How to correctly upgrade the suspension of your 4x4

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21/10/2020

Suspension Upgrade

Upgrading a car to perform better, to drive, ride, and handle better, is a rite of passage. Before 4x4s became hugely popular, upgrades were carbies, bigger tyres, swapping a straight six for a V8...suspension changes were generally a lowering of the car by various means, some worthwhile, some dubious.

Then car makers realised that they could offer a bespoke upgrade service and cars would come with a factory warranty. Body parts, computer chips, better exhausts found their way into and onto cars. But that still wasn’t enough for some, and companies that cater for those that want just that bit more now service a dedicated clientele.

4x4s are a strong part of that aftermarket function, and the most common path for an upgrade is suspension. And, to a point, it’s reasonable to assume that car makers understand that there is a want to walk that path, and quietly build some of the vehicles to a standard which allows upgrades to be performed easily and cost-effectively. Bear in mind too, that car makers have to build to a broad audience.

For those that do like to explore the abilities of a 4x4, be it a HiLux, a Ranger, a Wrangler, the factory supplied suspension will have been designed and engineered and tested to provide a compromise between tarmac driving, its most like place of employment, to off-roading. Most off-road excursions are done by drivers that have little formal training in the art and it’s an occasional weekend thing, maybe....once a year.

However, those that have gone the modification path will have scoped suspension components, ones that deal with “bush bashing” on a far more frequent basis. Dedicated 4x4 aftermarket components have, like their mainstream factory cousins, undergone thousands of hours of testing, from a blank sheet deign to test models to rejigged and signed off as sellable.

These components cover shock absorbers or dampers, springs, the bushes that fit inside the metal arms that join the wheels and brakes to the main body, and a castor correction kit. This means the angle of the suspension components that would normal be vertical in relation to the vehicle that have been changed in angle to be leaning forward or backwards.

Some kits are built for vehicles that are daily drivers but used frequently for off-roading, others are dedicated off-road components that “lift” the body of the vehicle higher from the tarmac when flat, meaning extra ride height when clambering up or down slopes, or driving at a sideways angle in a hilly or rocky environment.

Springs will be a longer travel in comparison to a factory item and may have a setup where the top half of the spring’s travel is soft but firms up the more it’s compressed whilst others may be the opposite, to allow for varying conditions.

Shock absorbers will also tend to be a longer travel, and be filled with a gas, not a liquid. This allows for constant heavy usage, quicker responses, and less tendency to cavitate or form bubbles which lessens effectiveness.

When looking for a component, or a complete upgrade kit, have in mind the frequency the vehicle will be taken off-road. The terrain it’ll be driven on too, is crucial, as there are kits for those that do more, for example, rocky and gravel off-road, compared to sand or muddy terrains, that have a need for different spring and shock absorber performance levels.

Budget will always be a factor and here it really is an area that backs up the well known “you get what you pay for”. An attractively price setup may be, unfortunately, that way because it’s not as well built or designed as one that looks more expensive, but is far less prone to failures, thereby actually saving money over the longer term.

The Garage Miami has a crew that speak 4x4. Come in and sit down with a consultant over a social-distance approved cuppa, and tell us what you have in mind. For your 4x4 and its intended off-roading.

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