aftermarket uspension vs factory for 03 Hilux

Your original suspension is a compromise. Good aftermarket suspension can make a world of difference to ride and handling. Get the best you can afford eg OME etc, as both you and any passengers are going to be relying on it.
Changing my 80's suspension to OME is probably the best money I've spent on it.

JM there is no comparison between the old and the new get a new set from ome and you will be very happy.

All the best
Eric

Hi there JM, I had a SR5 89 d/cab and had ome fitted. It was a 89 model with leaf front and back where you have ifs. Mate best thing I ever did. It was totally differant to drive and it didnt ride like a go cart. The first set of springs and shocks (OME) did 275 thou klms before I replaced the front springs and front and rear shocks. The rear springs were still good no sagging when loaded so just had new bushes and shackles fitted. I sold it with 297 on it. Now the old girl had been around australia twice rutted roads and went playing on the weekends and did some pretty hard stuff with the old girl with my wife even bogging it up to the bonnet in mud and crap. We have now updated to a prado but am still going to fit up OME to this as well in the next week or two. I think there product is brilliant. Just make sure you dont go with extremely heavy duty rear shocks as they will shake the sh#tter out of you. I think for memory the shock boars were only 23mil (I think) but they do one about 30 odd but will be far to hard for a lux. They are more for cruisers patrols etc. When we did the high country I had a tank in the rear tray for water (tank was in permantly) which held 170Litres + 3 jerry cans of diesel + all our stuff we were loaded to the hilt. I measured the rear before and after loading and it only went down about 3/4 of an inch. Now I know there is no way the prado is going to hold all that weight with the standard springs so am upgrading but still only to the middle of the range not super heavy duty otherwise when its empty it will ride like a brick so will turn into an unpleasant ride when empty. There are heaps of different brands out there but myself I like OME. But dont get talked into fitting extremely heavy shocks or you will need a kidney belt when your empty and will make the ride unpleasent. Good luck. Regards Steve M

Thanks for your advice. Sounds like I'm off to the shop . . .