Prado suspension

[beislebub]

I just recently purchased a 92 Prado, It's good to be driving a truck (er... SUV) again.

Of things that have come to my attention, is that on larger bumps (off road ) I seem to be bottoming out in the rear (mostly passanger side). The truck has coils springs in all four corners, and they all seem fine (no cracks that I can see). So the next step is to upgrade the shocks, the factory Norm/sport shocks are still in place. First is I'm not to sure what the compadability of my truck is in the local market, and second is the factory dual mode set up a good choice to replace with, or go to a aftermarket setup?

My driving style is mostly on road, but I allways look for a excuse to go off road.


Thanks for the input.

[crushers]

get a dobinson 2" lift and be done with it...great suspension package, fantastic on and off the road...
the OME/Dakar setup sucks.

[roscoFJ73]

Originally Posted by beislebub

I just recently purchased a 92 Prado, It's good to be driving a truck (er... SUV) again.

Of things that have come to my attention, is that on larger bumps (off road ) I seem to be bottoming out in the rear (mostly passanger side). The truck has coils springs in all four corners, and they all seem fine (no cracks that I can see). So the next step is to upgrade the shocks, the factory Norm/sport shocks are still in place. First is I'm not to sure what the compadability of my truck is in the local market, and second is the factory dual mode set up a good choice to replace with, or go to a aftermarket setup?

My driving style is mostly on road, but I allways look for a excuse to go off road.


Thanks for the input.

New shocks wont help ,its the springs that have lost their resistance to compression.
Shocks only slow down the rate at which a spring compresses.
Some owners have used 80 series coils in their light duty 70s
As far as compatabilty goes ,you may find some body parts are the same as a BJ70 from the windscreen back and some interior bits.
Mechanically it is closer to some 4runner's and Hilux.

[roscoFJ73]

Originally Posted by crushers

the OME/Dakar setup sucks.

Their coil kits are no good??

[crushers]

yep, i ran a set of dobinson on the bush pig and at the same time got a wicked deal on a OME kit. the ride is MUCH nicer in the dobinson. i can get air with the bush pig and it doesn't bottom out. the OME bottoms out with the tires still touching the ground. the ride in the dobinson is smoother than the OME...

in a nut shell, i am not impressed with the OME...at all

[zaxxon]

Originally Posted by crushers

yep, i ran a set of dobinson on the bush pig and at the same time got a wicked deal on a OME kit. the ride is MUCH nicer in the dobinson. i can get air with the bush pig and it doesn't bottom out. the OME bottoms out with the tires still touching the ground. the ride in the dobinson is smoother than the OME...

in a nut shell, i am not impressed with the OME...at all

Wayne, who did you get the Dobinsons from I tried to get a suspension out of west coast cruisers and they apparently are not shipping to Canada anymore.

[crushers]

i originally ordered them from Glen Dobinsion but then Mike was having a shipment come in so i bought them from him...in hindsight (and this has nothign to do with Mike himself) i would have brought them straight from Oz...faster and cheaper.

i will be stocking a couple sets in Ontario later next year...

[prado t]

I have heard the Dobinson is good.I ended up getting the OME 2.5 heavy front medium rear. I am quite impressed with it or what was left of it. ( the prado got stolen on sun OCT 21) I just came back from ICBC frame bent interior gutted and they want to fix it it will never be the same)
Yes the rear stock bottoms out quite easy.
go Dobinson or mix and match the OME kit I was impressed

[beislebub]

Thanks for the feed back.

I'm on a definate budget, and the truck has 275 70 R16 tires on it, making the vehicle tall enough. So going along those lines, the 80 series rear springs seem like a good option (I assume that good condition 80 series stockers will be stiffer than 70 series stock) . I'll hunt around looking for a rear set of springs, any help with that?

Thanks guys.

To bad about your Prado getting stolen, didn't think there was a market for stolen parts for these yet!

[Tapage]

Dobinson don't make some OME parts .. as coils .?

[Axel Von Gardan]

I´ve had Dobinson coil springs and shocks for over year now at my -90 LJ70, I added Dobinsons polyuretane joints later when original joints pulled themselves out.
The set is 65mm, first it was hard but now it flexs good, I have some pictures of RTI ramp also.
I`ve noticed that it sits funny, passenger side is lower than other side?

[roscoFJ73]

Originally Posted by beislebub

Thanks for the feed back.

I'm on a definate budget, and the truck has 275 70 R16 tires on it, making the vehicle tall enough. So going along those lines, the 80 series rear springs seem like a good option (I assume that good condition 80 series stockers will be stiffer than 70 series stock) . I'll hunt around looking for a rear set of springs, any help with that?

Thanks guys.

To bad about your Prado getting stolen, didn't think there was a market for stolen parts for these yet!

I haven't personally done this and only know of owners who have done this with the SWB models so Im assuming the spring set up is the same in the 78. Have a good check before you spend money.
The 80 series springs will be stiffer. Im in oz so you would be better off looking a local 80 series being parted out.
Have a look at the MUD classifieds or put a WTB ad

[crushers]

i have a set of good used 81 series springs sitting here...

[beislebub]

Thanks Wayne, I'm trying to source out a set of springs here in Revelstoke. But if that doesn't pan out I'm deffinately interested!

[wildthing]

Wayne, did you ever get those Dobinson's? I need shocks in the new year for my LJ78 and was contemplating either the OME or a set of local heavy duty shocks with much the same characteristics and price.

[oldblue]

Is your Prado a SWB or a LWB?
I own KZJ71 Prado SWB, and my cheap fix to beef up the rear suspension was to replace the rear springs with a set of rear springs from a KZJ78 LWB Prado.
These springs must be from a KZJ78 and NOT from a LJ78 as the KZJ78s are thicker wire and taller.than the LJ78
This change over gives a lift of 40-50mm and stops all of that bump stop problems, but still gives a good soft ride.

KZJ71 rear springs 14.7 wire
KZJ78 " " 15.1 "

[kiwicruiserlj78]

Originally Posted by crushers

get a dobinson 2" lift and be done with it...great suspension package, fantastic on and off the road...
the OME/Dakar setup sucks.

hi all i have just got some uprated springs and shocks with the 2" lift on my lj78 would i need to change the PANARD ROD?

[Tapage]

Originally Posted by kiwicruiserlj78

hi all i have just got some uprated springs and shocks with the 2" lift on my lj78 would i need to change the PANARD ROD?

Short answer: Not !

[Mark_kzj78]

on my 94(ish) kzj78 I had the same problem with the rear bottoming, I had fitted OME springs and shocks up front, new toyota HD shocks and springs from the front of a VX in the rear. This gave approx 2" lift (although it felt like 6" from how saggy it was). The only minor problem was that the front was slightly higher than the rear so the guys that installed it cut the front springs down abit - with hindsight I would rather have put spacers with the rear shocks to level it, than cut brand new spings. The ride is much better than it was - I live and work in Uganda so I do about 65% off road - however I can't compare it to a Dobbinson setup as this is my first!