Advice: Suspension and Tyres

[Rosscomatic]

Hi all

I'm in the process of gathering information for upgrading my suspension and tyres on my 2010 LS. At the moment they are all stock-o. I've never upgraded suspension on any vehicle so although I've read a lot, it's relatively new to me...

Suspension
I'm looking at Ironman and the quote I've recieved says this:
- FRONT NITRO GAS STRUTS
- FRONT SPACERS
- FRONT COIL SPRINGS (FREE UPGRADE TO BULLBAR OR WINCH COMPATIBLE)
- REAR NITRO GAS SHOCKS
- REAR COILS (FREE UPGRADE TO CONSTANT LOAD IF REQUIRED 250KG – GVM)
Also the option to UPGRADE TO FRONT FOAM CELL STRUTS

Although I'd like to get a steel bullbar and winch eventually, it's not on the cards for the forseeable future. So I don't see that I'd need the upgraded springs in the front, right?

But in the rear... The car is our only car so most of the time it's just driven around town. We have a dual battery system with the battery behind the trim in the boot and we're going to build up a rear draw system in the near future. We're also getting a camper trailer hopefully early to mid next year.

So the questions are two
1) Should I go the free upgradt to constant load, or should I consider airbags instead?
2) Should I upgrade to the Foam Cell struts in the front?

Tyres
Does anyone have any opinions on the Micky Thompson BAJA ATZ P3 tyres?

Thanks in advance!

Regards

RossH

[fester]

To a point that's a hard question to answer unless you personally can go for a ride in an unladen Challenger with the 250kg springs. You may not like what others love. For that reason I would lean towards airbags being in the same boat as you. I was in a similar situation with a Cruiser couple of years ago. I put in the same package as many other forums guys were raving about but in my unladen truck I found it woeful. One of the forum guys took all his gear out one day and went for a drive and came back saying he now realised what I was complaining about. What I'm saying is think carefully about when and what weight you will really be carrying but better yet see if you can bum a ride in a set up car.

What height are you going given the quote has front spacers in the kit.

Some will say the Mickey Thompsons are overpriced but I've always had a good run from them in MTX's and MTZ's. Mate changed from Coopers to ATZ's in his Prado and loved them and the few times I've driven it I've found them quite good. If I don't go mud tyres on the Challenger (likely being the wifes car) I'll be going either ATZ's or Goodyear Duratracs.

[02-SR5]

Decide what you want to use it for first.

Offroad on the weekends?

Towing a boat/van?

Bulbar, alloy, steel, winch?

Dual batteries?

This will decide what sort of suspension you want.

No point fitting suspension now and decide you want to add gear later on.

Stay away from spacers. Fit a proper spring and matching strut to suit the load.

[02-SR5]

Oh, tyres. I only ever use Mickey Thompson tyres.

I am currently running their STZ tyres.

[greig]

Oh, tyres. I only ever use Mickey Thompson tyres.

I am currently running their STZ tyres.

I had a set of 5 rib ATZ's and they were the worst set of tyres I've ever had............40,000K's and they were shagged....light offroad work and they looked like rats had been chewing at them......when they had approx. 10,000K's on them , they started to get very ordinary in the wet..

Went to BFG A/T's and after 3 sets, I wouldn't bother trying anything else ( although I have just fitted BFG KM2's )

[MikeL]

I have 250kg constant load springs and they are awesome when I have a nice big load of camping gear and supplies in the back. When it is empty (just the dual battery in the back) it jars badly but of more concern the ESC kicks in regularly when we plant our foot to get into traffic (happens to wife and I) and leaves us stranded without power. Easy solution is to keep the 60l water tank filled and carry around the tirfor and cable and it rides lovely and no more ESC gremlins.

I have had nothing but good experiences with BFG all terrains and Goodyear silent armor AT tyres over the years.

[rocky road]

Got standard tyres still at moment cant wait to get rid of them although always had bridgestone on my cars. Always had bf goodrich all terrain on my fourbys like them. My brother has coopers on and been all over aust towing camper and loves his coopers so thought I would give them a try next as like the look of one of them..This is no help at all I know but just thought I would let you knowthat after years Im still trying tyres.

[Rosscomatic]

What height are you going given the quote has front spacers in the kit.

The spacers take it to a 50mm lift... Not sure what height it goes to without them...

What about the foam cell struts. Anyone know what the advantages of these are?

[picard]

I had a set of 5 rib ATZ's and they were the worst set of tyres I've ever had............40,000K's and they were shagged....light offroad work and they looked like rats had been chewing at them......when they had approx. 10,000K's on them , they started to get very ordinary in the wet..

Went to BFG A/T's and after 3 sets, I wouldn't bother trying anything else ( although I have just fitted BFG KM2's )

How noisy are km2 tyres, as iam interested in using these tyres

[picard]

The spacers take it to a 50mm lift... Not sure what height it goes to without them...

What about the foam cell struts. Anyone know what the advantages of these are?

This is a good question, "what are the advantages of foam cell shocks" ?

[greig]

How noisy are km2 tyres, as iam interested in using these tyres

They are still brand new, but I was surprised how quiet they are.....but....on hotmix, like the freeway I drive on twice a week, they can be heard....like a low pitched hum.....but certainly not annoying....yet !!

Foam cell shocks.......I've only heard they are a lot "harder" than ordinary ones.....

[NFT5]

Do the mods first and then get the suspension to suit the final weights of the vehicles at each end. Doing it the other way around will either get you a front (or rear) end that rides too high or may have springs or struts.shocks that are mismatched to the end weights - meaning you might have to replace them again.

For not a lot more money there are better suspensions out there than Ironman.