Thread: suspension Medium or Heavy can't decide

Hi Jimmy

I would recommend something like this:

Heavy Duty front ~220lb (this will allow for future Winch etc) and still give a good ride with just the bar up front.

Rear - go medium duty, 300-340lb and if your load requires look for Load rite / poly air bags for fully laden use.

G'day, my d1 has toughdog heavy duty front and rear 50mm lift springs. Ome shocks in the front and toughdog bigbore heavy duty rear shocks it's fitted with arb bar, brush bars and sidesteps, dual batteries and a 9000pound winch. It handles ok on road but the ride is rough, offroad is terrible very little flex in suspension. I've loaded the back up with as much weight as I could fit in the boot(books, water etc) but couldn't really get the back flexing much better. But with the camper on the back, the rear suspension is transformed very smooth and handles well. I'd like to try soft 50mm front springs and med rear or maybe a flexyspring combo. the discovery smooth ride I read about doesn't exist with hd springs.
I've experimented with fitting a pair of used ebay brand rear shocks to compare against the big bore rear shocks and found unloaded ride was slightly smoother but not by much but with the camper or a car trailer loaded its also no good the The big bore shocks offer great control over the spring when the rear is loaded to the springs rating.

yeah thanks guys, i'm really trying to avoid ruining the landrover feel and turing it into a hilux. So yeah great info gav, i'll report back with what I get and how they go. Heading up to frasier in 2 weeks so that'll be a nice tester.

If you let me know of your thoughts on what you end up fitting that would be great. my d1 does feel a bit like a hilux but I still love driving it

King springs & Bilstiens. I've done 200000klms with the same gear. Roads include the Sandover, Gibb, Cape Leveque, Gunbarrel, Simmo & Vic High Country. Great handling & still a good ride. We also tow a Goldstream Wing.
There's no need to go ape**** with expense.
Steve

I have TJM springs with Bilstein shocks, guessing the springs are medium. Front is good, but rear felt soft by themselves, fully laden with a stuff and roof top tent it easily hit the stops. But with the addition of Polyair bags its transformed, only as firm as I need depending on load - did a trip recently fully loaded again, with some challenging tracks and still felt like it moved enough but did not bounce or sag. Great for towing the work trailer full of concrete and tools too.

hey Spel, do you have a tank for your system ? Do you actually need a tank?

I imagine this is the same as running tools from a compressor, the bigger the tank, the less wear on your compressor. So if you don't have a tank, the compressor is pretty much always running?

The Polyair bags don't need tanks. They are just helper bags that go inside the coils, not instead of - like full air suspension. Just need two separate valves mounted so they are accessible. Polyair Red Series - POLYAIR SPRING I like that they can be used to make the suspension as firm or soft as needed depending on load. I run mine at between 8 and 10lbs most of the time, about 12 with the roof tent and load.