100 Series Suspension / Shock Absorber question

[Rando]

I have a 2000 Land Cruiser that I have converted to a pop-top camper, and I had a couple of questions about improving the stock suspension. The vehicle is 200 - 400 pounds above the stock empty weight with the pop top, a 60L water tank and a heavier rear bumper - and as a result we are seeing some sag in the back end with the original shocks/springs all around. My question is, what would be the best way to regain the stock ride height (or slightly above), without stiffening the cushy ride more than necessary. As with most 'expo' style vehicles, we see a lot of highway, a fair amount of gravel/washboard road and occasionally some more serious 4wd only roads.

Currently I am considering either sticking with the stock springs, adding air bags, and replacing the stock shocks with bilsteins or something similar. Another option would be the Slee "Medium Load 1.5" COMFORT - Level Stance Lift Kit" or a similar option from Iron Man. I am a little wary of going to a full blown ARB Heavy setup and sacrificing the nice ride on highway/wash board roads for beter 4wd performance, when very rough roads are only a small fraction of the total time in the vehicle. Any thoughts on these options?

 

[NM-Frontier]

The medium set up looks like the way to go, from my experience its better to be on the stiff side to better handle the weight when loaded then the other way around. But more importantly, we have got to see more of your pop top! Details please!:sombrero:

 

[LexusAllTerrain]

The medium set up looks like the way to go, from my experience its better to be on the stiff side to better handle the weight when loaded then the other way around. But more importantly, we have got to see more of your pop top! Details please!:sombrero:

X2 on the pictures!:sombrero:, I went with the medium springs and after some weight I wish I had the heavy springs, I was like you did not wanted to have a stiff ride, however I found the OME the perfect suspension upgrade for my needs!

 

[mph]

I run heavy...no problem...great ride

 

[Rando]

Thanks for the input, it sounds like the OME either medium or heavy setup does not have as much of a negative impact on the ride quality as I had thought. Sorry I don't have much more in the way of pictures - I need to get around to taking some more one of these days, here is one other I have:

 

[NM-Frontier]

Looks good! I'm sure every one on here would love to see a build thread on this! Thanks for sharing. As stated above you can't go wrong with the OME set up.

 

[Rando]

Thanks for all the replies on this so far. I am going to do the rear end this weekend, and am still in analysis-paralysis on how to do this. I have read several discussions on other boards about people who have installed the OME kits (either medium (865) or heavy (866) with nitro charger sport shocks) and have found the ride unacceptably firm (or harsh) afterwards, and end up going back to a stock setup. Allthough this is a totally subjective assessment it has me worried. I really prefer the softer ride of the stock setup, however I need to regain the 1-2" if height I have lost from the rear of the vehicle. At this point I think I have decided that I will replace the shocks with new toyota OEM shocks (which are cheap!), and either:

a) get a set of OME 865's for the rear or
b) keep the stock springs, add a 30mm spacer and airbags.

I have already ordered the airbags, and by most accounts it sounds like they would work in the 865's as well if I need some more load handling with those when fully loaded with full water tanks etc. It also sounds as if at least some of the harshness from the OME setup comes from the OME nitrocharger shocks, so sticking with fresh toyota shocks may be the answer.

Any thoughts on either of these approaches?

Just to explain my obsession a little more - my preference for the softer ride is amplified because my LandCruiser has a full camper setup in the back (cabinets, drawers, sink, fridge etc) and there is really no way to make this totally rattle free. However the current cushy ride means that it is pretty much rattle free on the pavement - I really don't want to stiffen things up to the point where the camper rattles over every highway joint. I also promise that after the next trip I will take some more photos of the beast!

 

[nfranco]

Give Kurt at cruiseroutfitters.com a call.
He has been great about helping get the right setup for our truck.

 

[wesel123]

Brother....where did you get the pop top done?????

I have a heavy set up in the rear as well. I run 864's and just recently added air bags as the 864's were not enough with a full load out. The ride is NOT harsh at all. OME has done their homework, the spring rates and ride quality are spot on.

The Arilift 1000's are great I used part number 60733 and left 1" of the stock bump-stops in place. You can also run the 60744, these are 1" taller than the 60733 but the diameter is the required 5.5" if you wanted to remove the stock bump-stops

 

[Rando]

Thanks all for all the advice. I ended up taking the middle route - OME 865's in the rear with AirLift 1000 bags and new Toyota OEM shocks all around. With my tanks empty and 10PSI in the bags, I went from 18.5 to 21" in the rear, which is just about what I wanted. I will leave the torsion bars alone for now while I wait for the rear springs to settle in a little. I may need to crank them a little eventually, as i have almost 2" of rake right now. If I really concentrate I think I can feel the road a little more in the rear than the front, but it is certainly not major. I will update this once I have been on some trips.

P.S. the pop top is entirely home done out of aluminium. I cut the roof behind the fron row of seats, and have a slide out bed up top and a couch/bed down below on the DS with a fridge/stove/sink/propex on the PS. It is still a work on progress but I really need to take some photos!