles.
- Even though there was no beer...... Abri still worked hard.
