D40 suspension lift for clearance and towing

[toadskin]

I have a 2013 D40 Navara dual cab ute and I want about 2" suspension lift. I'm not into serious offroad 4x4ing or anything like that. I just want a little more clearance without having to worry about re-jigging the whole steering/suspension setup. I tow a 19 foot caravan. I am quite happy with the current softness of the factory suspension although I will be fitting airbags to the rear shortly to assist in leveling the vehicle when towing.

The vehicle is registered in WA and I don't want any issues if I have to put it over the pits at some time.

Can someone suggest a solution?

 

[joe2006]

Airbags and the lavish use of air have been reported to result in cracking of the chassis in the current crop of leaf sprung utes, so I would carefully consider and do my research there.

A decent WDH should keep the lot level but the soft factory leaves will hit the bump stops from time to time, depending on the load and ball weight.

 

[steve1961]

I have a 2013 D40 Navara dual cab ute and I want about 2" suspension lift. I'm not into serious offroad 4x4ing or anything like that. I just want a little more clearance without having to worry about re-jigging the whole steering/suspension setup. I tow a 19 foot caravan. I am quite happy with the current softness of the factory suspension although I will be fitting airbags to the rear shortly to assist in leveling the vehicle when towing.

The vehicle is registered in WA and I don't want any issues if I have to put it over the pits at some time.

Can someone suggest a solution?

you don't have much of a choice , all the cheapish lifts are illegal , that's the ones that use extended shackles or lift blocks , and strut spacers on the front , you will have to go for a full spring / coil kit , EFS 2 inch comfort lift would suit you , but your not going to get much change from around $ 1600.00 fitted

 

[D40Mark]

Steve, im looking at getting a 2" suspension lift for my Nav, just to get extra height. i wont be carrying any weight unless i go bush, is the EFS that you mention a good way to go for my Nav.

 

[steve1961]

They make a very good comfort lift , yes my mate has one in his nav and it's way softer than my tough dog

 

[D40Mark]

Thanks Steve, love the photos of your Nav so far, love the rims, looks a great rig.

 

[steve1961]

Thanks Mark , getting there , wheels n tyres totally transform the look

 

[TigerST]

Airbags and the lavish use of air have been reported to result in cracking of the chassis in the current crop of leaf sprung utes, so I would carefully consider and do my research there.

A decent WDH should keep the lot level but the soft factory leaves will hit the bump stops from time to time, depending on the load and ball weight.

You are correct, a little more info tho. The biggest problem with air bags is the type used. The most common type and by far the worse is are bellows 2 or 3 they are stronger the sleeves and can take more weight in-turn placing more pressure on parts of the chassis that were never designed to take weight. sleeves have more give so more likely to give way before the chassis still not ideal. Biggest problem with air bags is people have a tendency of over loading thinking the bags will take the weight. A far better idea is sax The Equalizer ( http://www.saxsuspension.com/equalizer.html ) or ironman load plus ( http://www.ironman4x4.com/html/load_plus.html ) haven't used them my self but have a mate who used them on his Triton and says they are great. And will be going under my truck asap.

 

[joe2006]

There have been a few issues reported here regarding the Sax gear:

http://www.navara.asia/showthread.php?t=18779

A search on here should also reveal information about the Ironman helper springs.

 

[TigerST]

Yeah I find with a lot of things its still trial and error as what works for one person may not work for another. You can read as many threads as you like and find a million different answers. It same as we carry some sort of load dealt it down to the kg. Some one who is carrying 300kgs might have a totally different outcome to someone carrying 320kgs. So trial and error.

 

[Old.Tony]

It would be a complete waste of time to find a method of lifting the standard Navara using something other than new springs (meaning, if you're thinking of just adding extended shackles, or lift blocks and using the original leaf springs).

The factory leaf springs are shit. No - I'm wrong. They're softer than shit. They're the kind of baby shit that gets smeared all over the inside of the nappy and stinks to high heaven and once you know what it's like without that shit, you'll wonder why you didn't get rid of it faster.

I went OME Dakar springs for mine - dual rate, handles the caravan well without WDH (although I prefer to drive WITH them) and gave me 85mm of lift over what it was (after the original suspension had sagged).

Word is that Sax Suspension isn't worth the coin. In my opinion, you're best served by either talking to Zordo (a user here, who knows his suspension extremely well and specialises in Navaras) or see ARB. You could go and look at Ironman suspension but I don't know much about their performance in the longer term, but I do know that they are very serious about making sure the customer is happy. The ARB gear on my car is performing wonderfully - so really you have 3 choices. I'd start with Zordo.

 

[TigerST]

It would be a complete waste of time to find a method of lifting the standard Navara using something other than new springs (meaning, if you're thinking of just adding extended shackles, or lift blocks and using the original leaf springs).

The factory leaf springs are shit. No - I'm wrong. They're softer than shit. They're the kind of baby shit that gets smeared all over the inside of the nappy and stinks to high heaven and once you know what it's like without that shit, you'll wonder why you didn't get rid of it faster.

I went OME Dakar springs for mine - dual rate, handles the caravan well without WDH (although I prefer to drive WITH them) and gave me 85mm of lift over what it was (after the original suspension had sagged).

Word is that Sax Suspension isn't worth the coin. In my opinion, you're best served by either talking to Zordo (a user here, who knows his suspension extremely well and specialises in Navaras) or see ARB. You could go and look at Ironman suspension but I don't know much about their performance in the longer term, but I do know that they are very serious about making sure the customer is happy. The ARB gear on my car is performing wonderfully - so really you have 3 choices. I'd start with Zordo.

All good advice. Old Tony don't you also use iron-man load plus?? Just saw a photo is your Garage. As I've posted on other links.

"I've been talking to Kirk from 4wd1. In his experience 5100 are are good (only) for light-weight "sports truck" applications (no winch) and when fitted to factory original coils.

While the internal build-quality of the Biltein struts is superb, the units locating points (mounting points) are only original spec. With up rated strut damper, up rated coils and extra weight, you really need strut units that are over-engineered at all mounting/bushing locations.

He then goes on to say that tough dog foam-cell struts which certainly meet the category"

So pretty well agrees with you do it right or don't do it at all.

 

[Old.Tony]

I had Ironman Load Plus helper springs on my standard suspension, they helped for a couple of months and then even they sagged. Now it's pure OME Dakar springs all round and when you can tow our 1.8T van at 95km/h on dirt and it feels like you're on tar, you KNOW something's right.

Compare the attitude of the car in this picture (with OME Dakar springs, car fully loaded) with the one in my sig (also fully loaded, before the suspension upgrade).

 

[TigerST]

I had Ironman Load Plus helper springs on my standard suspension, they helped for a couple of months and then even they sagged. Now it's pure OME Dakar springs all round and when you can tow our 1.8T van at 95km/h on dirt and it feels like you're on tar, you KNOW something's right.

Compare the attitude of the car in this picture (with OME Dakar springs, car fully loaded) with the one in my sig (also fully loaded, before the suspension upgrade).

I was looking at that. Yeah she sits nice and level now. Looked like one of those lets see who we go jobs before. Very nicely done, How is the ride with out the van attached?

 

[Old.Tony]

Without the van attached I take speed humps at the posted speed limit (ignoring the advisory limit for the hump).

 

[TigerST]

Nice. May have to take a look into that then.