Front End Skips On Humps With New Bilstein Shocks and King Springs

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

I have a genuine 50mm lift (800mm bottom of rim to gaurd) and still have 95mm of down travel and a small diff drop kit means CV angles are not an issue.

A 50mm lift and suspension that doesn't top out over speed bumps is easily achieved.

As others have suggested some measurements might clear up a few isssues.

Cheers Andrew

That's great! It would be great if every prado had that much down travel. whats the limit on it being able to top out 90mm?
Not sure what red thing has, but no mention of a diff drop kit.
Yes measurements will help you diagnose it.

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

Thanks for the GreenVX. Interesting.

It was surprising, as with the old standard suspension setup it used to take a speed hump pretty smooth. I would have expected a aftermarket Bilstein setup would have been better.

So you don't think its got anything to do with the length of the struts? It kind of feels like the struts are fully extending maybe and so not allowing the wheels to drop down the other side of the speed hump fully.

Does Bilstein make an extended strut I wonder?

How many knms on this vehicle?

When we 1st did our resident 95 Series with Bilsteins, i was a lttle dissapointed in the harshness of the front end over bumps & speedhumps etc also.
I knew mine had wear in the front end bushes though. When we finally replaced the Upper & Lower control arm Bushes it transformed it.
I love the thing now, it drives like a new Prado again.

Regards, Jason.

[RedThing Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close RedThing]

Sorry for the lack of response on this one from me.

Jason, the Prado has got 180,000km on it. The bushes looked pretty good when we put the new gear in.

We tried to get the spring seat cir-clip on the highest point at the front but the spring compression machine we were using was dodgy and couldn't get enough compression. So for the time being we have left it on the lowest cir-clip point.

And all nuts are tight.

Some measurements:

Before New Suspension and Springs - Unloaded (Flat ground measure)

Front Left 755mm
Front Right 750mm
Rear Left 764mm
Rear Right 780mm

Before New Suspension and Springs - LOADED WITH CAMP GEAR (Slightly Uneven Ground Measure)
Bottom Of Rim To Guard.

Front Left 737mm
Front Right 727mm
Rear Left 740mm
Rear Right 754mm

After New Suspension and Springs - Approximately 3 Weeks After Fitting

Measured On Slightly Uneven Drive.

Front Left 790mm
Front Right 787mm
Rear Left 815mm
Rear Right 830mm

By moving the front cir-clip up to the highest position I could probably get another 10mm on the front I think which would make it pretty much 50mm lift all the way round I would think.

Roughly gained the following lift in each corner.

Front Left 35mm
Front Right 37mm
Rear Left 51mm
Rear Right 50mm


After driving the Prado for a couple of weeks now with the new setup i have found it is good. Much better than the originals that we replaced. With the original setup even unweighted on roads I am sure it was hitting the bump stops at times. And then when it was loaded with camping gear it lost any travel it had in the rear end. Now with the new gear it is giving a nice smooth ride. Happy with it.

I think the speed humps we took it over the first night were pretty short and sharp and it caused the front end to get the skip going. They were the rubber ones they put a couple across the road will gaps between them. Probably gave me the wrong impression from the start.

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

Glad to hear that you are liking it.

I recently moved my circlips up to level mine out as well & you need a damn good press to compress the springs far enough.
Our compressor grabs the spring only, then you slide the strut up underneath & put the top hat on.
Some hold the strut, then compress the spring down over it. These types are a bit harder to get the spring compressed far enough with for the Prado's.

Regards, Jason.