Pajero suspension - need your opinion

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mahesh_bmj
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Dear friends,

my stock pajero's (2010) suspension is having a issue and need to be replaced as advised by agency. (front shoks and boll joint).

Agency is asking aed 3000 for replacement but i think it is too much and i can get a lift kit for the same amount.

ARB is having "old man" 2" kit for 4800 including all fixing and alignment. (3years warranty)

"IRON Man" 1.7" kit for 3800 including all fixing and alignment. (2years warranty)

lifting pajero with 1.7 inch will be enough ? or should go for 2- 2.5" inch.

do you have any other options ?

mahesh
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dLemma
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Hi Mahesh,
being your car's frame a monocoque construction, most of the suspension lifts you'll find would be in the range of 35/40mm. I remember a few were offering 50+mm. Have you measured how much height you lose when you deflate? I would guess that with stock 17" rim and tyres you would probably lose 25-30mm, so the 35-40mm lift won't basically change too much your center of gravity when driving deflated, but will restore you more or less the stock clearance.

Most manufactures offer the possibility to select different setups based on the expected load of your vehicle: if you plan to replace the bumper and put a steel one (or a whinch) and/or if you normally carry a lot of camping gears/passengers, that will increase you car's weight and you will need stiffer coils else you will see few/no benefit from the lift in terms of ground clearance.

At the same time, you don't want to go just for the stiffest suspension if you normally drive with stock bumper, no camping gears and no passengers, as the ride would probably become unpleasant (I rode a Pajero for a couple of months and it was already on the stiff side with its stock suspensions).
A few manufactures offer the possibility of adjustable coils, so you can change the lift height within a certain range.

The actual installed lift for your car will hence depend on the weight the car will normally carry, since that weight will compress your coils.

In terms of manufactures, in addition to OME you may also have a look at Icon, Fox, Tough Dog, Radflo, Bilstein, Lovells just to name a few. Not sure all of them make model for the Pajero, but you can easily check on their website. Then it will be a different story to check if they are already available in UAE (but normally you can get them shipped).

My personal brand choice would be for Radflo, but have not had the chance to see how they perform on Pajero.
I would suggest you to browse on the web: there are many forums on Pajero, mainly from Australia, and you might get some ideas from there.

Just keep in mind that normally in Australia there is a lot of overlanding, which is quite different from the offroad we do here in the region (and therefore the need in terms of suspensions is quite different).

I hope it helps,
dLemma
Mohanad
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hi Mahesh, 1.7" is just not enough ... I agree with dlemma that Radflo is one of the best suspensions but I believe that they are quiet costly too.
the oldman sounds like a good choice. I think you can get a discount from ARB being an Almost 4x4 member.

best of luck..
If you Hesitate, Accelerate !
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mahesh_bmj
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Thank you so much for your inputs [MENTION=10663]dlemma[/MENTION] and [MENTION=11175]Mohanad[/MENTION].

options for pajero is very limited in UAE. information given to me by ARB was wrong and it is only 40mm lift kit. not 2".

any idea about brand called "pedders". they have 2" kit cost around 4500.

Radflo is very good but it is bit expensive costing around 6000.

search is going on ... :sad:
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dLemma
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[quote=mahesh_bmj;46936]Thank you so much for your inputs @dlemma and @Mohanad.

options for pajero is very limited in UAE. information given to me by ARB was wrong and it is only 40mm lift kit. not 2".

any idea about brand called "pedders". they have 2" kit cost around 4500.

Radflo is very good but it is bit expensive costing around 6000.

search is going on ... :sad:[/quote]

Hi [MENTION=11226]mahesh_bmj[/MENTION], I don't know pedders.
If you can find Radflo for your car in UAE, I would think about it. Nobody is questioning that they are expensive, but it will pay back.
Their performances are great, and every single component is replaceable, so the maintenance on the medium long term will be much cheaper and you can even change components to tune to your own preferences.
The front coils are height-adjustable from 1" to 2.5".

Have a check vs the alternatives to compare the specs, and browse through forums to possibly get some Pajero user who installed them to get their feedback.
Suspensions are a vital component of the car, and they get all the hits during the drive. So if you plan to off-road for quite some time, let's plan for the longer term.

Also, have you checked with the other Pajeros' guys in our club? Have they changed anything in their suspensions, so you can get a comparison/feedback?

Bye,
dLemma
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mahesh_bmj
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Thank for the reply [MENTION=10663]dlemma[/MENTION],

No hope for pajero. checked with Radflo, but they don't have kits for pajero. im going through the forum and trying to get some more details before doing any change.
as per the information im having now, pajero can only be lifted up to 45mm without any major modifications or long term issues (excessive wear and tear).

hopefully ill get more light from our pajero members in the club.
bye
Mahesh
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Red Baron
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[quote=mahesh_bmj;46974]Thank for the reply @dlemma,

No hope for pajero. checked with Radflo, but they don't have kits for pajero. im going through the forum and trying to get some more details before doing any change.
as per the information im having now, pajero can only be lifted up to 45mm without any major modifications or long term issues (excessive wear and tear).

hopefully ill get more light from our pajero members in the club.
bye
Mahesh[/quote]


Hi Mahesh,

I don't know how experience you are in sand driving, if you think you are not going to be an intermediate soon, do not spend lot of money, spend what it takes get the rig up and running to learn, eventually you will get to know what modifications you want. In fact, in newbie levels you don't need these lifts and high performance suspension at all. you only need a good bash/skid plate and probably do something to your rear bumper (Pajero thing). My suggestion talk to our Marshals, they will shed the light on this.

Cheers

RB
R.B
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mahesh_bmj
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Hi Vijitha,

i totally agree with you. but i don't want to replace the shockers with agency original ones paying 3000 buks. Pajero's front and back bumper is not made for desert. what im thinking is to spend the same amount and upgrade the suspension to get a little bit lift so i can not damage bumpers any more and enjoy both worlds.

Mahesh
xkennx
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I have a 2010 Pajero (ARB steel bumper and winch, along with a truck area full of stuff and rooftop tent). My setup might be to stiff for most but I have KING Springs (for armored pajero) gives a +2" lift along with Ironman Nitro shocks. First 5000km were HARD, but has now got a bit softer, or atleast passengers have stopped whining so much.

Issue I had was getting the alignment and camber correct. Front is resolved but still can not get the back setup 100% correct so getting uneven tire wear.

The best thing you can do for the pajero is tap into the ABS/Traction control and turn it on/off while you are in 4H. If your not going to trim your reear bumper you should atleast get a rear trailer hitch that will stop your bumper from flying off in the desert.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2975[/ATTACH]
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mahesh_bmj
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[quote=xkennx;47821]I have a 2010 Pajero (ARB steel bumper and winch, along with a truck area full of stuff and rooftop tent). My setup might be to stiff for most but I have KING Springs (for armored pajero) gives a +2" lift along with Ironman Nitro shocks. First 5000km were HARD, but has now got a bit softer, or atleast passengers have stopped whining so much.

Issue I had was getting the alignment and camber correct. Front is resolved but still can not get the back setup 100% correct so getting uneven tire wear.

The best thing you can do for the pajero is tap into the ABS/Traction control and turn it on/off while you are in 4H. If your not going to trim your reear bumper you should atleast get a rear trailer hitch that will stop your bumper from flying off in the desert.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2975[/ATTACH][/quote]




Hello [MENTION=1586]xkennx[/MENTION]

Thank you very much for the information.
i got my suspension kit upgraded to Iron Man and pleased with the results.

i did align the wheels after upgrade but my tires are bit old and already stated to weare unevenly. have to check after changing tires.


mahesh
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