Suspension lift for Prado 90 series

Hi 96Prado,

My brother has a 98 Prado with the ARB 50mm lift kit. He is very happy with it and would recommend it. Its mainly used as an everyday drive and he reckons its far better than the stock suspension. He has towed a caravan with it and it seems to work well in that role too.

I had an ARB kit in my old 80 series and that too worked really well, was the reason my brother went for it in the Prado. Overall I reckon the ARB kits are good value for money generally.

Cheers

Captain

I fitted Member Nicks prado with 50mm kink springs Ironman foam cell rear shocks and gas front struts , works real well . got alot of change from $1000

OME are just an average shock with an inflated price to pay for their advertising. Tough Dog are a better shock but seem to have reliability issues when pushed hard out central Oz. Koni & Bilstien are probably the pick & if you are in the Melb area I could put you onto a joint that puts quality systems together without biased affiliation to any one make.
Cheers Craig.......

I put a set of OME springs and shocks (with 50mm lift) in my Prado in June last year.

I talked to a lot of people about the spring rate, and because the car was driven around town most of the time, was advised that HD springs may not be the go - best to run with medium...

I did a Simpson desert trip, and by the time I was back, I reckon the suspension was stuffed. Shock fade occurred quickly and I was hitting the bump stop regularly. It is true that I was probably overloaded for those springs..

I was away at Christmas with GO_OFFROAD, and went for a spin in his car - a track that I could only do 20k on, he could do 50 comfortably - the suspension just soaked it up.

His suspension did the same Simpson trip, a couple of High Country trips and no doubt a sh1t load more - and he pushes his suspension much harder than I do (even though I was well loaded for the Simpson)

As soon as I got back I've bitten the bullet and replaced the suspension - now Bilsteins on Lovells - and the ride is amazingly better (even than when the OME were new - pre Simpson)

I was also interested in a recap from Crackles, who has Koni's on his 100, (he also has a well loaded vehicle) - these Koni's have done two Simpson trips, CSR and the Cape, and two Border trips. (as well as countless shorter trips) - before that they were in an 80, and before that in his brothers 80 while they were running a 4wd tour company and did 10 Border trips, amongst other stuff... He's still using the same friggin shocks!!!

I may well have overloaded my OMEs on one trip - but they're just not in the same league as Bilsteins or Koni's from what I've seen

cheap option, King Springs (HD) and keep the original dampeners - they are excellent, though after 150km might be worth changing. Mine's only done 30k and the springs alone have made a huge difference.

But for full specs and reviews of all types of 90 series lifts and suspension upgrades go and join:

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/90series/

or even www.lcool.org 90scool_aus list.

As for tough dog, when worked hard they are having issues,a nd the bushes they use suck big time, though factory ones will fit to replace them.

Kings springs, tried em, gave em away, afer sagging and wrong design issues, where springs would coil bind before hitting bumpstop, as on any Aud 4wd forum what people think of Kings and probably like last time I did good vs bad will come back 1 vs 20

OME are the best marketed shock money can buy, but like all things, you only ever get what you pay for.

I did as porlsprado suggested in a 2002 TD Prado. I think they were KTFR58/KTRR59 HD King Springs with the original dampers (which are considered very good on the lcool/yahho groups).

Spent 3 months touring WA/NT (GRR, Purnululu, Cape Leveque Rd) and didn't have a problem (full loaded Prado, no roofrack or trailer).

Have to admit though, when driving around Melbourne unloaded, the back end was abit harsh, especially over tram tracks. But for the $250 outlay (mates rates and no labour) I couldn't complain.