Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

Pajero 3.2 GLS LWB (DID). I need to raise the car. While in Central kalahari, the middle mannetjies gave me lots of problems as I scraped along. I have an extra 40lt tank. With extra diesel and extra spare wheel, the car sits very low. I'm looking for advice about what options there are to lift the car and what the consequences of this could be w.r.t. handling on tar, and anything else I should know. Tony

Hi Tony, scraping the middelmannetjie whilst driving sand probably indicates that the diff is scrapping as it it the lowest point - I suspect the load has very little to do with it. The way I understand it is that the only way to lift the diff is by fitting bigger tires, which could cause other issues as widely discussed on the forum.

If your other bits are scrapping, you could consider a suspension lift, or suspension air bags.

The general advice seem to be
Stofpad spacers - 50mm Lift all around - slightly firmer but probably most popular option -+ R2900 + R400 fitment
Airhelpers - If extra weight is causing the drop - could be used with spacers

If you need to replace shocks in any case the price difference between new shocks only and Aftermarket suspension is not that much.

EFS - +-30mm lift - there was some really good deals recently.
OME
Tough Dog
Iron Man

https://www.pajeroclub.co.za/forum/view ... 28&t=5882

andrew.ashton wrote:@MVerster,

Consider the Stoffpad spacers - save you a heap and keep a smoother ride than upgraded springs.

Someone is offering a set of spacers at reduced cost in the For Sale section because their Paj does not fit in their garage with the spacers in.

If you then need to load level under heavy rear end loads, add Firestone air helpers from The Air Spring Supply Company.

If you plan to add a winch and other really heavy stuff upfront only then consider higher rated springs. Then consider OME, EFS or Tough Dog (not Iron Man - too many failure reports on shock bushes).

Hi Tony,

Being the DID Pajero one can assume it is a gen3 or later model Pajero. With the independat suspension setup on the Pajero from gen3 onwards you have 2 options to increase your suspension in my opinion and they are

Larger tyres in diameter
Spacers or after market suspension

I did alot of research on this topic and my Pajero was used to measure and make the spacers by Uys at Stofpad 4x4 which I haaev installied in front only with the airbags for the rear with a trimmed down version of the spacer as I didn't want or need to have a trail toy but a reliable and equally capable overlander. I also have the 1 size large tyres and since then I am very happy

The ride did improve in the form of body roll but allso hardened up ever so slightly.

With all my mods and changes though it did affect fuel consumption though and is now 1.5l per 100km heavier on fuel ( this also inclues adding the Nudge replacement bulbar).

It never touches anything now and happy from that aspect. If you will be doing this once a year consider adding the Stofpad bash plates as an alternative to keep your ride more standard.

Hope that helps

Try a search for spacers there alot of chats on this which may be useful to work through

Bigger tires will do the trick, but those may require clearance, which is gained by suspension mods as already listed. Please check the forum for autobox issues when fitting bigger tires on the DiD.

On the Gen 3/4 because of the independent suspension the Spacers does lift the the whole centro of the car including the dif

Small correction: If you fit spacers between the body (chassis) and the rear suspension carrier, you only lift the body - it will give a better crossover angle - BUT the diff and swing arms remain exactly where they were relative to the ground before the lifting process. I have done it myself.

Cloyd

Check for sag in your coil springs. The Pajero has 235 mm clearance, and all the Toyota runners (220)should have lowered the middle mannetjie for you!

Cloyd,

You are the last guy I want to argue with. Not because of your vast experience at modifying Pajeros, but because we haven’t decided yet who will be driving when we take your AC Cobra for a spin one day. But I will risk that opportunity and differ with you.

There are only two (generally accepted) options to lift a Pajero:
1) You remove the existing coils and fit longer coils.
2) You insert spacers on top of the coil springs, effectively making the coils longer.

The Gen3/4 rear diff is mounted in a sub-frame, which in turn is mounted to the body.

If the body lifts (or sags under a heavy load) at takes the diff with. The trailing arms and control arms have one end attached to the sub-frame (which is now higher off the ground after the lift) and the other end attached to the lower portion of the suspension, which is unchanged (unless you increase tyre profile). The same applies to the half shafts.

In conclusion: the diff is fully lifted by the applied body lift and the trailing– and control arms are partially lifted.

The easiest, cheapest and least “invasive” way to reduce the amount by which the diff drops under heavy load, is to install air bags in the coils.


Sent from my GT-I9305

PS to my post above: the only way to lift the body and not the diff, is to install spacers between the sub-frame and the body

Sent from my GT-I9305