MU leaf springs - Tough Dog or Ironman

[Justsomedude]

Hi all, I'm a returning MU owner. Had one about 15 years ago and should never have let it go. Anyways, I'm back in the fold now and restoring/modding a '91 MU 2.8TD I've picked up.

To the point. The previous owner has managed to install what look like springs that are too long in the back, the rear wheels are significantly off centre in the arches. So thought I'd kill two birds and get the wheels back to centre and get a little lift at the same time.

I've trawled through all the posts I can and it looks like Jackaroo/Rodeo leaf springs are a direct fit ? Please correct me if I'm wrong, going to be painful to return them after I order them!

I can get either Tough Dog or Ironman for around the $500 here in Tasmania. Both are meant to be 0-300kg (their lightest ones) and both claim to be 45mm lift, so it'd come down to the brand I guess. My MU will be mostly empty or very occasional camping trips so don't want HD and may have to remove a leaf as it is to get a decent ride.

Any thoughts which way to go? Thanks

[geeves]

Mu springs seem to be a major drama. I would measure the front pivot to the top shakle pivot and see id they can verify that the springs are this length under no load. That would see the shakle pretty much vertical with no load and about a cm back loaded

[Justsomedude]

Thanks and will do. The Ironman vendor assures me the springs he has are good for a MU - so that's a +1 for them, and they're in Hobart. The guy from Dobinsons gave me a figure of 553mm from front eye to center pin (ubolt). Wondering if I can reverse the current springs now, as the centre pin is off centre (currently towards the back). The front bush seems to be pressed in but might move with a sledge - worst case is I replace the springs either way.

[Justsomedude]

I'm going to order the Ironman leaf springs today, mainly cause its from a local supplier. Might have to take a leaf or two out no matter what springs I buy from the sounds of things, they're all setup for more weight than an empty MU bum.

While I was taking my springs off today I thought my front spring mount (for rear spring) looked odd, is this normal or has someone 'modified' it for a bit of lift ? It's like it's got 2 sets of mounting holes in it, one set about an inch higher than other - or am I missing some part from there ?

front bracket.jpg

[geeves]

no room for the bushing on the hole closest to the chassis

[Justsomedude]

Thought I'd follow up. I went with the Ironman, mainly cause the vendor is just down the road and the price was pretty much the same as Tough Dog. Got new 50mm lift springs, poly bushes and u-bolts for about $500.
Fitted them today, right side went in pretty easy with a flex bar and couple of jacks to help straighten them to get the shackle to connect. Left side was a trial.... damned exhaust in the way made getting the shackle pins in very very challenging. Anyways, all done now. Just have to trim my u-bolts with a grinder tomorrow and torque them up (they're about 4 inches too long). It's possible I'll have to remove a leaf yet, will see how it rides but I'm thinking its gonna be pretty firm

Here's a pic of my old (flat) springs vs the new ones - so different !

springs.jpg

[geeves]

Can we have a pic of them installed please. Im worried that the difference is more than the travel in the shackle

[Justsomedude]

Hmm I can't think of any easy way of testing them under full load to see their fit then. My original spring (in photo) either wasn't from a MU or was seriously worn out so the photo may be a little deceptive. My rear wheels were off centre towards the back by about 60mm and they're pretty much spot on now.

Here's a few photos of the shackle and side view - the wheel is currently a 33 but will be going back to a 31 shortly. Gap above wheel seems huge right now, hoping it'll settle some.
IMG_20180202_093348.jpg
IMG_20180202_093333.jpg
IMG_20180202_093327.jpg

[geeves]

Looks good. A trick to tell you about now its done esspecially with poly bushes is to jack up both sides so the body and axle are parallel. Then you are not trying to twist an untwistable bushing

[isuzurob]

They look abit short, shackle is over centre so the shackle looks like it will invert when the wheel goes up