Suspension - Coilover and coil 70mm lift conversion

[Rob 88]

So guys I have been looking at suspension for a while now... As we all know it is not that easy to make up your minds on what product to use??
So I have spoken to a lot of people about suspension and and all the products on the market.. OME seems to be the favorite and works pretty well..
So I was planning on fitting the OME Suspension kit...

But with a little research I found out that OME is made is Nigel and then shipped to aussie land and shipped back, which puts the pricing out.. so while speaking to the company in Nigel. They gave me some pricing and started my little hamster in head to get running... They also suggested a few ideas.... and gave me a guys number to speak to about suspension

So I phoned the guy and asked what he did and how he found the suspension. It has now been four years that he has been running his coilover and coil design and no problems. he also stated that with having a coilover fitted, it seems to help push the wheel down during articulation. he also stated it gives a great drive on gravel roads and less body roll....with a lift of 70mm this suspension was fitted into a land cruiser which works with similar design to our patrols, where the coil and shock is separate from each other...

I am going to try and fit the same setup into my patrol and see what happens... just before I do so, I would like some opinions from you guys on what you think about the idea and concept....

[David M]

This looks very much like the Camil coilover used in all the IFS vehicles. IMHO still the best bang for your buck on IFS vehicles.

70 mm lift will probably require castor correction in front and extensions on the rear. Possibly brake lines as well.

The original Camil system designed for the Sani's and 1 Tonners was the normal shock in combination with a coilover and then you obviously had the torsion bars. As far as I am concerned worked better than the replacement system of coilover only.

You may very well be onto something brilliant here.

Speak to Piet at Camil (Google "Camil Suspension") if you want some very honest conservative answers.

[Peter Connan]

The shock mounts are not designed for tha additional loads of springs in addition to the shocks.

If the suspension is lifted by 70mm purely by adding a coilover, this additional load will be substantial, particularly at the front, where the standard coils do not have a huge amount of travel. This I am not sure about, but depending on the length of the shocks you also need to be careful of additional problems, such as the coils falling out, and that the bump stops may be too short...

However, if the lift is shared between longer springs and light-duty coilovers designed purely to get the suspension "into the holes", it may be a different story.