Modding suspension query

[Brissy4me Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Brissy4me]

I have recenly taken delivery of a shiny new D4D GXL (manual) and sold my old Prado (sniffle) . I am now in the dilema of deciding what mods to buy first. I have already decided on the following: Dual battery system, Ironman Bulbar and 9500lb winch, seriously considering Trailcutter tyres

I have given some thought to the suspension but have come up with a dilema. I have heard that a suspension rise affects fuel economy (dont know why and dont know how much). I dont really want to lose any economy so I have come up with a bright idea. Is it feasable and practicle to fit polyairs to both front and rear to provide a little extra lift (an inch or so) when offroad. I realise that without changing the shockies and springs that the wheel travel will be limited ( I have no idea how much ) and there are probably other factors such as wheel alignment to consider as well.

The question I have is will this work? Its my idea of saving a few bucks on Suspension I would like to have but cant really justify

Thanks for any and all opinions and advice


Greg

[leachy_9 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close leachy_9]

Greg,

Polyairs are designed to correct ride height in a loaded vehicle. They do this by effectively stiffening the springs. If you where to use Polyairs to just increase ride height in an unladed vehicle you'd find the ride very hard - not what you want when off roading. While you may gain a little ride height you would infact prabably loose some articulation.
Yes, adding lift to the vehicle will increase fuel consumption due to altered aerodynamics. On my Prado(D4D) a friends 2005 TD prado the increase was about 1L/100km.

Leachy

[pcm_120 Member Find all posts View Profile Close pcm_120]

Hi Greg.

You can Polyair the back no problems but the front would be near imposable without major fabrication and engineering.

Look here for info on Polyairing the rear http://www.pradopoint.com/viewtopic.php?t=722

The problem with the front is the shock body acts as the holder/mount/retainer for the coil and actually runs up the centre of the coil, exactly where a Polyair would normally go.

Now… nothing is imposable, but you would need to use something like a high pressure gas strut etc to get the lift and have it modified to accept the coil spring, in place of the shock, but this still leaves you with damping issues (ie, you no longer have a shock). There would be other ways to do it but there is not a lot of spare room in the front.

If you were happy to spend some $$$ you could use the long travel kit from Total Chas and use some form of gas strut where the second shock goes and us it purely as a lifter.



But… The one big gotchya is, the wheel alignment will go out as you lift the front end. If you were just using the lift option when off road it would probably be OK, but on road it would wear your tyres badly.

Regards,

Paul.

[Brissy4me Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Brissy4me]

Oh well, so much for my "cheap" suspension idea, looks like I am forking out for the real deal LOL.


Greg