I also have a set of the BP51's on my 200 series, and after a 5000km on gravel, fully loaded and towing a camper, I was shocked to discover in a morning inspection that one of the rear shocks had managed to 'unwind' itself, disconnecting the top eyelet from the main shock body. Similar to your experience, when presented to ARB, they replaced the entire shock no questions asked. Still very happy with the BP51's as installed and having tried Toughdog, TJM, Amarda Extremes, Koni's, and a range of other brands across a number of cars, agree that the BP51's are one of the better shocks that I have used.
Good honest review,, I’ve owned heaps of different 4x4 vehicles with heaps of different suspension set ups, I’ve just hit 250,000 Klm on my 200 series, have been all over Australia with the original suspension “never towed anything” It’s still comfortable and quite, but is tired....I drive dirt roads every day. Just about to get a new set up for the cruiser, it’s well over due. New suspension ranges from 2k to 12k average around 4.5k , whatever I get has to be install and forget.. Remote res shocks ??? laying in the dirt adjusting whenever the terrain changes (if you want to) ??? The cost ??? The stone guard issue is a big issue on a “top of the range” $ item. I think I’ll be looking for a simple, strong well protected shock ....I can’t help but think that the suspension industry has got way too complicated when you look at what the standard original 200 series Toyota suspension performance was like for the last six years. Oh what a feeling 😉
G'day mate, sorry for the late reply. This message ended up in the TH-cam hold for spam box. Hey thanks for the message. The suspension industry is trying hard in a competitive market and sometimes gets a little clever in the pursuit of innovation.
Interesting on the Coopers, just watched this episode and I have a Patrol which is 3 ton and I am on my third set of STMaxx which are also 3 parts gone and never had a failure or puncture and have travelled extensively SA Flinders very rocky for one and NT Savanner way and old Eyre hwy!
Great insight in real world driving. But as I believe the b51 at over $600 a corner, they should not be “annoying”. It can be those little annoying things that seem so simple to fix but take ages at times.....Steve
G'day Marty, not yet but will be touching on that when I film Ep4 of this series. Possibly this weekend that will be filmed and then released perhaps as soon as next weekend :D - Just waiting on my mate with his 360 degree camera to be available
SummitX.net it's very confusing every thing seems to have a heavy price if you buy a sat phone maybe use it for two - four weeks a year and the rest of the time sitting in your glove box. Or do you hire one and get charged through the ass.
Ahh that I will definitely touch on because I made a mistake that cost me a fortune but i'm going to share the trick with you in that up coming video :D
i use the stock OEM air suspension on my 4WD. Seriously the manufacturers should supply decent fit for purpose suspension. love your truck Gav, it makes me sad that you had so much drama sorting the suspension.
You mentioned King Shocks, but what the Remote Res "Fox Shocks"? Have only heard good things about them to date....Not sure if u can adjust them on the fly though....
Rob Mac i haven't seen the Fox shocks yet but they have a long and successful history so I would imagen they are going to be great. I believe they work a little like Icon shocks in that they need to be revalved to adjust them but I could be wrong.
I’m having bp51s put on tomorrow and ARB tell me they have upgraded the shockers design and strength to sort out last issues. Can anyone confirm that? Anyway looking forward to seeing how they perform?
There is 2 excellent coil spring manufacturers in Australia and they are in Queensland on the Gold Coast and also in Rockhamption. As for shocks - you get what you pay for. My suggestion is to not believe what the salesman and the experts on the forums say.
G'day Marty, if by valve you mean re-valved to suit the weight of the vehicle like a traditional remote res shock. No, the BP51's have adjustable settings built in allowing you to effectively re-valve on the fly. Just make sure you don't adjust them when they are hot.
Hey Gav. Quick question mate in regards to lighting on your roof. What method was used to run the wiring? I’ve seen some people run the wiring through the door jams and others drill holes in the pillars or roof. Cheers.
Stephen Moore G'day Stephen, there are 2 channels, one each side of the windscreen behind a plastic cover. Beneath that are channels suitable to run cables into the enginebay. Hope that helps :) Cheers Gav
sound like the leafs are wrong the coil springs don't match the weight of the vehicle and is likely over working the shocks due to the lack of coil spring support and lack of leaf's too to offset the offroad weight this likely reason the bushes failed as it went to weakeest point you might pushing 3.8 tons though you are exerting 4.5-5.5 tons whilst moving.. you might want to consider a gvm upgrade to 5-6.5 tons offset the weight of the vehicle combined with the weight off the gear inside and out. you might want to hit a set of scales when you are fully loaded and see what your weight is because I think your gvm setting at present may be within the realms of tarmac and unsealed roads driving though may not be as suitable as a true off road application driving.. It can be a costly setup before you find the right medium between everything you have.. adjustable suspension may have use in a trophy truck where you have bugger all weight though in terms of a vehicle hauling specific weight not so much sometimes what might be great for a racing vehicle may handle way differently outside its intended use.. and produce a failure point not seen before.. Ive been around diesel cruisers since the mid 80's and have a fair idea how to set them up and known other follies which took them 15,000--20,000 to set it up for off road and towing use...
Oh hell yes!!! Was about to go to bed for a 6am start at work but no, now I'm watching this vehicle build video.
I'll be cranky at work in the morning
Hahah well I hope you enjoy the video and get a little something from it for keeping you up tonight :D
I also have a set of the BP51's on my 200 series, and after a 5000km on gravel, fully loaded and towing a camper, I was shocked to discover in a morning inspection that one of the rear shocks had managed to 'unwind' itself, disconnecting the top eyelet from the main shock body. Similar to your experience, when presented to ARB, they replaced the entire shock no questions asked. Still very happy with the BP51's as installed and having tried Toughdog, TJM, Amarda Extremes, Koni's, and a range of other brands across a number of cars, agree that the BP51's are one of the better shocks that I have used.
Good honest review,, I’ve owned heaps of different 4x4 vehicles with heaps of different suspension set ups, I’ve just hit 250,000 Klm on my 200 series, have been all over Australia with the original suspension “never towed anything” It’s still comfortable and quite, but is tired....I drive dirt roads every day. Just about to get a new set up for the cruiser, it’s well over due. New suspension ranges from 2k to 12k average around 4.5k , whatever I get has to be install and forget.. Remote res shocks ??? laying in the dirt adjusting whenever the terrain changes (if you want to) ??? The cost ??? The stone guard issue is a big issue on a “top of the range” $ item. I think I’ll be looking for a simple, strong well protected shock ....I can’t help but think that the suspension industry has got way too complicated when you look at what the standard original 200 series Toyota suspension performance was like for the last six years. Oh what a feeling 😉
G'day mate, sorry for the late reply. This message ended up in the TH-cam hold for spam box. Hey thanks for the message. The suspension industry is trying hard in a competitive market and sometimes gets a little clever in the pursuit of innovation.
Interesting on the Coopers, just watched this episode and I have a Patrol which is 3 ton and I am on my third set of STMaxx which are also 3 parts gone and never had a failure or puncture and have travelled extensively SA Flinders very rocky for one and NT Savanner way and old Eyre hwy!
Great video by the way love it 👍👍👍👍
Thank you, i'm glad you got something out of the video. I hope to get better and better over time :D
Great insight in real world driving. But as I believe the b51 at over $600 a corner, they should not be “annoying”. It can be those little annoying things that seem so simple to fix but take ages at times.....Steve
And have you done a video on remote Communication eg sat phone/ sleeve spot plb device interested
G'day Marty, not yet but will be touching on that when I film Ep4 of this series. Possibly this weekend that will be filmed and then released perhaps as soon as next weekend :D - Just waiting on my mate with his 360 degree camera to be available
SummitX.net it's very confusing every thing seems to have a heavy price if you buy a sat phone maybe use it for two - four weeks a year and the rest of the time sitting in your glove box. Or do you hire one and get charged through the ass.
Ahh that I will definitely touch on because I made a mistake that cost me a fortune but i'm going to share the trick with you in that up coming video :D
Let's chat about suspension, anyone else have as many dramas as me getting it right? Tell me about your experience in getting it right.
Hey Gav what are your front and rear compression and rebound adjustments?
Stan D Hi Stan, I change my settings all the time mate. Currently its set firm for road travel
i use the stock OEM air suspension on my 4WD. Seriously the manufacturers should supply decent fit for purpose suspension. love your truck Gav, it makes me sad that you had so much drama sorting the suspension.
You mentioned King Shocks, but what the Remote Res "Fox Shocks"? Have only heard good things about them to date....Not sure if u can adjust them on the fly though....
Rob Mac i haven't seen the Fox shocks yet but they have a long and successful history so I would imagen they are going to be great. I believe they work a little like Icon shocks in that they need to be revalved to adjust them but I could be wrong.
Hi mate are you running a vspec or armex snorkel. I concerned about having enough clearance with side bars
I have the V-Spec ... she rubbes on harsh corrugations but you cant see much of a mark
I’m having bp51s put on tomorrow and ARB tell me they have upgraded the shockers design and strength to sort out last issues. Can anyone confirm that? Anyway looking forward to seeing how they perform?
Thats exciting news, I'm going to shoot into ARB tomorrow for a chat I think :D
What brand awning are you using?
Alu-Cab
There is 2 excellent coil spring manufacturers in Australia and they are in Queensland on the Gold Coast and also in Rockhamption.
As for shocks - you get what you pay for.
My suggestion is to not believe what the salesman and the experts on the forums say.
Are the bp 51 valve to your car
G'day Marty, if by valve you mean re-valved to suit the weight of the vehicle like a traditional remote res shock. No, the BP51's have adjustable settings built in allowing you to effectively re-valve on the fly. Just make sure you don't adjust them when they are hot.
Hey Gav. Quick question mate in regards to lighting on your roof.
What method was used to run the wiring?
I’ve seen some people run the wiring through the door jams and others drill holes in the pillars or roof.
Cheers.
Stephen Moore G'day Stephen, there are 2 channels, one each side of the windscreen behind a plastic cover. Beneath that are channels suitable to run cables into the enginebay.
Hope that helps :)
Cheers
Gav
sound like the leafs are wrong the coil springs don't match the weight of the vehicle and is likely over working the shocks due to the lack of coil spring support and lack of leaf's too to offset the offroad weight this likely reason the bushes failed as it went to weakeest point
you might pushing 3.8 tons though you are exerting 4.5-5.5 tons whilst moving..
you might want to consider a gvm upgrade to 5-6.5 tons offset the weight of the vehicle combined with the weight off the gear inside and out.
you might want to hit a set of scales when you are fully loaded and see what your weight is because I think your gvm setting at present may be within the realms of tarmac and unsealed roads driving though may not be as suitable as a true off road application driving..
It can be a costly setup before you find the right medium between everything you have..
adjustable suspension may have use in a trophy truck where you have bugger all weight though in terms of a vehicle hauling specific weight not so much
sometimes what might be great for a racing vehicle may handle way differently outside its intended use.. and produce a failure point not seen before..
Ive been around diesel cruisers since the mid 80's and have a fair idea how to set them up and known other follies which took them 15,000--20,000 to set it up for off road and towing use...