To change springs or shocks?

[dezzert storm Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dezzert storm]

Hey everyone,

I know OME stuff has been done to death so i hope this doesnt piss anyone off by starting a new topic, but i am after some advice regarding my recent suspension upgrade.

I have drawers in the rear so i consistently carry 100/120 kg. Every couple of weeks when we load the fridge up i carry 150kg. When we go camping it would be up around closer to 250kg, maybe more. However once set up and doing day trips this figure would be back down around 170/180kg. We will possibly tow a jayco camper trailer in the future if all goes to plan (ballweight approx 100kg from memory)

Based on this and the hrs i spent trawling thru the suspension section of this forum, my thoughts were to install 885 springs in the front (sahara bar, dual battery)with 894 springs in the back, along with polyairs. The rear shocks i was unsure of due to lack of knowledge but would have thought the lighter of the two would have been the go.

So off to ARB i go with chequebook in hand, for the bar, suspension and black widow drawer system. (Thank you mister tax man) The 'expert' at arb agreed with me on the front, however reccomended i go with 895 springs in the back, for the times when i am loaded up. "What about when im not loaded tho? The Mrs will kill me if its rough as she drives it to work." He replies with "It will be sweet with the drawers in the back." What about the lighter springs with polyairs?" I ask. (I was convinced this was what he would suggest in the first place.) "Dont go polyairs he said. We WILL not install them, and ome will NOT give you warranty if you got polyairs in their springs. Plus its one more thing to go wrong when your in the middle of nowhere." He reccomended the heavier 9005 shocks also.

So despite alarm bells ringing, i say yes. So excited about it all and thinking, well they should know best shouldnt they??

Anyway point is im not happy with it. Front is great and the handling is heaps better but the rear just doesnt feel right. Even loaded, while better, i am still not happy with. Its not massively uncomfortable, but i feel every little bump in the road and when in remoter arears with shitty bitumen roads its pretty bloody annoying. CAnt imagine what it will be like in corrugations. Ive let it settle in for six weeks and am about to go back to arb to have the drawers fixed for the second time as the install was atrocious But thats another story. So i am going to bring it up then. I wouild like some armour up my sleeve before i go there. My question is do i change the springs or the shocks? One independent mob told me change the shocks, while another says change the springs and put in polyairs. But if i do this surely the shocks will be too heavy for the light springs?

Any ideas anyone? i am certainly no expert in this, this is the first time i have done anything like this. And while im not expecting it to be silky smooth , it cant be right considering how others on here rave about their setups.

Also should i demand they change it at their expense? I know its been six weeks but then again it was their ideas and i did question it several times.

Thanks for any help.

[D4D-GXL Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4D-GXL]

Re: To change springs or shocks?

Sounds like your in a bit of a dilema. Whilst the guys at ARB sell the stuff they stock, having previously "listened" to their advice, I would be seeking different and expert advice.
I would take it back to ARB and tell them that you are NOT happy with the rear end as you have told them what you will have in the back of the car. I would go with the thought of having lighter springs for when your not carrying any load and put the Polyairbags in later. Dont worry so much about the warranty of the springs as they only warranty them for 12 months anyway.

I have recently upgraded to polyairs for when towing the camper and carrying a load in my rear drawers. I dont think I will go back to just springs/shocks when polyairs make it more universal between no weight in the back and heaps of weight in the back with the drawers full, fridge in and towing a heavy camper.

Hope this info helps, but get some more advice before heading back to ARB.

[matt150 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close matt150]

Re: To change springs or shocks?

I have the same rear spring ( and I use poly airs), with little or no issue..

What tyres and tyre pressures are you using ?

[dezzert storm Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dezzert storm]

Re: To change springs or shocks?

Sounds like your in a bit of a dilema. Whilst the guys at ARB sell the stuff they stock, having previously "listened" to their advice, I would be seeking different and expert advice.
I would take it back to ARB and tell them that you are NOT happy with the rear end as you have told them what you will have in the back of the car. I would go with the thought of having lighter springs for when your not carrying any load and put the Polyairbags in later. Dont worry so much about the warranty of the springs as they only warranty them for 12 months anyway.

I have recently upgraded to polyairs for when towing the camper and carrying a load in my rear drawers. I dont think I will go back to just springs/shocks when polyairs make it more universal between no weight in the back and heaps of weight in the back with the drawers full, fridge in and towing a heavy camper.

Hope this info helps, but get some more advice before heading back to ARB.

Thanks mate, i have asked at a few different places and thats where i got the differing advice of changing springs and installing airbags or changing the shocks. I even rang ARB head office for an opinion and they just say take it to the store. Didnt really want to comment. Typical. I wasnt going to use it against them, just wanted an opinion from someone higher up. The blokes at the store (im sure not all stores) just seem to talk from the book. I wanted a few differing opinions before i go back and hit them up. My concern of changing to lighter springs is that with the heavier shocks it will still be too harsh. But then again im no shock expert. Plenty of info on here about spring rates but not so much about choosing the right shock. i wasnt worried about the warranty so much, they pretty much flat out said they wouldnt do it.

I take it you have original suspension? I wanted the lift and improved handling on windy country roads hence my reason for the upgrade. Didnt want to sacrifice too much comfort tho and agree that air bags sound much more versatile. I guess im hoping by changing the shocks i will hopefully fix the problem and save money by not having to buy airbags.

I should say offroad it feels good, and over things like speedbumps etc, its the smaller bumps and uneven roads it sux. Even when loaded, which makes me think the shock is wrong..?

I have the same rear spring ( and I use poly airs), with little or no issue..

What tyres and tyre pressures are you using ?

What shocks do you have? I have mickey thomson atz's and run around 38. Just as an experiment down some flat dirt tracks i dropped them back to 30. Thought id leave them once returning to the bitumen to see what happened and it still felt like shit.

[matt150 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close matt150]

Re: To change springs or shocks?

DS I use Bilstein shocks with ridepro medium front springs and OME 895 with poly air bags in the rear. Currently I use 36psi in BFG all terrain 65 series tyres.

[tassie tiger Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close tassie tiger]

Re: To change springs or shocks?

HI Dezzert

What a dilemma! Its really hard to get good advice particularly when someone is flogging their preferred product. Sad about ARB - they are so big now that personal touch is going. About 15yrs ago when we were off road racing I could pick up the phone and chat to their suspension designer (behind the original OME dampers) and nothing was too much trouble.

There should be no requirement to change the rear dampers. The harshness should be coming from the hard spring. I couldn't see which damper you had fitted but imagine it would be the OME Nitrocharger or similar? Do you still have the original dampers? If so I would swap them over (easy job for the DIYer) and go for a drive. This will eliminate the dampers as the issue (being too hard).

If its still too hard then you need to replace the spring with something designed for less load. Fit that and then see what its like. If its fine then you can refit the OME dampers and retest. If its no good then its the dampers and then you can order a set of bilsteins and fit them.

Its probably easy to see what has happened. The installer has listened to what you want

1. Nice and smooth for every day driving
2. Nice and smooth for when you are slightly loaded
3. Nice and smooth for when you are medium loadly
4. Nice and smooth for when you are heavily loaded and with a jayco on the back

They chose 4 because you are more likely to be unhappy if you load it up and it drags its butt on the ground. The rest of the time is a compromise.

Its a case of pick your compromise because you are asking your suspension to cope with lots of variables.

If you are going to go through ARB again then I would tell them the rear spring is too hard and they need to fit the next one down because the one they suggested is not correct and not to service. If they wont come to the game then walk away and go somewhere else.

good luck.

[Guest Close Guest]

Re: To change springs or shocks?

The job of the spring is to carry load.
The job of the shocks is to try and dampen the bouncing after a bump and bring it back to the normal ride height as soon as possible.

I have heard good things about polyairs and I would go that route to get the best performance when lightly loaded to heavily loaded to heavily loaded + towing. And it stops the rear from dragging on the ground when heavily loaded.

[Auto-Craft Inactive Find all posts View Profile Close Auto-Craft]

Re: To change springs or shocks?

Anyone who wont fit polyairs, it seems, has never installed them properly, so has nothing but trouble.

Most we see/fix are let down by poor install.