KZJ78 Front Shocks

[Tassie KZJ78]

Hey,

I've just pulled a shock out of the front of my prado, getting ready to do a 3" suspension lift. I'm just wonder weather the tube that the top bolt goes through is pressed in or apart of the shock? If it's apart of the shock have you just made up a new tube or something to for the bolt to go through & keep the shock central in its mount?

Cheers, Tassie KZJ

 

[kbushnz]

Its part of the shock...
After-market ones if made for our trucks will have either spacers or incorporated into shock similar to factory setup.
Also note there are two size studs for the rear upper mount points..
EFS have a kit.....

 

[oldblue]

Some shocks have a tube fitted into the top rubber bush's as in " Raw Shocks " if this the case you will need to get shaft collar's and machine down the width to approx 12mm and grub screw them to the tube. If this is not done then the bush's will split and move outwards.

 

[kzj78]

Like Calvin said, the tube is built in for shocks made for our trucks. I just installed Dobinson 45mm heavy up front and 65mm standard in the rear ... nice lift but a little too bounce. Shocks were a very simple install.

Your on OZ ... around $550 for the full lift .... shocks, springs, steering damper and castor correction.

 

[Tassie KZJ78]

Like Calvin said, the tube is built in for shocks made for our trucks. I just installed Dobinson 45mm heavy up front and 65mm standard in the rear ... nice lift but a little too bounce. Shocks were a very simple install.

Your on OZ ... around $550 for the full lift .... shocks, springs, steering damper and castor correction.

Yeah i'm kind of thinking of going down the 65mm dobinson lift, I got a rough price for custom coils at a local place and they were around $250 > $350 a coil

I'm not sure where you got your price for the dobinson lift from, but the quote i got a little while ago was ~$1200 for coils, shocks, steering dampner & bush castor kit. Then there's still freight on top of that.

 

[kzj78]

Yeah i'm kind of thinking of going down the 65mm dobinson lift, I got a rough price for custom coils at a local place and they were around $250 > $350 a coil

I'm not sure where you got your price for the dobinson lift from, but the quote i got a little while ago was ~$1200 for coils, shocks, steering dampner & bush castor kit. Then there's still freight on top of that.

My total price with shipping to Canada was cheaper then that. Perhaps because it was international I didn't have to pay taxes

Not home now but I spoke with Brett from the head office. I will pm you the details when I get home and access to my laptop although I had posted them to another thread here somewhere.

 

[kzj78]

BTW. I purchased the castor correction kit but have yet to install it. Today is a very windy day here .... over 50 kms/hr and I was getting tossed around on the highway like a sack of beans. Get the castor correction and make sure it is installed!

 

[kzj78]

So here is an image of my final quote - part numbers and prices. I was a bit off on the price I noted above but still very reasonable.

 

[kbushnz]

BTW. I purchased the castor correction kit but have yet to install it.

I used an OME one's once, the nolethane bush material just flogged out over time.
So went back to std bushes and corrected the castor by welding a new tab on the front bolt locations of the diff and re drilled the end result rotated the axle assy and returned castor to normalish.....Especially running 35's.

 

[kbushnz]

Similar to this...
Offroad 80's • View topic - Castor Correction for 2" lift

 

[Tassie KZJ78]

so here is an image of my final quote - part numbers and prices. I was a bit off on the price i noted above but still very reasonable.

Here's the price's for everything (65mm lift) that dobinson has for them:

coil spring c59-244 194.56 aud 1.00 pair
coil spring c59-247 194.56 aud 1.00 pair
gas shock absorber gs59-634 130.46 aud each
gas shock absorber gs59-633 130.46 aud each
steering damper sd59-824 115.50 aud each
polyurethane bush castor kit spf1721k 202.46 aud 1.00 kit
panhard rod pr59-1408 323.40 aud 1.00 each
polyurethane underbody bush kit pb59-1260k 451.92 aud 1.00 kit

I'm still trying to find some time to give king springs a call to find out what their price for custom coils are, I may also try and contact dobinson and see what their prices are aswell.

 

[kzj78]

So why such a difference in prices??

 

[gotoy]

Here's the price's for everything (65mm lift) that dobinson has for them:

coil spring c59-244 194.56 aud 1.00 pair
coil spring c59-247 194.56 aud 1.00 pair
gas shock absorber gs59-634 130.46 aud each
gas shock absorber gs59-633 130.46 aud each
steering damper sd59-824 115.50 aud each
polyurethane bush castor kit spf1721k 202.46 aud 1.00 kit
panhard rod pr59-1408 323.40 aud 1.00 each
polyurethane underbody bush kit pb59-1260k 451.92 aud 1.00 kit

I'm still trying to find some time to give king springs a call to find out what their price for custom coils are, I may also try and contact dobinson and see what their prices are aswell.

Any need for panhard rod???

 

[Tassie KZJ78]

So why such a difference in prices??

No idea, it must be tax or something

Any need for panhard rod???

No, it was just what the guy chucked on the quote so I could see what they had for the prado. If I do need a panard I'll end up modifying the existing one into an adjustable one.

 

[bbpjunk]

I used an OME one's once, the nolethane bush material just flogged out over time.
So went back to std bushes and corrected the castor by welding a new tab on the front bolt locations of the diff and re drilled the end result rotated the axle assy and returned castor to normalish.....Especially running 35's.

x2 for OME castor correction bushes grenading themselves prematurely. Mine blew up after just a year. I'm trying SuperPro now and they seem to be holding together much better. I've only had them on for 6 months but have given them some serious abuse. About 50% of my driving is off-pavement and the other 50% is on crappy pavement. I'd say I average about 2 hours per day driving.

 

[Tassie KZJ78]

BTW. I purchased the castor correction kit but have yet to install it. Today is a very windy day here .... over 50 kms/hr and I was getting tossed around on the highway like a sack of beans. Get the castor correction and make sure it is installed!

Hey, am I correct in saying that you put the 65mm lift in the rear of your Prado? You wouldn't be able to take a measurement for me? I would like to know the distance from the center of the diff to the flair/wheel arch. My original springs have sagged majorly (the trailing arms are nearly heading up hill :S)

I contacted Dobinson again and I can get 75mm lifted coils for $250 a pair but i'll have to source my own shocks, which isn't really a problem. But I'm a bit worried that it may end up sitting too tall (well the popo will any way ). I've already got a 50mm body lift in it, and with 75mm lift & 33's it will end up with ~150mm (6") of lift. I know it's only 10mm we're talking about, but by the time i've loaded the ol' girl up it will probably drop a little bit. But I want enough lift to eventually run 35's. So now I'm not sure what I want to do, I psyched myself up this morning to bite the bullet and order the 65mm lift, but then I got their response to 75mm lift coils. So any wise words of wisdom before I go one way or the other? because I don't really like have to do things twice

Cheers Tassie KZJ

 

[niwde11]

x2 for OME castor correction bushes grenading themselves prematurely. Mine blew up after just a year. I'm trying SuperPro now and they seem to be holding together much better. I've only had them on for 6 months but have given them some serious abuse. About 50% of my driving is off-pavement and the other 50% is on crappy pavement. I'd say I average about 2 hours per day driving.

hey tol, where did you get SuperPro caster correction?

 

[kzj78]

Yes Tassie, the 65mm went in the rear. With the 45mm heavy in the front, it almost seems to sit too high in the front without any load and most definitely when I have people or tools in the back row. I am actually a bit disappointed with the setup right now. I wish I had the extra 10mm in th rear or a more heavy duty spring @ 65mm.

Night time now for me but if you still want the measurement after reading this let me know and I will get it for you tomorrow.
Samir

 

[Tassie KZJ78]

Yes Tassie, the 65mm went in the rear. With the 45mm heavy in the front, it almost seems to sit too high in the front without any load and most definitely when I have people or tools in the back row. I am actually a bit disappointed with the setup right now. I wish I had the extra 10mm in th rear or a more heavy duty spring @ 65mm.

Night time now for me but if you still want the measurement after reading this let me know and I will get it for you tomorrow.
Samir

Yeah I'd still love the measurements, does the rear drop a fair bit when loaded up? I have a set of drawers in the rear that carry's most of my tools & recovery gear. The bigger question is does it flex alot better than the factory set up? Did remove the sway bars or drop the mounts by 2"?

 

[oldblue]

I to had the same problem with heavy duty springs (to hard rideing) in the front which raised the Prado approx 50mm.
H Duty springs were 16mm wire size, measured the length of the HD spring in the Prado, then had new coils made from 15mm wire size and 40mm longer , when fitted, the Prado sat level and the coils are 30% softer, A big improvement to the ride