Adjusting suspension/ tyres for long drives?

Forshaw · Postby **Forshaw** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 12:11 pm

I'm about to do two consecutive 10 hour drives and I'm seeking advice for the suspension setup. Heading up the coast from Brisbane then heading inland to Emerald. The roads are quite rough and I don't want to experience any damage to my car. It's sitting on height/ damper adjustable coilovers. It's sitting quite low, but nothing ridiculous. Should I be running a soft or hard damper setting? Also there's not much of a gap between the wheel and the guard.

The tyres are stretched just a tad, 195x50s on an 8" wide rim.
Just seeking advice on tyre pressure etc.

Any other tips/ advice would be appreciated, I was thinking of grabbing some clip on whistle things that apparently help you avoid kangaroos etc.

Thanks in advance for any help.

bruce · Postby **bruce** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 1:08 pm

I would jack it up and go soft, as you say the roads are bad. Up the tyre pressures a bit to protect the rims.
Drive in daylight with your headlights on (increases your visibility to other drivers).

pcmx5 · Postby **pcmx5** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 1:56 pm

bruce wrote:I would jack it up and go soft, as you say the roads are bad. Up the tyre pressures a bit to protect the rims.
Drive in daylight with your headlights on (increases your visibility to other drivers).

Clearance and softness will be good but just remember to do a trial run loaded like you will be on some rough roads near home first.You may have a bit more travel and encounter issues with clearance.Always better to experiment where you can change back easily.

Enjoy your trip,

Peter.

manga_blue · Postby **manga_blue** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 1:58 pm

x2 with Bruce, exactly what I do. I set ride way up to standard height at least.

I've done a fair bit of driving around Emerald and the Bowen basin in general. There are lots of roos and other mid-size animals like foxes there. It's the dead ones on the road that give you grief if the car is lowered. Circumstances can make it impossible not to drive over them. It doesn't matter how many cars, utes, trucks and 4WDs have dríven over a carcass it will still be way too high for a lowered 5. You end up splitting the front bar, tearing the undertray and later having to unwind strips of rank cooked meat from the exhaust, tailshaft and driveshafts. :twisted:

Otherwise, have fun.

aka_juffa · Postby **aka_juffa** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 3:47 pm

Having recently returned from a round trip from Melb to Bris via the Newell going up, and coast coming back, I agree with the others in rasing the car and testing the clearance and rebound/compression with a load in the boot. What was comfortable around home was uncomfortable on the open road with a fully laden boot. And, as also pointed out you want to allow for clearance over road kill. We did end up with some skippy entrails on the FM chassis rails, but managed to clean them off without too much trouble..... :shock:

J.

Postby **NitroDann** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 5:23 pm

Its very unlikely that with a heavier car you will want softer damping rates. It will just bounce around and flop around horribly.

Dann

Forshaw · Postby **Forshaw** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 6:13 pm

Ill probably just have the space saver, a self jump start kit and a small toolbox in the boot, which is always in there when I drive around daily, might reinforce the undertray with some zip ties, definitely raising the height, thanks for the help!
It would be a rough trip running 25 damper the whole way, but I can adjust that easily on the trip.
Any opinions on the kangaroo whistles? Has anyone used them? Do they work well etc?

Sailor · Postby **Sailor** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 6:32 pm

Soften anti roll bars if they are adjustable, this will allow the wheels to move more independently of each other so they will absorb the bumps better.

hks_kansei · Postby **hks_kansei** » Thu Jan 24, 2013 9:00 am

Forshaw wrote:Ill probably just have the space saver, a self jump start kit and a small toolbox in the boot, which is always in there when I drive around daily, might reinforce the undertray with some zip ties, definitely raising the height, thanks for the help!
It would be a rough trip running 25 damper the whole way, but I can adjust that easily on the trip.
Any opinions on the kangaroo whistles? Has anyone used them? Do they work well etc?

I've seen many a 4x4 and truck with the roo whistles
I've also seen the same ones with a roo embedded in the bullbar.

Daylight helps avoid most of the roos, and if you need to drive at dusk make sure to keep an eye on the side of the road ahead.
If one does jump out, brake, DON'T SWERVE!
If you brake and hit one, the front get's smashed up, if you swerve and lose it, you get a gumtree through the door.

manga_blue · Postby **manga_blue** » Thu Jan 24, 2013 9:35 am

hks_kansei wrote:Daylight helps avoid most of the roos, and if you need to drive at dusk make sure to keep an eye on the side of the road ahead.

You can get red kangaroos as far east as Emerald. They behave differently from the eastern greys you see along the coast. They'll often travel at speed in big mobs in daylight. Usually they send out scouts ahead of the main mob. So if 1 or 2 roos bound across the road a few hundred meters ahead of you it can mean that by the time you get to that spot you'll be in the middle of 50 or 100 of them. Slowing down a lot when I saw the first 2 has saved me a couple of times.

Also think about travelling with the roof up. The eagles out there are big enough to carry you off. :lol:

Forshaw · Postby **Forshaw** » Thu Jan 24, 2013 11:57 am

Apparently some of the roads are closing due to weather, flooding etc.
would it be a good idea to take the Towoomba route? Just not sure about stopping areas/ fuel services in that direction? Or maybe that way contains 4x4 tracks?

Would there be a service I could contact about giving advice on the route I should be taking?