2” lift kit and air-bag suspension for 2002 GU TI Patrol

King springs are great, and shouldnt be much more than Dobinsons or OME
Your towing, and 2 ways to look at it, you can treat it as an investment in smoething that wont break or let u down, or you can treat it as I'll buy some crap that will do for now and have to replace it in 12 mths which will cost more in long run.

Firestone bags people are selling in aussie, but most import them from USA themselves.

Polyairs are just as good.

perthburts
You havent really told us where you are going. If you are simply using the GCR as a means to get to the Eastern side of Oz you may not even need the lift or the airbags. Most of the time the GCR is a well maintained dirt road. It can be interesting after rain or if the graders havent been through for a while. In that situation you wouldn't want to be towing your van along it anyway. If, however, yours is an off road van and you intend doing some more remote tracks/roads, yes you should consider the modifications, and, buy the best you can. There are various arguments recorded in the archives of this forum about various springs and polyair/firestone airbags. persoanlly I have been running OME suspension and Polyairs for over 4 years and am very happy with the combination.

I hope this helps

Tessa

Hi,

IMHO if your are going to tow something then you need to look at a number of options. The main reason for adjusting your suspension is to keep your vehicle and the van/campertrailer/etc level to the ground and avoid the tow ball sag that you see so often.

This is both a safety issue and an economy issue. If your front end is higher than your rear while you are towing you will not have full and proper control of your vehicle and this is dangerous.

The ways to fix it are:

1. Heavy duty springs in the rear - problem with this is that the ride when unloaded will be rough, but if you are towing all the time this might be the best options.

2. medium rated springs in the rear with air bags - Polyairs, Firestone, Airbag man etc. The air bags allow you to adjust the weight distribution for when you are towing while maintaining a softer ride when unloaded.

3. A weight distribution hitch can be fitted to your vehicle and works by evening out the weight over the tow ball.

Options 1 & 2 will allow you to go off road with what ever you are towing whereas Option 3 is only for the black top.

Polyairs cost about $400 so I don't think that they are that expensive in the long run and will last the life time of your vehicle if maintained properly.

I have had Polyairs fitted to my Cruiser since Oct 02 and they are one of the best suspension mods I have done.

For more info you could contact CAMEC on Welshpool Rd, Welshpool - all they deal with are accessories for Caravans, Campertrailers etc - they also have a free towing school for those that have not towed before.

Hope this helps.

Karl

In my opinion if you are going to upgrade your suspension do it properly and spend the money

G'day,

I have had Dobinson coils (2" lift) and Old Man Emu shocks to suit lift and Polyair airbags since my vehicle was new. I have just replaced this setup with the same after 315000km. No probs on the first setup so why change is my opinion. Have now done 10000km on the second setup and am more than happy.

The airbags are the best investment if you tow irregularly, when not towing, let them down and you are back to near standard suspension setup without the harshness of stiff coils. If you don't need the extra lift then the airbags alone would be enough of an improvement to cope with the conditions you describe (In my opinion).

Happy travels,
Trevor.

Thnx for all the replies on my suspension. I have two more Q's,
1:
What is the expected 'standard' hight of a GU Patrol with standard springs? I went to my local ARB store who said I should measure from the bottom of each wheel rim to the bottom of each guard arch. All 4 measure 760mm. Will a 2" lift kit add another 50mm or is the term 2" lift just that, a gimmicky term?

2:
I am narrowing it down to 2 Australian-made choices in coils; King Springs or Dobinsons (ARB guy recommended Old Man Emu but nobody on this forum did).
Just leaves the shocks now, Old Man Emu Nirtochargers or Koni or I have seen Dobinsons shocks also mentioned

Please comment to ease my choice

Now on a completely different subject, how much should I expect to pay for a second-hand full length aluminium gutter mount Tracklander roof rack with ladder (Approx 7yrs old)?