OME BP-51 suspension

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Would the "upgrade" come before or after the rear tow points Brent?

If you tow or carry weight.
Buy koni
They are bulletproof with heavy loads compared to the rest on the market.
You might actually save a few bucks if you go with koni compared to the whizz bang exxy bp51.

Bilsteins are a great shock but only for shopping trolley town vehicles...
Dont ever touch them for touring or towing.
They cant handle the heat and hard tracks, corrigated roads

I have ... well had OME suspension and the leaf design is garbage.
Soo much the front leaf failed 3times.
Replaced the front with ultimate leaf springs and couldnt be happier.

Once the OME shocks get stuffed koni shocks are going in.
I had a full OME kit put in.
Woefull aftersales backup.
Took me 10 phone calls.
About 5emails
And funny thing is i ended up going through a tjm dealer to get the OME replacement leaf spring.
I got charged a extra 100 to get what i asked for
And Tjm delivered it as promised.
They even personally delivered it to me, 3hr drive !! One way...
Mitchell bros in sydney !!
Newcastle arb was a pathetic joke to deal with.
Emailed arb head office and well ...
Didnt really get much resolved with either the craaaap service
Or the poor design flaw of the leaf spring itself

Never buying OME suspension ever AGAIN
Id hate to think if i was up cape york or in the simmo and had to deal with arb again
Id be stuffed

Went down that road 12 months ago and decided to try Monroe Gas-Magnum TDT shocks for the front of the Colorado. Pleased with both the price and performance.
My local mechanic recommended them to me and supplied and performed the work. The original shocks were starting to leak.
Will also fit them to the rear when I need to replace the original shocks. Can't fault them.
I am not a rock hopper and also drive mainly on the bitumen, except when I "go bush" in this great country of ours, then I will drive wherever the Vehicle is capable of taking me.

I upgraded my suspension before trip to Kimberley with Bilstein shocks. Both tears failed on road into Mitchell Falls. Replaced with Konis given their superior heat tolerance. Expensive lesson.

Zordos 4x4 Suspension Brisbane, John will discuss all your requirements like load,towing, I have a 120 Series Prado, went with the Dobson Monotube shocks & springs, He has done hundreds of Prado,s, with different set up’s.

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Consideration of suspension depends largely on vehicle weight and where you are going to take the vehicle.
If it is only bitumen and graded tracks then probably any major brand shocks will do.
But if you are going on rough tracks, particularly extensive corrugations such as the Anne Beadell Hwy then you may wish to install a shocker you can really depend on.
Koni shocks stand head and shoulders above the rest but, of course, are at a premium purchase price. Mind you, that price is not so great when they survive 120,000km over some of Australia's roughest tracks as my Koni's have done on my heavy Troopy.

I no longer carry spare shockers as I once did when I had Tough Dogs. That was useful too when a front Tough Dog failed at 500km on fair roads. Warranty was denied too. That is when I changed the lot to Koni's.

I disagree that Bilsteins are for shopping trolleys.

The main advantage of single tube gas shocks like Bilsteins is that they dissipate heat better than twin tubes. This is also their major failing as if you dent the outer panel with a rock hit they become useless.

I have had Bilsteins and Konis and have lost rear Bilsteins through denting on a Range Rover Classic.
I have Konis on my Camper trailer. The first set lasted only about 15 years but were not economically rebuildable so I had to buy new ones which I still have.
My opinion is that most shocks that are produced by the brand name on them are OK. I currently have Munro TFTs on my Disco and they have been around OZ including the GRR. They do not leak but feel a bit soft. Own brand shocks are mainly suspect as they are mostly produced by COFAP in Brazil or China.

I think that many people have problems with Bilsteins because they choose the "sport" versions which are far too stiff for corrugations. The comfort versions give a much better ride and do not cause the suspension to "jack down" by having too stiff rebound settings. The Mercedes experience on theCanning Stock Route illustrate this where the Sport shocks all failed but the stock shocks survived.
The fabulous cost of Konis can be recouped if you plan to keep the car for 10 years or so, but you can buy 2 or 3 sets of cheapies like Munro TFTs for the same money.
I will probably replace mine before the next big trip with another set or KYBs which also have a good reputation.

I have no experience with the bp51 but i would suggest what is important if you are travelling tough roads is a shocker with a extremely strong body . when you have coil over suspension because if in the event you do happen to break the eye off
the vehicle is relying on this item.. not so much with a conventional shock .
When i started asking about this after we had this happen it is not uncommon , so it is important to have a strong shock under you ...

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You get to wonder if Brent actually reads the responses. For sure, he does not acknowledge them!

Having just gone through the exercise with my 100 Series, my thoughts are this: Koni 90’s, standard King springs, EFS torsion bars, air bags in rear if I have the caravan hitched. Given the original suspension had sagged it is now back to standard and a tad more of about 20mm. This was also part of a 380kg GVM upgrade.
All of the suspension suppliers wanted to sell me whatever they made the most profit on. I also beefed up my torsion bar brackets and none of the “suppliers” knew how to do it properly.
Have a look at the LCOOL site. Don’t skimp. I am a qualified mechanic.

Hi Brent, I hope my reply is not too late.
I've had BP 51's on my 2010 79 series ute and now my 2017 Sahara wagon.
Absolutely superb. Towing a 3.1 Tonne van I wind the rears up 3 notches and when it's off it's back 3 notches and drives down the road like a Sahara should. Did the Simpson 2 years ago in the 79 and absolutely no issues.
Good luck.