Thread: Suspension advise

Originally Posted by Roverlord off road spares

I had a look at member Jason789s lift and the kit he used had steel brackets that lift the sensor arms higher on the chassis . some thing some could easily fabricate themselves from a bit of plate steel.

Yep. Just a flat peice of steel with a hole each end.

Happy Days.

This is the kit I used:

Lucky8 Llc. - Take the road less traveled...

You can see the flat plate in the picture. There are 2 (only one shown).


Happy Days.

Personally, I don't like any of the "off the shelf" kits. They are too general in their design. I have tried two different OME kits and eventually worked out that I needed some custom springs. I measured up my stock setup, weighed everything that I would carry on a daily basis and then gave all the specs to a spring maker. Some research on spring rates helped me decide what rate I wanted and the spring maker did the rest.


I also added some Firestone airbags to cope with heavier loads when touring.


Shocks are a different story as there are many good ones around. I settled on Bilstein and have been happy with them.


I'm happy with my setup and it was cheaper than buying an "off the shelf" setup. Of course, you need to factor in that you will be fitting them yourself but that is not hard to do.

what i did was work out how much you can afford or prepared to spend then get the best you can for that money.

on my 2001 TD5 auto
bilstiens - Shocks
King Spring - coils.

i do alot of touring and will be getting air bags before my next trip as the King Springs sag with the load.

overall i am pretty happy with my set up.

If anyone REALLY wants bags:

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/wheels-tyr...-air-bags.html

Although I removed them and fitted SLS bags.

I thought the bags in the middle of the coil springs was the best idea ever until I spoke with others and actually had the above set myself.



If you mainly use your vehicle for touring on sealed roads then they’ll bejust fine however it’s a different story off road and touring on rough dirt roads.



My first idea, knowing the SLS could be unreliable and be a real problem if punctured in the bush. I did know the SLS system was a good idea though. So I thought since the vehicle I bought had already been converted to springs and had the helper bags inside, I would keep the setup but change out the springs for some very light weight springs that would barely hold the vehicle off the bump stops then I would use the SLS computer along with the compressor and other standard SLS parts to manage the height of the vehicle. I thought the baginside the coil could inflate and lift the vehicle when weight was applied andlet air out when weight was removed ultimately maintaining the comfort of airbags but having the reliability of coils. If a bag got punctured, I could limp home with the extra soft coil springs.

Once I spoke with distributors about using the bags in that way, they said I couldn’t and the bags need to be inflated before the weight is applied. Such asif you are hooking up a caravan then the bags should be pumped up BEFORE putting on the caravan.

The problem is the bags push out on the coils and bind to the coils. You will see the bags bulging out between the coils. If you apply the load and then inflate the bags you will get the stiffer ride but not the height. The bags will bind to the coils and not let them extend. They will come up a bit after a few KM but if I used the SLS system to control the bags the system would keep inflating them but they just get less likely to lift. That and the SLS system will run up to around 100psi and the helper bags run something like 35 psi max(I never went over 20 psi and that was just to see what it was like).



Now comes, what I feel is the worst problem and why I removed mine. You can’t let the bag down completely as the bag could bulge out through the coil and be pinched and punctured so you have to keep 5 – 8psi in the bag. The problem with this is they restrict spring movement which I feel hampers spring and therefore suspension movement and this ultimately makes for a rougher ride.



If that’s what floats your boat. Mine are available and pretty cheap, I think for a SLS to coil conversion kit with the bags as well.


Happy Days.

What about a set of Progressive rate Rear King Springs ?

im fairly sure that's what I had put in mine a few weeks ago,

they seem fairly good, although I got new shocks at the same time.

from what I was told I got the progressive kings, and oztec shocks.

it seems a little firmer than standard on the road, but still moves well off road

Those with tough dog adjustable shocks, can you notice a difference if you adjust them or is it just a gimmick?

Suspension Suff 2" Mates Rates Kit looks good and can supply the steering damper as part of the kit at a great price.