BT 50 Suspension upgrade
Submitted: Tuesday, Apr 09, 2013 at 19:29
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Member - Upo
Hi all.
We have finally got the Mazda tricked up with roof rack, ARB canopy, drawers & 80 liter waeco. We will also be towing a caravan much of the time. They make these new utes ' car - like ' so when you treat them like a ute the
suspension doesn't really like it. Looking at different suspensions upgrades including ARB, Ape, Pedders and Ultimate. Leaning towards ARB at the moment but would like to know more about Ultimate. Does anybody have any comments , good or bad, regarding any of these ?
Have heard that foam cell shocks are better than Nitro as the nitro can overheat when worked hard.
Look foreward to your comments
Upo
Reply By: Burnt Damper - Tuesday, Apr 09, 2013 at 20:03
Tuesday, Apr 09, 2013 at 20:03
I have got the Old Man Emu
suspension upgrade on
mine 2012 model and are quite happy with it.
I have a Freestyle cab with checker plate canopy with boat on top, motor etc in back plus tow a van. So far all good.
Have been over some pretty ordinary roads corrigates etc nothing extreme,done about 33,000 km
AnswerID:
508598
Reply By: BluePrint Industries Pty Ltd - Tuesday, Apr 09, 2013 at 20:32
Tuesday, Apr 09, 2013 at 20:32
Hi Upo,
We also have a Freestyle BT50. We initially added extra leaves to the
suspension, but ended up going through WA
Suspension in Osborne Park who did a great job.
We carry a really heavy load most of the time, but when unladen the back end is a bit stiff.
I've also seen a couple of BT50's with a SAX
suspension under them which retains a soft ride when unloaded and the extra support comes into play as the vehicle loads up.
More than happy to catch up if your in
Perth and want to have a look.
K
AnswerID:
508600
Follow Up By: Isuzumu - Friday, Apr 12, 2013 at 18:05
Friday, Apr 12, 2013 at 18:05
Go for the Sax you will be very impressed, we fitted one to our new D. Max and cannot believe how good the ride is. We have just arrived in the NT after 3300Ks and I have the worst back around and I do not have any pain. Handles like a Porsche you believe it. We have do a bit of off road and now all you hear is tyre noise.
FollowupID:
786474
Reply By: Member - iijmartin - Tuesday, Apr 09, 2013 at 20:33
Tuesday, Apr 09, 2013 at 20:33
Gday Upo,
I have 2012 BT 50 d/cab with tub off and full steel tool body on the back. Tow 2.8 t van and am about to decide on
suspension upgrade as rear is right down as expected. Very close to going for a Dobinsons' upgrade - seem good to deal with .
Another one for you to consider.
Regards, Ian
AnswerID:
508602
Reply By: Rockape - Wednesday, Apr 10, 2013 at 06:03
Wednesday, Apr 10, 2013 at 06:03
Upo,
I fitted the 300kg OME
suspension to my 2012
Ranger so it will be the same as yours. It is a space cab and set up virtually the same as yours
I waited until I had the back loaded before I took it back and complained about the harsh ride coming from the front. The manager took it for a drive and agreed it was harsh. They checked the
suspension and it had the wrong shocks in the back. This was rectified but it didn't change things.
He said if worse came to worse they would change out the front struts. I said maybe 1 strut could be crook but I doubted if 2 would be.
They sent the info to
Melbourne as they had the same problem on the 200 series and I am waiting for feed back over time.
From what I gather they have had a problem getting the struts set up properly even after many hours of development work on them. The manger told me that if a replacement came out
mine would be changed out.
One problem here is, what may seem harsh to me may not be to someone else.
The springs other wise are fine and I am very happy with the back. The ute loaded sits
well and within the next 2 weeks I am dolng a short 800k trip with the van, to see how all goes.
If Arb have a vehicle available it may be to your advantage to go for a
test drive and make up your own mind.
Have had ultimate and dobinsons, I found them both good.
AnswerID:
508618