gait
Explorer
I can't find where I originally posted and described it (more than 18 months ago) and its difficult to recall the feeling with accuracy as one gets used to things over time.
Recollection is there was an improvement on all surfaces. Most noticeable was the reduction in jarring. It wasn't that I was bottoming the front suspension before change, just short sharp harsh jarring movement. Tolerable, but tiring. Driving at times involved reading the road to avoid the jarring, usually by varying speed.
As well as reduction (not removal) of jarring my parabolics have a "floatiness" feel to them. The first few days were taken with learning to guide the vehicle all over again rather than clench the steering wheel with white knuckles. Not that bad but you get the picture. Never a feeling of being out of control, just a tad less responsive. The floatiness is in the steering but also in vertical movement. More pitch than previous but very much not anywhere near being a concern.
Different surfaces have different characteristics. Concrete roads we hate. The undulations always seem to be at the wrong frequency for our vehicle regardless of the suspension. We had to exit the world's worst motorway in Slovenia. The joins are more tolerable with the parabolics but if you happen to be one of those people who blink when hearing a hammer close by then you'll know how tensing and tiring it can be. But even smooth new motorway asphalt was an improvement - we could travel further for more days and be less tired.
Another odd effect was the ridges of short sand dunes. With the original springs topping a rise the vehicle religiously followed the contour. With the parabolics I feel a detachment, a bit of a delay as the vehicle sort of overshoots while the wheels remain in contact, then the soft landing at the end of the descent. If I saw it on an oscilloscope I'd think in terms of smoothing a square wave to a sine wave. Not like a Daka truck getting into the air at the top, we are quite sedate in our travels. Most open road travel at around 80 km/hr with motorway up to 100 km/hr.
Corrugations are interesting. They not only vary with how the road or track has been made but also the terrain, the traffic volume, and the country. Then add the vehicle and the driver. For example, there's a vast difference between the corrugations created by a landcruiser sized vehicle accelerating through a corner up a hill and an 80 tonne truck/trailer traveling a straight road at 100 km/hr. I haven't traveled a North American washboard road, but I guess it will be different to the already different corrugations of central Africa, Aus, and Asia. They'll always be uncomfortable for me, just less so with the softer suspension with more travel. Fundamentally, our canters aren't designed for them.
Hopefully not "overselling" and "raising expectations" they are an improvement on all surfaces. But just a couple of weeks ago the rear was loaded more than usual and I noticed a smoother ride on city roads. I guess there's always room for improvement and its often a case of knowing when to stop. I guess I'm at the point where the suspension is acceptable (which is different to brilliant).
My vehicle is at the light end for the springs and the tyres which also colours the experience.
