Off Road Suspension

[Gaurav]

Real king of logic in sand is power to weight ratio, which nobody talk or mention as you cant do much on that, clubbed with minor variables with tires, suspension, bash plate, exhaust, air flow etc. But sadly every car mod provider make it sound like that 1% variable will make all the difference in faya climb.

And when you fail after buying there product, they will simply put back on your car is too old, underpowered, previously abused engine etc. Been there done that x 3 times.

Btw just to put in perspective role of suspension will help you climb faya easily and not any higher or substantially higher.

Two year back me and Sri climbed Moreeb and he was little below my car height and this year we tried again and he was little bit above as he recently changed the suspension and had much better grip to climb. To put in numbers it was like 60% vs 62% height and not 92%.

[topgear]

@Gaurav thanks for the practical and sensible advice that are fully backed up by personal experience and facts

[Niki]

@Ahab Shamaa @Ale Vallecchi - you both have very recent suspension upgrades, when ready, please do share your respective experiences.  I am hitting that moment where I feel 'limitations' with my stock setup (mainly the front lean/clearance) 

Thank in advance

[Shehab Alawadhi]

@Niki Patel finally a post about suspensions.

1 I drive a pickup so I have rear leaf springs and everyone knows they are a pain in the A** (Exterra drivers and other tuck owners you know what im talking about) I cant relate to your car @Niki Patel but I have been doing my own research for suspensions but have been hitting a wall with just biased opinions from people and garages so I haven't made my mind up yet on which ones to get, which stage to get, or even what each stage means.

2 @Gaurav mentioned about changing small things when you car is hitting a wall while off roading, thankfully I haven't hit any I guess its due to the sheer power of my car (yes you can be surprised what my car can do being this heavy and practically stock). However everyone knows when traversing the desert you will eventually drive over other peoples tracks and therefore make your ride bumpy (if you have leaf springs its even more so) and you will lose traction and momentum. I wouldn't say that this is a wall my car is hitting but it does get annoying on the faster paced drives. 

3 if any truck drivers could recommend or give an opinion about some possible shock upgrades it would be fantastic so i could look into something specific and not just randomly search the internet by typing "F150 suspension"

4 The reason for my interest in changing my suspensions is to just make the ride in the desert smoother while going over areas that are frequently traversed. I wouldn't mind sacrificing my comfort on the road for more comfort in the desert, I basically am in the desert every other day 🤣

See you all soon Inshallah!

[Alex Raptor]

@Shehab Alawadhiyou’ve got me started, The F150 I think, is the world's most popular truck, selling over 2,000 trucks per day, the suspension options are limitless. My issue is warranty, we don't have any real legal precedent here in the UAE on proving whether a component change was directly responsible for a failure on something on the truck, whereas in the USA, the onus is on the dealer and brand to prove that your modification caused the failure (Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act). I think you have the same 3-5 year warranty I have on the Raptor, and I have been told that any changes to the suspension will effectively cancel any warranty for suspension, axles, drivetrain and engine. A 2 inch lift on the F150 or Raptor would be great, a bit more travel offered by the FOX kits would be great, but I don't know if it is worth it until our warranties expire. Also some suspension upgrades require rebuilds at certain intervals, thus adding to the cost. Just FYI, I looked into Fox 3.0 suspension, deever springs and hydraulic bump stops with upper control arms and it was looking close to 60,000 AED. I don't see myself partaking in any desert activity that would require that sort of setup with my daily driver. From my research our leaf springs will eventually flatten out and will need replacing, the shocks will need to be replaced as well, hopefully 5,000 km before the expiry of the warranty!!! You have already addressed your approach angle, which I am now looking at as well both front and rear, I don't think that can be seen as a warranty stopper. 

[Shehab Alawadhi]

@Watteau yea fair enough, I agree with you, there is a boat load of suspensions we can get for our car, I haven’t touched it because of the warranty. (Mine is about to end in like 15k Kms so I can wait till then) no way I’m spending that much on shocks. 60k I’ll just get a second car and turn that into a desert beast. But thanks a lot for the insight on the shock! Let’s talk some more about this in person.

As for bumper green autoworks is the go to “iPhone” of garages, they are kinda pricey but their work is really good, or I could refer you to the Garage I did my bumper at. If you’d  like to talk let me know I’d be happy to help.

[Ale Vallecchi]

19 hours ago, Niki Patel said:

@Ahab Shamaa @Ale Vallecchi - you both have very recent suspension upgrades, when ready, please do share your respective experiences.  I am hitting that moment where I feel 'limitations' with my stock setup (mainly the front lean/clearance) 

Thank in advance

Hi @Niki Patel. My upgrade was minimal. I have installed my first front skid plate (I am a little slow on mods 😅), which lowered my clearance, not just from its thickness (1 cm), but also by the way it's modelled to reach way under the car. I felt it further slowed me down on ridges (considering the stock set up is OK, but also a bit low for sharp ridges), so I asked for the minimum available lift kit. They made me a good offer for a 2 inch Dobinson kit, which I had installed. I am still getting used to it, and have not yet drawn my final conclusions. From the comfort point of view, it's very minorly different from the stock one when on tarmac, so quite bearable (keeping in mind Gaurav's observations on the matter). I can let you know more as I get used to it, and see what difference the new set up makes with my driving.

[Lakshmi Narasimhan]

@Niki Patel, @Shehab AlawadhiI have recently installed TJM suspension lift kit with 2” lift on my Pajero which costed my AED 3010 inclusive of everything. Not much difference on road (no body roll, not that stiff), clearance is good.  I went for it mainly to change to AT tyres as it was touching the fenders. On sands performance improved because of AT tyres only. If clearance is one thing on mind then you can go for suspension and if you are planning to install skid plates, winch, roof rack(i am going for these) probably you can consider going for suspension lift kit to gain the clearance.

I have done 7 drives with the lift and new tyres and overall my performance only improved mainly bcs of tyres and getting close to getting used to it. So for the cost, performance its ok for me.

[Arman]

Here is my somewhat biased experience: i've done most of the spending on my car to solves current or potential problems, i think it makes sense....kinda like surgery on a human being right?.....my OEM shocks were 16 years old and despite them still being good enough for daily use they really werent doing much work offroad, especially over bumpy tracks where i would lose a lot of speed due to the wheels spending more time in the air than on the ground. There was also the issue of tyre rub on the fenders when crisscrossing.

Having added that 2inch lift now, the ride is definitely less comfortable on the road but it's not like it was comfortable to begin with 🤣. I kept things simple though, i  was afraid of the possibly of foaming in oil and hybrid shocks which would really make them stiff and the price of the exterior reservoir stuff and the need to cut bits off the car to fit them just didnt feel right (dont forget that more complication means more maintenance) so i went with tried and true Rancho air shocks, the offroad ride is much better and the on road ride is....well it didnt matter to being with it guess.

Things to keep in mind though as this sort of stuff can inflate your costs and down time quite a bit, Steering setups are made to operate within certain tolerances so going too tall or soft or hard might also mandate new steering otherwise you'll get some really funny behavior. There's also the issues of drive shafts, since they're a giant metal rod that spins they have a set length so making your car taller might require work on that end as well (looks into where you might need something like an SYE with whichever height you're thinking).

PS, if you do end up doing Driveshaft and Steering changes look for Zerks fitting parts, this makes it easier to maintain them so in the long run you'll have fewer issues (but this does mean some level of personal responsibility in maintaining the car and the Zerks as they will need to have grease pumped into them every 5-7 days for most people).

On 4/19/2021 at 4:59 PM, Watteau said:

@Shehab Alawadhiyou’ve got me started, The F150 I think, is the world's most popular truck, selling over 2,000 trucks per day, the suspension options are limitless. My issue is warranty, we don't have any real legal precedent here in the UAE on proving whether a component change was directly responsible for a failure on something on the truck, whereas in the USA, the onus is on the dealer and brand to prove that your modification caused the failure (Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act). I think you have the same 3-5 year warranty I have on the Raptor, and I have been told that any changes to the suspension will effectively cancel any warranty for suspension, axles, drivetrain and engine. A 2 inch lift on the F150 or Raptor would be great, a bit more travel offered by the FOX kits would be great, but I don't know if it is worth it until our warranties expire. Also some suspension upgrades require rebuilds at certain intervals, thus adding to the cost. Just FYI, I looked into Fox 3.0 suspension, deever springs and hydraulic bump stops with upper control arms and it was looking close to 60,000 AED. I don't see myself partaking in any desert activity that would require that sort of setup with my daily driver. From my research our leaf springs will eventually flatten out and will need replacing, the shocks will need to be replaced as well, hopefully 5,000 km before the expiry of the warranty!!! You have already addressed your approach angle, which I am now looking at as well both front and rear, I don't think that can be seen as a warranty stopper. 

This is where getting out of warranty, rusty lego boxes on wheels comes in handy 🤣😂🤣

[Luca Palanca Falsini]

Hi,

I am planning to put on my Fortuner a lift kit.

At the moment I choose the Ironman 4x4 foam pro suspensions price is around 4k.

The main reason is that are kind of approved by Toyota (found the stand on Toyota shop) and they proclaim to be the strongest (with similar price) because the foam technology.

Anyone had experience with that brand?