Is Standard Suspension Good Enough for Simpson trip

[outback1 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close outback1]

G'day all,
Intend to travel to Alice late May from Melb via Simpson, tour surrounding areas and head up Binns track. (approx 8 weeks )Will have roof top tent and fully loaded internal with the usuals, food etc, recovery gear, I have alloy bullbar with superwinch, 2006 D4D appox 60k . Question is the standard suspension good enough to get us through? is a lift really required? and if so do i get this done prior to fitting new tyres. current grandtreks just about gone. Wife uses as daily car mainly on black stuff apart from annual trips.
Any advice much appreciated
Greg

[Guest Close Guest]

Re: Is Standard Good Enough

Moved to correct area.

I would have thought the standard suspension would already be suffering massively with the access you have on?

Having a raised height would be helpful thru the Simpson.

[rhs58 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close rhs58]

Re: Is Standard Suspension Good Enough for Simpson trip

Agree with TP.

[lc120_man Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close lc120_man]

Re: Is Standard Suspension Good Enough for Simpson trip

While it is possible to make it through with standard suspension, you'll be dragging the car's bottom on the the most dunes
and have to travel much slower as it will be quite bouncy compare to heavier raised springs... The order of fitting springs/tyres is not much
important proving both are done before the trip.

[outback1 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close outback1]

Re: Is Standard Suspension Good Enough for Simpson trip

Thanks guys, does a change to the suspension /lift alter factory warranty?

[Guest Close Guest]

Re: Is Standard Suspension Good Enough for Simpson trip

You will need to confirm that with your dealer. I have it in writing that all my mods do not change my warranty.

[outback1 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close outback1]

Re: Is Standard Suspension Good Enough for Simpson trip

Thanks for your 4 cents worth input. What type of suspension did you use? what should i steer clear of?
Greg

[rhs58 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close rhs58]

Re: Is Standard Suspension Good Enough for Simpson trip

What type of suspension did you use?

My brother-in -law and I (and families) crossed Simpson in July.
He has a Landcruiser 100, I have a Prado 120.
Both (independently) researched and went with ARB's Old Man Emu suspension upgrades.
Both happy with our choices, and we had no problems with load carrying or ride.
You'll find lots of threads in the suspension forum...good luck....probably end up quite bewildered by the choices, like I did.
For the record, on my Prado I have OME 884/140S front and 896/142 rear.
(if I had life over, I'd go 895/141 rear for a slightly less firm ride at the back, especially when not loaded for touring.
In the end I chose OME because i had the right contact at ARB, and the price was "mate's rates". :wink:

[Auto-Craft Inactive Find all posts View Profile Close Auto-Craft]

Re: Is Standard Suspension Good Enough for Simpson trip

I doubt the standard suspension would be adequate.

The stress cracking issues the prado sees are also seen in mostly prado's used heavy offroad, with standard suspension, caused by hitting the bumpstops.

For the record, we remove more OME than any other brand to go Bilstein Platinum, where having to spend twice to get what was expected, when using the vehicle off road, we have boxes of second hand prado aftermarket stuff here.

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

Re: Is Standard Suspension Good Enough for Simpson trip

For the record, we remove more OME than any other brand to go Bilstein Platinum, where having to spend twice to get what was expected, when using the vehicle off road, we have boxes of second hand prado aftermarket stuff here.

Darren,

What is it that people are finding inadequate about the OME setup that they are replacing them? Is it a short lifespan issue on the OME's or a more general dissatisfaction with how the OME handles off-road terrain?

Cheers,
Jeff

[stephenvsl Member Find all posts View Profile Close stephenvsl]

Re: Is Standard Suspension Good Enough for Simpson trip

G'day all,
Intend to travel to Alice late May from Melb via Simpson, tour surrounding areas and head up Binns track. (approx 8 weeks )Will have roof top tent and fully loaded internal with the usuals, food etc, recovery gear, I have alloy bullbar with superwinch, 2006 D4D appox 60k . Question is the standard suspension good enough to get us through? is a lift really required? and if so do i get this done prior to fitting new tyres. current grandtreks just about gone. Wife uses as daily car mainly on black stuff apart from annual trips.
Any advice much appreciated
Greg

Might be worth talking with the guys at the Birdsville Servo, they would have seen hundreds of Prados come through and would know how they handle the conditions and what the common problems (if any) are. We visited Innaminka some years ago and I asked the guy who did some tyre repairs for us what he saw come through there as common problems. He was quite critical of aftermarket anything. His view was that the major manufacturers spend years working on their suspension set-ups testing them in many extreme situations and that you'd have to be pretty certain what you were getting was better for your vehicle. He was particularly critical of afetrmarket water tanks etc, a lot of which just shake off. This is not to be critical of those who have upgraded their suspension and I acknowledge that some folks have had problems with their standard suspension - particularly the shocks.

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

Re: Is Standard Suspension Good Enough for Simpson trip

For the record, we remove more OME than any other brand to go Bilstein Platinum, where having to spend twice to get what was expected, when using the vehicle off road, we have boxes of second hand prado aftermarket stuff here.

Darren,

What is it that people are finding inadequate about the OME setup that they are replacing them? Is it a short lifespan issue on the OME's or a more general dissatisfaction with how the OME handles off-road terrain?

Cheers,
Jeff

I'll be keen to see the response to this as I too was leaning toward OME suspension as I am in much the same situation as rhs58, mate's rates wise.

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

Re: Is Standard Suspension Good Enough for Simpson trip

Two very important aspects of "off-road" driving which many, many 4Wd drivers rarely pay attention to that have a direct impact on suspension longevity (life) are:

1. Tyre pressure - reduce pressures when off the black top. This will soften the impact of corrugations and allow tyres to mould around stones, rocks, pot holes, etc.

2. Reduce speed - We get these idiots driving at 120 - 140kph along such roads as Great Central Rd, Tanami Rd, etc.

Not only do they wreck shocks, which in turn wreck springs when they fail, but they crack diff and axle housings, bust roof rack legs, fracture welds on roo and scrub bars, dislodge entire dashboards and numerous other internal fittings, loose their antennas and spot lights, spill battery acid, etc.
I did many off road adventures in my 95 series with standard coils and shocks. When the shocks failed I had Toyota replace them under warranty. I think I went through 3 sets before my warranty ran out and I went after market.

Of course the vehicle handles the off-road conditions a lot better with a decent set-up designed specially. Hence my 2 week old 120 series is getting a lift and some Bilsteins (but only because I can).

Drive to the conditions, recognise your weaknesses, and your gear will last longer.

[uk_vette Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close uk_vette]

Re: Is Standard Suspension Good Enough for Simpson trip

(1) Only do such a big trip if prepared.

(2) Stock suspension ? - Well, my stock rubbish lasted about 30,000 kms of nice smooth tar work. The first real basic off road trip, I blew two front shockies and the rest of the suspension didn't handle the tracks real well.

My 4 cents :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

..
.
.
Hello pradogxlV6,
how did you manage to wreck your standard shocks so quick !?
If you were on tarmac?
OK, you did a few km's off road.

I have around 340,000km's on my June 2005 prado D4-d
All tarmac, no off road any where.
No, not a typo, the dot is in the right place. 340,000km's
Original shocks, springs, infact, the only changed part was a front rubber drivers CV boot, and last month I replaced the alternator.

Before I do our drive from UK to Cape Town, September 2010, I will replace all four springs and shocks, with original Toyota stuff.
I did consider a spring lift, and longer shocks, but decided to maintain the original OEM stuff..
.
'vette

[stephenvsl Member Find all posts View Profile Close stephenvsl]

Re: Is Standard Suspension Good Enough for Simpson trip

Article here on a Simpson crossing by a standard Prado.

http://carsguide.news.com.au/site/ne...class_comfort/