2012 Pajero NW. Starcraft 17.58-3 OB. Old Man Emu Suspension | - Upgrade rear springs or buy WDH

[Jared01]

Hello all,

We are the second owners of a 2012 diesel NW Pajero with 70,000kms on the clock.

Previous owner changed the suspension to an old man emu setup with 2" raise, airbag man airbags in rear coils and Bridgestone Dueler D697 light truck tyres (if it matters).


We bought a Jayco Starcraft 17.58-3 outback 1 year ago and have been away on 18 trips with 39 nights total (I'm keeping a diary and luckily do shift work so get away quite a bit with the family and 3 kids).


I have the part numbers of the current suspension setup but am not getting a clear answer from ARB as to what the rear springs are rated for but the part numbers are

1 x 2915 | Front springs
2 x 90006 | Sport strut shock
1 x 2917 | rear springs
2 x 60033 | nitro shock absorber


I bought some towball scales (towsafe brand) and weighed them today and measured 210-220kg (gas bottles/both tanks almost full. Misc stuff under the double bed), no extra spare on the rear bumper yet (but I will install a second spare on the rear for the big trip).

I feel the rear is sagging (below are some photos) and this is with about 29psi in the airbags.


As we are going on central Australia trip in July, I have the following thoughts/concerns;

- Some parts of our trip will include corrugations. I feel in my setup, the read suspension will not be able to absorb as much as it could because of the airbags are not allowing the full suspension travel
- Upgrade the rear springs
- Leave the setup as it is now and try a WDH (maybe I can lessen the airbag pressure then too)

The car seems to tow well but I feel the rear is sagging and want to sort it out before the big trip.

After your opinions on the matter.

Anyone else with a Pajero and similar towball weights, what have you done?

 

[MDS69]

A quick google search tells me the 2917 spring set is rated for 320 to 410kg/inch give or take a kilo or two which appears to be a HD spring

 

[Jared01]

I didn’t have much luck searching previously but tried again without a space in between words (ome2917) and looks like the rear springs provide optimal performance for 0-200kg :-(

www.pajeroclub.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6346


Hmmm if I upgrade to 200kg constant springs, the ride without the caravan may be too harsh

Maybe wdh is a good idea....

 

[bigcol]

I would not say "may be too harsh "
I would suggest it WILL be firmer, and less prone to roll and sway (like a cork in the ocean / or a Valiant on the road)

while I am not a fan of OME gear (having had it on a previous 4wd), I also dont know their progressive spring rates either
I might suggest that maybe the rear springs have lost their tensile strength from use (lots and lots lots of towing)

I'm not too sure how far you are from Ingleburn, but I have previously used Ultimate Suspension's on a few 4wd over the years, and rate them better than OME & Pedders any day of the week
https://www.ultimatesuspension.com.au/index.php

Pajero specific
https://www.ultimatesuspension.com.au/vehicle_view.php?detail=small&vehicle_id=28

give them a call, and have a speak to them

while I would ALWAYS suggest any Van over 2000kgs should have a WDH, it wont lift the bum of your Paj, only bring the nose down a little, by its magical powers of smoke and mirrors in re-distributing the weight from the rear to the front.
having said that - yes I would get one and try it out (gumtree would be helpful) and see if your happy, and if it does what you hope it will do

 

[JT76]

I will second @bigcol recommendation of Ultimate suspension in Ingleburn. They (or any good suspension place) will weigh you car (4 corners independently) and talk to you about your set up and what will work best. They set up my car and I'm a happy camper. Seeing you are in the area I would have a chat to them first.

 

[NoWorries]

I put a WDH on my NW Pajero and Air Bags and it towed my 18ft perfectly 220kg TBW
If it was a bit more powerful and would pull my van along the beach I would have kept it.

 

[Drover]

First off measure the distance from rim to under mudguard front and back before and after hooking up van, note what the difference is this will show how well the suspension is handling the weight, 15 to 20mm drop at rear is about normal area for upgraded suspension when not overloaded (before pumping up bags), it should easily be recovered by air bag or WDH.
Your rear springs could have sagged so they can be reset to match what you need, a cheaper and better option than replacing the lot.

 

[Bushman]

My Pajero NT runs the Old Man Emu gear with airbags (getting a bit tired now) our big beast runs around 220 on the ball and run a WDH, in fact Mitsubishi recommend it on anything over 135 kg, it can be a bit of a balancing act with the airbags and WDH, to much air and the WDH bars are hanging in the breeze, I should mention we also have a fridge slide/storage system in the rear, so run about 10 psi when not towing and 20-25 with the van on.
Having airbags doesn't reduced the spring travel buy much on a Pajero as it have IRS anyway.