Carrying a load

[banga]

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum, and will shortly be receiving my new D40 dual cab ST.
It will be fitted with a Obrien 6'6" alloy tray, and will be mainly used as a work vehicle carrying about half a ton of constant weight (including tray). it will also be used to take the family on a hand full of offroad trips a year.
My dilemma now is what kind of suspension upgrade to go for to help carry this weight but also give decent ride on long trips away, with out the need of a kidney belts.
Options i have looked at are; rear air bags, but have been told are crap for offroad, but are reasonabaly cheap (about $800) in comparrison to the other alternative which is a full front and rear suspension upgrade including a 40mm lift with 400kg constant load leafs (about $2300).
Would love to hear from anyone who has been in the same situation, or anyone who may a different solution.

Cheers

 

[KraftyPg]

Welcome to the forums banga.

I'm not much help to you right now but there is plenty of threads on this forum that will probably help you out, if not someone's bound to offer up some advice sooner or alter.

 

[SOLID D22]

Welcome to the forum.
Leaf springs are always going to give you a harsh ride especially when the car is primarily meant to be carrying a load, but there have been guys here that have found a happy medium with offroading and load carrying, just wait till one of them replies or search the threads.

 

[nav-pilot]

Welcome to the forum mate

Firstly if you are going to be doing some 4wd trips I would be going the suspension upgrade (lift kit) for your holidays away.

With the grade of rear springs it sounds like you will be carrying a load most of the time so i would go the slightly heavier rear springs.
There are nothing wrong with the air bags you mentioned as i have a set on my d22.
They are a good comprimise, because you can adjust them to suit the load you are carrying at the time.
I would only use the airbags to take the load, I wouldn't use them to give you a suspension lift.
There are some 4wd's out there that run only air bag suspension and they all say there great.

As with all suspension upgrades talk to a few different speacialists as per your requirements.

Cheers

 

[Nevyn]

I have air assist on my D22 and the rear end still flexs well enough offroad. It's the Boss air assist for around $520 which I installed myself. I also installed Lovells shocks at every corner which are performing very well, I whent with longer ones on the back which allows the wheel travel needed offroad.
There are a number of guys like Zordo (a member on here) who will have the right information you need for your setup.

Cheers Brad