I had a couple people ask me about the lift I recently put on my '97, so I thought I would post about it here as well. I purchased the King Springs HD kit from www.onlineautoparts.com.au because I had read some pretty favorable reviews on some Australian off-road forums. The kit came with front and back springs and shocks, but did not come with any castor correction bushings/plates. I was able to source some OME caster correction bushings from a local seller for only $30.
Installation wasn't hard at all. It only took me a few hours to do the front by myself with some 3 ton and 6 ton jack stands and a trolley jack in my driveway, and about 3 hours to do the rear with a buddy - we replaced the rear brakes with a Power Stop kit at the same time. We took our time and had to work with some seized bolts. The old suspension on my 80 had seen better days and the kit ended up lifting it about 4" from floor to center of the flares. We took it for a quick spin up the street and the ride quality was great. Obviously much stiffer, but not jarring when going over speed bumps.
Now, a big reason I went with the King Springs kit was it only cost me $550 USD after shipping. The kit was on sale when I purchased it - $405 AUD - and shipping was nearly the same cost - $380 AUD, but the USD is so strong right now it was like buying it at a 40% discount. $1 USD = $1.44 AUD. I chose DHL Express shipping and it arrived 4 days after I placed the order. Not too shabby coming from halfway across the world. Everything arrived with no issues whatsoever and I have no complaints.
If anyone else out there is looking for a decent lift for a killer price, I think this kit is a great buy. I know a lot of people love the OME kits, but I just couldn't make it fit my budget spending twice as much for OME. Based on my research, I think I'll be happy for the foreseeable future with this lift. It'll hold an extra 80 kg (175 lbs) up front and 300 kg (661 lbs) in the rear and comes with a 3 year warranty. That's enough for my expectation of adding a rear bumper, swing-outs, RTT tent and possibly a front bumper with winch.
Installation wasn't hard at all. It only took me a few hours to do the front by myself with some 3 ton and 6 ton jack stands and a trolley jack in my driveway, and about 3 hours to do the rear with a buddy - we replaced the rear brakes with a Power Stop kit at the same time. We took our time and had to work with some seized bolts. The old suspension on my 80 had seen better days and the kit ended up lifting it about 4" from floor to center of the flares. We took it for a quick spin up the street and the ride quality was great. Obviously much stiffer, but not jarring when going over speed bumps.
Now, a big reason I went with the King Springs kit was it only cost me $550 USD after shipping. The kit was on sale when I purchased it - $405 AUD - and shipping was nearly the same cost - $380 AUD, but the USD is so strong right now it was like buying it at a 40% discount. $1 USD = $1.44 AUD. I chose DHL Express shipping and it arrived 4 days after I placed the order. Not too shabby coming from halfway across the world. Everything arrived with no issues whatsoever and I have no complaints.
If anyone else out there is looking for a decent lift for a killer price, I think this kit is a great buy. I know a lot of people love the OME kits, but I just couldn't make it fit my budget spending twice as much for OME. Based on my research, I think I'll be happy for the foreseeable future with this lift. It'll hold an extra 80 kg (175 lbs) up front and 300 kg (661 lbs) in the rear and comes with a 3 year warranty. That's enough for my expectation of adding a rear bumper, swing-outs, RTT tent and possibly a front bumper with winch.
