Before moving forward to the detail of this upgrade, I have to mention I’m not sponsored by Terrain Tamer and the decision I’ve made to use their product on my rig is a result of almost one year research so here is a true client notes and not advertiser to earn any benefit, this post is just a celebration of ending my frustrations from all others really, I contacted all possible brands for such important upgrade, to know all funky fancy names and colors and their products and decide who really worth it to get my hardworking earned money, also I’ve been in touch with users of all brands and also Terrain tamer parabolic kit sets all around the world, obviously this kit is Australian made but for me it was important to know how globe travelers feel about using their kits and their chosen ratings for their carrying weights, am I on the right path or not ? have they felt any weakness or necessary need to change after using such kits or not? etc… so worth of this information is heaps for all others too, as I’ve been through a lot of research, contacting others and emailing lots of companies to decide what to choose for my rig and for my own touring needs, if you have almost same setup as mine for overlanding then this post here for sure might save you heaps of gold time and decide much more accurate for your needs, I felt tired, frustrated and lost for this decision but thanks GOD finally the suspension research finished! and my build completed perfectly after all one year serious hard searching for the right product I’m very happy for the result, below I will explain why such kit is chosen and what ratings I decided to use for my overlanding setup.
I have to mention you, I’ve been in touch and assessing customer service and product details of all possible existed brands for my Troopy suspension upgrade, I have to tell you, almost all other brands failed to prove to me they care about client concerns and needs for such touring setup, lack of information from their dealers, delays for replying to your emails and broken frustrating un answered questions and left on the cloud communications with you by their side definitely felt through most of the famous funky names!! time waster between them a lot and only sale and sale and sale easy money seekers exists between almost all others, lack of honest client care is existed between all other brands very obvious (at list in New Zealand) but Terrain Tamer proved very well to me they worth really to grab money from my hand, also their product worth to be used on my pride and joy living rig and won this game pretty fare.
Don Kayat, which is the main Terran Tamer company and their reseller contact in Auckland which his name is Himanshu is a true legend, he answered all my emails and questions on-time, patiently and eagerly guided me for months and months of communication, even during the install workshop called him two times to double check the parts and he answered straight away, also Terrain Tamer social media on Instagram very helpful crowed, they guided me very well and on-time and finally even they agreed if their rear rear 5 leaf pack parabolic suspension ride too stiff for me they change it free of charge by a 4 leaf parabolic pack, when you see a company take care of your needs and concerns and do not leave you alone for such important tricky technical decision, you feel they really and fairly worth it, they don’t seek only easy money from you, plus Terran Tamer got heaps of other mechanical products to offer for the Landcruiser owners, and all over planet you can grab their products in the hand handy detailed online store as well as on time customer service is wat users needs plus certainly proven quality products.
Now lets get to the user of Terrain Tamer, I found lots of people sing their products internationally, I have found a contact that they are using parabolic set for their overlanding through Asia and Middle east and when they were in turkey middle of their trip I found them and they guided me pretty worthy, the guy told me after 2 years travelling and using Terrain Tamer kit all over trains and countries, they are very happy how their suspension kit served their overlanding trips very well, their setup almost similar to me but they had 4 leaf parabolic pack on the rear, they think 4 leaf was not enough for them and little light as the back of their rig seats little lower than front, but no any significant sag just rating for their weight, exactly same as this one also another contact in South Afrika they felt same for similar setup and he told me they want to swap from 4 leaf to 5 leaf pack.
Terrain Tamer parabolic leaf pack for touring got 3, 4 or 5 leaf packs, 3 leaf pack only for very light setups, 4 leaf pack is rated to 500-700 Kg and 5 leaf pack rated to +700Kg (they call it Fortified), seems still no body used their higher rated pack commonly but obviously I discovered 4 leaf set seems little weak for such heavy touring rigs, even Terrain Tamer was not fully sure but they offered me to swap if 5 leaf pack felt stiff ride after my install, to understand their different rating below is their product details and part numbers I have highlighted what is in their SK007X kit.
You can access to above document by below link on their website:
www.terraintamer.com/documents/parts/suspension/toyota/198-sk007/file
The kit set arrived and I decided to install it by P&B in Hamilton, as they proved to me in the past they care about the job and do good workmanship plus really easy to deal with them, I spent whole day with them to help them as second hand and learn about this kit replacement for myself, they are very passionate and care about your concerns, Corey And Kieran both are true legends, both very knowledgeable mechanics who really take care of the jobs and clients, totally without hesitation I suggest them to others.
The kits installed pretty good and was very miner issues with the parts, but not a biggy at all as the installers told me they usually face with other kits too and they need to work around it,
First the rear leaves front shackle bolt extra securing screw was about couple of millimeters off and they tapped through it and fixed so quick the second issue was the front steering damper bolt head length was little longer than Toyota mounting locator plate need, basically you will face to bottom out the bolt and start to rotate it in place, they fixed it by adding two extra washers on the Toyota mounting plate of the steering dampener, also another one was that their provided castor correction template and print was not exact scale 1:1 and was a little bit off when you place it on the radius arm to mark the exact castor bush locations, but not a biggy we placed the paper on the arm mid to mid with a correct shown 185mm distance and sorted, so I guess these three miner issues good to be sorted in their future product developments, below three images showing my above notes.
Above two photos showing rear leaf pack and shackle angle also the front diff final angle after replacing the factory radius arm bushes with the Terrain Tamer castor correction kit set, be careful as some people do not replace the bushes after the upgrade and they tell you for under 2″ lifts not needed, but you need to judge the front diff angle and if is not straight to the drive shaft arm for sure you need to do it to get exact lined up diff placement, for the shocks you have choice of Rubber bushes or Poly bushes, I used all the bushes with their provided Poly bushes and I didn’t use their rubber bushes in the shock packs but you can use rubbers too, Terrain Tamer is suggesting for heavy touring loads and high pressure on the shocks new improved Poly material are much durable than conventional rubber bushes for the shocks, they gain the strength and force shocks to work instead of bushes to play, rear shackles will have only new type of bushing parts and they are all pro bushes plus greaseable and they suggested to use only Molybdenum molybdenum disulfide type of grease on them and NOT rubber greases.
The kit installation all in all goes well and WOW!! after releasing the rig on the ground what a feeling!
The rig exactly sat on a height I dreamed for it, perfect shackle angles and great lower rest leaf clearance space for extra play without touching main levees, rear sat even 10mm higher than front and still in below shown video/measurements, I have to add weight of two full diesel tanks and full water plus some personal camping gears and a full food fridge, then the vehicle will be beautifully leveled to the front, following here I have all my before and after data for you to compare, note below data are with almost two empty diesel tanks and a 95Ltr water tank to fill too, but measured them at same location and same equipment setup, so you can get an idea how this kit tuned my rig’s level:
Rear wheel arch to bottom edge of the stock rim – BEFORE: 715mm AFTER: 835mm
Front wheel arch to bottom edge of the stock rim – BEFORE: 755mm AFTER: 825mm
Front top edge of the genuine to Toyota bulbar – BEFORE: 605mm AFTER: 765mm (Depends to the tires)
Rear top edge of the rear dual wheel carrier – BEFORE: 793mm AFTER:855mm (Depends to the tires)
Clearance of the rear U bolts plate to the ground now is 185mm (Depends to the tires)
Front center hub to underside of wheel arch 600mm (after upgrade)
Rear center hub to underside of wheel arch 610mm (after upgrade)
I drove my rig on this kit both On and Off road, I’m very happy how the suspension is working and driving is pleasant, I was worried to get too stiff ride with this 5 leaf pack but not at all,
Cornering improved a lot and now vehicle is more stable when steering on the tight road corners, Off-roading was very stable and relax with nice smooth movements from front to rear plus perfect rebounds,
UPDATES:
On the very fine dusty roads the rear leaf pack will get squeaking noise, noise firstly is related to the shackle stopper brackets touching each leaf side to side from inside and secondly the hard plastic between heach leaf, Terrain tamer sent me the in-between softer rubber pads to replace them, but I didn’t replace those yet, also curent pads are heavy duty and I guess they will last longer than they new softer pads.
Another solution was to replace the end hangers with a wider design which they sent me four new wider brackets and I replaced them all but not completely noise free till I came up with a shown graphite spray solution, after spraying dry graphite on the both ends of each leaf packs the squeaking noise significantly reduced, this spray doing the job perfectly and I drove the longest dusties road in North America the Dempster Highway to the Arctic ocean and truly enjoyed comfortable noise free ride with my suspension, this spray seems holding for long time in place and If I wash the rig then I spray again, it will get between the pads after little driving on bumpy roads and the squeaking noise will be vanished perfectly.
Another update is regarding a slight touching of the front radius arms to the front tie rod in some articulations angles, eventually the best solution is to replace the front radius arms with after market arms and use factory style bushes, but I have the castor correction bushes for now and on the touching points of the radius arms I grinded some metal to make it free of touching for now till I get the arms replaced, for now is working good enough for me on the roads I drove so far and no touching anymore, but till I change them to a proper aftermarket radius arms its my temporarily solution.
Hope this post came handy and helpful for your decision and searches and if you needed any extra data or information I’m happy to help others.
