Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

I need your views plse, going to lift the Patrol 100mm, and decided to go with either Old Man Emu or Ironman.

Which brand would you advice to go with and why?

I accept that I need to buy much more than shocks and coils to get the lift mentioned, so that is not the issue for me. I am really between rock and hard place to decide between the two brands.

Your advice as always valuable.

Decisions decisions,

I found my lifted Patrol's ride is harsher , also the 50mm gave a very decent lift so i guess it depends on what you want to use it for.

Some of the extra things which I believe is crucial at fitment to can be later done.
1) Castor bushes , do they have them in stock to fit them?
2) Extended brake hose,
3) Extended rear sway bar brackets
4) Extended Rear brake bias bracket
5) Extended Diff breathers
6) Longer Pan Hard. (can be later changed)


2 is critical, imagine you have fitted your new suspension and take it for a outing to settle it. You go over the crest of a nice hill and front drops to maximum droop and your rip your brake lines.

Also double check everything yourself, I found loose bolts, loose breather pipes etc.

Herm... Praat ook eers met MIKEM -- hulle maak coils en gebruik diensbare BILSTEIN shocks .. wat in my boek die beter opsie, meer bekostigbaar, en selfde waarborge as die ander wat jy genoem het.. Vir die swaarder Patrol sal ek ook liewer EFS gaan wat in my meneing beter is as OME -- en OME weer is beter as Ysterman..
Dis nou maar hoe ek die goed ondervind dourrrrrr in Botswana oor die erg sleg paaie wat die verskillende manne op hulle watewwers het ..
Sterkte metti besluitnemery :-) .. en laat ons weet wat jy besluit ??

As die voertuig vir overlanding gebruik gaan word , gaan jou harder/stywer vere insit terwyl as jy net 'n lift vir 4x4 nodig het vir naweke se fun hoef dit ook glad nie so styf te wees nie

Herman,I am assuming here that what you want to achieve is better performance in fairly extreme terrain (if not, you don't need such a big lift). If this assumption is correct, then I want to state my contention that articulation is the most important factor.

Articulation, at least on the rear of the patrol, is limited by the length of the shock and the anti-roll bar (or stabilizer or anti-sway bar or whatever you want to call it). Thus, get quick-disconnects and also evaluate the shock's travel as part of the decision-making process. If the supplier can't give you the shock's travel, walk away as he doesn't know what he is doing.

I would also be inclined to recommend that you look at double-tube shocks or even at shocks with external reservoires, as all things being equal those will give you more travel...

Hi Peter

Have a look at the picture below.
Note, both rear wheels are on the ground. That is a lot of flex. Yet, I do not see any holes in the bonnet for the shocks to come through. In my own case, with the rear stabiliser now broken off, and the body lift, I guess I have space for the wheel to travel upwards.
So I suspect in my case I will still be limited by what the shocks can allow me to flex by?
But what about the break lines?

Alex, I saw this one too. It would be interesting to see what it looks like on flat ground.

The higher the lift, the less you have to move the shock mounts upwards (assuming that the upwards travel is limited)...

Thank you everyone for your good advice and it got me thinking ...

I am travelling a great deal with the Patrol on dirt roads, of about 15km did 11k overlanding this year already. during recent Northern Cape trip did my rear tyres even pushed the fender flares out of their fastening screws (sorry not technical at all) from bottoming-out, so the standard Nissan configuration not working for me. Also have to mention was only me and Swambo with luggage only. Apart from suspension will i also install soon: Roof rack (Frontrunner), Winch and Drawer system

I am still committed on my intended approach, but surely gonna research Billstein and EFS further. Want to commit myself into taking a decision before end July and then installation during August.

As I said, thank you again for your most valuable inputs !

In my opinion.... 100mm lift for overlanding is way too much. I would rather fit 50mm lift with air helpers for when the Patrol is loaded. The higher you go the more the stability goes out of whack. I have climbed some ROUGH terrain with 33" muddies and an old 50mm lift that was probably down to 30mm at the Patrol 60th birthday @ Three Provinces, and bashed through snow as high as my doors in Lesotho/ SA border.

I like the idea of big lift, but don't want you to waste money on something that you will not need ( again my opinion only ). The air helpers will probably hamper the articulation slightly, but will maintain that 50mm lift even when loaded.

Keep us posted on your decision !!

I agree with Cedric.

50-75mm is great for overlanding, more is unnecssary. Air helpers are great for overlanding. Lifts the load back to normal ride height and improves the stability.