[youda]

Hey guys I have to pick some suspension soon and am after sugestions. I will details my intent for the sierra but afterwards feel free to add to the thread by naming the suspension you have, what you got it for and if it worked.

My sierra is used for long distance fishing trips, up to 250km on bitumen followed by lots of dirt rods. the last few kilometers (70km or less )are usually rutted out roads, mud (during flood season 3 months of the year).
occasionally some loose sand and gravel depending on river bed.
ruts are usually quite bad and with stock suspension i find i have to hit it a little too quick to prevent having more than one wheel off the ground. so a little flex would be good and i dont mind if the ride on bitumen isant fantastic if it means i wont feel like ive been in a paint shaker when i arrive. I'm an army mechanic so im used to 4wd's that handle like sailing boats. Any ideas or experiences would be really helpful guys.

[SierraDan]

40mm OME comfort springs. Gabriel shocks.
Should work well.

[abclarke]

+1 for that! Best thing i ever did!

[youda]

are these good in one area or are they alrounders?

[JrZook]

If you are doing that many k's, riding in a paint shaker will loose its appeal very very quickly.

OME springs are not the strongest out there but do give the best ride for an off the shelf spring pack.

The spring pack is one thing, shocks are another. If you cheap out on shocks you will not get the overall ride and comfort from the combination. I ran those gaybriel shocks as my first set with OME comfort packs as a cheap option and to get me going. They worked and they had adequate travel and that's about it.

I swapped them out for a set of Koni oil filled shock and the ride was dramatically improved both on and offroad!

I have never tried them but apparently the OME shocks also work very well and are valved accordingly.

Dan

[youda]

A thought has occurred to me that when i take all my gear i normaly have about 80 to 100kg in the back and sometimes a passanger. also looking at a front bumper with a winch before the end of next year.
sorry big details i forgot.

[tomtheshooter]

I bought the 50mm lift kit from Ironman, cost me $950 and fitted it myself.

I have bought mostly cheap mods like that for my zook cause its a budget car, I was told it would be a rough ride, but I think its much better than stock. I have driven it on most different terrains and it has done well. plus the flex is awesome, where most other 4wds lift wheels I don't

Yet to test it on corrugations though...

[zooky08]

+1 for ome springs for ride qaulity
-1 for the strength of ome springs
They bend quite easy

[rpmwrx]

I'm happy with my OME leafs i'm running at the moment. Ive had toughdog leafs and they were crap. I've also had lovells which have a reverse wrap eye on them. They were a really good spring. Make sure you get good shocks, it will make all the difference

[youda]

i've looked under the car and all the shocks are rooted so im gonna replace them asap, whats a pretty good off road shock

[SierraDan]

JrZook wrote:

If you cheap out on shocks you will not get the overall ride and comfort from the combination. I ran those gaybriel shocks as my first set with OME comfort packs as a cheap option and to get me going. They worked and they had adequate travel and that's about it.

I swapped them out for a set of Koni oil filled shock and the ride was dramatically improved both on and offroad!

I have never tried them but apparently the OME shocks also work very well and are valved accordingly.

Dan

[youda]

are there any good shocks available from supercheap (for example i hear comodore shocks alot)........I only ask this because there is a supercheap everywhere and i like the idea of easily available spares. feel free to say no far better options are elsewhere.

[SierraDan]

Gabriel shocks as mentioned. Cheap shock. But work well in my opinion.

[Tripa]

I just orderd some Rancho 9000xl which are adjustable... Im not sure if these are any good though? i'd like to heare someones opinion on these? i am also in the process of replacing my suspension so im interested to hear what people have to say... i have a stockman ute with 2" lift, 31's and i think 2" shackles... I am unsure what springs to get, but i have been looking at efs ones... are these any good?

[SierraDan]

They're shit.

[youda]

SierraDan wrote:

They're shit.

short and sweet, but perhaps need a reason why? myself and other member are looking for insiteful help.

[ablouse]

i just orderd some medium rate springs are these the "comfort" ones? my local shop could only find medium as the softest rate in ome anyone know different?

[JrZook]

ablouse wrote:

i just orderd some medium rate springs are these the "comfort" ones? my local shop could only find medium as the softest rate in ome anyone know different?

Yes these are classes as the comfort pack.

[Gwagensteve]

youda wrote:

SierraDan wrote:

They're shit.

short and sweet, but perhaps need a reason why? myself and other member are looking for insiteful help.

They are only of average quality, and the adjustment is a pointless gimmick. Shock absorber rate is a product of spring rate, vehicle weight, resonant frequency of the springs etcetcetc... Unless you change a parameter there's no reason to adjust the shock.

There might be a case for changing damping a little bit if you are going from an empty car to a fully laden car, but 20% or so would be more than enough adjustment.

There is a MASSIVE change in damping between the steps on a 9000. Generally, if the shock is valved correctly for the application, more than a step each way will be too much.

more often than not though, the shocks aren't valved for the application and you end up running them at one end or the other of the adjustment range to make them work.

For the first few months you'll be fiddling with them all the time and and convincing yourself you're improving the car. After a while, you'll work out which setting works and leave them alone.

I have experience with these things - I've set up a few sierras on them back in the day, I have them on my Gwagen and Dad ran them on his 80 series.

over 10 years ago, they were the only option for long, soft shocks. That's not the case any more.

PS you haven't mentioned whether you are buying stock replacement shocks or longer shocks using custom mounts. If you are going stock replacement, there's even less point using a rancho - how much work can a shock do in 5" of travel? so long as the shock is soft enough, it matters little what shock is on a sierra at stock shaft travel.

Steve.

[Tripa]

Thanks for that answer. Steve. and sorry to semi hijack the thread Youda. I'm new to sierras and 4x4ing really, i had a 90 series a while back but didn't really play with her much. As for whether my suspension is stock mounts, im not sure. I'll take some photos and post it up so i can get some good quality info as to how to best upgrade my suspension... i have a few photos of wheeling that ill attach but not sure if you be able to see whats been done clearly enough... I know the rear has inboard shock mounts... i think it has a 2" shackle, 2" spring and 1" body lift done to it... but the springs are fucked so i thought id have a go at changing out the whole lot. im not sure what size shocks im meant to be putting in? all i did is take off the old shocks and measure the amount of travel in them and look for a similar product. anyways guys, obviously im no mechanic but any imput would be greatly appreciated... even: "there shit" cheers buddy!












Not sure if these photos will help. I'll take some ones of the actual suspension when i get back from the sunny coast... anyways, opinions for what i should be replacing the suspension with would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers.