Thread: 110 Lift, shock options.

Cool thanks for that, I can understand them wanting to keep their data under wraps, but the OME stuff comes out of the same factory, just in a different box, so it would make life easy to compare similar spec products, and either way KS still get the sale.

The KRFR-03 & KLRR-05s would probably do the trick as well I suppose and make the most out of the longer travel shocks, as long as they don`t make it sit up to much on the front, but when the winch goes on the front it would probably bring it back to earth nicely. I take it the TD5 springs would probably be a slightly lighter rating than the earlier diesels, especialy compared to the Isuzu diesel.

If if does sit up to high and I need to fit a double cardin prop and castor correct it, so be it.

Instead of twin FC41049s on the back have you had much experience with the BMX1397/2s, being +35mm, 45mm bore compared to the FCs 41mm and adjustable might work well on the back.

Its a shame we do not have local dealers with good product knowledge who can discus different options, instead of just reading codes from a catalogue and having no real idea of what they are selling or what they mean.

Originally Posted by VentureOverland

<snip>

Spring loadings are'nt something the KS give out too readily. Its all part of the value add / experience you get from being a KS reseller. The problem with published spring rates and loadings is that they have to assume the same assumptions across manufacturers - quality of materials, working life, sag under load etc etc... As we all know, all these factors vary dramatically between manufacturers and when comparing, what appears on paper to be the same springs, in reality they can be wildly different.


The other benefit of using King Springs and Tough Dog is that your using top quality components.

huh ?

free length, block (coil bound) height and rate are
measurable values, they cant magically alter.
Rate is even able to be accurately calculable as Youngs Modulus is the same, regardless of the steel grade used.

Resistance to sagging (taking a set), leaning over, etc are factors that are directly related to manufacturing and QC, and my experience (albeit 15 years ago) with KS, they weren't too flash in these departments, although the rates were exactly as I called out.

Col, the thing you have to be a little careful of with off the shelf springs is that the raised ones are often the same free length or shorter than OE, they just used an increased rate to get the lift. You will compromise articulation if this is a factor.
IMO, much over 225lb/in in the front is too stiff (which just happens to be the OE HD spring rate)
It's for this reason i used the LRA/Browns springs 17"/220 llb/in springs.
it gave me the ride height and articulation I was after.
After a couple of weeks they settled out at 117mm/114mm drv/pass bump stop clearance. After nearly five years they've dropped to just above 100mm bump stop clearance. Not too bad for cheapy springs.
If money is no object, I'd get Eibach to wind me up a set.

BTW, the N73 OME TLC shock is virtually a bolt in if you are going to use longer springs. You may not even have to raise the towers. When measuring compressed lengths of shocks, allow at least 20mm bump stop compression.

sorry if that sounded a bit abrupt Jon, can't edit the damn thing ATM.
Anyway, it's normal for spring suppliers to not publish data, but not because the data isn't directly comparable between manufacturers, as it is, more as you correctly state ,the amount of lift, etc in each individual application can't easily be ascertained unless a lot of measuring is undertaken before hand.

No worries Rick, Im only passing on my experiences - Ive nothing to gain by pushing KS & Tough Dog, but when looking for a reliable, high quality solution for our clients in the UK, it was these suppliers that we found worked best without compromising part of the ride quality.


As for the adjustables - Depends on what you use the vehicle for. If its mostly tar work with a bit of off-road stuff and your never alone / far from civilisation then they may be for you. If you ultimately need reliability though then the more conventional dampers are the way to go - not that the adjustables are bad, just more complicated. A dual (conventional) system also gives you more resiliance because 1 damper is capable of supporting the vehicle, should one fail.


Quick note re the KRFR-03 springs - they are too short for the Foam Cell damper and so not an ideal match...

Rick and Jon, thanks for all your info, it gives me a lot to digest, I will be back in Dubai this weekend and next week I will start hunting around to see who has what in stock and see where I go from there, at least I have a few different options to work with, all of which should work quite well depending on availability.

Thanks again for all your help and advice, I will let you know how I get on.

Hi Col,

You may find the following thread informative :

Shock Absorbers (rear 110)

I recently had to replace rear OME shocks on a lifted 110, the thread follows my rationale and all the advice given. In the end I went for Bilsteins. They won over KONI due to price, nothing else really compared.

I hope you find it helpful.

Thanks mate, I just had a quick look in there and will go through it in more detail tomorrow when I have a it more time, there are a lot of good details in there.

Thanks again

OK, job done, and now for an update after all the help and info that was offered.

As I expected nothing out here is simple,

OME only had a set of front 767 or 751 springs for the front and no 755s for the rear.

Our local Kings Springs dealer only had a set of rear springs KLRR-05s.

So without waiting for a month or more for more stock to arrive I went for the OME 751s on the front and the KS KLRR-05s on the rear, they seem to be a perfect match for what I want, it raised it 50mm on the front and 55mm on the rear, so all in all when you subtract the difference of how much it had sagged I would say it was lift it about 1.5 inches alround with my normal running weight, the front sits slightly lower than the rear and will be spot on when I get my winch on the front.

The ride is certainly harsher but not to bad, but I have not had a chance to check it offroad yet. There is no vibration on the raod so I am hoping I have avoided having to fit a front double cardin shaft.

Shocks were another delemer, I really did`nt have much to choose from, so from the point of trying to get a bit more articulation out of my old girl it has turn out to be a NO GO.

My options were std OMEs, Koni`s and Tough Dog Ralphs.

The OMEs did`nt even feature in the starting line up so that just left the Koni`s and TDs.

I measured the open length LR front Koni`s against the TLC 80 series ones and the 80 series were briefly going to be the choice but when we went to do the closed length measurements the 80s were so much softer than the LR ones it was`nt funny, the little Indian bloke helping me compressed the 80s in about 1 second flat, then when it came my turn to compress the LRs it was a fair effort and I am about twice the size of this bloke, he took the shock off me in utter contempt of being a useless white man, but also quickly decided that the valving was different between them, so with this in mind I decided to bin to 80 series idea as I was worried they might end up being to soft especially as I was fitting a set of heavier rate springs.

Next up were the TDs, out here the only ones available are the Ralphs for the LRs, they had faom cells for some other vehicles but not mine. I measured up the length against the Koni`s and they were the same front and rear give or take a few mil.

After seeing the sheer size of the TDRs especially the shaft size I decided to go with them as dimention wise they were same as the Konis, so there was nothing to gain articulationwise either way, the TDs were a bit dearer but not overly so.

I have a two day desert day trip planned down to the Saudi Border next week end so I will get to give them a work out to how they all peform in the sand with a bit more load on them.

I have posted the prices I paid out here as a comparission just out of interest converted into Australian Dollars.



Front 751 OME springs $161.00 pair
Rear KS KLRR-05s $132.00 pair
Front shocks TDR1049s $352.00 pair
Rear shocks TDR1397s $352.00 pair

Koni`s for a set of 4 shocks $425.00
Koni HD Track Raids x4 $1172 (If they had a set of the extended ones in stock I would have got these shocks, but could`nt be bothered waiting or paying the price for air freighting them over).



Thanks again to everyone for all your help and info.

I will let you know how they all fair in anger after next weekends trip.