I know there's a lot of questions about suspension choice, and I know it's hard to choose suspension for NS that would work best in all situations. But what I want is to get some general understanding what to expect in terms of ride comfort from different options below.
Being in NZ, I'm choosing mainly between OME and Ironman suspension kits which are easiest to get and fit here. Also, I'm mainly talking about rear suspension as in the front I will only have a set of Ironman bash plates so that won't require any heavy-duty upgrade.
Initially I was thinking about a 200kg constant load OME kit which sounds just right for our trips (two adults, two little kids, tents, fridge, water, extra fuel, gear - usual stuff, pioneer platform, towbar). It has 40/50 mm lift, rear spring rate 122-147 N/mm.
However I'm worried it might be too firm for the kids in the back when we're just going around the city. So then I decided to choose a "medium load" kit - 98-129 N/mm spring rate, different shocks. My thinking is that everyday kids comfort is quite important, and even with this kit it will still be better than stock with full load.
But then I noticed that even the "performance" Ironman rear springs have spring rate of 137-166 N/mm which is higher than constant load OME (but the lift is 40mm). And Ironman 200kg constant load rear springs have 162-196 N/mm rate which is higher than even 400kg OME springs (the lift is 40mm vs 50mm again though).
So now I'm totally confused as to what to expect from these kits. Maybe I should mix and match springs and shocks instead? E.g. will springs from 200kg OME kit work fine with their "medium load" shocks and provide softer everyday ride but still good enough performance with heavy load?
Being in NZ, I'm choosing mainly between OME and Ironman suspension kits which are easiest to get and fit here. Also, I'm mainly talking about rear suspension as in the front I will only have a set of Ironman bash plates so that won't require any heavy-duty upgrade.
Initially I was thinking about a 200kg constant load OME kit which sounds just right for our trips (two adults, two little kids, tents, fridge, water, extra fuel, gear - usual stuff, pioneer platform, towbar). It has 40/50 mm lift, rear spring rate 122-147 N/mm.
However I'm worried it might be too firm for the kids in the back when we're just going around the city. So then I decided to choose a "medium load" kit - 98-129 N/mm spring rate, different shocks. My thinking is that everyday kids comfort is quite important, and even with this kit it will still be better than stock with full load.
But then I noticed that even the "performance" Ironman rear springs have spring rate of 137-166 N/mm which is higher than constant load OME (but the lift is 40mm). And Ironman 200kg constant load rear springs have 162-196 N/mm rate which is higher than even 400kg OME springs (the lift is 40mm vs 50mm again though).
So now I'm totally confused as to what to expect from these kits. Maybe I should mix and match springs and shocks instead? E.g. will springs from 200kg OME kit work fine with their "medium load" shocks and provide softer everyday ride but still good enough performance with heavy load?
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