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Suspension upgrade: 50 mm lift & Fournales Suspension' Oleopneumatic dampers... Verdict after 26 000 km (20% off-road) EN/FR

Dok

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Stock shocks
 

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Tom D

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What is the amount of height adjustment on these? And how easy is it to change? It it just a tyre valve on each shock.
 

Dok

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What is the amount of height adjustment on these? And how easy is it to change? It it just a tyre valve on each shock.
It has been set for 50/55mm.

I can raise it even more, but I haven't had any use for it so far (I'm looking to lower it occasionally to pass garage doors)

Very easy to change with a pump using the tyre valve (less than 5 minutes for 4 shocks adjustement)
 

Tom D

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It has been set for 50/55mm.

I can raise it even more, but I haven't had any use for it so far (I'm looking to lower it occasionally to pass garage doors)

Very easy to change with a pump using the tyre valve (less than 5 minutes for 4 shocks adjustement)
Does adjusting the height affect the stiffness / rebound of the shocks?
 

Dok

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Does adjusting the height affect the stiffness / rebound of the shocks?
When I lower it usually drive at less than 5 km/h in a parking so I don't really notice.

Haven't test higher yet.

I'm not enough expert to tell / May say something stupid which I try to avoid ;)
Will ask Fournales Suspension next time I have them on the phone
 

TelRidan

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I'd love to hear a review from you of the differences you're observing with your new suspension. especially any difference vs highway, trail and rock/obstacle handling. Both vs stock and any upgraded suspension system you have experiences with.

I hear good things about the evictus and king shock suspension. If i lift my grenadier i'm certain that i am going to change out the shocks for something better.
@parb Thanks for asking. I have been primarily on-road so far, with a little bit of washboard fire road mixed in. I have plans to take it West of me to the Blue Ridge for some more intensive off-roading and have a standing invite from my mechanic buddy to bring it out to his property where he's building a more technical trail. I will definitely get back on here once I have that opportunity. In the meantime, on-road, the handing is solid. We've got a lot of rough roads and major potholes around here and I have found that the oleopneumatic tech means that there is no bottoming out or harsh vibration pulling the steering wheel out of your hand. They also actuate quickly, so the tires are on the ground where they need to be, rather than bouncing around - especially on those washboard or corrugated dirt roads. The ride is smooth without feeling "numb" or overly cushiony like a luxury sedan. This is a vast improvement on the much choppier OEM shocks. Also good for the mall-crawler set when going over curbs and medians... Lol!

I was also swayed by the timeline for maintenance/rebuild. As I understand it, the traditional shocks have to be rebuilt more often. I too have heard good things about King and Fox as well. Not so familiar with Evictus though.
 
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TelRidan

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Thanks for the write up and helping me spend my money. :). I had never heard of these and the very few reviews I can find all seem to love them. Was everything Bolt on or was there anything major in the changing out to the Nimbus from factory spec?
Hey @WanderingSniper The Nimbus technical team did a work up with me over the phone to understand the current state of my build and my future plans. They then set up the shocks according to my specs, including anticipated driving habits, so that at the end of the day they were essentially bolt-on 1:1 for the OEMs. As @Dok mentioned on the Fournales, the Nimbus also have a Schrader valve to add gas (whether nitrogen, which is highly stable and non-reactive, or simply air) for adujusting compression rates in case weight is increased on the build.
 
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Does adjusting the height affect the stiffness / rebound of the shocks?
Well, this isnt a plain airspring. The valving in the hydraulic fluid is what should dictate the damping and the ride. Peruse their site and maybe you'll find that answer for sure.

Also keep in mind, as of this moment, they are not providing replacement mainsprings of a lower rate. (I did contact them) In my opinion they could achieve a much better ride with more user control with that adjustment. If it were me, I'd start with a longer mainspring with the rate set so that it maybe just barely bottoms out without the system in place, and experiment on up from there. Keeping in mind, lifting more than the static ride height is transferring a % of the static load to the shock mounting points.

The 'international' nature of the truck design will really swing to favor 'French' with this type of Citroen suspention. :) As soon as they finish the kit, I'm buying it. I loved my lx470's ride.
 

Dok

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Hey @WanderingSniper The Nimbus technical team did a work up with me over the phone to understand the current state of my build and my future plans. They then set up the shocks according to my specs, including anticipated driving habits, so that at the end of the day they were essentially bolt-on 1:1 for the OEMs. As @Dok mentioned on the Fournales, the Nimbus also have a Schrader valve to add gas (whether nitrogen, which is highly stable and non-reactive, or simply air) for adujusting compression rates in case weight is increased on the build.
Ok so the "only difference" would be the height adjustment?
 

TelRidan

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Ok so the "only difference" would be the height adjustment?
Can't be certain as I am not familiar with the Fournales product, but if they have true height adjustment, then it sounds like that might be the key difference?
 

Dok

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Can't be certain as I am not familiar with the Fournales product, but if they have true height adjustment, then it sounds like that might be the key difference?
Maybee a specific air-nitro chamber for nimbus vs mixed in my fournales? Will try to get more details on my next stop at the fournales factory
 

Dual Grenny Guy

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Maybee we should ask @Dual Grenny Guy To buy a set of each and to benchmark? 😅
I would be willing to help set a standard to go by just ask….btw, I do live a very comfortably life now, but no one on here knows the pains and losses I’ve been thru to get where I am. Yes I own multiple vehicles and homes/properties, but that wasn’t always the case trust me on that!! À votre santé………👍🙏
 
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Dok

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I would be willing to help set a standard to go by just ask….btw, I do live a very comfortably life now, but no one on here knows the pains and losses I’ve been thru to get where I am. Yes I own multiple vehicles and homes/properties, but that wasn’t always the case trust me on that!! À vote santé………👍🙏
It was half a joke.
The suspension / drive / etc. upgrade with the oleopneumatic dampers is impressive.
Should You try once... You'll feel hard to go back on something else.
 

Dual Grenny Guy

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It was half a joke.
The suspension / drive / etc. upgrade with the oleopneumatic dampers is impressive.
Should You try once... You'll feel hard to go back on something else.
On my EB I have the 60mm lift and on the QR the plan is to leave it stock so I don’t think this will work on mine. From what I hear, this week at SEMA they will have lots of new products for us. We shall see. 🤞

Btw, we (me and you) have never communicated directly. Just curious how I was picked?
 

Dok

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On my EB I have the 60mm lift and on the QR the plan is to leave it stock so I don’t think this will work on mine. From what I hear, this week at SEMA they will have lots of new products for us. We shall see. 🤞

Btw, we (me and you) have never communicated directly. Just curious how I was picked?
You have 2 IG.
 

Dual Grenny Guy

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You have 2 IG.
There are several members that own 2, actually a couple that own 4 & 5. Even to me that’s commitment. Guess I was just the lucky one. Try not to pick on me too much when I add the Quartermaster to the garage. I am jealous that you have the option of the diesel over there. Really wanted one with that engine choice.
 

Cheshire cat

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I’ve been driving on the Nimbus suspension now for a bit and I am extremely happy with the upgrade over stock. I also like the fact that the rebuild timeline is every three years and that Nimbus will offer the option to upgrade the product as refinements are made to the design. The strength of the housing and the craftsmanship are top notch.

I do have a couple of questions about the Fournales prototypes if anyone has some insight. Are the mounts actually reinforced, or is it just part of the set up of the shocks for bolt-on? The Nimbus version does use aluminum spacers in mounting the shocks, so maybe that’s similar?

Also, about the height adjustability, how does that work? As I understand the oleopneumatic technology, there is flexibility to adjust the compression to account for weight, but it’s not really like an air suspension set up where you can adjust on the fly. Nimbus set up their shocks to the weight of my Grenadier and my anticipated driving habits, so I wonder also if Fournales isn’t just doing the same? The Nimbus model has a valve to adjust them if there is a significant change in weight on the vehicle.

I have to wonder if Fournales' American distributor closed due to market considerations, or if it had anything to do with quality issues. It would be interesting to hear from Fournales France about the economic viability of business in the long term given that the US market is probably the biggest in terms of sheer numbers of potential customers (although they could probably just ship directly to the US). Even though, as was pointed out, Nimbus is a newer entry into the market, I would think they benchmarked their product against the existing competitors’ models and have tried to improve on them.

In any case, I just wanted to say that I am really enjoying my Nimbus purchase and encourage anyone to consider the technology, whether it’s from Nimbus, Fournales, or another supplier (are there any?).
I'm beginning to accept the fact, another 5 or 6 thousand dollars will leave my account for something I didn't even think I needed!
I do remember, reluctantly accepting a recommended upgrade on my old Defender suspension, from 'Stock' to Bilstein. The difference was phenomenal, and that wasn't an expensive upgrade in the same way as this would be.
 
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