Suspension suggestions.

[Roger Fairclough]

After many years of faithful service, my springs are sagging.

I'm probably close to OE spec.

My plan is to change the springs and see how they behave with my OME shocks. The shocks are as old as the springs and have done approx 120,000 miles.

Big Dave says his Ironman springs give a good ride with plenty of articulation but the finish on them is already breaking up. This I will accept, up to a point, as springs flex and whatever finish you apply, break up seems inevitable.

I want a 50mm lift, and good ride quality, the back seats have been removed, so the load in the back is constant.

Any suggestions?

Roger

 

[clivehorridge]

Hi Roger,

I have had OME shocks and springs on my 80 (75mm lift) for almost 5 years now and they give a great ride, haven't sagged (yet) and they still have a good finish on them (inevitably a little cracked) but OK overall.

A lot of folks put OME down, but I have no complaints.

Cheers.

 

[Roger Fairclough]

Cheers Clive.

It can be very difficult to get accurate data because people pick a product and usually don't have the chance to compare other products. My OME shocks still work and they don't leak but I have always considered them to be a bit harsh but then, would anyone else's be softer. For now, I will probably stick with them. Certainly, on the open road, they control the motor very well and I remember, when the springs were younger and to full length---sounds a bit like me!---the articulation was impressive---sounds like me even more!!!---but the springs must go.

Can you tell me please who supplied your kit? My springs, by the way, were made in Holland. The company that imported them have long since gone belly up.

Roger

 

[clivehorridge]

Articulation isn't my best feature anymore either Roger!

Not being in the UK I was restricted somewhat by the local market which at the time was zero. By chance I found a Brit in Romania who was filling the gap by importing the OME stuff and selling to all and sundry here (not just to LC owners of course). He had a UK spec Amazon 80 with a lift, I liked it and he replocated it for me. After satisfying the market here, he's gone to live in Switzerland. He's also a ski instructor and his girfriend has a resaurant there, so it's a change of scene for him.

So I can't help you with supplier's names or prices I'm afraid. Sure you'll get some broader advice from this site and hopefully some useful comparisons of different products. I'm not much use to you for that, I only know what I've got. My truck carries quite a lot of weight with the ARB front and rear, the roof rack and a front winch. He tailored the strength of the springs to suit the weight distribution of the car, and IMO did a good job. The ride is not too firm and handles rough terrain at reasonable speeds with no bouncing around. I'm very pleased, but I'm sure it's down to selecting the right stuff for your particular car, its loadings and your own and carrying habits.

Good luck.

Clive

 

[Graham]

Well I have had Iron Man on for a few years now.
I haven't been dissapointed.
Sure there is a little pant cracking where the coils flex, but I would be surprised if there wasn't.

West Coast 4x4, Paul and his gang, fitted the 4 x springs and 4 x shocks, in a few hours one morning at their workshops.
I understand they do a next day delivery also.
I think the price was about £370 fitted.

Gra.

 

[Roger Fairclough]

Has anyone got any comments on Pedders springs?

Roger

 

[jeepmadmike]

All I can help with is the iron man kit is a bit rubbish! That said mine has been fine since the install a couple of years ago.The spring rate is a bit high I think and I'm sure they are made for a LWB.They seem to have settled down a bit now- but I'm still thinking of snipping one coil off the rears.I should have measured the spring rates of the factory springs before I binned them but they where very tired. I ended up with a 5! Inch lift (was a little worrying it wasn't going to fit under the garage door!)Also I had to come up with a method of retaining the front shock top bushes

 

[Paddler Ed]

I'm not sure on Pedder's; my feeling from the guys in Aus was that they aren't the best.

As jeepmadmike says the spring rate from the IronMan can be a bit harsh; we had a 50mm lift IronMan with Foam Cells (from memory) on our FJ73 in Aus, (which sat on leaf springs) and it was harsh unless fully loaded, very bouncy and not good on the freeway at 110kmh!

Have you found if you can get Terrain Tamer stuff over here? That tends to be the more price concious option in Aus for parts.

HTH

 

[Roger Fairclough]

All I can help with is the iron man kit is a bit rubbish! That said mine has been fine since the install a couple of years ago.The spring rate is a bit high I think and I'm sure they are made for a LWB.They seem to have settled down a bit now- but I'm still thinking of snipping one coil off the rears.I should have measured the spring rates of the factory springs before I binned them but they where very tired. I ended up with a 5! Inch lift (was a little worrying it wasn't going to fit under the garage door!)Also I had to come up with a method of retaining the front shock top bushes

I rang West Coast 4 x4 for a quote on Ironman springs.

Never got a quote, so if the products are as good as the service---------!

Roger

 

[wobbly]

That sounds about right for West Coast. You are also dependant on them having had a delivery from Aus.

When I changed my springs on the LJ78 I went for Ironman on cost, was happy with them, removing the from arb was a big improvement as they tended to oversteer.

I did email you at the time about yours, they are still manufactured but were serious money as I recall.

Dobinsons are rated highly, and Devon 4x4 import them.

 

[Rob]

I used to run iron man B coils with OME shocks and the coils were under sprung which I assume killed my front shocks. Gone with a OME kit with their sport shocks, huge improvement.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[OG.]

No experience of OME on Land Cruisers but on my Defender they have been excellent. I have OME +2" front springs and shocks on the front and OME rear shocks with air springs inside standard springs with a 1" spacer.

Been on 5 years and they have been faultless.

 

[Graham]

I have the Iron Man +50mm springs on my 120.
They have been on a few years now.
West Coast supply and fitted for me at their workshops.

When I first had them fitted, the ride was very hard.
A spoke to West Coast about this, and they removed the four installed springs, I think they were "C".
They fitted 4 replacement springs, free of charge, to "B" springs.
I hope I have that the right way around.
Any way, the ride has been perfect since then.

Sure the communications with West Coast 4x4 in Banks, Southport, isn't their strongest point.
But their knowledge and workmanship is in my opinion, top class.

Gra.

 

[Roger Fairclough]

Cheers guys, I appreciate the info.

Roger

 

[Paddler Ed]

Got some good info from my mates in Aus; Brendan's brother has an LJ70, Angus an FJ60 and AJ an LN146 HiLux, and Ash does fast road car suspension.

Angus/AJ;

Old Man Emu, Iron Man, Tough Dog, Pedders or Terrain Tamer for a 50mm lift kit on a 70 series?

I know I had Iron Man on ours, and that it was over sprung when unloaded, but what are the others like? Or are there any that I've missed. It's for a Bunderra (as that was the only 70 series we officially got in the UK) LJ70 or KJ70.

Well a bundera will be a completely different ball game compared to the 70 series you had because they are coil sprung all round.

My brother is running lifted king springs stretched longer to get 4" lift and the spring rate is pretty soft so great for flexing off road. Cant recall what brand shocks off hand. Obviously a number of other mods to fix the steering geometry after that much lift.

I'd probably go with Tough Dog, OME, or maybe Iron Man if you have to choose one of those. You can normally specify springs for normal use or constant load, for example if you have a steel bullbar with a winch, long range fuel tank etc.

I'd stay away from OME shocks on anything unless they've made eons of improvement in the last 5 or 6 years.
Dad had an OME spring and Shock package on a GQ Patrol.
Shocks are absolute poo and didnt withstand mild offroad work and had a short service life.
He put konis on it and lived happily ever after.

He wasnt happy with the lift of the springs either, but that may have been incorrect choice (I cant remember) rather than the product.

Angus/AJ probably have more current knowledge on offroad suspension products than I do though.

OME shocks have had a poor reputation in the past, however the springs are generally very good, if perhaps a bit over rated.

If you could pick and choose, OME springs with Tough Dog shocks should be a good combination, though there are a few other brands out there who do similar quality springs at lower prices than OME.

Gotcha.
Kings actually make springs for OME.
You could possibly order Kings instead, but they ones they do for OME make be a different spec, etc

Do King only make both coils and leaves for OME, or just the coils?

I don't have any experience with Bundera's, but if it was a leaf sprung model, I would go for Tough Dog shocks, and probably whichever springs are cheapest, they're all going to be similar, and some will be made in the same factory as each other eg: by Kings.

I've got Tough Dog shocks in my Landcruiser, it has some old 50mm lifted springs under it now which do the job, but have seen better days, they'll probably be replaced with Terrain tamer springs at some stage.

Coil springs definately but I dont know about leaf springs.
Kings do offer leaf springs though, but I actually dont know if they produce them themselves or have someone else do it.

Pre GQ Patrol, my Dad had a Toyota 4Runner. '84 model 2L Petrol, gutless.
He stuck an Ultimate Spring set in that (leaf springs all around) with DeCarbon Shocks which he always thought was fantastic.

I havent read much about Ultimate these days - are they popular in the 4WDing scene?

I don't see many Ultimate shocks anymore. My Hilux has Ultimate shocks all round, they're around 18 years old with 130,000km. They still work properly and don't leak, though they're a lot firmer than I'd like. I'll probably replace them with Tough Dogs eventually.

Hope that helps, interstingly no mention of Pedders...

 

[Roger Fairclough]

Cheers Paddler, that's a lot of info.

I have OME shocks on at present. They are probably 12-14 years old with 120,000 miles under their belts. I have always considered them to be harsh but some of that maybe due to the weight of the motor and the short wheel base. Big Dave has adjustable Rancho shocks, and he is very pleased with them. My present springs---same age as the shocks---are progressive at the back, probably a wrong choice as the load is invariably constant, and the top coils, the ones that are close together due to the design, are now coil bound. This in itself will not help the ride. Devon 4x4, the OME supplier in the UK, recommend heavy duty on the front due to bullbar and winch, and medium duty on the back as the rear seats have been removed and replaced with a box for my kit. The box and the kit weigh in at 65 kilos. The next job is a trip to the weighbride just to see what the old girl weighs. Originally this model weighed in at 1760 kilos. Methinks she will be a wee bit over that now.

Roger

 

[Rob]

The OME Nitrochager Sport shocks are a lot more comfortable than the old Nitrocharger.

 

[Rich Sims]

I would go for the OME springs you'll need front without winch bumper ome2870 with winch bumper ome2876 and rear ome 2871 springs for a 50 mm lift, speak to jake at Devon 4x4

 

[Mark N]

Personally I didn't like OME springs on my 78, I think the problem is that they haven't designed a specific kit for the 78 but rather sell springs designed for other models that physically fit. As a result the car did not sit level, the rear's were too soft and the front too harsh. On the other hand the dobinsons I have now are awesome and give a great ride, if I need to I can hammer it over bumpy ground and the truck 'glides' over the top under full control! Only thing I would change would be to have the rears a touch stiffer because I do use the rear seats and it squats just a touch too much when I have 3 adults back there. I got mine from MTM in Poland, Matthias was good guy to deal with and the shipping for the springs was only about £30 to the UK. (the fun bit was then packaging them to take them to Uganda in our suitcases.... )

Regards
Mark

 

[Paul]

OME quality is now getting quite a bad rep due to standards dropping badly, also over priced for what you get.

I am going with Tough Dog after they have won most of the more recent awards in Oz, also finding them on many farm vehicles that spend their life on corrugated roads with huge loads and they also offer a good range to cater for exactly what you need.

I guess if you choose the wrong spec it doesnt matter what brand it is, it wont be right.