Morning All,

Our 95 Series Prado 747743 has returned to Arnhem Land on your Bilstein / Kings Springs combination.

On the long trip back on the bitumen the handling was much less ‘slushy’ that the original standard suspension, the cornering was more direct and the speed humps were no longer head bumping affairs.

The swerves to avoid Kangaroos, cattle and wild cats were much more controlled this continued for the 4,500 kms (5 days) until the unsealed section of 740 kms was reached.

The unsealed Central Arnhem Road was in the worst condition we had seen it in 11 years, with no maintenance and heavy trucks using it at speed the damage, bulldust and corrugations were unbelievable.

There was no bottoming out at the new raised height on either end of the vehicle, on the way we met a new Range Rover that had done 3 end for end flips as they lost control and went bush, the occupants were OK but very shaken. By maintaining various sensible speeds from 35 – 67 kph it took us 12 hours to cover the track. The new suspension was much better on the sudden washouts and never left us with a jarring letdown.

I doubt the standard suspension would have got us home by the way it was bottoming out on the smoother outbound journey.

My Wife and I would like to thank your team for the Professional Expertise shown to us at all times and the excellent results.

Regards Dennis and Helen Scott
Nhulunbuy
Northern Territory

Tein Super Street Suspension by Fulcrum and fitted by Al Automotive Suspension & Exhaust of South Tweed Heads, 2008 Fulcrum Awards Winner.

My quest for a better ride in my MX5 started during an after breakfast talk with club members at last years Hervey Bay Whale watching weekend. The discussion centred around what to do with
myNA. Did i want to race or just use it on our club runs. Club member, Brian H, showed me what he had done to car, brakes, turbo, handling, air intake, the works. He suggested that brakes, steering and suspension were essential, words to that effect followed .

‘Well son, it depends on what you want to do to your car, race it, drive it, keep it standard but most
of all you need to be able to stop it, and steer it”.

I said that the brakes were good and that the car handled like it was on a train tracks, but the ride was like driving over the railway sleepers on the tracks, even on normal roads.

It was a bit like the Princess in the old fairy tale who kept feeling the PEA under all of the mattresses
His words stuck in my mind on the long trip home on a wet and windy Sunday afternoon.

Over the next few weeks, I surfed the web, got into chat rooms and was no closer to a decision on what to do.
I had a discussion with my non MX5 driving wife Ronda, who at this stage, was a bit sick and tired
of being tossed around in the seat on every trip and coming home with a sore back and b*m.

Idea.! Our club mag, the Rag-top Review had a sponsor, Fulcrum suspensions. Why not try them out.
Problem! I did not want to drive up to Yeerongpilly, where ever that was. I’m still a NSWelshman and live at Banora Point.

Solution! There was a local “Fulcrum” dealer in South Tweed, just a 5 minute drive from home.
“Al Automotive Suspension and Exhaust” in Machinery Drive, South Tweed Heads.
I made an appointment to get a suspension test and on the appointed day, meet with the staff, John, Nick, Greg, Adam and Nick.

The car was left with the boys to do their thing. Got a phone call, we have had a test drive, now come and see us. What was wrong, The car was still up on the machine and John, Nick and Adam showed me the problem areas.

Nick explained that even though it seemed that the car was set up correctly with no sign of tyre wear, and that the car had been lowered professionally and the set up was OK, the springs had basically collapsed and there was only about 1″ to 2″ clearance to the rubbers and the shocks were worn.

We discussed the different types of suspension available for the car.

3 suitable systems were available at varying costs.

The TEIN Super Street series was one of the three mentioned.

I had read about this system on the net and that Fulcrum. was the Australian distributor and a sponsor of our MX5 club, the decision was easy, install the street pro system by TEIN.

As the Super Street suspension was fully adjustable, John from AI made some phone calls to Fulcrum and the settings to match my driving needs were chosen.

Car booked in for the install and next day i picked up the car The end result was fantastic, still handled like it was on train tracks, but without the railway sleepers being on the road, no more sore backs and b*ms and the overall costs were well within our budget.

Ronda’s Nissan Pulsar has also had a visit to AI Automotive, Suspension and Exhaust and new front shocks and bushes were replaced. Same service and at a great price. The staff were always willing to talk and explain things and we would recommend them to our club members a bit closer to NSW than Brissy.

Work efficiently done by experienced staff. Verbal explantion is worthwhile to a non mechanical customer like me.