To Lift - or not to lift, that is the Question!

[Niceone Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Niceone]

Mrs Niceone here, signing in with the million dollar question

Shockies and springs are to be replaced and Niceone left town with the words ringing in my ears 'whatever you want darling, just book it in and...'. Ah yes well errrr, no pressure right?

So to set the scene - car is used as my drive car, which means that its my tow car for the neddies, dear lord yes I'm one of 'them' and yes when Niceone gets in it we go off road, yet to get it on the sand. Currently has standard suspension under it which is fine with the horse float on.

Niceone' brother just so happens to manage a 4x4 accessory shop so of course is gunning for a 2" lift kit. I'm not so convinced, thinking that I don't need the extra height to climb in, amongst other things

So advice and thoughts please - BIL is eagerly awaiting my phone call....

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

If you intend to do tracks etc then a lift is a good idea else you be dragging the underbelly in the ruts of all the lifted vehicles that have been there before you.

I found with koni shocks and king raised springs the handling of the car and the ride is much better than the standard wallowing.

Cheers Leigh

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

Other than being a bit taller to get into the downsides of a 2" lift are pretty minimal, the upsides are large if you intend to do even some mild off road. Just make sure you get the springs matched to your normal load and you wont look back.

Cheers Andrew

[120D4D Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 120D4D]

Hi MrsNiceone,

I would imaging the loaded horsefloat has some weight to it so I'll play the safety card - yes I think a lift is necessary, at least a set of polyairs (pp supporter too) to arrest the rear end sag. The existing suspension is proabably very soft and wallowing so go for the lift!

[SWR Banned Find all posts View Profile Close SWR]

Gday Niceone

I did the lift to my mine because i thought it looked cool but more importantly i was fed up with it bottoming out on the front suspension bump stops!

After doing the suspension lift kit (After doing plenty of research on lift kit option's) i chose the Old Man Emu kit and the first thing i noticed was that the Prado's cornering and road stability was outstanding!

I figure if you are worried about the extra height with climbing in the Prado i would believe it would be a minimal concern compared to mounting a horse? .. lol

I have now done over 77,000km & 3 x yrs (Rig has over 167,00km on it too date) on my Emu's and still running the original factory sway bar bushes/ wishbone bushes & all of the front inner/outer CV boot's are still bone dry to date (Not ripped/split or weeping).

My rig is also factory stock apart from the factory sovereign alloy bull bar. (No duel battery/winch or cargo storage etc).

I assume your float is a twin axle so if you are running the factory toe-bar then i would change the toe-bar tongue to one that sits 2" lower (With the 2" suspension lift fitted) then that will reduce the float from pulling the rear of the Prado down when it is hitched as twin axle floats insist on sitting square on the road

Obviously airbags on the rear is a good option for picking the ass of the rig back up for heavy loads but i am running on the fact that you was happy with stock system before considering an up-grade!

I have dragged a 2 x tonne tail-lift on the back of mine fully loaded and was very happy with its road stability.

Cheers

[Niceone Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Niceone]

OK please explain Loaded the float is around the 1800kg, sits level with the car atm. If we put a lift kit on, we'll have to put a drop down tow ball on the (HR) bar won't we? What difference would it make to towing? Love how stable it feels on road now and a little worried that by going up that couple of inches that I'll feel more unstable in its handling on the road?

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

Car won't roll as much with after market suspension, feels much more stable and responsive,
I doubt you would notice the 50mm in crease with regards to the trailer.

I would go for for raised springs in the rear with airbags and not raised heavy duty as the heavy duty may make the rear ride a little harsh, assuming you intend to load the rear. If you don't
intend to carry any rear weight in the rear then just go with the raised coils.

[SWR Banned Find all posts View Profile Close SWR]

Gday Niceone

OK please explain Loaded the float is around the 1800kg, sits level with the car atm.

The advantage of the 2" lowering of the toe bar tongue is that it is compensating for the rig total height!

EG: you lift the rig 2" then you lower the toe ball 2" ... Reduces the odds of the trailer from dragging the rear of the rig down

This will not effect the the handling of the rig at all but you would be compensating for the height of the rig being lifted and will not effect the centre of gravity of the rig as it will actually be an improvement over the stock OEM suspension set-up!

Ask anyone who has upgraded there suspension over OEM and the first thing they notice is that the rig actually has better road holding/ Cornering/ Clearance & stability compared to the stock OEM system as the stock OEM is a tad spongy and tends to wonder into corners compared to an upgrade

Here is a link below to what suspension i chose but there is an abundance of option's for different brands! .. Personnel choice really!..... I was driven by cheaper option!! Lol

OME suspension lift

The only thing i would advise you to change on the choice i made would be to change the front shockies (Nitro - 90000) to the none nitro's as they are a tad firm if you don't like the hard ride but the choice i made was perfect for me!

Cheers

[brooksy78 Member Find all posts View Profile Close brooksy78]

Bilsteins and King or Dobinson springs. Works a treat!

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

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to sit too low
The rocks and mudpits of outrageous magnitude,
Or to take arms against a range of terrains,
And by opposing end them? With a lift of 2” or more

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

Hi Mrs Niceone.

Here is my story.

I installed a Tough Dog adjustable (front and rear) 2" lift, recently as my old shocks were leaking.
I had help doing the fronts, its a bugger of a job..
I installed longer travel shocks (part numbers on request) and heavy duty springs up front, as I have dual battery, bullbar etc.. but only put medium springs in the rear as I do not tow all the time, and no load and heavy duty springs makes for an uncomfortable ride. I chose to get airbags in the rear, to pump up and level the ride when towing.

As others have said, the performance of after market suspension will outshine to original stuff, by far.
And having the adjustable shocks front and rear, allows me to soften when off road, but on the blacktop, I can tighten them up to a degree Commodore drivers would envy.

Lift or no lift?

Go with the lift (with airbags), especially with the horse float, no more saggy bum..

[Guest Close Guest]

Kings do standard height springs as well but they are 30% stiffer than factory (which is a good thing) . Match that with better damping shocks and it will handle much better.

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

Well I thought it was humorous....

[Niceone Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Niceone]

Hehehe.... guess who has been checking in to watch this thread....think that you've all convinced Niceone that we need height.

amts it may well be the Kings that the BIL was going to put on if we don't lift it as he mentioned the 30%, Niceone will know (as I'm not up with the brands) just not sure if he has figured out how to log in and post from the phone!

I'll get Niceone to have another chat with the BIL about the ride/airbags etc, see what we can come up with, Cheers

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

I've had two 90 series and had OME (Arb) in both. The ride quality will leave the standard set up for dead. Smother, less wallowing, and if towing will definately make it more stable due to it not wallowing about. I have had both 90's loaded including towing as fully loaded camper and the ride was superb. I actually have TJM on at the moment and find it a bit soft when loads and even my wife has commented that it seems a bit floaty with TJM but I am talking about two different vehicles here. When I change vehicles it will be ARB again. Both brands I'm referring to also is 2 inch lift.... Cheers Steve