SNOOPY HAS A BIRTHDAY

Editor Matthew Scott recently had a birthday, and straight off the bat we’re not going to mention his age out of respect (okay he is 98 years old… and a damn good advocate for skin moisturiser). Anyway, as Matt was recovering from a well-deserved night out, we thought Snoopy his Troopy deserved a birthday too and borrowed the keys.

The standard suspension fitted to the Troopy has sagged a fair bit, and while it was riding nicely enough, with some big trips coming up it needed more lift and some stronger components. One phone call to Terrain Tamer later, and we had something pretty special on the way. A full two-inch suspension lift kit with remote reservoir shock absorbers. Basically, extremely high tech suspension… or as we like to think of it, complete overkill for a leaf sprung Troopy!

So as we were having something special installed, we needed to take the vehicle somewhere capable of doing the work. The first place that came to mind was Automotive Etcellence in Sydney’s Riverstone. Steve Etcell the owner and his off-sider Justin gave up a weekend to handle this custom install, so a big cheers to those guys for a job well done!

While the leaf springs went in with no fuss, finding a suitable place to position the remote-res shocks took some patience. This is why we wanted to use the expertise of the Automotive Etcellence team, as they are able to handle everything from basic servicing, to complex auto electrical repairs and even full-blown custom fabrication of rock sliders and ute trays. And it must be said they are damn nice blokes to boot!

So the results? Well Snoopy came up nearly four-inches in the rear end and three inches in the front, showing just how sagged (should that read shagged?) the standard gear was. Matt wasted no time, and completed a Victorian High Country trip the very next week, but I won’t put words in his mouth, look out for his full review in issue #12 of Unsealed 4X4.