Strut Top Caps

[gxl_d4d Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close gxl_d4d]

Hi,

I'll be changing my shocks in the next few weeks. Does anyone have experience with aftermarket strut top caps? Do they change the ride height or limit shock travel? I can order new caps or a new set of rubber to install in the factory cap hence the questions.

Thanks,

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Not all after market caps are the same as the factory ones, and if different yes they can cause issues with travel and shocks topping or bottoming out.

Cheers Andrew

[D4Dforme Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4Dforme]

I have used Dobinson before and had no bad side effects in a 120 Prado Kun26 Hilux and now my 200.

[gxl_d4d Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close gxl_d4d]

Thanks guys.

I think I'll just get the rubber parts kit. I'm keeping my current springs and I don't want to change the way my car rides in regards to the front to back height difference. I'm probably going to give KYB Skorched 4 shocks a go. I wasn't too happy with the Bilsteins leaking early on in their life. After 90 000km they're well due for a change. My front end dives on turns and braking. I also get a bit of oscillation when coming to a stop.

[gxl_d4d Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close gxl_d4d]

How do I know what open and closed shock length I need for a driven height spring? The KYBs for a 120 Prado have less travel than the factory shocks so I'm concerned that my longer springs will damage the shock unless I get the 150 Prado part.

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

How do I know what open and closed shock length I need for a driven height spring? The KYBs for a 120 Prado have less travel than the factory shocks so I'm concerned that my longer springs will damage the shock unless I get the 150 Prado part.

Your old strut tops will be fine. Genuine.
There are different heights available & not all suppliers have correct parts listed.

Less than standard factory travel is no good. You can get away with same as factory but not less.
What is the full extension length?

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

Thanks guys.

I think I'll just get the rubber parts kit. I'm keeping my current springs and I don't want to change the way my car rides in regards to the front to back height difference. I'm probably going to give KYB Skorched 4 shocks a go. I wasn't too happy with the Bilsteins leaking early on in their life. After 90 000km they're well due for a change. My front end dives on turns and braking. I also get a bit of oscillation when coming to a stop.

There you go Jason another set of leaking Billy's. you asked where are they, just saying.

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

you say ,,, My front end dives on turns and braking. the springs are stuffed mate. New shocks will not fix this. I have just put KYB Skorched 4 shocks on my 150, with king springs,, all good so far. I also had Bilsteins on a 120, leaked ,not impressed with them.

[gxl_d4d Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close gxl_d4d]

Are you sure about the springs? The reason I ask is that they've not sagged at all once they settled a few weeks after install.

The specs of the shocks are:

Rear:
Standard 120: 575mm, 219mm, 356mm (Open, travel, closed)
Kyb 845022 570mm, 220mm, 350mm (120 prado part number)
Kyb 845032 602mm, 237mm, 365mm (150 prado part number)

Front:
Standard 120: 540mm, 120mm, 420mm.
Kyb 841004: 568mm, 165mm, 403mm (120 prado part number)
Kyb 841008: 568mm, 165mm, 403mm (150 prado part number)

Existing springs are Lovells TFR118 (360mm, 799lbs) front, Lovells TRR119 (400mm, 260lbs) rear.

If I have to change springs I'd use the same again to keep the ride height that I currently have (770mm front, 805-810mm rear).

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

you say ,,, My front end dives on turns and braking. the springs are stuffed mate. New shocks will not fix this. I have just put KYB Skorched 4 shocks on my 150, with king springs,, all good so far. I also had Bilsteins on a 120, leaked ,not impressed with them.

Jason, Another set of leaking billies........ Just saying.......

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

Are you sure about the springs? The reason I ask is that they've not sagged at all once they settled a few weeks after install.

The specs of the shocks are:

Rear:
Standard 120: 575mm, 219mm, 356mm (Open, travel, closed)
Kyb 845022 570mm, 220mm, 350mm (120 prado part number)
Kyb 845032 602mm, 237mm, 365mm (150 prado part number)

Front:
Standard 120: 540mm, 120mm, 420mm.
Kyb 841004: 568mm, 165mm, 403mm (120 prado part number)
Kyb 841008: 568mm, 165mm, 403mm (150 prado part number)

Existing springs are Lovells TFR118 (360mm, 799lbs) front, Lovells TRR119 (400mm, 260lbs) rear.

If I have to change springs I'd use the same again to keep the ride height that I currently have (770mm front, 805-810mm rear).

The rear shocks, should be ok for touring & light offroad. Don't stress. Or
Imo For offroaders, you would use the 150 rear shock.

I think your springs should be fine.

[Whitey Shockie Maker of the Month Award Find all posts View Profile Close Whitey]

Existing springs are Lovells TFR118 (360mm, 799lbs) front, Lovells TRR119 (400mm, 260lbs) rear.

If I have to change springs I'd use the same again to keep the ride height that I currently have (770mm front, 805-810mm rear).

Hey,

I disagree about using the TFR118/119 combination.

The front 118 coil is shorter than the OEM coil, and uses a whopping 800lb/in spring rate to generate the lift.

If you use this combination, you will have two problems;

1. You will always get excessive vehicle pitch due to a big mismatch in suspension frequency between front and rear. You will notice this even more once you load up the vehicle.

2. The free height of the 118 is 360mm, and is too close for my liking to the working height of 350mm at 570mm droop, meaning you shouldn't run long travel struts, as you will risk a sagged coil having next to no pre-load.

Take a look here for how the front coil working height changes as a function of strut open length (3rd graph);

http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...0-series-Prado

You can also get an idea from the first two plots as to which coils are a better option than the Lovells. I would consider for instance OME883 for the fronts which have a free height higher than OEM, and a spring rate which will go a long way to minimising vehicle pitch.

Plenty to chew over!

Best

Mark

[gxl_d4d Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close gxl_d4d]

I'm totally confused.

I just measured my front shock length as it sits on the car now. I measured 530mm from the top pin to the centre of the bottom bolt. This suggests that there's only about 20mm of down travel left in the shock before the piston hits the top of the tube. Does this sound right?

The recommended lovells shock for my front springs is 555mm, 145mm, 400mm. I didn't want to get lovells shocks as I've read mixed reviews for long term offroad use.

[Whitey Shockie Maker of the Month Award Find all posts View Profile Close Whitey]

Hey,

The measurement of the strut length is from the bottom of the first washer, which sits below the bottom bush. It's a little tricky to measure the strut length at ride height, as the washer sits up inside the strut cap a bit. I can't remember what my old 712 length was at 1" lift ride height, so I can't give you an exact figure, but I'm guessing you have maybe measured a bit too high up on the strut cap, and the true measurement of the strut length at ride height will be shorter than 530mm.

This also makes sense, as you mentioned your ride height was 770mm, so about 20/25.4 = 0.79" lift, and if you look at these plots;

http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...-Prado-120-IFS

...then I'm guessing you have around 80mm of droop at 0.8" lift, and working backwards from the leverage ratio of 1:2.2 means you have 80/2.2 = 36.4mm of shaft travel from ride height on your strut, which would mean 553 - 36 = 517mm strut length at 0.8" ride height. It will be longer than this if you run the Bilstein boot which has a collar which spaces the strut down by about 8mm if I remember right.

I think once you re-measure from the bottom of the washer to centre of bottom bolt you will definitely get something smaller than 530mm.

Best

Mark

[Whitey Shockie Maker of the Month Award Find all posts View Profile Close Whitey]

The recommended lovells shock for my front springs is 555mm, 145mm, 400mm. I didn't want to get lovells shocks as I've read mixed reviews for long term offroad use.

The 1st generation Lovells are the most reliable shocks out of all Lovells versions. These are still made by Driveline Services in Brisbane. Lovells just took the shocks and struts straight from Driveline Services and put a Lovells sticker on them.

Lovells don't do this anymore, and now source their gear from somewhere else. They are now onto the 3rd generation, which have closed/open lengths that I personally don't like for the 120.

I have been running the 1st gen Driveline Services struts and shocks for a fair while now (modified front Hilux strut and 80 series rear shock) and I have found them to be a reasonable piece of gear for the cost. I would rate them at least as good as OME, EFS etc., better even, as they can be rebuilt.

Best

Mark