Big day today, finished changing the suspension over with new springs and the Koni rear shock absorbers. As well as the suspension change we fitted the new steel wheels and ST Maxx tyres. It’s starting to look a lot more purposeful now.
The Koni shock absorbers are the most aggressively gassed shockers I’ve ever come across. It took two of us and a ratchet strap to compress each one far enough to actually fit it and that’s on their lowest setting…
Took the 90 to a local weighbridge today to find out how much it weighs now. Got a front and rear split weight as well as an overall weight so I can try and get the springs right to get the right ride height when it’s fully loaded.
Currently it has standard V8 springs which are fine for normal use but it sits a bit low for overland use, the ride is a bit harsh and it kept bottoming out last year on the coast to coast run with all the camping gear in the back.
The aim is to get it slightly higher at the rear than the back when fully loaded but not stupidly high when it’s not loaded and it’s being used for commuting.
I’ve made a start on getting the auxilliary battery system and fuse box installed. Using two Odyssey batteries, one for the vehicle electrics and the second as an auxiliary battery to power the fridge, winch, lighting etc…
The two batteries are isolated/connected together via a solenoid that is activated at the moment when the ignition is turned on. At some point I’ll change it so that it’s activated when the oil pressure light goes out with an override to allow it to be connected as a “jump start” battery should the main battery lose charge for any reason.
The auxiliary fuse box is a modular type allowing the inclusion of relays and fuses in each section, according to our eventual needs. It sits quite nicely behind the passenger’s seat and should make it easy to provide power to both the rear and the front of the vehicle.