100 T/D suspension / tyres

paul
have king/koni combo and certianly improved off rd performance but have lost some on rd performance-as have raised height,285/75/16 bfg muddies and op lok h/d t/b. all up raised front 45mm and rear approx 50mm-depends on load in rear.
have a rear dual wheel carrier and carry a fair bit of weight when loaded so have the (from memory ktr hdd-can check later if u need more info.
lose a bit of stability through sweeping bends and a little through tight corners-mostly i would put down to raised height
may be problem with one rear shock after being on for 12-15 months or it may need adjusting-on the to do list
mate has same brands but different springs-lighter duty and may be different set shocks and loves em
has just had his rear shocks rebuilt under warranty-possible reason is trip to cape towing heavy trailer and overloading.
had king/koni in 80 and couldnt fault
dont want to ramble on to much
cheers
fozzy

sorry forgot to add
2004 td auto for above-with few bits and pieces

Good Day Paul,
We had 3 TD 100's do a trans Australia and all on Konis, all 3 vehicles blew their front shocks and we also blew the rears. We now run Bilstien's and have done 3 cape trips,Canning, 2 Simpson and western deserts and not a problem (on the same shocks) This was 3 years ago and Koni may have improved their shocks for TD 100s, we were one if the early groups to trial shocks on the IFS cruisers.
My wife has not forgotten the experience of driving outback roads and tracks with blowen shocks and would kill me if I looked at another Koni.

I have also just fitted a new set of the new Cooper STT (285 / 75/16) and am very very impressed. They drive on the black top like a HT and are no noiser or may be quiter than my previous Cooper ST

P.S. I am also heading back to the Cape with camper and tinnie in tow in 3 weeks time, it's a great place.

Regards
Big John

P.S.
No mater what shocks you fit, make sure you fit stone shields to the rear.

Regard
Big John

I have Bilsteins on my T\D as well, have done around 70k lms on them and can't fault them. Their valving seems to prevent the wishbone cracking that some of my freinds cars have had with much less klms.Cheers Rob

To All(Big John,Fozzy and Rob),
Thanks for all the information. I had heard about the first batch of Konis being a problem as well. My second option was the Bilstien shock's. Looks like i might take the second option and go the bilstiens.
So far you guys haven't faulted the bilstiens, that speaks for itself. Can I ask what rear springs you are running with the bilstiens and if you have the genuine torsion bars.
Again thanks heaps. My wife wouldn't be impressed with any failures during our trip either.
Regards, Paul

I have just fitted a set of Konis to my fathers 100 TD. After speaking to Top Performance in Melb (Koni distributor) they advised the shocks have been improved and added that the front shocks are only suited for a certain lift size (540mm from center of axle to the botom of the gaurd). I have run Konis on my 100 and spent 5 weeks in Kakadu and Simpon also 6 weeks up the Cape and had no problems, thought hey were great.

I know run the new 88 series on my GU cab chassis.

Cheers

Paul,
I did not go into our set up in much detail, though now you ask I will fill you in.
We set up to to carry a fair weight in the car a fuel load of 265 lts as well as tow a KK Camper with tinnie on top and 15 hp honda 4 stroke outboard on the drawbar plus what ever else my wife could fit in the car before we leave. As you might imagin this puts a lot of weight over the rear wheels. We fitted TJM heavey duty 50 mm lift springs to the rear plus air bags (we do not use the air bags as the force of the HD springs plus the air spring is to much for the rear shocks to handle, we need heaver dampening on the rebound. We only put the air bags in any way as I had them left over from my previous petrol 100 series)
In the front we fitted 2 new heavy duty torsion bars (32mm I think) and raised the height by 30mm , which is the max advisable lift. Fully loaded the car sits level and drives like a dream, round town it is a little firm and drives nose down. If you want to see our rig we feature in the video of the Canning Stock Route buy Life StyleVideo Productions. This video is available from www.lifestylevideos.com.au and well worth the money.

Regards
Big John