OME suspension lift

[toymad80 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close toymad80]

suspension 120 series

You need to extend bump stops by 40mm, now when fully flexed upwards with 300-400 kgs in back, the diff sits on the stop and still has about 20-25mm left in the shock before it bottoms out. This stop also helps keep the 285's off the inner guard when there on!!!! The ome's had 45mm left in them when on the stop(thats if you could get the diff to touch the stop)

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

I'm going with an OME suspension upgrade - to be fitted this weekend.

During a bit of Pradopoint browsing I noticed the 90's lads demonstrating their flex ...

So ... pre - lift - I figured I'd get the ramps and the camera out and have a play. The Prado currently has standard suspension - the rear is assisted by a set of Polyair bags with 5 psi - the front is standard with bar and dual battery - and has sagged noticeably.

You can see, in the pics, that the rear articulates quite nicely while the front IFS fights to keep everything level.




















The next batch of pics should include some action shots of the kit going in and another play on the ramps to see how much difference there is.

Cheers
Chippy

[leachy_9 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close leachy_9]

Chippy,

Steve (who is coming on the Holland track) has +40mm OME in his 120 Prado as is very happy with it.

Leachy

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

Cool.

I'm just getting tired of levelling out the tracks for you guys. After I've been through it must be like driving on a freshly graded road :lol:

That and the OEM bashplates and I keep arguing about what shape they should be. Clouted the front one yesterday - wound up taking it off, when I got home, and rearranging it's shape with a hammer ops:

Cheers
Chippy

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

chippy hows da lift make ya beast handle. i found that it mine handles alot better on the black and offroad well it speaks for itself. just interested in a comparison as i have a 2inch inronman medium lift fitted and the ironman lift fitted down here was $471 cheaper than ome. As arb newcastle charge $1530 for a medium/heavy install including wheel alignment. ironman rides a little harder than standard but thats to be expected, im very happy as my choice was price driven if ya know what i mean

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

Hi all

It's done. The OME lift is fitted. The Brother in law is a Toyota 4WD mechanic and sourced the full kit for me. His assistance was invaluable in fitting the kit and his home workshop is better fitted out than most mechanic's workshops - even if it is a 2 hour drive away.

The front scores OME 884 springs and the N140S strut.
The rear scores OME 896 springs and the N142 shock.
The kit also icluded the steel stone guards for the rear shocks.

The front has really sagged. We started the day with 690 mm on the left front and 710 mm on the right. The rear started at 765 on the left and 770 on the right - with 5 psi in the polyairs, 180 L of fuel on board and an extra spare on the roof rack. The polyairs have done an awesome job - after lugging the CT all the way around the country and keeping the rear nice and tight. In contrast the front has literally *shit itself*. An alloy bar and dual battery, added to a long haul and a range of road surfaces, have caused the front to sag too low - hence the need to get further away from the planet's surface :lol:

We started by jacking up the rear end and putting a pair of 5 ton stands under the chassis rails, allowing the diff to reach full droop.









Disconnect the sway bar link on each side.



Also disconnect the panhard rod on the passenger side.



The old stuff just jumped out and the new bits were out of the box an in place before we could blink. It was like they just wanted to be there.





These stone guards are really cool. An easy fit and they look and feel pretty strong.





Now that's what a lift should look like :lol: :lol:
It's OK - took the jack stands away and lowered the car after the pic.
You know you're on the right track when you can fit the box, that the springs came in, under the side step. :lol:





Now here's where it got interesting. We dropped the front bash plate and took the entire sway bar out - from the link rods to the chassis mounts.

We also took out the two bolts on the lower ball joint mount. This allowed more room to move.

The the bottom shockie bolt was removed and the three nuts at the top of the tower. Then the whole tower assembly was able to be removed.







We used some pretty flash, double grip, HD spring compressors to compress the springs and remove the top cap which is reused with the new OME strut. It was only when we tried using the same method to compress the new springs that we came unstuck. I had initially tried to grab too many winds of the coil in one bite and we physically couldn't anchor the unit solidly enough to be able to do up the compressors. We wound up only grabbing 4 winds of the coil, pulling it in until we could get the washer and nut on top (forget the rubber bush) and putting the whole unit in the car. Then, by jacking up the lower wishbone we were able to replace the top nut and washer with the full bush assembly. No stress.







Looks a lot cleaner in here too.



Left front ...





Aaaahhh ... that looks better.

Be interesting to see how much they settle over the next few weeks.



The fronts now measure 810 mm from the bottom of the rim to the underside of the guard - that's 120 mm higher than this morning's measure. This is a 50 mm lift kit - that's 50 mm above standard - just goes to show how much the front had sagged.



The rears now measure 820 mm - with a full fuel load, 100 + Kgs of parts and crap in the back plus an extra spare on the roof.



I had to do a bit of cleaning up under here too - You can stand at the front of the car and see the bottom edge of the bar - only ever previously seen while lying under the front.



There's certainly a bit more clearance under here.



This FM aerial is my measuring stick - it sits 50 mm higher than the top rail of the roof rack. It now sits 5 mm clear of the carport ceiling but touches on that little metal lip on the way in.



Next job is to take it in for a wheel alignment first thing in the morning.

But even without the alignment it drives like a new car - and I'm really pleased I don't suffer from vertigo - it feels so high up. It's quite comfortabe and predictable on bumpy back roads and has less body roll now than it did before. I had always though that as you went higher you got more body roll - but it just goes to show what a good suspension kit can do. I can't wait to see how it drives after the wheel alignment. :lol: :lol:

Final cost: $930 plus $60 for a wheel balance and alignment.
Half a day working on my Prado.
Half a day helping the brother in law get his Hilux Surf ready for our Holland Track trip next weekend.

My opinion - time and money well spent.

Cheers
Chippy

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

Well done chippy, now the only thing that makes our cars different is your roof rack. The OME lift really does make a huge difference dont it ... :shock: :wink: :lol:

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

It was quite amazing on the trip home - it felt like I had gone and fitted a monster lift - just the difference it made between the sagged front end and the new lift.

The perspective, from inside the car, is that you are driving up a hill - that's how much my brain had gotten used to the sag. The biggest advantage is that the headlights now line up beautifully - The beams shine straight through the rear window, of Hyundai Excels, and straight out the front windscreen - illimunating the road in front :shock: 8) :lol:

I've just got to go and visit a few local shopping centres and make sure I can still fit - although the thought of saying, "Sorry dear - you'll have to take the Astra shopping" - really is kind of appealing. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Cheers
Chippy

[Addy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Addy]

Looks great Chippy, Any reason as to why you did not put the polyairs back in well not that i could see?

Did you go mad with the black spray paint on the chassis rail.

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

Looks great Chippy, Any reason as to why you did not put the polyairs back in well not that i could see?

Did you go mad with the black spray paint on the chassis rail.

The polyairs that were in there were the part no: for the standard height springs. I actually need a different set for the lifted springs but, since installing the polyairs is such an easy job, I thought I would run without them for a while and see what difference just the spring / shock combo would make.

As for how clean it looks - I hit some of the bolts with CRC and when I was wiping it off there was clean metal underneath. So I hit the rest of the wheel arch with it and gave it a good wipe down. Didn't know there was clean metal under there - I thought these things came with a layer of sound deadening mud. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Cheers
Chippy

[Snaga Wishing I was lost Find all posts View Profile Close Snaga]

Looks great Chippy!!

It's a good feeling getting back in after the lift has been done isn't it. I was driving a Carolla rental for a week and then hopped or should I say climbed into mine and thought... holly crap!! I've lifted it too much !!

I have only found one carpark in Brisbane that I can no longer use... it's 1.9mts and I'm now at 1.93mts :twisted: ... mind you, even the hotel carpark on the weekend felt low and it was 2.05mts :shock:

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

Just thought it was worth a look at the before and after pics ....





It's even cool how a suspension upgrade makes the whole car look so much cleaner :lol: :lol: :lol:

Cheers
Chippy

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

Took the Prado (OK - and the family) for a little picnic today in the forrest between Jarrahdale and Boddington. There's some great little tracks in there ... and it was a great excuse to try out the suspension.

Holy crap Batman ... it handles like a dream on the blacktop ... 110 (and maybe a little more ) and sticks to the road like baby's crap on a blanket.

Fast gravel, corrugations and ruts - handled with ease - it just feels so sure footed, without the nauseous rocking and rolling of before. Some water, mud and finding ways around fallen trees - all too easy.

Gee I love this setup.

Cheers
Chippy

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

Nup, not a single one!

Truth is ... I forgot the bloody thing ops: ops: ops:

Cheers
Chippy

[Damien Parker Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Damien Parker]

Well gents, given Chippy's success with the set up.

I will be fitting the same kit to my vehicle this weekend

It come down to the cost and the fact that the wife said i can spend this much now or nothing till this time next year... :shock:

I guess life is all about compromise. That and necessity being the mother of all invention.