shocks

[scrubby Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close scrubby]

Hey scrubby,

Most after market coils will give a lift compared to the factory coils, for instance see here;

http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...857#post546857

Many after market manufacturers also make "factory" oem replacement coils which are supposed to give the same factory ride height, but which rarely do.

As far as I'm aware, the rear suspension geometry of the 3-door 150 is the same as the long wheel base version.

The KTRS-102 is 365mm free length, 260lb/in compared to the factory rear coils of 375mm and 212lb/in, so getting over 60mm of lift from the KTRS-102 seems unusual, are you certain about the lift it gave?

It is possible the 3-door uses a different rear OEM coil, do you have your original factory coils by chance? It is straight forward to determine their spring rate.

Best

Mark

Hi Mark,

My numbers are written down somewhere, , but I will uncover them eventually. It's trying to remember back to January 2013 that's the issue here. But I do remember that with the King's front and rear, the back end, unloaded, was much higher than the front. The running board was sloping upwards to the rear alarmingly! But after experimenting a bit I ended up with 20-30mm increase in ride height and the spring and shocker combination stopped the pitching and rolling and pretty much eliminated the hopping around on corrugations. The ZR had 58,000km on it when I bought it, and is now on 112,000km and I've had little complaint in the 50k or more since changing the springs and shockers. Yes, I do still have the original springs.
Regards, Rob

[Foxy48 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Foxy48]

Thank you people for your suggestions , I see on Ebay they are selling Kings . A question, Whitey, Why would you go softer in the front as that seems to be where the most forward motion is when breaking and such as against a harder spring set . I can understand the rear set no worries . I really don't want to go a lift as I have been there and I'm getting a little older as well . Access is a concern now as old injuries are starting to take a toll . Anyway I will look at all your suggestions and prices as that is also a factor now . I understand the old adage you only get what you pay for .Just a quick side line Have any of you had your clock springs done under a recall as I see there has been one since 23 April 2014 build up to 06/2010 SWB's ?? Cheers foxy

[Guest Close Guest]

We are talking about the shorty here. I haven't got my numbers to hand but if I recall correctly they gave over 60mm lift when I didn't want any lift at all necessarily.

Was that the KTRS-102 or KTRR-102?

[Whitey Shockie Maker of the Month Award Find all posts View Profile Close Whitey]

Was that the KTRS-102 or KTRR-102?

Hey amts,

That might explain it, 25mm difference in free height, which gets added directly to the lift in a 1:1 motion ratio in the rear.

Best

Mark

[Whitey Shockie Maker of the Month Award Find all posts View Profile Close Whitey]

Hi Mark,

My numbers are written down somewhere, , but I will uncover them eventually. It's trying to remember back to January 2013 that's the issue here. But I do remember that with the King's front and rear, the back end, unloaded, was much higher than the front. The running board was sloping upwards to the rear alarmingly! But after experimenting a bit I ended up with 20-30mm increase in ride height and the spring and shocker combination stopped the pitching and rolling and pretty much eliminated the hopping around on corrugations. The ZR had 58,000km on it when I bought it, and is now on 112,000km and I've had little complaint in the 50k or more since changing the springs and shockers. Yes, I do still have the original springs.
Regards, Rob

Hey Rob,

Would you mind measuring the free height of your rear factory coils....just to confirm they are around 375mm??

Thanks mate!

Best

Mark

[Whitey Shockie Maker of the Month Award Find all posts View Profile Close Whitey]

A question, Whitey, Why would you go softer in the front as that seems to be where the most forward motion is when breaking and such as against a harder spring set.

Hey Foxy,

I'd say your front struts might have lost some of their valving, and this is also contributing to the nose diving under breaking. Tyres can also be a big factor with nose diving.

The front OEM coil springs in the 150 are the stiffest out of all the 120/150/FJ/Hilux IFS, and are somewhere in between 750-825lb/in, depending on whether you have a diesel or a petrol.

As such, the front 150 struts have to work the hardest to control the motion of the very stiff front coils, so if they are compressing easily, then there prolly isn't much compression valving left in your struts.

If you take a look at the following plot;

http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...857#post546857

...you'll see that many 150 drivers run front coils that are up to 160lb/in lower than the factory spec coil rate.

If you have factory spec coils, 748/212, you can never get the front:rear suspension frequency ratio better than 1:1, meaning you'll always get vehicle pitch.

By running after market coils, if you change the coil rate ratio to something like 660/270, then you will be able to get underneath 1:1 by at least a few percent and minimise the chance of vehicle pitch, and other undesirable motions like nose diving and lateral body roll.

If you put in Bilstein struts, with their monotube floating piston design you should theoretically never lose any valving performance.

I'm sure once you put in new front struts and coils you'll see a big change in ride handling.

Hope this helps you out!

Best

Mark

[scrubby Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close scrubby]

Hey Rob,

Would you mind measuring the free height of your rear factory coils....just to confirm they are around 375mm??

Thanks mate!



Best

Mark

The OEM rear coils are 370mm and had travelled about 60,000km when I replaced them. The Kings springs that gave the BIG lift were the KTRS-102. (Unless they were mis-labelled KTRR-102.) I also tried (at King's suggestion) their progressive KTPR-102; with them the softer end of the spring was fully compressed with no load but I don't remember what the body height was. I didn't try the KTRL-102 because Kings said they would be too low anyway. At that point I switched to the Dobinson's C59-323 and was happy with the result. I still can't find the various height numbers that I measured at the time but I vaguely recall the free length of the King's springs was about 390 mm. Not sure though.

With the King's KTFS-101 springs in front and and ARB Sahara Bar, the measured height from hub centre to wheel arch is 510mm. The back is 580mm unladen, with the Dobinsons C59-323. I'm happy with both the unloaded and fully laden handling, though a stiffer rear stabiliser bar would be nice. At the expense of some articulation it would reduce the understeer and make turn-in a bit more positive. But I'm quite happy pottering around at or below speed limits these days. When I purchased the little shorty it hopped around on corrugations, wallowed like a pig on the bitumen, and pitched dreadfully under brakes. All gone now. But when I replace the shockers, let's say with Bilsteins, I will think seriously about Dobinson's C59-350 springs in front for maybe a smidge more height.

Regards,
Rob

[Foxy48 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Foxy48]

Hi Whitey , Mate my shortie has stock standard suspension and she has done 114 K . She has done a fair bit of towing and off road work as well but not too heavy Looking at what you have suggested and others seem to feel that the Bilsteins are the way to go. BTW I have a ARB steel bull-bar on board as well so that too would contribute to the wollowing as well . Thank you all Cheers Foxy