At least you're making progress - my OME shocks & struts are finally there (at home) only problem is I'm not - the box with the struts showed up about 12 hours prior to my checking in for a flight to Miami - so they still haven't been fitted.

I'm hoping to pick up front springs from a V6 Vitara to use on the front end, to counteract the added weight of a bumper I'm working on - it will be designed to take a winch, but the winch won't be fitted immediately.

As OME struts are longer than stock, are you going to use spacers with those springs?  If not, I'd expect your ride height would no be matched to the struts.

You just had to go put doubts in my mind, didn't you Ian

I discussed it with ARB/OME before the purchase and was told the struts & shocks can be used with the factory springs, I'm going to be very unhappy if I find that I was misinformed - and several hundred dollars out of pocket, which will also make SWMBO unhappy, and you know - when momma's not happy, no one is happy.

Fordem,  Another thought/course of action - ARB does offer their heavier front springs, which I believe are just a little longer, for the front end for those guys and gals who do intend to run heavier bumpers, winches and other goodies on their truck.  OR you could just shim the standard weight OME springs a half an inch or so IF you mount your bumper before your spring install or soon there after.

I discussed it with ARB/OME before the purchase and was told the struts & shocks can be used with the factory springs, I'm going to be very unhappy if I find that I was misinformed - and several hundred dollars out of pocket, which will also make SWMBO unhappy, and you know - when momma's not happy, no one is happy.

Well, if they say that, I suppose the OME struts are matched to both stock length and the longer OME springs (i.e. the minimum length matches the compressed stock spring and the longer spring, and the full extension matches the longer one), and you just won't be using the extra articulation.  If that's the case, sorry I created doubt, but it is a very clever piece of spring design which I didn't know about.

nprecon - I know about the OME springs, and was originally considering using them - it's just that the 30mm lift that they give would be very inconvenient at this time - that kind of led me to looking for front springs that could support more weight, and I discovered that the V6 engined GV weighs about 200lbs more than the 2.0 version (which is what I have) and since the differences are engine & transmission, the bulk of that extra weight is going to be upfront.

It's a theory at this point, but one I will look a little more closely at during the coming year.

Ian - I don't have my notes with me, but from memory, the additional length of the springs is minimal - the OME shocks/struts were selected after I was leafing through their catalogue and noticed that they claimed that in most cases the shocks & struts were compatible with both the OE springs and their own springs - I then contacted them and specifically asked about using the shocks & struts with the GV's OE springs as well as switching to the OME springs at a later date, and the reply was that it could be done, but if the OE springs were sagging I should not wait too long to install their springs.

It's a case where I need to change the shocks but don't want to change the springs just yet, and don't feel like spending money on shocks twice.

Gotcha!

As OME struts are longer than stock, are you going to use spacers with those springs?  If not, I'd expect your ride height would no be matched to the struts.

I put the Old Man Emu struts in today - the OEM struts P/n #41601-65D10 & 41602-65D10 (they are made by KYB just in case anyone is curious) have a compressed length of 325mm and an extended length of 480mm - the OME N103S struts have a compressed length of 340mm and an extended length of 515mm.

In theory I lost 15mm of compression and picked up 35mm of droop - I don't think I need to worry about the struts bottoming with the original springs.

The rear shocks were done one afternoon during the week when the workload was "light" - I have the compressed & extended measurements for those in a notebook that has gone walkabout (hopefully temporarily), as soon as I find it I'll post those details - the rear shocks that came out were not OEM but Monroe Adventure Series D7644, supposedly a premium 4x4 shock - compared to the OME, they look puny.

I did go for a quick test drive, nothing off road, but I did pick one of the worst roads in the city - the improvement is noticeable, but I don't think it's anything more than can/should be expected when replacing dead or dying shocks with new ones, I'll provide more feedback as time passes.

Edit

I found my notes - the OME rear shocks have an extended length of 500mm & compressed length of 335mm - the Monroes that were removed are 460mm extended & 335 compressed so that's 35mm longer, enough to make a difference if the rear is loaded.

The ride is much nicer with signficantly less body roll in turns - almost sports car like.

A big thanks to nprecon for posting his efforts and solution on the Suzuki front air activated differential.
I found your comments at a different site and followed the link to this site.

Nice site :up:

Come good weather, I'll be using your suggestions .

Thanks again

Jack.

You are welcome, Jack, and welcome to the Zukiworld forum.  The diff modification I did on my truck wasn't my original thought.  I got the idea from another forum member here on Zukiworld who had done the same modification to his truck's front diff much earlier.  Then I found the thread on Zuwharrie where owners were resorting to buying replacement air pumps and air actuators when theirs had gone bad... leaving them in the same position for an "air" failure in the future with significantly higher repair costs (with the new parts and specialized labor). The spot weld fix is simply a less expensive and more reliable option, IMHO.