Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

Hi all, first time posting on the site, and will jump in with a much discussed topic. I bought a 2001 Gen 3 DiD Auto which is in great nick , but the suspension is driving me nuts.
It is teeth rattling hard , and I cannot drive on a mildly corrugated road without feeling every bump as it crashes through the whole body. Road reflectors are felt right through the seat... My Alfa Guilietta with shocks set on Sport did not feel this bad , way back in the 80's !
Oh , Tyre pressures you ask; 1.8 max. Anything more is murder,currently running on 1.6, but still cannot do a gravel road.If I want to travel gravel roads I currently rather use the Getz. Honestly.
Pushing down on the nudge bar in front gives minimal yield downwards. The shock shop genius said "%$#@*!" when he tried it. The back is only slightly better.
The shocks are gas Monroes allround , and the shop says it is the lighter version( we checked the number) ,therefore not heavy duty, and I cannot imagine that all 4 would go rock hard.Could they?
This makes me suspect the coils. I have read many posts on this and other sites, and would like to know how does one spot a heavy duty coil as compared to the standard issue, apart from measuring the thickness of material.
I don't know whether I have a lower heavy duty darn racing-coil or just sagged standards, as the ride height seems lower than most others I see. I measure 500mm from hub centre to wheel arch ( front), which seems less than described by other drivers.Ground clearance under front Swing-arm suport is about 220mm.
I have basically decided that I want to go the lift route using the spacers as described on this site, but with standard coils.
However ,I see that the earlier models like mine had issues with the sideshafts pulling free.
How much lift caused this problem ie, will these 24mm spacers lift the suspension out of range?
Which leads me to another question , surely if only the coils are longer/spaced , the end-stop when extended should still be the in the same spot?
Does anyone who have done coils upgrades (OME /etc) have standard coils which is lying around and is up for sale?
I live in the Western Cape.
PS , fuel consumption is pretty good , We constantly get just a tad over 800Kms( 3% ODO error corrected )on a tank run rather empty( 84- 86 litres)/ Mixed cycle , open road 110KMH (true speed)cruising
Just some background , as I do not have a signature of note.
Had a few Mitsubishis.
My Trusty 2,8 Normally aspirated Diesl Colt 4x4 lasted me 623 000 trouble free kms , until I lost it in an accident.('Twas known as Dieselhound on another forum.)
I also had a 2.8 gen 2 pajero which I sold , ( Big mistake) and then I had a 3500 auto Gen2, which bankrupted me with it's thirst.
I always maintained I will not have one of these ugly gen 3 Batmobiles, but alas, it does drive quite nicely!

I have a set of stock gen3 coil for a lwb diesel pajero. Make an offer.

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Hi 4eP..i , I would like to do a private message , do you have an email adressI could use?

marius dot b dot fourie at gmail dot com

Hi all,My question regarding the lift limitation on the early Gen 3 remains...
How much can it be lifted before the sideshaft issue starts happening?
I do not really want more than 45mms lift., pref 40mm .

Forgot to say in previous post, I have disconnected the swaybars front and rear , and suspension is hard enough to handle higway speeds without being problematic. Doing corners are sometimes a bit unsettled, , but that's about it. At least I can cross speedhumps at an angle and get some articulation going.

Disconnect the anti roll bars will only add articulation between left and right wheel. Going over a bump the anti roll or anti sway bar will have no effect on the hardness of the ride.

All an anti roll bar does is to provide resistance to the left and right wheels compressing at different rates.

Ie. if you go around a right hand bend the car rolls to the left but the antiroll bar provides resistance to that body roll. When going over a speed hump there is no roll so entire anti roll bar moves and down and this is a resistance free movement other than the bush movement which is negligible.

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Hi 4e , you are correct , that's exactly why I disconnected it. At least i can take the humps at an angle and the bit more articulation softenes the bump. When connected, it was too hard , even when traversing at an angle.
Obviously if both wheels hit the bump simultaneously , there is no benefit.
I sincerely hope the coil replacements is going to help, you have no idea just how uncomfortable it is currently.