The Ultimate Suspension

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ultimate

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Location
Ingleburn, NSW Australia
Hi guys,

One of our customers told me about this site last week and I've been floating around browsing through the threads and garages. I’ve picked up a few good ideas and now I thought I should introduce myself and The Ultimate Suspension to see if we can help anybody out.

Firstly my names Brendan O’Keefe and I'm the son of Ken O’Keefe who is the founder and current director of the company.

For the members who aren’t familiar with our company; we have been in the 4WD industry for over 34 years. We started as a 4WD accesories company but developed into a suspension specialist. We design, manufacture and install performance aftermarket suspension products for cars, trucks, 4WDs and armoured vehicles (both track and wheeled). Apart from that we can supply suspension for just about anything that requires a spring or dampener.

The Ultimate Suspension doesn’t provide a “one kit fits all” type set up. All of our suspension kits are custom made to suit the individual vehicle and application. We start by looking at the weight on the vehicle, the load requirements and usual applications. From this we select the correct spring rate for the vehicle. Once we have the right spring, we than select the correct shock absorber (Twin Tube Gas, Foam Cell or mono tube gas) and valve it to match the spring rate.

I’ve added a couple of links below to some videos which show a bit more about our company.

We filmed this video in relation to the VSI50 laws which the RTA tried to bring in last year. I know it features a Hilux running our 4” smart lift, but the principles are the same. This video provides a good example how a good quality aftermarket suspension will dramatically improve the comfort, handling, safety and performance of a vehicle.

YouTube - Toyota Hilux Suspension Comparison. The Ultimate Suspension Vs Standard

This second video was made by one of our customers who manufacture armoured vehicles for NATO, the World Food Programme and private customers. It’s an interesting video which opens up the world of armoured plating for those who are interested.

YouTube - British Armour and The Ultimate Suspension

I’ll be popping up around the forum but if anybody does have a specific suspension question, please feel free to ask. I’m more than happy to help.
 
Welcome Brendan,

Good to see you putting your business out on the forum and Im sure many would be interested, but I have to say, how about a YouTube video of a Navaras not a Toyota Hilux? Must say though looks very impressive.

Cheers

TC
 
Hi Brendan
I have a unit your company can help a few of us out with. As you might know the D40 doesnt always come fitted with camber pin concentrics for the front side of the lower control arm. Basically no real camber adjustment.
Snake Racing has been promising a kit for 12 months now but still nothing .
Now if your crew could come up with a camber adjustment kit for the Spanish Built D40 then you could put me down for a kit straight away.
 
I'll plead guilty to letting Brendan know about this place and also to a long term association with The Ultimate Suspension as a customer even if it only covers 2 vehicles over a 25 odd year period.

As you might be aware the phrase "standard vehicle" is not part of my make-up and some 25 years ago my first 4WD a L300 was the first of my vehicles to be enhanced by Ken's special talents. It was a bit of a challenge too as the van had a bull bar and winch a rear bar with spare wheel carrier and a long range fuel tank, the later providing the ultimate challenge as the weight was on one side of the vehicle. Ken and his staff rebuilt springs to achieve the end result a capable vehicle the could get in and out of places inaccessible to a Land Cruiser but also well mannered on the highway.

After a long time out of 4WDs my D40 arrived on the scene some 6 months ago and the combination of accessories rendered the rear springs flat. After much searching of what supposed experts were planning for my truck I was pleased to find that Ken and The Ultimate Suspension were still in business and could deliver a package that would be capable both on and off the road and maintain the correct geometry at the same time.

I cannot recommend these guys highly enough not only is their work beyond first class the premium quality does no come with an outrageous price tag. I'll take some photos detailing the work over the next few days and I'm hopefully Brendan has some before and after shots he can add.

I might add that when I walked in to their shop Ken recognised me and remembered my van and despite that was still keen to weave his magic on my Nav. He doesn't know it yet but the other half of the Nissan double act, my wife's X-Trail will be heading his way to see if he can persuade it to stop mowing the weeds in the middle of every track we go down....
 
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Hi Brendan
I have a unit your company can help a few of us out with. As you might know the D40 doesnt always come fitted with camber pin concentrics for the front side of the lower control arm. Basically no real camber adjustment.
Snake Racing has been promising a kit for 12 months now but still nothing .
Now if your crew could come up with a camber adjustment kit for the Spanish Built D40 then you could put me down for a kit straight away.

hmm interesting...this might only apply to 2x4 only??

i was keen for this kit until it specified spanish builds ONLY...fks me how different the ifs is to thai builds...
Snake Racing online store Australia - Shop for Trick Off Road Componentry for your 4x4, 4WD vehicle

ULTIMATE: can u give us a price range for the 4"+ lift? thanks
 
Thanks for the welcome guys. I've tried to answer a few questions below so let me know if I've missed anything

i was keen for this kit until it specified spanish builds ONLY...fks me how different the ifs is to thai builds...

The main difference between the Thai and Spanish Built D40s is the design of the Upper Control Arms. The different deign affects the front end geometry which is why the Calmini kit can only be installed with the Spanish models. The Spanish built Navara also tends to have the most variation in wheel alignment which leads into Aussie Frontier’s question.

When we do a 40-45mm lift on the front of Spanish built D40s, we often install extended ball joints and offset bushes. The longer ball joint helps relocate the control arm and provides more movement without the risk of it fouling on the coil. This is needed because the higher you raise the front end; the more the control arm is pushed down towards the coils.

The offset bushes are then used when raising the D40 (especially with the integration of the longer ball joint) to achieve the correct wheel alignment. The only problem is they can’t really be sold as a kit because every vehicle is different depending on the height and weight of the front end. Our normal practice when doing an installation is to the fit the suspension and get it wheel aligned to see what adjustment is required. From the print out we can determine the location and type of bush needed and start the adjustment. This is why not many retailers will list a kit, as often only 1 or 2 replacement bushes are required. If you incorrectly install the bushes, the wheel alignment can be worse than with the OEM bushes.

Here are a couple of photos so you can see what I'm talking about. (A variety of Lower control Arm bushes and an extended ball joint)

IMG_1829.jpg
IMG_1821.jpg


ULTIMATE: can u give us a price range for the 4"+ lift? thanks

We don't actually manufacture a 4" lift for the Navara. We did have one kit in R&D but pulled out due to legality concerns and the difference between models.

I cannot recommend these guys highly enough not only is their work beyond first class the premium quality does no come with an outrageous price tag. I'll take some photos detailing the work over the next few days and I'm hopefully Brendan has some before and after shots he can add.

Thanks for your comments RESCUE. I'll try and post up some photos next week.
 
Hi Brendan
Basically I dont want to jack mine into the sky , more just level the ride front to rear. I have Radflo shocks to go in front with 500lb springs. Now some may wonder why soft springs. Well I use my truck at a motor racing track and actually get to play on the track hence wanting it to handle. Reason for the softer springs etc is so that under heavy breaking the front will dive and give me good weight transfer onto the front wheels and also go neg camber so it will turn in hard.
Not the usual setup for the trucks I know but then it seems like the 4x2 is an uncommon beast anyway.
One other way is I have PRG UCA but due to rego rules I cant use them as they use Heim Joints. Now if you could come up with a bush for that situation I would be all set .
 
I;ve used Ultimate Suspension for the last 70k km on my 07 Navara, doing a number of trips including Flinders Rangers, Simpson Crossing and Fraser Island.

When doing my research on suspension, i probably surveyed dozen suspension shops from the large national brands down too the smaller guys. There were three things which struck me with Ultimate. 1) They custom spec the kit to your needs. 2) Ken and team have have numerous years in the field including racing multiple rallies both here in AUS and OS, and 3) the parts are serviceable and non-properitary means things can be repaired from the removed outback.

So what do think after 3yrs of use? Outstanding. The suspension setting is just how i ordered, and makes touring in the outback a dream. On my recent trip to the Simpson it was amazing how much faster i could attack the tunes compared to landcrusiers with suspension lifts from the major national brands. Much better dampening, much better all day control when the dampeners are hot, it just worked all day without issues. The vehicle sits flat around corners and still has enough movement to walk through the technical climbs.

I have the extended ball joints on my front IFS and they hide the "feel" of the lift. From a steering feel perspective, the steering feels like standard truck and the alignment is actually better and more consistent that vs std in my opinion.

There is little to complain about, the suspension actually lives up to its name. I recommended these guys to people on the other forums and everyone has been impressed. Definitely worth chatting to Ultimate before you lift your truck. Enjoy the pics!










 
Thanks for the comments guys. It's great to see some of our customers on this site and out enjoying their vehicles. Unfortunatly i couldn’t track down a before shot of Rescue’s vehicle, but here’s a couple of shots after the suspension kit.

IMG_1828.jpg

IMG_1822.jpg


Hi Brendan
Basically I dont want to jack mine into the sky , more just level the ride front to rear. I have Radflo shocks to go in front with 500lb springs. Now some may wonder why soft springs. Well I use my truck at a motor racing track and actually get to play on the track hence wanting it to handle. Reason for the softer springs etc is so that under heavy breaking the front will dive and give me good weight transfer onto the front wheels and also go neg camber so it will turn in hard.
Not the usual setup for the trucks I know but then it seems like the 4x2 is an uncommon beast anyway.
One other way is I have PRG UCA but due to rego rules I can’t use them as they use Heim Joints. Now if you could come up with a bush for that situation I would be all set .

Unfortunately the control arms are something I can’t really help you with. To be honest what are running is an interesting set up. We would normally install a heavier coil for track work to reduce body and maximise handling. The proper weight transfer is usually maintained through the correct proportioning of the rear height to the front (rear higher than the front). I sincerely wouldn’t recommend you level out the vehicle else the handling will be affected. If the front is raised to match the rear of the vehicle; you will be increasing your roll centre which is not good for track work. Depending how hard you race the vehicle, you may find the change in handling to be quite noticeable. Even when we set up vehicles for the WRC or local racing; we always ensure the rear is higher than the front. The coil-over’s are also pretty heavy with precise valving for quicker response time. Here’s a photo of one of our customer’s vehicle in the WRC. We finetuned his suspension to significantly reduce body roll and improve handling on a range of surfaces. He went on to place highly in the WRC and took out the Malaysian rally Championship last year.

Pixrd3047.jpg
 
Its a bit firmer than before but mind you before the upgrade hitting a bump meant the truck did the we're going to Woy Woy dance for a couple of hundred metres, now the same bumps are just a dull thud thud and back to smooth running. The real difference is off road where I no longer feel as though I've got me own personal invite to dancing with the starts every time I go round a corner....
 
The members that subscribe to the 4WD Action magazine may have already seen this video. For those who haven't; here’s a short clip the team 4WD Action made showcasing our business and the new workshop. Let me know what you all think :wink:

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br_MzmU2enw

hi brendan
looks like you guys have a fantastic product.
with yr link above you need to remove 1 of the 'http://' in it as its in there twice and the link doesnt work. :)

anyways on your website you dont have the new d22 model listed, is it the same sort of setup as the others?
also as im in wa how do we go with installing, have you got anyone here who you recommend?

cheers
 
cheers, i wasnt sure if it was for the newer models as it states upt o 2006 on the website...
thanks
 
Yeah all of the D22s are the same pricing. I apologise as also forgot to mention that Off Road Equipment in Myaree can do the installations for us in Perth. I have provided their contact details below.

Off Road Equipment (ORE)
61 McCoy Street
Myaree
WA 6154
Phone- 08 9317 2344
Contact- Andrew
 
Yeah all of the D22s are the same pricing. I apologise as also forgot to mention that Off Road Equipment in Myaree can do the installations for us in Perth. I have provided their contact details below.

Off Road Equipment (ORE)
61 McCoy Street
Myaree
WA 6154
Phone- 08 9317 2344
Contact- Andrew

great, thanks..
 
hi brendan,
ive been looking around for a good while now for the best suspension for my new d40 king cab when it finally arrives (hopefully this week) and i was wondering if ultimate's kits as detailed on the website for the dual cab where available for the king cab also? if so are the prices the same?
cheers
shero
 
Hi, Very interested in how long away your smart lift for the D40 is?

Also, do you have an agent in Canberra?

last (but not least!) what about a kit with helper air bags? Are they worth it? I dont tow much, or load the back much, but when i do its right up to GVM, so it would be nice to be able to get a system that can cope with both.

thanks!
 

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