Not satisfied with my Prado's ride after 20,000kms

[vxcruiser08 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close vxcruiser08]

G'day Guys,

Sorry for the big write write up but it really is starting to become frustrating to deal with considering the high amount of kms i do (800-1000 country kms a week). I am hoping for some advice from other fellow 150 owners or industry experts out there who can speak from FIRST HAND experience with their suspension, not just from what they've heard and not those who drive on a highway or city roads all day. It is a completely different experience in the bush. When I go back to sydney, the roads are good in comparison and i have no complaints!

I am lucky to be able to take my Prado off road for at least 20 km's every day to get to my property, on the way i drive some very crappy roads with a lot of pot holes and uneven surfaces. This provides a good testing ground for any mods I do in between any of the frequent camping trips. The frustrating thing is, if it doesn't feel right you will notice it everytime you hit the dirt or a rough road and it is starting to do my head in and has actually started to result in serious neck problems

I absolutely love the prado but unfortunately my suspension is letting me down. When I had my ultimate suspension 2" lift installed everything felt OK at first. Since completing my recent flinders and simpson trip it all seems to have gradually got worse and rides rough and very twitchy on the road - every bump on the road you will feel, the seats are always shaking and the tail gating rattling (is that normal for the seats and tailgate?)... yet it's also so bouncy and soft in the rear when going over a speed bump or cornerning. It's like two extremes.

Now I have spoken to ultimate, as the adjustment knobs all got hacked off on the trip, so i couldn't actually adjust them when i was in the dunes. However when I did the simpson, it was literally bucking up and down the whole time - my mates couldn't believe how bad it was. I am wondering if they are potentially fried from this? The bloke at ultimate said its most likely the tyre pressures or not enough air in the airbags. I don't agree, as I had hardly any weight in the rear and found it WORSE when I put air in the rear. I won't go into any further details of the phone conversation in respect for the company.

Does anyone do any similar driving to myself? If so, how do you find your suspension? What have you got? I am at the point where i will pay whatever amount to achieve a comfortable and well performing setup. Ultimate are taking a look at it for the 3rd time in 4 months which is very frustrating when it takes me 8 hours of driving return to take the vehicle there.

Suspension Components
Front: Aussie Ryder Twin Tube gas struts & HD Coils (note I only have a bullbar, not extra weight e.g. winch)
Rear: Adjustable Aussie Ryder Foam Cell shocks & MD Coils
Airbags: Firestone Coilrite Airbags (Running 6 psi)
Tyres: Cooper ST MAXX (35 PSI)

As you can see, i have lowered the pressures to fairly reasonable levels to provide extra ride comfort... still the problem exists unfortunately.

Look forward to hearing peoples opinions, otherwise I hope you found my story interesting

Thanks in advance...

Matt

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

P.M sent.

Regards, Jason.

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

VX there are a few threads on what people have fitted and I think your best bet is to go to one of the larger suppliers with better known and tested components. No doubt Jason will give you the heads up. For what it is worth I am very happy with my TJM set up. A bit softer than the OME that I had in the 120 and a better compromise between ride and flex than the ToughDog stuff before that.

[Guest Close Guest]

Sounds like stuffed shocks.Also 35psi sounds high for the road conditions you describe.

[Strider Member Find all posts View Profile Close Strider]

+1 for stuffed shocks.

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

Story is interesting. Not sure why you have HD coils on the front and MD coils on the rear? Would suggest that is part of the problem
Also, +2 for stuffed shocks.

[brock05 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close brock05]

You will find that there are plenty of blokes on here running HD coils on the front and MD coils on the back. This is to deal with the additional weight fitted to the car. I have a steel bar on the front of mine plus spotties, dual batteries etc so around 100-120 kgs extra over the front, whereas I only have a towbar out back over standard so do not need the HD coils.

[Guest Close Guest]

HD coils with just a bullbar is too much stiffness . What's the suspension heights now? What's the droop? Have the shocks being inspected for leaks?

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

Mmmmm.........
I'm not concerned about the springs, if they were ok before & not now, well springs don't get stiffer like that.
As many people might have picked up, I like the softer ride & flexibility (through length for height rather than stiffness) of the Dobinsons coils.
Sounds like problems with your struts or shocks........????
Hard one without inspecting & driving it.

Outback roads will destroy struts & shocks.

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

Like the others have said, rear shocks. Bouncing in the rear is rear shocks 95% of the time.

[Guest Close Guest]

The HD springs could cause the front to be too high which will mean not enough droop which will result in the struts topping out, thus destroying it.

Without knowing the suspension height and what the extended length of the strut is, it would be hard to ascertain whether it is a poor suspension combination given the weight.

[vxcruiser08 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close vxcruiser08]

Thanks for the responses guys. Sounds like the rear shocks may be stuffed then.

I forgot to mention i have dual batteries. I was planning on getting a winch further down the track maybe I should do that sooner and see what it does to the ride along with some drawers. My vehicle isn't overly high for a 2" lift in comparison to others on here. I don't have measurements sorry. Only uneven ground around here.

If I ran my tyres any lower surely ill see them wearing alot quicker!

Is it just me though or does new suspension always feel SO much better in the first few months then deteriorates?

My local arb know of my concerns and said they'd fit a complete OME setup and 100% refund my money if I wasn't happy. They're very confident!

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

My suspension is much better now than it ever was at new. I have done 70k since the suspension was installed. If you liked the way it was when it was installed, just fix the broken parts. I think you said that the adjustment on the rear shocks were damaged and now the rear is bouncing around. To me it sounds as if you need new shocks only, just do a lot of reading about what shocks you need.

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

Sounds like stuffed shocks.Also 35psi sounds high for the road conditions you describe.

Yep Coopers recommend and warrant 32psi for on road, less for gravel roads etc

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

Yep Coopers recommend and warrant 32psi for on road, less for gravel roads etc

@32psi in Sydney you would be lucky to see half of the 80,000km they guarantee the tyres for.
The edges of the tyres would be well and truly gone by 40k's

I ended up running my last set of Cooper ATR's @ 40psi to get them to wear flat & have started the new set of ST/Maxx's @40psi also and they are wearing dead flat also after 10,000kms so far.
Started the last set @ 35psi & started to see considerable inner & outer edge wear front & rear within 20,000kms. Jacked them up to 45psi to get them up on the centres for a while & wear them flat again and thensettled on the 40psi for day to day. I got over 70,000kms out of them in the end.

Regards, Jason.