Good Afternoon PP'ers,
2003 Prado Grande, I purchased it with 148,000km on the clock off a soccer mum. Since purchase I've done the following:
- Engine oil/filter (10W-40 Castrol Magnatec)
- Front & Rear Diff (Castrol LS90)
- Transfer (Nulon 75-90)
- Wipers (Bosch Aerotwin)
- Headlights (Philips Crystal vision)
- 4x4 T2 Rotors Front + Bendix 4x4 brake pads
The stock suspension is on its last legs, and the rear trailing arm bushes need to be replaced. After reading as much information as possible on the options granted to the Grande (courtesy of hours of lurking here) I am leaning towards replacing the shocks with Bilstein BE5-A712/A713 and using spacers for the standard airbags. I am however not 100% convinced on which front springs to use. The vehicle is my daily driver, and will fit a bull-bar in the future. I understand that the logical stepping stone would be to fit gear and select coils afterwards. However, the suspension can be quite worrisome on the third world roads here in Sydney, so safety and handling is my main concern. If I add the bullbar first, it will be a little while before I can save enough to fix the suspension.
The front end weight will only see the addition of a bull-bar, with no requirements for a winch or second battery for my intended use. I will however tow the occasional boat and carry 150-200kg of gear (at most) + 4 passengers when life permits. As such, I am not seeking an extravagant lift but rather something that I can do cross country trips in without too much concern about clearance if the need arose and still enter parking lots with a 2.0-2.1m limit.
I have read the information provided in the Suspension DB Thread, but am not sure in how the spring ratings and sizes transfer to real world driving and handling. Which springs would you recommend? and who in Sydney would you recommend to do the install? (Front shocks/coils + Rear shocks + Airbag adjustment/spacing)
Any and all criticism and advice is appreciated. Eg. (playing devils advocate here) Am I better off replacing the TEMS with TEMS from partsouq and getting standard rate Dobinson springs, and will that suffice...
2003 Prado Grande, I purchased it with 148,000km on the clock off a soccer mum. Since purchase I've done the following:
- Engine oil/filter (10W-40 Castrol Magnatec)
- Front & Rear Diff (Castrol LS90)
- Transfer (Nulon 75-90)
- Wipers (Bosch Aerotwin)
- Headlights (Philips Crystal vision)
- 4x4 T2 Rotors Front + Bendix 4x4 brake pads
The stock suspension is on its last legs, and the rear trailing arm bushes need to be replaced. After reading as much information as possible on the options granted to the Grande (courtesy of hours of lurking here) I am leaning towards replacing the shocks with Bilstein BE5-A712/A713 and using spacers for the standard airbags. I am however not 100% convinced on which front springs to use. The vehicle is my daily driver, and will fit a bull-bar in the future. I understand that the logical stepping stone would be to fit gear and select coils afterwards. However, the suspension can be quite worrisome on the third world roads here in Sydney, so safety and handling is my main concern. If I add the bullbar first, it will be a little while before I can save enough to fix the suspension.
The front end weight will only see the addition of a bull-bar, with no requirements for a winch or second battery for my intended use. I will however tow the occasional boat and carry 150-200kg of gear (at most) + 4 passengers when life permits. As such, I am not seeking an extravagant lift but rather something that I can do cross country trips in without too much concern about clearance if the need arose and still enter parking lots with a 2.0-2.1m limit.
I have read the information provided in the Suspension DB Thread, but am not sure in how the spring ratings and sizes transfer to real world driving and handling. Which springs would you recommend? and who in Sydney would you recommend to do the install? (Front shocks/coils + Rear shocks + Airbag adjustment/spacing)
Any and all criticism and advice is appreciated. Eg. (playing devils advocate here) Am I better off replacing the TEMS with TEMS from partsouq and getting standard rate Dobinson springs, and will that suffice...
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