Suspension Overhaul after 300,000 Miles

[Falcon_LS]

Other than a front end job (including front/rear shock absorbers and sway bar links/bushings) in June 2008, I haven't done any work to the suspension on the Pajero/Montero - that was a little over 160,000 miles ago. After doing a lot of research into what works well and ordering a ton of parts in, I redid the whole suspension last week:

• ARB/Old Man Emu front torsion bars and rear coil springs
• Koni Heavy Track adjustable shock absorbers
• All new bushings from Siberian Bushing
• Lemforder/ZF upper/lower sealed ball joints
• ALL new OE hardware (bolts, nuts and washers) from Mitsu

She now sits 2" higher, and drives a heck of a lot better. The Michelin Latitude Cross tires I got on are now 5 years old, and since they've been discontinued, I'll be putting on a set of BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 tires soon. Got a set of front/rear DBA 4x4 Survival T2 discs on the way from Australia, which will go on with a set of EBC Yellow Stuff pads and stainless hoses next.

Gave the undercarriage a good wash and took some pictures in the process.

 

[Krieg]

Looks awesome! Let us know how she performs...Great job!

 

[skyactiv]

Good work!

 

[CharBaby]

Nice work and a lot of work indeed.

 

[Graham Piccinini]

Impressive. And then there are some people who replace cars every 80k-100k because the car is too old... Idk, but for me high mileage is like a Badge of Honor for the car. 5 cars in my driveway, lowest mileage is 201k, and highest is 365k.

 

[Astro14]

Well done. Always gratifying to do a major overhaul and then enjoy the benefits of your hard work by experiencing the improvement in how your car drives

I’ve got my wife’s Volvo XC up on the lift for a similar overhaul. New parts: front struts, bellows, bump stops, strut bushings, spring seats, springs, ball joints, control arms with bushings, inner and outer tie rods, rear shocks, rear springs, rear spring seats, sway bar links front and rear, and strut tower brace bushings.

Also, brake fluid change and rear brake rotors and pads (they lasted about 150,000 miles, Akebono ceramic and Brembo rotors).

In addition: timing belt, tensioner and idler, an engine mount bushing, oil and filter, transmission D&F, and cabin air filter.

At 265,000 miles, her car has great paint and a good interior. No body rust or defects anywhere. The engine is strong, the transmission shifts smoothly. Everything works.

We had talked about, even planned, a new Volvo for her this summer. A European delivery combined with a road trip around Scandinavia, but we doubt it will be possible due to travel restrictions, and her car is still doing great, so, overhaul on the suspension and plan a few more years of enjoying the XC.

 

[Danno]

Good posts.
In areas where the car is a daily driver, real winter happens, and salt is is used on roadways, a much more difficult process to get cars past 15 years and 250,000 miles.

 

[doublebase]

Nice work.

It amazes me what a vehicle can look like without having to drive through salt covered roads four months out of the year. There is barely a spec of rust underneath that thing! Jealous.

 

[Trav]

Looks great, good for another 15 years.

 

[Randol]

Good Job!
This fall my son and I did a front suspension overhaul on his 2004 Toyota Sequoia. A little over 200K miles.
It was getting pretty sloppy and had a front wheel bearing howling.
Moog upper and lower control arms
Toyota OEM alignment eccentrics
Toyota OEM upper and Lower Ball joints
Toyota OEM wheel bearings
Inner and Outer Tie Rod Ends
Sway bar links
New half shafts
followed by a good alignment.
Drives great now.

 

[AZjeff]

How about some photos of the shiny side?

 

[AutoMechanic]

Awesome. Suspension work is always fun rebuilt the whole suspension on our 2004 Toyota Camry back in November the thing does great now.

 

[Falcon_LS]

How about some photos of the shiny side?

Will have to take some new ones.

 

[daves87rs]

Nice work!!

 

[Toy4x4]

Very cool!
It's amazing how huge a difference the drive is after doing work like this. Make sure you get a good alignment after the new tires are installed.

 

[01rangerxl]

Awesome, love the color combo on it. You take great care of your vehicles.

Do you still have the 99 Explorer?

 

[Falcon_LS]

Awesome, love the color combo on it. You take great care of your vehicles.

Do you still have the 99 Explorer?

Sure do! It's also got the same color combo as the Pajero.

It just got a new set of Pirelli Scorpions, and recently had a full brake job with EBC slotted/dimpled rotors, Ultimax2 pads and new brake hoses. Also got a new Energy Suspension front sway bar kit (34 mm), along with the rear (19 mm) all painted Ford Blue. Now I'm doing a complete cooling system overhaul on it; all new cooling system parts (minus the heater core) and all-new hardware. Just waiting on my Simon Autosportz all-aluminum thermostat housing to come in. Toughest part there was the Nissens radiator, which I had shipped from the UK.

Once that's over, it's also getting some ARB/OME goodies from Australia.

 

[AZjeff]

Will have to take some new ones.

Sweet! I wanted one of these so bad a few years ago.

 

[ripcord]

Excellent! I bet the shipping costs for all those parts just hurts a fellow's wallet so bad.