Ride Heights

[acresgreg]

G'day Dom,

The wheels have turned too slow at lovells and they have not one me over as a happy customer, how they get a HD rear that could carry half a tonne yet the HD fronts can't carry a 50kg bull bar, with the result of soft in the front and bone crunching hard in the rear.

Next time I will go with a package like the Ultimate or Old Man Emu that has Australia wide backup.

I am leaving 21st June for Innaminka, Birdsvill, Simpson, The Rock, Kings Canyon, Coober Pedy then William Creek, Gammon/Flinders Ranges if I have time left in my 32 days. I may see you there, I will now be in Black with ARB canopy and roof top tent.

Greg

[fitz]

Greg,

I am really sad to say that I am in exactly the same boat. It seems that the R&D and Production side of Lovells basically can't get their collective shit together.

It is very disappointing considering 6 weeks ago they were building me a custom set to work off for a production run.

I am fitting Dobinsons to the front of my car as they have committed to a 570mm to brow measurement based on the weight of my front end.

Let's hope it all works out.

I will post some before and after shots for everyone's benefit.

We set off in the other direction from the Flinders to William Creek up to Mt Dare, Simpson, Birdsville then loop up to Mt Isa to head back over the Sandover to Alice and the Red Centre.

Certainly a possibility of meeting up somewhere. I'll certainly have a few beers cold

Have a good trip!

[fitz]

What a difference pulling off the Lovells and putting on the Dobinsons makes. Apart from the fact unsprung they sit about 50mm higher the car now has 580mm brow height.

So the front has come up from 530mm to 580mm. I expect to get some settle so my ideal height of 570mm should be about right once they settle.

The ride isn't as good as the Lovells but the clearance and balance feels better.

The rears have settled in at 640mm and my load is a little lighter than usual so I should be around the 50mm to 6omm rear to front difference.

LOVELL


DOBINSON

[ultimate]

Hi guys,

It's good to hear both of you have sorted out your vehicles and are happy with the results. To save some faith in Lovell’s, they are a quality manufacturer that do produce great products. We are proud to have Lovell’s as a manufacturer our coil springs to our specifications. I honestly believe their Heavy Duty coils are good, but purely designed for Lovell’s Struts. The Heavy Duty coils have a shorter free height than most other coils and are specifically designed to be used in conjunction with a raised coil seat as per their adjustable strut design.

[fitz]

Brendan,

Thanks for the clarification on the Lovells. Where I get my suspension done the mechanic has been working for a long time with a Lovell/Bilstein combination with Lovells fully aware of the setup.

This is the first I have heard about the specific design for their struts.

I do like both the finish and the ride from Lovell but to be honest the lack of commitment to work through issues has been very disappointing.....and this is with a mechanic who has a good relationship with Lovells and recommends them as the springs of choice.

We'll see how they go with their longer spring development to work with other struts.........

[snowman]

Snowman ride heights

Dobinson springs (all corners)
Dobinson rear shocks
Ultimate front struts

Front right 585mm
Front left 576mm

Rear right 640mm*
Rear left 638mm*

* note that my TUB has been slightly lifted and it has a clear space between the u/s tub and top of chassis rail on axle centreline of 23mm (same both sides). You will have less space than 23mm so subtract the difference from my rear heights.

[Cowboy Dave]

Okay so here's a question about ride heights that is way too specific, but it's the info I need.

I have an MN (GLXR) with an ARB canopy. I also have 265/65/17 tyres on it but asking for someone to have matching tyres as well is really stretching things. Weight-wise I have the heavy Mitsubishi towbar and a fair amount of crap in the tray but I sort of suspect that most of us have a bit of junk in the back most of the time so maybe that's not too important in the scheme of things.

I am trying to work out what the finished roof height will be after an Ultimate suspension upgrade.

The proposed bits of kit are as follows:

Aussie Ryder Twin Tube Gas Struts
Ultimate Raised Height Coils
Aussie Ryder Twin Tube Gas Shocks
Ultimate Raised Height Leaf Springs

The target height is to keep the roof under 1.9m. Regrettably I use a car park with that clearance on a regular basis so I think that's as high as I can go.

Brendan says that if necessary we can tailor the springs to meet that height but obviously that takes work and time.

So, if anyone has the same config as me, can they post their roof heights for me?

If you have close to that, say another brand of canopy but otherwise the same, can you maybe measure the height at the top of the tray and I can add the height of my canopy to that?

[fridgie]

Got my suspension fitted (finally) so its time to post some updated heights

measured before I drove it down for fitting

FD - 530
FP - 530
RD - 585
RP - 585

After picking it up today and driving roughly 60-70km

FD - 565
FP - 580
RD - 630
RP - 640

First time ever when measuring that I have not had it come out level Not too sure why the drivers side is sitting 10-15mm lower but will see how it goes once I've got some k's under it's belt. (Although I do have an inkling as to why this is so, lets just see what happens) Will give it a few days but if nothing changes may give Ultimate a call and look into it further, just doesnt seem quite right to me

[Buzzy]

mmmm thats strange, if you read the rest of this thread its usually the other way around (higher on the drivers side)

[fridgie]

mmmm thats strange, if you read the rest of this thread its usually the other way around (higher on the drivers side)

Thats what I thought, and its not like I'm a big bloke either...75kg soaking wet carrying a carton so no way my weight could have effected it

[chick_magnet_0001]

dah and i was about to take a cheap shot at your wieght before i scrolled down and realised u already posted it

[Homer]

Try it again on some flat ground mate.

Or maybe they were just straightening up the badge mate

[fridgie]

was in the garage, level in all directions. and yes I have checked the levelness

you leave Daisy's badge alone!!! if she wants to wear it off the shoulder who are you to judge!!

[snowman]

Fridgie, the fact that your original suspension was perfectly level was probably more of a surprise than the fact the new stuff is out.

let it settle a bit then check it again. look at other posted heights and you will see that 10mm is common.

i had my front struts replaced recently and now i have a random clunk in the front end. sometimes i wish i could just leave things the f*ck alone.........

[Steane]

i had my front struts replaced recently and now i have a random clunk in the front end. sometimes i wish i could just leave things the f*ck alone.........

Exactly the same here Snowman. I noticed it within 10 mins of picking up the car from Ultimate, but it goes without saying that I couldn't replicate for them.

Has steadily worsened and now clunks regularly, mainly when turning on carpark ramps or up/down into driveways. It's definitely a clunk somewhere in the front end, that you can feel through the floor. Thought it may have been the heavy duty bash plates, but I loosened those off and re-tightened them.

Don't know what it is...but it wasn't there before the suspension change. Could be the steering column bushes, but it doesn't make sense that those would bugger up literally overnight.

Ball joint bolts maybe...dunno.

[salt36]

Fridgie mine took a few days to settle down, best thing you can do IMO find a rough as road and drive it at 100k will soon shake the springs down.......I'm suspecting your hunch is one of the front springs may not be seated in its housing quite correctly......just guessing really, one of mine was a bit out but is now sitting nicely..

[snowman]

i had my front struts replaced recently and now i have a random clunk in the front end. sometimes i wish i could just leave things the f*ck alone.........

Exactly the same here Snowman. I noticed it within 10 mins of picking up the car from Ultimate, but it goes without saying that I couldn't replicate for them.

Has steadily worsened and now clunks regularly, mainly when turning on carpark ramps or up/down into driveways. It's definitely a clunk somewhere in the front end, that you can feel through the floor. Thought it may have been the heavy duty bash plates, but I loosened those off and re-tightened them.

Don't know what it is...but it wasn't there before the suspension change. Could be the steering column bushes, but it doesn't make sense that those would bugger up literally overnight.

Ball joint bolts maybe...dunno.

mine didn't change except for the struts - so i am convinced it is how ultimate replaced them - unless the struts themselves are knocking. My top hat rubbers were damaged - from the first install i believe, as Ultimate showed me when putting it back toether - but it should not cause a knocking sound.

keep taking note of the circumstances it happens Steane, as will i, and we can compare notes later.

[Try-it-on]

Ah, good to hear that my feeling that the front of the vehicle wasn't level as I was driving home with the new suspension on mine, might actually be fact, not just a feeling.
It felt higher on my side.
I have to say that it doesn't seem to be doing it now, so maybe it's settled too.
Was quite noticeable at the beginning, but was driving on roads with varying camber, so couldn't be sure till I got home, and then forgot to check, and the next day didn't notice it anymore.
Might have to find a real level area and check it out precisely.

[Steane]

mine didn't change except for the struts - so i am convinced it is how ultimate replaced them - unless the struts themselves are knocking. My top hat rubbers were damaged - from the first install i believe, as Ultimate showed me when putting it back toether - but it should not cause a knocking sound.

keep taking note of the circumstances it happens Steane, as will i, and we can compare notes later.

Will do. The Ultimates replaced Bilsteins in my case, so there has been some mucking around on the front end of mine in the past as well, but I wasn't told of anything that had been damaged by the previous fitter (although they didn't like the way they used cable ties to secure the brake line to a monotube shock...)

I'm going to let Brendan know that there is a knocking noise, he wasn't around when I dropped back for the check-up. Keep him in the loop in case he has any ideas as to what it might be.

[fitz]

Update on ride heights with Dobinsons.

From my post before I went across the Simpson and Red Centre the front was sitting at 580mm pretty much on both sides. The LHS was a couple of mm lower which is as expected (moreso due to 2 batteries).

Anyway after 11,000kms across 90% dirt/sand/mud/landcruisers they are now sitting at RHS - 570mm LHS- 567mm which I am really happy about. This height gives me good articulation (well as good as independent fronts provide).

During my trip I was REALLY laden down with 2 adults, 2 kids, drawer system, 125L fuel, 50 litres water, 60L fridge, camping gear, provisions plus 50L of extra fuel and 285 tyre carcass on the roof!!! Towards the end of the trip the ride height was about 565/562mm so I guess you can't complain too much.

[Cowboy Dave]

Less than a day after new Ultimate install.

FL 59.0
FR 58.5
RL 60.5
RR 61.5

Forgot to measure before hand but it must be taller because I nearly fall flat on my face every time I get out of the truck Actually all jokes aside, now it looks seriously tall.

[Steane]

mine didn't change except for the struts - so i am convinced it is how ultimate replaced them - unless the struts themselves are knocking. My top hat rubbers were damaged - from the first install i believe, as Ultimate showed me when putting it back toether - but it should not cause a knocking sound.

keep taking note of the circumstances it happens Steane, as will i, and we can compare notes later.

Okay, I've fixed the suspension knock in my Tri. The 6 ball joint bolts (3 per side) took at least a full turn to tighten. They weren't loose, but they weren't far off. One of the upper control arm bolts took around a half turn before it was tight.

Clunk/knock is now gone.

Bit off topic I know...I'll report with my ride heights next weekend. Mine sits a little lower in the front than most of the heights being posted here.

[snowman]

steane,

are these bolts under the recall? i will look and bump the recall post.

[Steane]

steane,

are these bolts under the recall? i will look and bump the recall post.

I believe so, although I never received the recall notice.

[fitz]

Interesting thing to note re ride heights.

I have just removed my steel winch cable and replaced it with Dyamica rope (10mm/9000lb).

My ride height came up 10-15mm!!!

I am back around the 580mm mark now with Dobinsons.

I knew I would get something back but was surprised to see that I have recovered my "settle in" drop.