Gwyn Lewis suspension re fit

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natas

natas

Well-Known Member
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Bahamas
OK, I have put it off long enough.

Saturday I have a mechanic coming by with a compressor and air tools and we are going to start repacing my suspension with a Gwyn Lewis challenge system.
This includes springs,shocks,rear trailing arms, front radius arms, prop shafts,spring locators and retainers,shock turrets............The whole shebang!

I am a little worried as myself nor the mechanic has ever done this with a Landy.

It looks all straight foward, I think my biggest worry is rusty bolts.

Any advice or tips from you seasoned veterans?

Thanks.
 
What Robint said .. it's pretty simple engineering, like a big Meccano set, so almost anyone can do it!!

Have fun .. ;)
 
If all goes well, how long should this take?

I plan on starting at the front and working my way back.
 
Half a day, maybe six hours with tea breaks and hassle!
 
Well it should be just swapping bits out .. if you get one side front shock and spring out you can just slot the new ones in, etc etc .. ;)

There's a lot you can do to help before-hand, make up the minor assemblies, like shocks to shocktower maybe or fit all the new bushes to the trailing arms/hockey sticks. As said, start using plus-Gas or dismantling gluid a f=couple of days before and it'll all come about easily, but as you're putting new stuff on, you may as well cut the bolts/nuts and make it even quicker!! ;)

It's well worth jacking the whole vehicle off the floor, supported on the chassis, so the axles have a lot of drop on them to assist spring removal and replacement. If the new springs seem too long, use a small bottle jack between axle and chassis to open it up a bit, but keep an eye on brake pipes etc.

Work safely ... ;)
 
Paul D said:
Well it should be just swapping bits out .. if you get one side front shock and spring out you can just slot the new ones in, etc etc .. ;)

There's a lot you can do to help before-hand, make up the minor assemblies, like shocks to shocktower maybe or fit all the new bushes to the trailing arms/hockey sticks. As said, start using plus-Gas or dismantling gluid a f=couple of days before and it'll all come about easily, but as you're putting new stuff on, you may as well cut the bolts/nuts and make it even quicker!! ;)

It's well worth jacking the whole vehicle off the floor, supported on the chassis, so the axles have a lot of drop on them to assist spring removal and replacement. If the new springs seem too long, use a small bottle jack between axle and chassis to open it up a bit, but keep an eye on brake pipes etc.

Work safely ... ;)
Click to expand...

Cheers, much Thanks!

I am picking up a couple cans of WD40 this evening and start soaking it all down.
Really looking foward to the new suspension as the original is getting sloppy.
 
You'll need big impact sockets. Lots of duck oil and at the very most two days.

Me and the big ginger one did his whole suspension in a day with a few unforeseen issues.

It's not a very technical job, just time consuming if you've never done it before.
 
As said before, clean off all the bolts with a wire brush then cover in plus gas or something similar a few days before.

Gwyn's kit is very nice, I fitted mine in about a day working by myself at a leisurely pace. If you have gone for the +5 shocks, then fitting springs without compressors is easy. Have you got somewhere you can dash to if you need new bolts for the suspension?

It's also worth checking all your steel/copper brake pipes, if they are looking bad you may as well replace now so you don't have to bleed them twice.

Good luck and post up some pics ;)
 
Just changed a rear axle, arms, added gwyn lewis challenge cone hooks on mine.

Me and my mate took us about 3-4 hours with hand tools.
 
defender11069 said:
no did the same with new one's jack it up with high lift and lower axiel with trolly jack slot in the jack back up job done thats how you did when thay pop out
Click to expand...

Mine came out and new +2" went in without spring compressor too.

But spring compressor would of been easier but didn't want to damage the paint lol
 
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