OME suspension

[river]

Just sharing the upgraded OME SUSPENSION KIT.

[John]

Hi River, the new tyres look nice, did you go up a size? Also what size OME lift did you go for and did you go the BP51s or nitrochargers?

[John]

Thanks for the info, I am interested in the BP51s and 2" kit for mine. Can you tell me what size tyres you ended up getting? i have a gxl so my rims will be smaller? You have basically put together the combo i wanted on mine so i am very interested

[river]

Hey mate, yeah sounds good to me about your plan of suspension upgrade. Mine is a crusade tyre size is 265/65/18 (original size was 265/60/18.) This was the recommendation by ARB staffs and it's within the legal limits too. I have chose BF goodrich KO2. Hope you get to post few photos of your tuna once work is done. Good luck! Dont forget to add the spacer on your upgrade as it helps with the driving comfort. Have a read on some experiences by others when they have done their upgrade as some has had issues in regards to vibration issue.

[Eddo83]

Hi River
Just wondering if you could give me a bit of info on the suspension upgrade you did. I have been in contact with my local arb store about the bp51 shocks and have been told that they do not have them for the fortuner. I pointed out that I had seen your post on the forum so he has contacted arb head office for me and has been told by the engineer that there is indeed no bp51 kit out as yet. He said the front is the same as the hilux so they could be fitted however the rear being coil sprung is different. Did you get bp51's all round or just the front and if you got them all round what is the part number for the rears, are they hilux ones or something different.
Thanks

[Hylife]

Not quite sure why folks go for a suspension change other than for looks.
The axels, steering gear, diff and in fact the entire drive train remains at the same height. It is only the body that now gets higher and messes with ride handling.
Even tyres barely alter clearances by more than a cm.

Your maximum clearance is still 225mm at the diff and the entry and exit angle changes aren't worth discussing .

The tuna already has an impressive exit angle that would barely change 1 or 2 degrees with a 2 inch lift, and if you fit a bull bar you gain far more for entry angles than you would gain on a monster 6 inch lift.

If you needed a change to how the back end of the vehicle sat on the road with the maximum 300kg down force on your towbar I'd understand, but surely some Haymen Reece WDH bars would have only cost $150.
You haven't gained any legal increase in towing, downforce or payload weight allowances and you now have voided the warranty for so many things on your Tuna.

Can you tell us what you achieved by your outlay for a suspension replacement?

[John]

Hylife, you make some valid points. The OME BP51 remote res shocks are an upgrade on the factory shocks and great for soaking up the corrigations. Fitting a lift kit is a way of fitting larger tyres. If you drive alot of rutted tracks then you want to be running the same size tyre as everyone else or bigger to avoid dragging your diff across the floor everywhere. It also increases ramp over angles. But it really comes down to how you wish to use your car and how you like it set up. I feel the fortuner is suprisingly capable out of the box and if youre happy then thats awesome. I personally would like to run a 32' tyre and have a little extra clearance to keep my sills out of harms way and keep my pumpkins off the ground.

[Rjstokes]

"If you needed a change to how the back end of the vehicle sat on the road with the maximum 300kg down force on your towbar I'd understand, but surely some Haymen Reece WDH bars would have only cost $150."

Amazingly I know, but a HR WDH is close to $800. They also suck to put on and off and importantly don't allow an offroad hitch to articulate. In fact the manuals for both the HR and Toyota genuine WDH explicitly say they should be removed before crossing any washouts, speed bumps, dirt tracks, uneven ground and even when reversing! Our van is 250kg on the ball and the rear sinks a fair way, despite having airbags fitted. I'd consider HD springs to get around it one day.

There is also a fair argument to fit HD shocks that are engineered to get flogged and dissipate heat, without giving way in some remote part of the GAFA. I'm surprised that ours did so well down the Gibb recently, so maybe the factory ones are decent but worth considering none-the-less.

[LongwoodTim]

Hey River, thanks for sharing the OME update and pics. My GXL is, as we speak, in the workshop getting the same done. I also decided to get some Polyairs fitted to keep the rear up when the camper trailer is on and the car loaded up. Also getting an ARB Summit bar fitted this week.
Are you happy with the ride after the OME upgrade?

[river]

honestly, I thought that there will be hassles in comfort but i have been driving around the area and the comfort is much better. Good luck on your upgrade mate.

[Hylife]

Hey John, I hear what you are saying on the larger tyres, but, (a) you don't actually gain anything quite like what you claim from large tyres, and (b) you definitely DON'T want your shocks to soak up the corrugations, that is what your tyres should be doing.
If your shocks do the bounce instead of your tyres, you can expect your shocks to prematurely fail in as few as a couple of hundred km and the safety and road holding to be, quite frankly, SH!T.

The standard OEM tyres are 30 inches so bigger 32inch tyres does not change the diff height by that much.
You need to divide the difference by two (the radius difference), then you get the real height change.
You might be quite surprised to find that most replacement chunky off-road tyres (Coopers etc) are actually no difference in radius.
Why? Because we have international design rules (ADR in Oz) that do NOT permit vehicle dynamics such as height to be altered just by fitting tyres with a different profile.
Yep, you guessed it. All those nutcases with super low profile tyres on their Commodores and XR8s have to get bigger rims so the height doesn't change or they become legally unroadworthy.

Remember that a tyre's profile dimensions are stated as a percentage of the tyre width and that if a manufacturer wants to exceed certain design rules regarding profile percentages then they must increase or decrease the rim radius.

At most, with 32inch tyres you might gain perhaps up to a 2cm lift in diff height and that has mostly to do with lack of tread deformation because of the very hard compound rubbers used on chunky tyres. The tyre flexes less on the tread and on the side walls under stress.

Unfortunately, you can't have both long life tyres AND good grip. Those two are mutually exclusive. Hard rubber wears slowly but has no grip. Soft rubber had good grip but wears faster. That's just the facts of life with all tyres.
Get out that tape measure and check the height of your diff.

As I already mentioned, your entry, exit and ramp-over angles won't change much at all because of a 2cm lift from new tyres. Ramp-over has more effects from wheel base length than from tyre heights.

The highest (lowest) point for ramp over is at dead center of the vehicle but as you move away from the center the allowable angle changes.
The height gain in tyres is divided by 2 for the tyre radius AND then you divide by 2 again for ramp-over because you have two axels (think triangle cut in half).
The maximum allowable ramp-over angle is only applicable to angles where each side (approach and departure) are at the same angle over the entire vehicle wheelbase. If the approach or departure are at different angles during the manoeuvre then the ramp over allowance decreases

So the ramp-over height gain for a 2 inch bigger tyre is only half an inch or 12.5mm, representing approx. 2 degrees change in ramp-over angle.

The Fortuner has a wheel base of 2750mm and a mid-point ground clearance of 265mm. That gives us a ramp-over angle of 21.8 degrees
If we increase the ground clearance to 290mm (32inch tyres gives us 1 inch height gain) we get 23.8 degrees

For 2 degrees it is hardly worth all the expense, the poorer handling and the voided warranty by using tyres not essentially the same as the OEM.
There is a calculator here https://www.vcalc.com/wiki/KurtHeckman/Breakover+angle

As for rutted/corrugated roads, using chunky tyres such as Coopers and others are actually worse than a generic AT tyre for driving. Big chunky tyres don't flex as well as generic AT tyres and flex is exactly what you want on badly rutted/corrugated roads. Let your tyres soak up the bumps rather than your suspension bouncing you all over the place.

I've just done a 22,500km half lap drive, and over 3 of the worst roads this country has to offer, the Tanami Track, the Gibb River Road and the sand road to Cape Leveque.
Everyone carries a compressor and drops their tyre pressures way down. In my case with the OEM AT tyres (Dunlop PT Grandtrek 265/60R18) I found the best pressures to be 40-45 PSI on the seal and 22-25 PSI on the corrugations. I could easily fly along at 75-80kph on ATs whilst those with oversized chunky tread tyres could barely drive safely at 60kph.

Now, if you are talking chunky tyres and boggy mud or very deep sand, that's a whole different kettle of fish, where the more aggressive the tread the better, but, momentum and driving style matter more.

[John]

Thanks for taking the time to reply,

I see you are sold on no lift and factory is best. I happen to agree. Toyota has spent a lot on research to build their cars. But everything is a compromise of either ride comfort, economy and performance. Change one aspect and you change the others. Usually making ride comfort and economy worse to improve off road performance.

At the end of the day you build your car to suit what you do with it. It sounds to me you use your car for long distance touring, comfort and reliability. If that's the case the factory setup will do this without fuss and you might not have any need for a suspension upgrade.

[Hylife]

Hi John, On the contrary. I wanted a vehicle for serious towing, serious long distance confort, serious crap-road handling, serious off road 4x4 abilities and relative comfort, safety and handling for the 50% around town use.
I agree that many vehicles need all sorts of mods to meet those needs but most of them aren't a Toyota and all of them aren't a Fortuner.
Stock standard OEM the Fortuner gives you all that.

More than how you pimp up your vehicle is how you drive it and I've taken Finn, (blue tuna) places many experienced off-roaders won't attempt.

I met some serious off-road bush bashers last weekend southwest of Lake William Hovell (Vic) in their seriously impressive looking pimped out 2015 Hilux with a 2 inch lift and gigantic chunky tyres and all the bells and whistles you could possibly imagine
.
They struggled getting across the boulders in a flooded (1200mm) King River.
As I waited for them to cross from the opposite direction they finally made it and told me not to go any further.

I looked at their vehicle and it was obvious that they had no idea what a Fortuner was, so I calmly stated that I could go anywhere they could.
Says them, "Nah mate, we've got a 2 inch lift and way bigger tyres than you. We nearly got hooked up. You wont make it".
"I'll be right" says me.
They laughed and asked me to wait so that they could not only film it but get their recovery gear out, ready to pull me out.
I told them (with a slightly smug cocky attitude) that I would prefer if they just watched how it should be done, rather than how they did it.
They parked their ute and proceeded to stand on the river bank to watch.
As I descended the bank I noticed they were both wearing Trout fishermen's waders.
I stopped half way down and asked if they had caught any fish in the flooded rivers nearby?
They replied that the clothing wasn't for fishing, it was to keep them warm when they had to winch out from frigid river crossings.

Calmly I selected neutral, engaged 4 Low and easily crossed the river, proceeded up the opposite bank, did a u turn and effortlessly crossed back.
All whilst waving at them with one hand from inside the cabin as the water splashed over the bonnet.

The exclamations along the line of "fark man, that thing is awesome" came thick and fast.
Says me, " those mods of yours might lift your chassis but your drivetrain is actually lower on your model than mine".
I then proceed to tell them that a Fortuner is a 2016 Hilux with a wagon body, proper Aussie tuned suspension, with a 2.8 turbo diesel and a higher ground clearance straight out of the shop floor than their ute.

So yeah, like John West, when it comes to tuna, my Finn is the best, straight out of the can, with no artificial additives or preservatives.

[Shaun]

Hi John, On the contrary. I wanted a vehicle for serious towing, serious long distance confort, serious crap-road handling, serious off road 4x4 abilities and relative comfort, safety and handling for the 50% around town use.
I agree that many vehicles need all sorts of mods to meet those needs but most of them aren't a Toyota and all of them aren't a Fortuner.
Stock standard OEM the Fortuner gives you all that.

More than how you pimp up your vehicle is how you drive it and I've taken Finn, (blue tuna) places many experienced off-roaders won't attempt.

I met some serious off-road bush bashers last weekend southwest of Lake William Hovell (Vic) in their seriously impressive looking pimped out 2015 Hilux with a 2 inch lift and gigantic chunky tyres and all the bells and whistles you could possibly imagine
.
They struggled getting across the boulders in a flooded (1200mm) King River.
As I waited for them to cross from the opposite direction they finally made it and told me not to go any further.

I looked at their vehicle and it was obvious that they had no idea what a Fortuner was, so I calmly stated that I could go anywhere they could.
Says them, "Nah mate, we've got a 2 inch lift and way bigger tyres than you. We nearly got hooked up. You wont make it".
"I'll be right" says me.
They laughed and asked me to wait so that they could not only film it but get their recovery gear out, ready to pull me out.
I told them (with a slightly smug cocky attitude) that I would prefer if they just watched how it should be done, rather than how they did it.
They parked their ute and proceeded to stand on the river bank to watch.
As I descended the bank I noticed they were both wearing Trout fishermen's waders.
I stopped half way down and asked if they had caught any fish in the flooded rivers nearby?
They replied that the clothing wasn't for fishing, it was to keep them warm when they had to winch out from frigid river crossings.

Calmly I selected neutral, engaged 4 Low and easily crossed the river, proceeded up the opposite bank, did a u turn and effortlessly crossed back.
All whilst waving at them with one hand from inside the cabin as the water splashed over the bonnet.

The exclamations along the line of "fark man, that thing is awesome" came thick and fast.
Says me, " those mods of yours might lift your chassis but your drivetrain is actually lower on your model than mine".
I then proceed to tell them that a Fortuner is a 2016 Hilux with a wagon body, proper Aussie tuned suspension, with a 2.8 turbo diesel and a higher ground clearance straight out of the shop floor than their ute.

So yeah, like John West, when it comes to tuna, my Finn is the best, straight out of the can, with no artificial additives or preservatives.

The stuff that legends are made of!

Good work for flying the Fortuner flag Hylife

[John]

Hylife

I hope to have the same confidence as you offroad in my Tuna! I must say i am really impressed with how it handles the beach. 12psi is a must and just point and go. I have come from a 4.5" lifted and geared zook on 31s and still learning how far i can push the stock fortuner. i used to be the one saying follow if you dare. Im glad i can still be that guy

John

[Wiza]

Morning Gents,

Thank you for the posts on this topic. I am looking at a suspension upgrade from my Crusade in preparation for a Simpson Dessert trip next year. Before I spend the money, I am getting a feel that the factory suspension kit maybe sufficient???

I am not particularly chasing more clearance, was more concerned that the factory shocks won't handle the constant punishment. Any truth to that theory?

I am although planning to get the OVP and snorkel fitted for the trip.

Wiza

[Gajac]

They struggled getting across the boulders in a flooded (1200mm) King River.

[/QUOTE]


Please tell what snorkel you have fitted???
RR

[Hylife]

They struggled getting across the boulders in a flooded (1200mm) King River.

Please tell what snorkel you have fitted???
RR[/QUOTE]

standard Toyota snorkel

[DaveTV]

Great story Hylife

[Madballs]

Back on topic, how is the ome kit holding up River? Interested on any feedback you have as I'm looking at this kit too

[rich]

Does anyone have an OME lift kit on a Crusade, and if so, did it improve the ride quality on roads?

I have found the standard suspension to be very rough, and was wondering if changing the suspension would make it drive smoother...

[DaveC]

Back on topic, how is the ome kit holding up River? Interested on any feedback you have as I'm looking at this kit too

Hi Madballs,

I'm generally happy with the OME kit, it was a little harsh at first (similar to stock), but has softened after a few thousand klms. I got the "steel bar" front springs (I have the ARB steel bar) and "medium (0-GVM)" rear springs.

I did a trip this weekend with the whole family on some steep 4wd tracks. I was heavily loaded with gear, though very unlikely to have exceeded GVM based on my estimates.

While the front end was great (not too bouncy, not too stiff), the back end did bottom out once or twice if I went over the whoopdy-doos (erosion mounds) too fast. I also found that the rear-end visibly sagged with a heavy load (also reported by others with stock suspension). For these reasons, I'd consider (and I am considering!) the "200kg (heavy)" springs/shocks combo if you plan to travel like this regularly. I've done the same tracks solo with less gear and had no such trouble.

I just don’t know how the "200kg" setup will effect the general ride quality when lightly loaded, it would be a shame to make an already "harsh" (comparatively) ride worse... I'd love to hear from anyone with the 200kg OME setup.

Dave