To lift or not to lift that's the question?

Well all I can say is why spend around $1200 if you dont need to why dont you just put a set of rear poly air bags in for around about $400 problem solved then you can let them down when not required as they will carry a lot of extra weight.

djpatrol

Colin,

Just a couple of thoughts about upgrading suspension.

You don't have to go a big lift to upgrade the suspension. 2" is not that big a lift.

Why do a upgrade? Departure angle will be increased. The river crossings on the Cape can be very steep exit and entry. The back of the vehicle could get hung up on the tow bar with both back wheels off the ground, very embarrassing.

The clearance of the diffs, the lowest part of the vehicle will not change but the sills and the rear panels which seem to be damaged easy will be 2" higher.

The ride will improve. The shocks will not fade as quick and will recover quicker. How much this will happen will depend on the shock. As a rule, the more oil and gas in the shock the better.

The roads on the Cape can be very hard on a suspension and even if you don't change the suspension you should carry at least one front and rear shock as a spare.

I would vote for the upgrade of the suspension.

Wayne

I wouldn't bother. The standard vehicle suspension is quite capable enough for the average trip to the Cape. Unless of copurse you simply must have a video of you sliding down the Gunshot etc etc.

I'm not sure how the "ride would improve" because usually a lift includes heavier springs and the std suspension you have is one of, if not the toughest around. A lift even if only 50mm will certainly increase your centre of gravity and hence raise the chances of a roll over. You can drive and corner carefully to allow for that but in a real emergency where quick reaction means the difference between life and death you won't have time to allow for it or even think about it and the action you take to avoid a disaster might actually cause one which otherwise would not have occurred had you left the suspension at standard height. You may want to check with you insurance company as well because certain mods will void your cover as they are ALWAYS looking for an out to let them off the hook. I haven't done that trip but the general theme when reading reports from those that have is that shockies are the biggest problem. You don't say how old the Patrol is but I would probably invest in the best set of shockies you can get. You say you won't be overloaded but I assume you will be fully loaded for such a trip, camping etc so on the really rough stuff dropping your tyre pressures, even on hard ground, and adjusting the speed over the ground to suit the conditions will help the suspension and handling as well.

If you go for a lift, too high is a right royal PITA unless you are genuinely into real nasty 4x4'ing and can live the rest of the time with woeful handling. OK if you only drive your 4x4 for an hour or so to get anywhere, but RS if you drive thousands of km's.

Been there, done it, leave it to the teenyboppers or trailer queens.

Go with a nice 2" lift and while you are at it shout your loving son's car to the same treatment, if thats not practical buy the lift for the trip and when you get back I will buy it off you for a fraction of its value. Sounds like a plan!!

Cheers Stefan

Hi Colin,
If you haven't already have a look at our Suspension Upgrade article.
Some good info there for you.

Site Link

Having visited the Cape just after last years wet, I found having extra ground clearance and well designed suspension made life easier and less stressful and always worth the money. The only questions are How high and whether to do body or suspension lift or a mild combination of both. (Which can give better on road manners) Wether to use 2 stage or normal springs. Then tyre size and rim offsets can be considered for extra diff clearance and stability but that's getting away from your original intention.

You do not need a suspension lift to do the cape but it is handy if you want to get off the usual routes and even better if, due to the design of the suspension that you are not shaken to pieces by corrugations.
All these things are worth looking into if you are going to spend any money.

Hope this helps

cheers
Kerry W

Why dont you just fit rear EHD springs from Lovells, 1in higher than standard but will carry weigh much better at a cost of about $300.00 and you can still fit airbags and hd shocks
Cheers Pete

We did a trip to the cape last July and one of the cars was a Patrol GU with no lift and no Polyairs and a typical load. He managed just fine but a pair of polyairs would have made the ride better. I have them on our 80 with a 70 lift and reccommend them, not to carry extra load but to keep the tail up a bit. In short, fit them.They work.

hi
ive been there twice,04,05 in a 100series with no modifications. did tele track, vyrilla pi, bathurst bay, wakkooka etc no worries. maybe cuck in a spare shocie and bushes

fred