aftermarket suspension and harsh ride

[one way ticket Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close one way ticket]

I have ordered a 150 vx diesel to replace my 120. I had ARB upgrade the springs and shocks as you do. When loaded with gear and trailer it performed beautifully and sat very nicely. However, when the vehicle is unloaded and running around it's ride is harsh and rough. Now I know you may say that's life but is it? Can I spend more money or change what I have done previous to a different or superior system. They put a man on the moon 50 years ago, why can't we have great suspension all the time?
thanks for any advice
owt

[Hutch Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hutch]

Re: after market suspension upgrades

I have ordered a 150 vx diesel to replace my 120. I had ARB upgrade the springs and shocks as you do. When loaded with gear and trailer it performed beautifully and sat very nicely. However, when the vehicle is unloaded and running around it's ride is harsh and rough. Now I know you may say that's life but is it? Can I spend more money or change what I have done previous to a different or superior system. They put a man on the moon 50 years ago, why can't we have great suspension all the time?
thanks for any advice
owt

In the 120 you have 3 different types of springs, which ones were u using??? it will make a massive difference.

[one way ticket Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close one way ticket]

Re: after market suspension upgrades

I had ome shockers and ome coils replaced Hutch.

[Hutch Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hutch]

Re: after market suspension upgrades

I had ome shockers and ome coils replaced Hutch.

So were you running ARB gear?? if so their is three different spring rates.

[one way ticket Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close one way ticket]

Re: after market suspension upgrades

Hutch, I dug out me arb paperwork and I had ome 885 to the front and ome 896 to the rear, does this help?

[MickL Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close MickL]

Re: after market suspension upgrades

I had ome 885 to the front and ome 896 to the rear, does this help?

The 885 is a heavy spring (100-150 kg extra up front)
The 896 is also a heavy spring (150-400kg)

So if you don't have any accessories or load on board then there's your problem. I have this combination (on a 120) with steel bar, winch and dual batteries up front and drawers, fridge, cargo barrier and toools/recovery gear in the back.

If you are lightly loaded and only tow occassionlly then 895's in the rear with poly air bags would have been a better choice, giving you the best of both worlds.

Up front it depends on if you plan on fitting any accessories... on a stock/light load 883's are your pick or 884's for a steel bar only or alloy bar/dual batteries.

Mick

PS - Here's the real problem:

They put a man on the moon 50 years ago

Your 10 years out..... so in 10 years time you'll be right and your suspension will be softer by then :wink: :lol:

[Hutch Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hutch]

Re: aftermarket suspension and harsh ride

As Mick said the springs are fairly heavy duty, in the 120 section in the suspension section find the OME suspension thread and have a good read, it has good detail plus plenty of rigs and Set ups.

[oldfulla Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close oldfulla]

Re: aftermarket suspension and harsh ride

Guys, I have a ZR SWB and tried the wagon OME suspension. It's a bit too hard, and also too tall, due to the SWB being 300kg lighter than the wagon. I put OME884 in the front and OME895 in the rear.
The problem we have here is that anything is going to feel hard because the factory ride is so soft. My ZR had a lovely ride but the handling and driveability was awful - very soft front coils meant huge nose-dives whenever I touched the brakes.
I am waiting for the ARB bar and winch to go on, then I will have another go at the front coil selections. Probably go back to 883's to get the height down.
In the rear I'm going to try 895E's (shorter 895's) and softer shocks. I'll let you know how it goes.

Cheers,
Jack

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

Re: aftermarket suspension and harsh ride

I have ordered a 150 vx diesel to replace my 120. I had ARB upgrade the springs and shocks as you do. when the vehicle is unloaded and running around it's ride is harsh and rough. Now I know you may say that's life but is it? Can I spend more money or change what I have done previous to a different or superior system. They put a man on the moon 50 years ago, why can't we have great suspension all the time?
thanks for any advice
owt

You answered your own question there :wink:

ARB is an expensive stickered Monroe shock, now with new dust covers, and new stickers. The coils that they make, the build quality is ok, but some of the rates, and designs could be better. The spring rates to suit your application are only as good as the person ordering them out of the cattledog also.

Things are a little limited in the 120 rear suspension, thanks to the short coil and shock dimensions to work with, but adjustability is the key.

[oldfulla Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close oldfulla]

Re: aftermarket suspension and harsh ride

Darren, you are wrong about OME shockers being a re-badged Monroe. If you were to cut them both open and take a look inside, you would find that they're nothing like each other. Even a simple observation like different shaft diameters will show that.
This common misconception that you have stated comes from the fact that OME shocks are built in the Monroe factory in Adelaide. ARB (OME) use Monroe for 2 reasons - (1) Monroe is the only Australian company that can build the shocks in sufficient quantity to satisfy demand, and (2) the arrangement allows OME have full input into the design, construction and valving of the shocker. OME actually have their own assembly line in the Monroe plant.
It's unfortunate that they are painted the same colour, as I'm sure this adds fuel to this misconception.

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

Re: aftermarket suspension and harsh ride

Darren, you are wrong about OME shockers being a re-badged Monroe. If you were to cut them both open and take a look inside, you would find that they're nothing like each other. Even a simple observation like different shaft diameters will show that.
This common misconception that you have stated comes from the fact that OME shocks are built in the Monroe factory in Adelaide. ARB (OME) use Monroe for 2 reasons - (1) Monroe is the only Australian company that can build the shocks in sufficient quantity to satisfy demand, and (2) the arrangement allows OME have full input into the design, construction and valving of the shocker. OME actually have their own assembly line in the Monroe plant.
It's unfortunate that they are painted the same colour, as I'm sure this adds fuel to this misconception.

I know someone very well who worked on that production line too, as well as still using ghe engineer that was at AB for nearly 20 years as part of the OME inception and development, so dont worry, I aint misconceiving anything :wink:

If they could make a shock that worked like it should [and the LTR was the perfect chnace to do so], then maybe they could do something about the image other than spend more money to convince everyone how superior it is.

We remove more OME than anything else to fit our Bilstein Platinum kits, because it under delivers, and the owners then spend good money twice to get what they excpected first time around.

That also makes them twice as critical second time around, about getting what they want.