Prado Suspension
Submitted: Thursday, Apr 07, 2005 at 08:38
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Sam07
Hi i have a prado 2001 model 3.0lt TD its time to replace my
suspension but i dont want to increase the hight from standard, At present the rear springs have sagged about 45mm. I'm looking at lovells springs because they make a std hieght and a heavy duty std hight at this stage i'm not sure which shocky to go with, lovells does have there own shockies but have not heard what there like. Has any one had any experiance with this combo or any suggestions would be great, The reason i dont want to increase the hight of the vehicle is my family and i do a bit of interstate driving and we use hotel under ground
parking which i would like to use.
And so far as off road use i do lite to medium work off road nothing to heavy, The last time went on holidays the back of the vehicle was packed to the roof and the steering did feel a little lite, any suggestions would be great thanks.
Reply By: Wizard1 - Thursday, Apr 07, 2005 at 09:08
Thursday, Apr 07, 2005 at 09:08
I'm surprised you lasted this long to upgrade the Toyota crap springs (had done about 50,000 km). I have a 2002 model and had similar sag problems without a full payload of fuel, just the rear _Affordable_Storage_Drawers.aspx and recovery gear in the back was enough to drop by 50mm below standard. Had TJM (XGS
suspension) fit a set of thier heavy duty standard height rear springs and a set of Polyairs for extra support for trips towing the van and carrying extra gear in the back. The whole setup was cheaper and more effective than changing shocks as
well, as they were fine.
As a matter of interest if you get the Polyairs I had the inflation valves fitted to the rear of the side steps on the black plastic end peice (either side). It is very easy for access. Polyairs will remove most of your
suspension sag problems. Even with heavier or replacement springs an reasonable load and towed appendage will cause it to drop. I had a lot of problems with front tyres scrubbing due to the rear
suspension problem, a set of Grandtreks lasted 45,000 km!. Every thing has been fine since.
I talked to Pedders who seemed to think I needed higher springs with higher shocks along with the Polyairs and on and on went the cash register.
I'd take it to a 4WD
suspension specialist, TJM, ARB or someone like that.
Wizard
Prado TD
Gold Coast
AnswerID:
105508
Follow Up By: Sam07 - Thursday, Apr 07, 2005 at 10:54
Thursday, Apr 07, 2005 at 10:54
Thanks for your reply Wizard i just spoke to lovells in
sydney and they were very helpful I'm waiting for them to call me back they will put a shock/spring package together with alternative shockies at different price range he should call back today some time, I spoke to ARB and they only do a 50mm lift have not spoken to TJM as yet.
Im not sure what shockie to go for.
FollowupID:
362632
Reply By: PradoBoy - Saturday, Apr 09, 2005 at 22:19
Saturday, Apr 09, 2005 at 22:19
Hi Sam07,
I had a set of XGS Heavy Duty Springs (45mm Front, 50mm Rear Lift) and shocks fitted by TJM in Coopers Plains (
Brisbane) when my Prado was 105,000Km's old. It's now got 120,000 Km's on the clock and is a big improvement over the standard Toyota setup. Indeed, the Toy hasn't looked back since. It has significantly improved the ride and handling in all conditions, whether fully or lightly loaded. We recently went to
Inskip Point with 4 adults and the back loaded to the top - and it handled everything with ease.
The lift does not hinder on-road handling at all - in fact it handles better on-road now than it ever did before the
suspension upgrade.
Hope this helps,
PradoBoy
AnswerID:
105945