The suspension on the Daihatsu Feroza / Daihatsu Rocky is probably best described as solid & reliable - it is not technically innovative & doesn't have huge wheel travel, but is built to take a beating & is easily modified to a certain extent. The main areas most 4wder's are trying to improve on is Ground Clearance & Wheel Travel & in this section you will find ideas on how to improve both on your Feroza.

Original Equipment :

The Daihatsu Feroza / Daihatsu Rocky have ' Torsion Bar ' springs in the front with gas shocks & an Anti Sway Bar - This is the way a lot of 4wd Manufactures are going these days as they are very light & compact , ride very well on road but unfortunately don't have very good travel off road. One good thing about Torsion Bars is that they are height adjustable.

The Leaf Springs in the rear of the Daihatsu Feroza / Daihatsu Rocky aren't bad for original equipment ( OE ) stuff - but over the years Daihatsu kept removing leaves to make the ride softer - by the time my model came around it only had 1 Main Leaf & an overload leaf & that's it !! Not real good for carrying camping gear in the back & maintaining decent ground clearance. Leaf Springs have been around for ages - & there are lots of ways of getting lift & travel out of our rear end.

Suspension Lift Kits

Probably the easiest & most hassle free way to Lift the Daihatsu Feroza / Daihatsu Rocky is to buy an 'off the shelf' Suspension Kit. This is because all the components you need are contained in the kit ( usually consists of 2 Torsion Bars, 2 Leaf Springs & 4 Shocks ) & all the Spring Rates & Shock valving has been fine tuned to suit the Kit. Most kits will give you about 50mm ( 2 inch ) or so lift - There are several companies that make lift kits for the Feroza but the two I recommend are listed below -

THE ULIMATE SUSPENSION 4WD Equipment ( The Ultimate Suspension ) - They have a 60mm ( 2.5 inch ) Lift Kit to suit both the WideTrack & Narrow Track Feroza's ( US Rocky is Widetrack ). The Kit contains 2 Torsion Bars, 2 Leaf Springs & 4 Shocks. A good option to get as well is their UCF Leaf Spring Bushes - Aust Feroza WideTrack / USA  Rocky Suspension -  Torsion Bars    - 1 pair   - TB197        Leaf Spring     - 1 x        - UL88DS   ( Drivers Side ) Leaf Spring     - 1 x        - UL88PS   ( Passenger Side ) The Phone No. in Sydney, Australia is 61-2-9603-7677 & the Fax Number is 61-2-9603-8116. Talk to Ken O'Keefe - he will help you with all your inquiries. Unfortunately they aren't online.

TJM - SERIES 2000 SUSPENSION TJM 4wd Accessories have a 50mm ( 2 inch ) Lift Kit to suit both Wide & Narrow Track Feroza's - It consists of 2 Torsion Bars, 2 Leaf Springs & 4 Shocks to suit. Also available are Urethane Bushes for the Leaf Springs & Poly Air Bags for additional load carrying support. There website is at www.tjmproducts.com.au ( click on banner above ) & all their Australian & International details are listed. They are distributed in most countries round the world ( in the US by Hella Inc. )

CUSTOM SUSPENSION MOD'S

The harder but more rewarding way to get the most out of your Daihatsu Feroza / Daihatsu Rocky suspension is to customize it yourself using the components which best fit your need / budget. Truth is there is no kit out there that will be everything to everybody, so a customized lift will be certain to be right for you. I cannot cover everything out there on the market, but here are a few ideas which I have seen work well over the years - I will list the Mods under their individual components to make it easier - My only advice is to save yourself redoing your suspension over & over, know what you plan to carry & what accessories you plan to fit to your Feroza up front. If you plan to add a Winch / Bullbar / Driving Lights / CB Antenna etc to the front of your Feroza then make sure you choose a Torsion Bar / Shock combination that can handle the extra weight - otherwise when you do add these mods your front end will nose dive !! If you have done any mods that aren't listed here then please let me know - I want this section to be as comprehensive as possible -

Torsion Bars :

There is one good thing about Torsion Bars - they are height adjustable. Where the Bar joins the Chassis ( below your front doors ) you will find an adjustment bolt at 90 degrees to the Bars . By adjusting this bolt ( you must do both sides evenly) the height of your truck will go up & down. This sounds really good, but when you wind up the standard Torsion Bars the Bars will actually get stiffer ( or harder ) as you are 'preloading' the Torsion Bars ie: they will already have a certain amount of twist on them - so they will have more resistance to any more twisting.

So if you are wanting up to 50mm ( 2 inches ) lift with no extra weight in the front ( ie: bullbar, winch etc. ) then you can just wind up the standard Torsion Bars. The ride will be firmer than stock - but it is a cheap & effective way to get some lift. It is almost a must to fit better shocks if you do this lift though as the effective spring rate has gone up, & the stock shocks can't handle it. You won't need longer shocks - just better ones ( see the Shocks Section further on. )

The better way to go though, & almost essential once you want 50mm ( 2 inch ) or more lift or fit a Bullbar or Winch, is to upgrade your Torsion Bars to Heavy Duty aftermarket ones. The Ultimate Suspension ( or Sway-a-way in the USA ) or TJM both make good Bars - These Bars are progressively rated in there Spring Rates  - ie: they are softer in the part of there travel but get stiffer as the load increases - this also makes them a little more compliant when it comes to travel, they will flex a little easier until the Torsion Bar really loads up. Combined with a good shock they ride really well both on & off road. Ride will be much improved plus they can carry a load much better without sagging.

The most lift you will get out of the IFS ( independant front suspension ) of the Daihatsu Feroza / Daihatsu Rocky is 60mm ( 2.5 inches ) unless you get custom drop brackets made up. Any higher & you will run out of down travel on the bumpstops. The Positives of this lift are you do get a true 2 Inch lift under your front crossmember ( not including the lift in the bigger tyres ) so ground clearance is optimized. The negatives of this lift is that you LOOSE Down travel in your suspension ( the total travel stays about the same but the wheels will not DROP as much - but they will UP Travel further ) You can shave your Bump Stops to improve things a bit - but don't shave too much !!

Anti Sway Bar:

If you want to improve your Front Wheel Travel for Off Roading then consider removing your Anti Sway Bar in the front. The Sway Bar is good for on road handling but limits your wheel travel off road. Removing the bar can actually improve things all round - I found on road ride was improved as bumps & potholes that hit one wheel didn't feel like they were coming through the whole front end anymore - & it acted more like true INDEPENDENT Front Suspension - but the best news is that OFF ROAD ability improved no-end as each wheel can now flex independently of the other one - & also flex more easily. When you first drive it after taking off the Sway Bar take it easy at first especially round corners until you get used to it - I really didn't find any difference in handling but it did ' feel ' different. ( for the better that is ) In my opinion I think the up-rated shocks & Ultimate Torsion Bars make the Sway Bar redundant anyway - & I did it mainly for the Off - Road benefits though - That's what it is really about isn't it !!

Leaf Springs & Shackles:

Because leaf springs & shackles are so closely related I will deal with them together.

One Mod I will advise against here is fitting ' Add-a-leaf 's ' to your Leaf Spring packs. Sure you will get extra height out of the rear but the add-a-leaf will stiffen the spring pack a lot & reduce your wheeltravel - they also increase the wear on the leaves above the add-a-leaf.

A good budget way to get some more height in the rear is to fit a set of Longer Shackles - these can either be custom made fairly cheaply or a set from a similar 4wd may fit if you look hard enough ( Jeep YJ front shackles can fit I believe - make sure you get some measurements first though ! ) Do not go more than a 100mm ( 4 inch  ) longer shackle - better still keep it to about 50mm ( 2 inches ) longer to be safe. A 50mm longer shackle will give you 25mm ( 1 inch ) lift. ( ie: total lift is half of the extra shackle length ). You will also need longer shocks to suit.

To get some serious lift & more load carrying ability you will need to replace the Leaf Spring Packs with a Aftermarket Springs - Ultimate & TJM make good sets, Ultimate in fact have a choice between Heavy Duty & Medium Duty sets depending on what you carry. My advice is to always over-estimate how much you will carry when selecting your springs, a slightly firmer unladen ride is better than dragging your rear bumper on every rock because your springs can't handle all that camping gear you are carrying. Your other option when it comes to Leaf Springs is to get a Custom Set made up for you to your requirements This way you get the best everything - load carrying, height , travel etc.  Most good 4wd Accessory places will be able to recommend a good spring manufacturer nearest to you.

Also - your Longer Shackles will work well with your new Custom Lifted Springs - they can give you a bit more height in the rear & a bit more wheel travel as they allow the spring to move in a longer arc. Total height in the rear should be limited to about 85mm ( 3.5 inches ) - mainly due to the limits on the front end. For example a 60mm Lifted Spring with a 25mm Shakle Lift ( 50mm longer shackle ) would be ideal.

Another Shackle possiblility is to fit a a Revolver Shackle ( or ' Missing Link ' Type Shackle ) to the rear. These are starting to take off in the 4wd world as a method of getting big travel out the rear Suspension. I have just fitted a set of Revolvers ( see pic & link to Revolver Home Page ) & will be doing a full write up soon. Basically the Revolver is a hinged shackle that opens up as the wheel drops increasing the wheel travel. The Revolvers are also 50mm longer than standard so will give you a 25mm ( 1 inch lift as well )

Revolver Shackle Kit

Revolver Shackle

Extended Shackle

The Rear End

Shock Absorbers ( Dampers )

I have left shocks till last because that is where they should be - not from an importance point of view but from a need to get it right point of view. It is a lot easier to get the correct lengths for your shocks after you have installed your springs & shackles etc. This is even more vital if you are doing some really custom work like Revolver Shackles etc. ( Note this only applies for the rear shocks as the front shocks stay the same length no matter how high you go )

Even if you are not going to change anything else on your suspension - a change of shocks can make a big difference to your ride. The standard shocks are pretty ordinary & are lucky to see out 50000kms ( especially if you 4wd regularly ) Once you start upgrading or lifting your suspension then new shocks are a must anyway.

The Shocks that come in the Ultimate & TJM Lift Kits are pretty good - & have been valved to give a decent ride on & off road - however if you are customizing your own Suspension then there is a better way -

Adjustable Shocks - there are 2 brands which I can reccommend - the Rancho RS9000 & Koni Shocks. Both of these are excellent shocks & give you the ability to change the Damping rate to however you like it - soft or hard it doesn't matter. If you are really keen then the Rancho's have an incab controller so you can change the damping rate in seconds as you drive !!

I run Koni's myself at the moment, here are the Part. No's for the Shocks I have. The rear shocks are long enough to run a 85mm rear lift consisting of 60mm lifted Springs & 25mm shackle lift.

Koni Front - Part No. 802606 Adjustable 0896 ( Length : Compressed - 238mm/9.6" , Extended - 374mm/14.75" )
Koni Rear -  Part No. 801680 Adjustable 9505 ( Length : Compressed - 294mm/11.6" , Extended - 485mm/19.2" )

There is also some really good info on measuring shocks & a full Rancho Shock guide at http://www.off-road.com/4x4web/toyota/tech/shocks/

One other option you have if you are after some extra lift or greater load carrying ability from your Standard Leaf Springs is to fit a set of Gabriel Highjacker Air Shocks - these have an Air Fitting that allows the Shock to be ' pumped up' to give some extra height for more clearance or when carrying heavy loads. They are inexpensive & easy to fit.