1Coolbanana's Grande Build Up

[1coolbanana Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 1coolbanana]

Decided to get up early and tackle the airbags today.
They came out easy enough and only show minimal perishing which was surprising.



Fitted them all up and also fitted the extra length torsion bar bushes.
Had an air leak at the top right airbag fitting so had to have a second go :-(



All up, about 3 hours.

Checked full droop before, that is, max droop with both wheels off the ground level (on chassis stands) and used to get 890mm.
Now its 895 so the limiting factor is the shocks.

Will look into the longer shocks this week I suppose and think about jacking front and back up another 20-25mm.

Hopefully still have air in it by the morning :-)

[1coolbanana Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 1coolbanana]

Thanks Sol
Cheers

[Trekrider Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Trekrider]

The trailer looks far better now Marc, well done.

Looking at the last of your airbag photo's you really need to lengthen your sway bar links, especially if you are going for the longer shocks.

[1coolbanana Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 1coolbanana]

Thanks mate.
Ive lengthened them today by about 15-20mm with the bushes supplied with the airbags, you reckon more?
How much more?

[1coolbanana Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 1coolbanana]

So Im going rear shock shopping tomorrow to replace the TD's with some 150/80 series shocks and the jack the lot up another 25mm front and rear.

Not sure what shocks to go for without busting the bank, the options are OME Nitro's, TD adjustable again, Ironman, Lovells (but no stock and no eta) or EFS?

What would give me the plushest ride around town as the daily drive?
Im leaning towards OME of TD adjustable?

Thoughts?

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

I used the OME N71E 80 series shocks, they are not the nitro sports shocks so have a softer ride. I figured the 80 was a heavier vehicle so a soft shock for an 80 would be nice in the 120. I am pretty happy the ride.

Cheers Andrew

[1coolbanana Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 1coolbanana]

Hey Andrew

I asked the local ARB about those and they said "no longer available" Nitro are the current :-(

I was a little concerned that the Nitro Sports maybe a little harsh considering Im 99% of the time carrying no load.

Cheers
Marc

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

Since you already have TD in the front, I recommend the TD BM401111 adjustable rear shock so you can adjust the ride to suit yourself. also, at 622mm long, they are only 3mm shorter than The Airbag Man's max recommended 625mm.

[Trekrider Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Trekrider]

I was a little concerned that the Nitro Sports maybe a little harsh considering Im 99% of the time carrying no load.

The Nitro Sports shocks are also too long when compressed and will bottom out before you hit the bump stop - not good for the shocks as you know.

[1coolbanana Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 1coolbanana]

Since you already have TD in the front, I recommend the TD BM401111 adjustable rear shock so you can adjust the ride to suit yourself. also, at 622mm long, they are only 3mm shorter than The Airbag Man's max recommended 625mm.

Im tending to think that way, its just they are so expensive at $400 a pair :-(

The Nitro Sports shocks are also too long when compressed and will bottom out before you hit the bump stop - not good for the shocks as you know.

The Grande has extended bump stops to accommodate the OEM TEMS adjustable shocks so it doesnt have as much up travel.
Basically the same closed length as the Nitro or TD's.

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

Correct, I measured the OE Toyota Prado Grande TEMS shock to be 386mm when compressed. Considerably longer than the TD BM401111 at 375mm and OME 60020 Sport at 378mm.

[8608 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close 8608]

150 Shocks have firmer valving compared to a 120 shock.

the shock geometry is different between the 120 and 150.

[1coolbanana Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 1coolbanana]

Decided to go with the Tough Dog BM401111 150 series shocks.
They have been good to me in the past and they are local.



I like a nice cushy daily drive so adjustable is the way to go
The 120 versus the 150 shock



Buttoned up and a bit of a tweak to the height sensors to crank it up just a tad in the interim until some more front end work happens



The airbags at full droop

[1coolbanana Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 1coolbanana]

Air bags at full droop of 925mm



Hopefully this is what its supposed to look like :-)



Still very firmly in place.

[1coolbanana Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 1coolbanana]

Sitting nicely at 835 with a max droop of 925.
Seems pretty good for the moment until a bit gets done up front.