XL-7 suspension.... OME or Kings + Koni's?

[murcod]

I'm looking into improving the woeful suspension on my XL-7 and I'm currently debating between the ARB/ Old Man Emu kit or whether to spend the extra and get King springs and Koni's.

So far, the King springs are going to cost $220 for a set (4) and no doubt the Konis a small fortune. I haven't got a price for the OME kit yet but guaranteed it will be well on wrong side of $1000.

My thoughts are the Konis will be a better long term investment? I have heard OME are the only longer front shock available but don't know if that's true?

BTW it will be spending most of it's life on road so I don't need any radical lift. I do want to cure the lurching and body roll a bit.

[MUD-PIGSIERRA]

OME - Better matched product and yes I think there Struts are the only truly longer after market bolt up ones...?

[Toecutta]

Tough Dog do a longer strut it is about 2.5" longer than a stock unit

[A12]

I have the OME struts in the front of mine, and Tough Dog in the rear....

[murcod]

I have the OME struts in the front of mine, and Tough Dog in the rear....

Greg, are you happy with them and what springs are you running?

Any particular reason for the different brands?

[bazooked]

if ya can go with the koni shocks, the will be rebuildable and more reliable and last you a shit load longer especially if ur not after lift and mainly road driving.

[murcod]

Yes, the whole shock "useful life" is weighing on my mind. I'll be keeping this vehicle for a long time.

Just got off the phone to ARB: RRP $1226 for 25mm front / 35mm rear lift kit. He reckoned he could knock about 10% off.

I can get King Springs for $220 for four and I just got prices for the Konis
-> fronts 8741-1394 $340ea and rear 8040-1345 $180ea. Once again better prices if I buy it all together.

ARB also said a "bump stop spacer" was needed to "make the whole thing work"..... so it sounds like their shock may be longer but you lose it in down travel?

Overall the price difference isn't that much.

[A12]

My springs are custom made by Allsprings at Morebank. My 50mm lift is 4.5" at the rear and 3.5" at the front. I went with the OME struts at the front as they are/were the longest travel struts on the market. The rear are 35mm Tough Dog and are the longest I can run without topping out or hitting the axle of full droop. They are perfect. When it is up on the hoist, there is about 1/2 a bees dick between the shock body and the bracket on the axle tube. I am not sure what the model number is for the shocks, and the car is having the rear axle and bearings replaced at the moment so I can't go and look. I should get it back next wednesday so I can look them if you want me to.

I am more that happy with the mods, the car is a totally different car vehicle to drive, I also have BF Goodrich 235/70R16 Mud Terrain tyres with the LT carcass. Without the lift, the tyres would hit the plastic inner guards when I went over speed humps. Now it is fine. They do hit the chassis rail, drivers side wheel on full right lock when driving backwards.

Regards

Greg

[murcod]

Have you done any other mods with so much lift? On another forum a person with just King springs has had CV issues and broken sway bar mounts (no doubt you've removed that?)

It's sort of put me off any lift. Given the small amount of time it will spend off road (nothing close to Adelaide) I might be just better off with new shocks and seeing how that improves it. It's mainly the poor body control that I want to improve.

[A12]

I have free wheeling hubs to reduce wear on the CV's, I did have a drivers side inside CV go, but that was apparently a pre-existing fault that Suzuki were happy to fix under warranty at 25,000 km I now have 110,000 km on the car and the CV's are fine. The sway bar is still on at this stage and I have no issue with the mounts. When i take it off, I get 3 inches of extra articulation though.......

[murcod]

Ahhh..... Free wheeling hubs is another thing on my list. Have you gone aftermarket or did you get some off a "normal" Vitara from a wrecker- I've heard they fit?

BTW I've got prices on Koni front shocks from the USA and even including US$95 freight they are over AUS $200 cheaper for the pair than my local distributor!?!

[A12]

I have standard vitara freewheeling hubs, make sure you get the cone washers/collars when you get them.

Greg

[senergy]

Hi Murcod,
My vote is the OME. I had a look around at most of the options when I lifted my GV but went with the OME full package. Things just work better when you use the matching parts. Overall lift is modest 1.5cm front and back but the handling is 100% better. Everytime i drive off a gutter under acceleration and almost not notice it I get a surprise.
Many people go the bit extra 2-3cm lift but the CV's don't really like that. I managed to squeeze 225/75/16 STT's under with minimal scraping.