4x4 Lift Kits & Suspension Upgrades in Brisbane
Here's the who, what, when and why of upgrading your 4WD suspension
We assess your vehicle properly before we recommend anything. We're not a stick it in and hope it works kind of company.
Most 4WDs come out of the factory riding pretty soft, and that's fine until you start adding to them. A bullbar and a winch on the front, a canopy with drawers in the back, 80 litres of water, a second battery, a rooftop tent, and then a van hooked on behind. Every one of those is weight sitting over an axle that the factory springs were never really sized for, and it doesn't take much before the whole thing starts working against you.
Family owned since the early 1990s
We've been sorting that out since the early 1990s. Direct Suspensions was founded by Darren and Melissa Irvine, and their son Ashley owns and runs it today, so it's still the same family and still the same job.
Before that, Darren worked for Jacob Spring Works, a Melbourne spring manufacturer that had been making leaf and coil springs since 1958. Same company that a 4x4 brand you'd recognise later came out of, though that was their doing, not ours. We just learned the trade there.
That's where the leaf spring side of what we do comes from, and it's a fair part of why we'd rather measure a spring pack than guess at one.
We've got a workshop on the north side of Brisbane where we fit everything ourselves, and we ship kits Australia wide for people who aren't local.
What we carry
You'll find Brisbane's biggest 4WD suspension range here, which means West Coast Suspensions, Tough Dog and EFS all sitting under the one roof so you can genuinely compare them, rather than being pointed at whichever brand we happen to be tied to. Lift kits run from 30mm through to 75mm, and we do standard height upgrades as well, for the people who want the ride and the load capacity without lifting the car at all.
Alongside that we do GVM upgrades, both federally approved and QLD LS11, pre and post registration. Our Stage 2 Pre-Rego upgrade is done before the car is ever registered and can then be registered in any state. Once a car is on the road it becomes a Stage 1 or Stage 2 Post-Rego post-rego upgrade, and those are Queensland registered vehicles only.Airbag Man specialists, so airbag kits and on-board air systems are a big part of what goes through the workshop. We supply and fit leaf springs and parabolics, including custom rates if you're carrying a fair bit. And we do the unglamorous end of it too, control arm replacements, bushes, and general suspension repairs.
We do fit bullbars, rear bars, side steps and the rest of the gear that goes on a 4WD, and we're happy to. But suspension is what we're known for, and it's what we'd rather be judged on.
What makes us different
The difference with us is pretty simple. We look at your actual vehicle before we tell you what it needs, rather than typing your make and model into a computer and reading you back whatever comes up first. You get real, honest advice, because we're selling you a solution, not a product off a shelf.
Our promise on transparency
We want to be the most transparent business in the industry. Not as a slogan, as something you can check on this page before you ever ring us.
So here's what that looks like, and you can hold us to all of it.
- Our prices are published. Real ranges for real vehicles, further down this page. No form to fill in first.
- We'll tell you when you don't need what you came for. Sometimes the answer is rear springs only, sometimes it's an airbag kit, and sometimes it's nothing at all. We'd rather say so than sell you a full kit.
- We say what we won't do. We don't do GCM upgrades, and we can only do in-service GVM work on Queensland registered vehicles. Better you know now than after the drive over.
- We publish our GVM numbers. Our Stage 1 upgrade is a 10% increase, or the combined axle ratings, whichever is lower. We don't exceed axle ratings. That's a more conservative number than some, and we'll explain exactly why.
- We give the other option a fair go. A spring reset can be the right call for some people, and we'll say so rather than pretend it isn't.
- We label opinion as opinion. Where something is our view rather than a fact, it carries an Our opinion tag. Take those bits or leave them.
The whole page is written on that basis. If anything on it turns out not to match how we actually treat you, tell us and we'll fix it.
★ 4.9 from 289 Google reviewsFamily owned since the early 1990sOfficial West Coast Suspensions distributor for QLD & NSWFitted in store, shipped Australia wide
How much does a 4x4 lift kit cost in Brisbane?
Roughly $1,700–$2,400 fitted and aligned for a coil front and rear vehicle, and $2,500–$3,400 for a coil and leaf ute. Prices move with promotions and brands.
We'll start with the question everyone actually wants answered, because most sites will make you fill in a form for it.
Prices do move around with promotions and brands, so treat this as a guide rather than a quote. Sometimes it comes in a bit under, sometimes a bit over.
Prado, Everest, Pajero Sport, LandCruiser 200 and 300 Series, Patrol and similar. For a 2 inch lift kit, fitted, with a wheel alignment included.
HiLux, Ranger, D-MAX, BT-50, Triton, Navara, Colorado and similar utes. Fitted and aligned.
The utes come in higher because there's simply more in the job. You're doing coils and struts up front, a full leaf pack out the back, plus new u-bolts, and we'd normally include greasable pins and shackles as well so the bushes can actually be serviced down the track. There's more parts and more hours in it.
Give us a ring with what you're driving and what's on it, and we'll give you a proper number rather than a range.
I'm ready for my quote“Amazing kit and 1st class service from the team at Direct Suspensions.”Chris Trec — West Coast Suspensions 2" Monotube Lift Kit, Ford Ranger PX3 · Verified buyer
Do I actually need a lift kit for my 4WD?
If the back sags under load, you tow or tour, you get off the black top, or your factory shocks are worn out, then probably yes. If none of that is you, probably not.
Not everyone does, and we'll happily tell you if you don't. But if any of the following sounds familiar, your standard suspension is already costing you something, whether that's tyres, comfort or safety.
Your back end is sagging
This is far and away the most common reason people walk through our door, and it doesn't take much weight at all. With just 200kg on the back, a lot of utes will start to sag noticeably. Once the rear squats down, your headlights end up pointing into the trees, the steering goes light because weight has come off the front axle, and it takes you noticeably longer to pull the thing up. If you've ever had someone flash you on a country road at night with an empty ute, that's usually what they're on about.
You're towing or touring
A caravan or a loaded canopy completely changes how a 4WD behaves, and the factory setup usually wasn't designed with any of it in mind. Matched springs and shocks will settle down a lot of the wallow and porpoising you get on the highway with weight on.
You're getting off the black top regularly
More ground clearance, more suspension travel, and room for a bigger tyre if you want to go that way.
Your factory gear is just worn out
Shocks don't fail in an obvious way, they just fade, and most people have no idea how bad theirs are until they drive the car with new ones in it. If you're up for replacement shocks anyway, an upgrade is often not a lot more than a standard replacement, and you get the suspension manufacturer's warranty on a vehicle that's long out of factory cover.
And it does look better!
Nothing wrong with that being part of the reason.
“Loving my new suspension. The team were super easy to work with and the canopy sits much better with a proper set up now.”Jacob Bolwell-Hall — Rear suspension fitted at Brendale · Verified buyer
What we do differently — we assess your vehicle first
We weigh the car and measure it before we recommend anything. Hub to guard, rake, shackle angle, leaf pack make up, shock wear marks, bushes, droop and tyre wear. Free heights too where the spring is out of the car. All of it before we pick a single part.
Here's the bit that actually separates us, and it's not glamorous. Before we recommend a single part, we go over the vehicle properly, because the vehicle will tell you what it needs if you know what you're looking at.
We'll assess the vehicle's current weight, and if it's already got aftermarket suspension on it, we'll have a good look at how that suspension is actually working. That last part matters more than people expect, because if someone's already fitted a kit and got it wrong, that changes everything about what we'd recommend next.
We'll look at the coil height in the car, and take hub to guard measurements off it. Free height is a different matter, because the spring has to come out of the car before anyone can measure it. We can absolutely do that, but we're not pulling struts apart on every vehicle that comes through the door.
Most of the time hub to guard and the rest of what we look at gives us what we need. Every car is different though, and if we're genuinely unsure about a coil we'll say so and suggest pulling it out to measure properly, rather than guessing at it.
If it's running leaf springs we'll check the shackle angle and whether it's sitting inverted, any wear marks on the chassis, the leaf make up (how many leaves in the primary and secondary pack), wear marks on the spring itself and how it's sitting. A leaf pack is basically a wear diary once you know how to read one.
Free height is the one we can't get to with the car on the ground. Same as a coil, a leaf spring has to come out before anyone can measure it properly, so it's not something we do on every vehicle. Most of the time the rest of it tells us enough.
We'll measure hub to guard at each corner, and the rake from front to rear, so we've got a written baseline to compare everything back to.
We'll look at the shock wear marks, which give us a gauge as to how the car has been sitting in relation to the travel of the shock. The marks on the body of the shock show you where in its stroke that vehicle has been living, and that's a very good clue as to how much travel it actually had left.
And if we're doing a full check over, we'll also go through all the bushings, the full droop of the vehicle in relation to the brake lines, the tyre wear, and whether there's any sign of cracking around the suspension components.
And if the answer changes on the day
This is where holding real stock matters, and it's a fair part of why we do.
We carry a lot on the shelf, West Coast Suspensions especially. So when we pull a spring out, measure it and decide the configuration needs to change, a lot of the time we can just do it that day rather than send you home and order something in.
On top of that we can reset springs up or down to standard height, and remove a leaf if the pack lands firmer or taller than you were after.
Spring making is technically outsourced and it's charged. Removing a leaf is free, including afterwards, within the Perfect Fit period.
Every bit of that happens before we decide what's going in the car. We're not measuring to justify a kit we've already picked out. We're measuring so we know which kit to pick.
Then, once we've actually got all that, we'll talk about parts.
Honestly, most of the bad suspension we come across isn't a bad product at all. It's usually a good product on the wrong car, or the right spring at the wrong rate. Twenty minutes of measuring at the start is the difference between a 4WD that drives beautifully when it's loaded and one you're fighting the whole way home from Fraser.
“Best move made in a while, certainly changed the vehicle's performance in many ways. Recommend for fast efficient service with long lasting results. Thanks guys, well done without the fluff.”Denis Byrne — West Coast Suspensions shock absorbers, D-MAX · Verified buyer
What those measurements actually tell us
Every measurement answers a specific question. Most bad suspension isn't a bad product, it's the right part at the wrong rate for that car.
None of this is theory. Each thing we measure answers a specific question, and together they tell us what the car needs before we've picked out a single part. A few examples of how that works.
A spring that's lost free height
Where we have a coil out of the car and its free height is well down on where it should be, that spring has been carrying more than it was rated for. That tells us the answer isn't a taller spring at the same rate, it's a spring rated for the weight that's actually on the car. Fitting the same rate again just repeats the problem.
The catch is that a spring has to be out of the car to be measured, coil or leaf. With it still in the car, hub to guard and the rake do most of that job for us.
Where it does become worth measuring is when we want to know why a spring is sitting the way it is. If you've already got the same coil or leaf we'd be suggesting, and we suspect it's sagged over time rather than been the wrong rate to start with, we'll measure it when it comes out and prove or disprove the theory. Then we adjust the plan from there.
Shackle angle and wear marks
The angle a shackle sits at tells us how far the leaf pack has settled, and it also tells us something almost nobody checks.
Rotated forward past 90 degrees down and it's inverted. That means the spring is too stiff for what the car is actually carrying. It's one of the clearest signs on the whole vehicle that someone has been sold more spring than they needed.
Sitting too far back and it's the opposite problem. The pack has flattened out under load, which tells us the spring is overloaded for what it's rated to carry.
Both get ignored constantly, and both are visible from the ground in about ten seconds.
Wear marks on the chassis tell us the suspension has been running out of travel and something has been making contact. None of this shows up on a spec sheet, and none of it gets picked up by ordering a kit off a make and model.
Shock wear marks against ride height
The wear marks on the body of a shock show us where in its travel the vehicle has been living. If those marks are bunched down one end, the car has been sitting low and running short of travel, which usually points back to a spring problem rather than a shock problem. Replace only the shock there and you'll be back in the same spot.
The leaf pack make up
How many leaves are in the primary and secondary pack tells us what the spring was originally designed to carry. Compare that against what's actually bolted to the car now and it's often obvious why it's sagging.
Tyre wear and full droop
Uneven tyre wear points at alignment, and alignment problems very often trace back to ride height. Checking the vehicle at full droop against the brake lines tells us whether the lines are going to be stretched once the car sits higher. Both of those are things you only find by looking.
↑ Back to top of pageTwo ways to get your 4WD looked at
A free look over the outside if you call ahead, or a paid Vehicle Underbody Safety Check where we put it up and go through it properly.
A free look over
If you're going past, you're welcome to call ahead and we'll have a look around the outside of the car with you. No charge, and it's a good way to get a rough steer before you spend anything.
You'd be surprised how much we can read from the outside. Between how it's sitting, the rake, hub to guard, shackle angle, the wear marks and the state of the tyres, we can build a reasonable picture. What we can't do is measure free height on a coil or a leaf spring while the car is on the ground — the spring has to come out for that — so we're working off reference points rather than proper measurements.
It's a good starting point, not a full assessment. Give us a ring first so we know you're coming and someone's free.
A paid Vehicle Underbody Safety Check
If you want the real answer, we put the car up and go through it properly. Hub to guard at each corner, shackle angles, the leaf pack make up, shock wear marks, all the bushings, full droop against the brake lines, tyre wear, and any cracking around the components. If a coil needs to come out to be measured properly, we'll tell you that's what it'll take rather than guess.
That's the version that gives you a written picture of your vehicle and a recommendation you can actually rely on, whether you end up buying anything from us or not.
It's booked as a Vehicle Underbody Safety Check.
Book a Vehicle Underbody Safety Check
And we check it again on the day
Whichever way you come to us, if the car comes in for work we'll do a good inspection again on the day, to make sure we're pairing the vehicle with the right parts. If what we find on the hoist doesn't line up with what we quoted you, we'll come and have a chat about it before anything gets fitted, not after.
↑ Back to top of pageCommon misconceptions we hear every week
Heavy duty isn't automatically better, springs and shocks do different jobs, and a lift kit is not a GVM upgrade. Tap any one to open it.
"A lift kit will make it ride like a truck"
Only if it's specced wrong, which unfortunately happens a lot. A kit that's matched to what the vehicle actually carries will very often ride better than standard, not worse, because the shocks are properly valved for the spring rate. The cars that ride terribly are nearly always the ones running a heavy duty pack with nothing in the back.
"Heavy duty is always the safer choice"
This is the big one. Heavy duty means heavy duty, and if you're not carrying that weight, all you've bought is a harsh ride and a car that sits nose down at the front because the back is up in the air. There's no prize for over-springing it.
"I'll just do the springs, the shocks are fine"
The shocks are the part actually doing the work. Springs hold the weight, shocks control it, and putting new springs on tired shocks means the ride is still being managed by worn dampers. It also tends to kill the new springs faster.
"A spring reset is the cheap way to do it"
Sometimes, but a lot less often than people think. There's a full breakdown of this further down the page.
"A lift kit will void my new car warranty"
It won't void the whole warranty. A dealer can decline a claim on a component that the modification directly caused to fail, which is exactly why it needs to be specced and fitted properly by someone who does this for a living.
"I need a GVM upgrade because I've got a lift kit"
Different things entirely. A lift kit changes ride height and load capability. A GVM upgrade legally increases what your vehicle is allowed to weigh, and it's a compliance job with engineering and a plate. Plenty of people need one and don't know it, and plenty of people think they need one and don't.
Stage 1, Stage 2 Post-Rego or Stage 2 Pre-Rego?
Three upgrades. Stage 2 Pre-Rego is the cleanest but the car must never have been registered. Stage 2 Post-Rego is the same top weight rating on a car already registered in Queensland. Stage 1 is the flexible one at 10% over factory.
First, the words
There's a lot of jargon in this corner of the industry and most of it gets used without anyone explaining it. Here it is in plain English.
Gross Vehicle Mass. The most your car is legally allowed to weigh when it's loaded up, on its own wheels. It's printed on your compliance plate.
Whatever's left over. Your GVM minus what the car weighs empty. That's your gear, passengers, fuel and water, and the weight pushing down on your towball.
The most weight allowed on your front axle and on your rear axle. Separate limits to your GVM, and you have to be under all three.
The upgrade is done before the car is ever registered. SSM stands for Second Stage of Manufacture, a formal way of saying the car leaves as a different vehicle.
The upgrade is done to a car that's already registered in Queensland. Here that's the LS11 process.
The blue plate fitted after a post-rego upgrade. It's the physical proof the new weight rating is certified.
Do you actually need one?
You can settle this yourself for the price of a weighbridge ticket, and we'd rather you did.
Weigh the car the way you actually use it. Loaded as you'd tour, full tanks, full water, the fridge in, the drawers packed, the family in the seats. An empty ute tells you nothing useful. Weigh each axle too if the bridge lets you, because you can be under your GVM overall and still over on the front or the rear.
Then compare it to the GVM on your compliance plate. And remember the towball download counts toward your GVM, so a few hundred kilos on the ball is a few hundred kilos on the back of the ute.
Sometimes the answer is that you don't need one. If you're comfortably under and the car is just sagging, that's a spring problem rather than a legal one, and it's a much cheaper fix. Bring us the ticket and we'll tell you honestly.
Stage 2 Pre-Rego (also called SSM)
The heaviest we can legally rate your car to, and you can register or sell it interstate without ever engaging an engineer.
The vehicle is remanufactured with the new GVM before it goes on the road, so the rating is simply what the car is. Register it anywhere, sell it anywhere, no extra compliance now or in ten years.
The catch is you have to give us a bone stock vehicle. Factory wheels, factory setup, nothing added at all. No canopy, no bullbar, no snorkel. We can work with any dealership as long as we've got a kit to suit.
If you've got a new car on order, ring us before you take delivery. That's the only window this exists in, and once the car is registered it's gone for good.
Browse federally approved (SSM) GVM upgrades →
Stage 2 Post-Rego
Even with the car already registered in Queensland, you can still have our highest weight rating. The only downside is that you'll need an engineer if you want to sell it interstate later.
Same top weight rating as Stage 2 Pre-Rego, on a car that's already registered in Queensland with everything already fitted. Axle rating increases are on the table here too.
Stage 1 (and Stage 2 in service/post rego) upgrades are limited to Queensland registered vehicles. You can drive anywhere in Australia on the Queensland mod plate, and an engineer is only needed if the car is later re-registered interstate.
Browse QLD LS11 GVM upgrades →
Stage 1
Mix and match to your heart's content, which is great if you've got fussy standards about exactly what goes on the car. What you give up is the axle rating increase and our highest weight rating.
A 10% increase on GVM, or the combined front and rear axle weights, whichever is lower. We don't exceed axle ratings on a Stage 1, which is why the number is lower than a Stage 2. It's also the quickest of the three at a day.
Both Stage 2 options are set kits.
Browse QLD LS11 GVM upgrades →
Side by side
| Item | Stage 2 Pre-Rego Our pick | Stage 2 Post-Rego | Stage 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| X-factor | The heaviest we can legally rate your car to, and no engineer ever, even to sell interstate | The same top weight rating, on a car already registered in Queensland | Mix and match exactly what goes on the car |
| Pre or post rego | Pre-rego. Never registered | Post-rego. QLD registered, engineer involved | Post-rego. QLD registered, engineer involved |
| Cautions | Must be a bone stock vehicle, nothing fitted, factory wheels | Car must be legal: within axle weight ratings, legal wheels and tyres, no body lift | Car must be legal: within axle weight ratings, legal wheels and tyres, no body lift |
| Maximum lift height | Usually 2 inches | Usually 2 inches | Usually 2 inches |
| GVM rating | The highest weight rating we offer | The highest weight rating we offer | 10% more than factory, or the combined axle weights, whichever is lower |
| Axle rating increase | Available | Available | Not available |
| Mix and match parts | No, it's a set kit | No, it's a set kit | Yes, build it how you want it |
| Travel Australia wide | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Selling interstate later | No extra compliance, ever | Engineer sign-off if re-registered there | Engineer sign-off if re-registered there |
| Turnaround | 1 day to a week, depending on the suspension chosen | 1 to 2 days | 1 day |
Which options are available depends on the vehicle and the kit. Ring us with your exact car and we'll tell you what's on the table.
What happens if the car ends up in another state
A Stage 2 Pre-Rego car is a non-issue. Register it, sell it, move interstate, none of it matters. That's the whole point of it.
Stage 1 and Stage 2 Post-Rego can both be driven Australia wide on the Queensland mod plate, the blue one. Driving over the border isn't an issue.
Where it gets more involved is if you sell the car interstate and it gets re-registered in another state. At that point an engineer over there needs to sign it off. We find New South Wales tends to have a lot more hoops to jump through, whereas Victoria and Western Australia generally aren't a big problem. That only comes into it if the car is re-registered interstate. Just driving there changes nothing.
One thing we don't do: GCM upgrades
GVM is what your vehicle can weigh on its own wheels, including the towball download. GCM is Gross Combination Mass, your vehicle and everything you're towing added together.
We don't do GCM upgrades. Full stop, no exceptions. We'd rather tell you now than have you drive across town to hear it. If GCM is what you actually need, say so early and we'll point you in a sensible direction rather than sell you a GVM upgrade that doesn't solve your problem.
I'm ready for my quote↑ Back to top of pageWhat's actually included in the price
Wheel alignment, new u-bolts with new leaf springs, greasable pins and shackles, and a free check over at 500km with everything re-torqued.
The wheel alignment
We do not touch the front of a suspension and not wheel align it. That's a hard rule for us.
The reason is simple enough. When you change the ride height at the front you change the caster and camber angles along with it, and if you drive off without an alignment you'll wear a set of front tyres out on one edge, and the car will wander on the highway while you're doing it. It's one of the most common problems we see on cars that have had a lift fitted somewhere else, and it costs the owner a set of tyres they didn't need to buy.
On rear only work you can get away without one, but we do prefer to align it anyway if the job is going to put a different amount of weight on the front and change its ride height.
Either way, it's in the price we quote you, not added on at the end.
New u-bolts whenever we replace leaf springs
If we're replacing your leaf springs, you'll get new u-bolts. U-bolts stretch when they're torqued up, so an old set that's already been stretched onto an old pack won't clamp a new pack properly. Re-using them really isn't worth the saving.
Greasable pins and shackles
On leaf spring work we tend to prefer to include greasable pins and shackles, so those poly bushes can actually be serviced rather than left to squeak until they're gone. It's a small addition at the time of fitting and it makes the whole setup last a lot longer.
If you'd rather run rubber bushes, we can absolutely do that too, just let us know.
“I recently fitted a canopy with rear toolboxes to my BT-50. After loading it up with all the gear I needed, it became obvious that the rear springs needed upgrading. I bought all the bits and pieces required only to find that the rear shackles required fitting from the outside of the leaf springs. Not possible with the toolboxes installed. Enter Direct Suspensions with the EFS greaseable shackles that fit from the inside of the leaf springs. Problem solved. Thanks guys, great work!”Don Simpson — EFS greasable rear shackles, Mazda BT-50 · Verified buyer
A free check over at 500km
Every suspension job we do comes with a free check over at 500km. New springs settle, everything beds in, and we like to get you back in and go over the lot rather than assume it's all fine.
Your wheels get re-torqued twice while the car is with us, and then again at that 500km check.
Tell your mechanic to re-torque your suspension
This is the bit we'd most like people to take away, even if you never buy anything from us.
Suspension fasteners settle after they're fitted and they need to be checked again. Link pins, u-bolts, and on leaf spring cars the headlight levelling brackets where they're fitted, which is vehicle specific. It doesn't always get done as part of a routine scheduled service, so ask for it by name at your next one.
It matters, and it's exactly what we do as standard.
↑ Back to top of pageWe try pretty hard to get it right
Perfect Fit Guarantee, a leaf removed free if the spring is just off, custom leaf springs, the West Coast Suspensions satisfaction guarantee, and GVM Upgrade It Later.
Anyone can bolt a kit on. The tricky bit is what happens when the car comes down off the hoist and it's not quite what you had in mind.
Perfect Fit Guarantee
We back the setup we've recommended, not just the parts we've sold you. If it isn't giving you the height or the ride we said it would, we'll keep working on it with you until it does.
We'll take a leaf out at no cost
Load ratings come in steps and your 4WD doesn't. So if the spring is just off what you were after, sitting a touch tall or riding a bit firm, we'll pull a leaf out for you at no charge. No freight, no restocking fee, no argument about it.
That holds afterwards too, not just on the day. If it's within the Perfect Fit period, removing a leaf is free.
Resetting a spring up or down to standard height is something we can do as well. Spring making itself is outsourced, so that one is charged.
Custom and modified leaf springs
We're the Queensland and New South Wales distributor for West Coast Suspensions, so we're not stuck with whatever's in the catalogue. We can have leaf springs made or modified to suit, whether that's a standard height pack, extra heavy duty, or a constant load rate matched to your canopy and drawers.
West Coast Suspensions satisfaction guarantee
Every West Coast Suspensions kit comes with their satisfaction guarantee on top of the warranty, so you're not gambling on how it's going to ride.
GVM Upgrade It Later
Not ready to commit to a GVM upgrade just yet? You don't have to decide today.
Any lift kit fitted at Direct Suspensions can be upgraded to a Stage 1 within 12 months of fitment. Engineering costs apply, but you don't buy the suspension parts twice.
Stage 1 upgrades are Queensland registered vehicles only. If your car has never been registered, a Stage 2 Pre-Rego is the better answer, and that one has to be done before you take delivery.
You might not need a whole lift kit
Rear springs only, airbags on standard springs, shocks only, bushes or shackles only, or a single component. Sometimes nothing at all.
We'd rather sell you the right thing than the big thing, and quite often the right thing is a lot smaller than what you came in expecting to buy.
Plenty of people ring us up asking for a full 2 inch kit when what's actually bothering them is the back sagging with the camper on. If that's the case, there's no reason to touch the front of the car at all. A set of rear springs, or in some cases just an airbag kit, will sort out the problem for a fraction of the money.
Some of the jobs we do that aren't a full kit:
- Rear springs only. The classic ute problem. If the front sits fine and the back is squatting under a canopy or a towball load, that's a rear job, not a whole car job.
- An airbag kit on the standard springs. Brilliant for someone who tows occasionally but wants the car to ride normally the rest of the week. You air them up when the van's on and let them down when it's not.
- Shocks only. If your springs are still in good shape and it's the control that's gone, new shocks on their own will transform how the car drives for not a lot of money.
- Greasable pins and shackles, or a bush kit. Sometimes the clunk you're chasing is just worn bushes, and there's nothing wrong with the springs at all.
- A single component. A panhard rod, a set of upper control arms, a diff drop, or a steering damper. We'll happily supply and fit one part.
- Nothing at all. If we go over the car and it's genuinely fine, we'll tell you that. It happens more than you'd think.
The other side of that is we'll also tell you if a small job isn't going to fix it, because there's no point taking your money for rear springs if the front is what's actually causing the problem.
Either way, you'll get told what we found and why we're recommending what we're recommending, and you can make your own call from there.
I'm ready for my quote ↑ Back to top of pageA bit of a crash course, so you can judge for yourself
Plain English on springs vs shocks, free height, constant load, rake, shock wear marks, shackle angle, droop, bushes, u-bolts, worn and serviceable shocks, strut assembly, stock and GVM. Tap any heading to open it.
We'd honestly rather you understood what you're buying, because an informed customer asks better questions and ends up with a better setup. Here's the plain English version of the stuff we look at.
Tap any heading below to open it.
Springs hold the weight. Shocks control it.
This is the one that clears up most of the confusion. A spring decides how high your car sits and how much weight it can carry before it squats. A shock absorber decides what happens next, how fast the car settles after a bump, whether it bounces, and how much body roll you get through a corner.
That's why springs on their own rarely fix a car that feels sloppy, and shocks on their own won't fix one that's sagging. You need to know which of the two is actually your problem, and that's what measuring tells us.
Free height vs fitted height
Free height is how tall a spring is with nothing on it, sitting on the bench. Fitted height is how tall it is in the car with the weight of the vehicle on it.
A spring that's fatigued loses free height. So if a spring comes out of the car and measures well under what it should be, it's already told us it was carrying more than it was rated for. That goes for a coil and for a leaf pack that's gone flat or started to arch the wrong way.
The catch is that any spring has to be out of the car to be measured, coil or leaf, so it isn't something we do on every vehicle. Hub to guard and the rake usually tell us enough. Where they don't, we'll say so and recommend pulling it out.
It's the single most useful measurement in the whole job, and it's also the reason we can't tell you everything from a walk around in the carpark.
Constant load vs occasional load
Leaf springs and rear coils are rated by how much weight they're designed to carry all the time, not once a year. That's the constant load rating.
So a permanently fitted canopy with drawers, a fridge and water is constant load. A boat you tow twice a summer is not. Getting this wrong in either direction is the most common cause of a car that rides badly, and it's why we ask what's bolted on rather than what you occasionally put in it.
Rake, and why we measure both ends
Rake is the difference in ride height between the front and the rear of your vehicle. Most 4WDs leave the factory with a bit of rake built in, sitting slightly lower at the front, so that they still sit level with a load in the back.
Measuring hub to guard at all four corners tells us what the rake actually is on your car right now, and comparing that to what it should be tells us where the wear has happened. It also stops the classic outcome where a lift goes on and the vehicle ends up nose down or arse up.
What shock wear marks actually tell you
A shock absorber picks up wear marks on its body where it's been spending its time. If those marks are concentrated right down one end of the stroke, that vehicle has been sitting low and running out of travel, usually because it's been loaded up on springs that were never rated for it.
It's a good example of why we look at the whole car. The shock isn't the problem there, it's a symptom of a spring problem, and just replacing the shock would have you back in the same spot.
Droop, brake lines and why extended lines exist
Droop is how far the suspension can extend downwards when a wheel comes off the ground. Lift a vehicle and you increase droop, which means the brake lines have to stretch further than the factory ever intended.
That's why we check the full droop of the vehicle against the brake lines during a check over, and why extended brake lines or relocation brackets are sometimes part of a lift. It's a small part that stops a very expensive problem.
Poly bushes vs rubber bushes
Polyurethane bushes are firmer, last longer, and give you a more precise feel through the steering and the rear end. The trade off is that they need to be greased, and if they're not, they'll squeak and eventually wear.
Rubber is softer and quieter, more like factory, and doesn't need servicing, but it wears out faster under load.
Neither one is right or wrong, it depends what you want out of the car. It's also exactly why we like fitting greasable pins and shackles with poly, so the servicing is actually possible.
Why you never notice your shocks are gone
Shocks don't fail, they fade. It happens so slowly that your brain adjusts to it week by week, and the car never feels like it changed. That's exactly why people tell us their shocks are fine at 150,000km.
The usual test people are told to do is to push down on a corner and count the bounces. It doesn't tell you much on a modern 4WD.
Do this instead. Drive over a speed bump on an angle, so one front wheel goes up before the other. If the body rocks side to side instead of settling, your dampers aren't controlling the vehicle any more.
The only real proof is driving the car with new ones in it. Nearly everyone is surprised.
What a leaking shock actually looks like
People go looking for a wet patch or a light mist of oil, don't find one, and assume the shock is fine.
A properly leaking shock looks like caked on dirt and oil down the body of the unit. Road grime sticks to the weeping oil and builds up. It's very obvious once you put a finger on it, and it feels greasy rather than dusty.
If you've got that on one shock, check the others. They've done the same kilometres.
Can I order a lift kit and pick it up today?
A lot of the time, yes. Even with the struts assembled.
We assemble our struts in house, so they go out as a complete unit rather than a box of parts and a spring compressor problem. That makes them quick and easy to bolt into the 4WD, whether we're fitting them or you are.
It comes down to stock, and we hold a lot of it, West Coast Suspensions especially. Ring us with what you're after and we'll tell you straight away whether it's on the shelf.
Not local? We ship Australia wide, assembled the same way.
Strut assembly, and the damage nobody sees
When a strut is assembled, the top hat has to go back on correctly.
Get it slightly wrong and it can bend the shaft, or cause it to seize. Neither is visible from the outside.
What you get is noise, and a ride that's genuinely uncomfortable. Worse, it can ruin a shock you've only just paid for.
It's a simple mistake and it happens more than you'd think, which is a fair argument for having struts assembled by someone who does them every day rather than occasionally.
Are serviceable shocks worth it?Our opinion
We sell both serviceable and non-serviceable shock absorbers, so we've got no reason to push you either way. Here's our honest read on it.
Once you look at what it costs to actually service a shock, it only stacks up on high end units. Something like a Tough Dog remote reservoir is worth servicing. On most shocks below that, you're close enough to the price of a new one that the maths stops making sense.
That's our opinion, not gospel. Plenty of people will tell you different and some of them will have a point.
Worn strut bushes, and why re-torquing matters
This one isn't cosmetic. A worn strut bush lets the strut move where it shouldn't, and that movement can eventually snap the whole strut.
It's also cheap and quick to catch, which is why we go through every bush during a check over rather than just looking at the springs and shocks.
The related job is re-torquing. Suspension fasteners settle and bed in, and they need checking. It doesn't always get done as part of a routine dealership service, so it's worth asking for by name.
Shackle angle, and the thing everyone ignores
The shackle is the short link at the back of a leaf spring that lets the pack lengthen and shorten as it flexes. The angle it sits at is a live readout of what your spring is doing.
Here are the two that get missed.
Rotated forward past 90 degrees down: it's inverted. The spring is too stiff for the load the car is carrying.
Sitting too far back: it's overloaded. The pack has flattened out under weight it wasn't rated for, and the shackle has swung back as the spring lost its arch.
One means too much spring, the other means not enough. Same part, opposite problems, and the angle tells you which one you've got.
Neither is subtle once you know to look, and almost nobody does. We see inverted shackles on cars that have had a heavy duty pack thrown at them with nothing in the back, and we see shackles swung right back on utes carrying a canopy the springs were never rated for.
Go and have a look at yours. It takes ten seconds and it will tell you more about your setup than any spec sheet.
Why u-bolts are a one-time part
A u-bolt clamps your leaf pack to the axle, and it does that by being torqued up to the point where the steel stretches slightly. That stretch is what creates the clamping force.
Once it's been stretched, it's done its job. Re-using it on a new spring pack means it won't clamp the same way, and a leaf pack that isn't clamped properly will move around and wear. That's why new springs get new u-bolts, every time, no exceptions.
A lift kit and a GVM upgrade are two different things
A lift kit changes your ride height and how much your suspension can comfortably handle. It doesn't change a single number on your compliance plate.
A GVM upgrade legally increases the Gross Vehicle Mass your vehicle is allowed to weigh. It's an engineering job with certified components and a new plate on the car, and it's what keeps you legal if your loaded weight is over the factory figure.
You can absolutely need one without needing the other. If you're carrying serious weight, get your car weighed at a public weighbridge and bring us the ticket, and we'll tell you honestly where you stand.
One thing worth knowing up front is which state your car is registered in. If it's already registered, we can only do the upgrade on a Queensland registered vehicle. A pre-rego (SSM) upgrade is the exception, because it's done before the car is registered and can then be registered in any state.
Either way you can drive the car anywhere in Australia afterwards. It's registration that's state based, not where you're allowed to take it.
Things you can check on your own 4WD this afternoon
Bring those numbers and what you found in with you and we'll go through it together. You'd be surprised how much quicker it makes the whole conversation.
I'm ready for my quote ↑ Back to top of pageSpring reset vs new suspension — which is actually cheaper?
A reset re-arches steel that's already fatigued and usually leaves out the shocks, bushes, u-bolts and the manufacturer's warranty. A new install often rivals the cost.
Spring resetting is popular because it's seen as the cheap option, and we completely understand why people look at it first.
But we can quite often do a proper brand new suspension installation that rivals the cost, and you end up with considerably more for your money.
With a reset, you're re-arching the tired steel you've already got. It puts your original springs back roughly where they started, which does work for a while, but the steel has already been fatigued once, so it tends to head the same way again.
To be fair, a reset can also add a leaf to the pack, which does lift the carrying capacity. We're not going to pretend otherwise. It's a legitimate option and for some people it's the right one.
What we'd want you to compare is the whole job, not just the springs.
Here's what usually gets left out of a reset, and what you'd get with a new install from us:
| Item | Spring reset | New suspension from us Our pick |
|---|---|---|
| Leaf springs | Your old ones re-arched, sometimes with a leaf added | New, rated to what you actually carry |
| Shock absorbers | Usually not included | New and upgraded, matched to the spring rate |
| Bushes | Usually not included | New |
| U-bolts | Usually not included | New |
| Greasable pins and shackles | Usually not included | New |
| Warranty | Rarely | The suspension manufacturer's warranty |
| Ride height | Back to roughly where it was | Set to what you're after |
| 500km check over | No | Yes, free |
The shocks are the part doing the work. Put reset springs onto shocks that are already well worn and the ride is still being controlled by tired dampers, and that new arch will settle out faster because of it.
We're more than happy to price both up for you and let you decide with the real numbers in front of you rather than a guess. Bring the car in and we'll sort it out.
Price both up for me ↑ Back to top of pageWhy people come to us
Suspension since the early 1990s, still family owned, with a spring manufacturing background behind it. We distribute rather than just resell, we recommend across brands, and you can talk to someone who's fitted the kit.
- We're a suspension shop, not an accessory shop with a hoist out the back. We've been at it since the early 1990s and it's what we want to be known for. We fit bullbars and accessories too, but suspension is the thing we've built the business on.
- Still family owned. Started by Darren and Melissa Irvine in the early 1990s. Their son Ashley owns and runs it today. Same family, same shop, same way of doing things.
- Spring manufacturing in the background. Darren learned the trade working for Jacob Spring Works, a spring manufacturer going back to 1958. Knowing how a leaf pack is actually built changes how you read a worn one.
- We don't just resell it. Being the Queensland and New South Wales distributor for West Coast Suspensions means we can get spring rates made to suit your vehicle, rather than making your vehicle suit whatever spring is on the shelf.
- We recommend across brands. We stock West Coast Suspensions, Tough Dog and EFS, because different vehicles, different loads and different budgets need different answers, and we're not locked into one supplier's catalogue.
- We'll tell you if you need a GVM upgrade, and just as importantly, if you don't. There are a lot of loaded 4WDs on the road sitting over their legal limit with owners who have no idea. We'll work out where you actually sit.
- You get to talk to someone who's done it. Ring 1300 66 29 20 and you'll get someone who has personally fitted the kit you're asking about.
- We'll fit it, or we'll ship it. Full job at Brendale — fitted, aligned and checked over. If you're not local we'll ship it anywhere in Australia with the fitting notes your workshop will need.
- Trade welcome. Workshops and fleets get their own pricing, so apply for a trade account.
“Just a shout out to the lads at Direct Suspensions for their great service and professionalism. Had my GVM upgrade on my Ranger done at the Brendale store and couldn't be happier. I am from Mackay and was told that it would be worth my while to come to Brisbane, so everything was arranged by phone or email. Nothing was too much trouble. If you are from out of Brisbane and thinking about an upgrade, would highly recommend.”Russell Mackenzie — Tough Dog 3750kg GVM upgrade, Ford Ranger Next-Gen · Travelled from Mackay · Verified buyer
Frequently asked questions
How much does a 4x4 lift kit cost?
For a coil front and rear vehicle like a Prado, Everest or Pajero Sport, you're looking at around $1,700 to $2,400 for a 2 inch kit fitted and wheel aligned. For a coil and leaf ute like a HiLux, Ranger or D-MAX it's more like $2,500 to $3,400. It does move around with promotions and brands, so give us a call and we'll price up your exact vehicle.
Is the wheel alignment included?
Yes. We won't touch the front of a suspension and not align it, because changing the front ride height changes your caster and camber, and driving off without an alignment will wear a set of tyres out on one edge. On rear only work you can get away without one, but we'd still prefer to do it if the job has changed the weight or ride height at the front.
Do I get new u-bolts with new leaf springs?
Yes. U-bolts stretch when they're torqued up, so an old set won't clamp a new spring pack properly. Re-using them isn't worth the saving.
Do I have to buy a whole lift kit?
No. Quite often the right fix is smaller than a full kit. If the front sits fine and only the back is sagging under a canopy or a towball load, that's a rear job, not a whole car job. We also fit shocks on their own, airbag kits on standard springs, greasable pins and shackles, bush kits, or a single component like a panhard rod or a set of upper control arms. And if the vehicle is genuinely fine, we'll tell you that too.
What's the difference between a lift kit and a GVM upgrade?
A lift kit changes your ride height and how much weight your suspension can comfortably handle, but it doesn't change anything on your compliance plate. A GVM upgrade legally increases the Gross Vehicle Mass your vehicle is allowed to weigh, and it's an engineering job with certified components and a new plate on the car. You can absolutely need one without needing the other.
What's the difference between springs and shock absorbers?
Springs hold the weight, so they decide how high the vehicle sits and how much it can carry before it squats. Shocks control what happens next, how quickly it settles after a bump, whether it bounces, and how much body roll you get. Springs on their own rarely fix a car that feels sloppy, and shocks on their own won't fix one that's sagging.
Is a 2 inch lift legal in Queensland?
Yes. Up to 50mm of combined suspension and tyre lift is legal in QLD without certification, as long as the vehicle still complies everywhere else. Anything beyond that needs engineering.
Do I actually need a GVM upgrade?
Weigh the car loaded, the way you actually use it, at a public weighbridge and compare it to the GVM on your compliance plate. Weigh each axle too if you can, because you can be under your GVM and still over on the rear. If you're comfortably under and the car is just sagging, that's a spring problem rather than a legal one, and a much cheaper fix. Bring us the ticket and we'll tell you honestly.
How much lift can I have with a GVM upgrade?
Usually two inches, across all three of our upgrades. It can vary with the vehicle and the kit, so check with us on yours, but that's the figure to plan around.
Does my car need to be legal before a GVM upgrade?
For a post-rego upgrade, yes. It needs to be within its axle weight ratings, the wheels and tyres need to be legal, and there can't be a body lift on it. For a Stage 2 Pre-Rego it goes further again: the vehicle has to be bone stock, never registered, with nothing fitted at all.
Does a GVM upgrade increase my towing capacity?
Not directly. GVM is what your vehicle can weigh on its own wheels. What it does give you is room for the towball download, so you can carry your gear and tow without running out of GVM, which is usually what people are actually after. A higher combined figure is a GCM upgrade, and we don't do those.
Can I add a GVM upgrade later?
Yes. Any lift kit fitted at Direct Suspensions can be upgraded to a Stage 1 within 12 months of fitment. Engineering costs apply, but the suspension work carries across so you're not buying parts twice. It has to be a kit we fitted, and the 12 months runs from the date of fitment.
Will a lift kit void my new car warranty?
No, a dealer can't void your entire warranty over aftermarket suspension. They can decline a claim on a component the modification directly caused to fail, which is exactly why it needs to be specced and fitted properly in the first place.
Can I order a lift kit and pick it up today?
A lot of the time, yes, even with the struts assembled. We assemble our struts in house so they leave as a complete unit, ready to bolt in. It comes down to what's on the shelf, and we hold a lot of stock, West Coast Suspensions especially. Ring us with what you're after and we'll tell you straight away.
How long does fitting take?
Most lift kits are a same day job. GVM upgrades usually need the vehicle for the day, sometimes two depending on the plating.
What happens after the kit is fitted?
Your wheels get re-torqued twice while the car is with us, and we book you back in for a free check over at 500km once everything has settled in. We re-torque the wheels again at that check.
Can I get a lift kit if I'm not in Brisbane?
For lift kits and parts, yes. We ship Australia wide, so you can buy the kit from us and have your own workshop fit it.
GVM upgrades depend on whether the car is already registered. If it has never been registered, a pre-rego (SSM) upgrade is done before it goes on the road, and it can be registered in any state afterwards. If it's already registered, the upgrade is an in-service one and we can only do those on Queensland registered vehicles. So if your car is registered interstate, we can't plate it.
Plenty of our GVM customers travel in from regional Queensland, and we'll organise the job around your trip.
Do you do GCM upgrades?
No. We do GVM upgrades, which change what your vehicle is allowed to weigh, but we don't do GCM upgrades, which change what your vehicle and trailer are allowed to weigh together. That's a firm no rather than a maybe, so if GCM is what you need, tell us early and we'll point you somewhere sensible.
How much GVM does a Stage 1 upgrade actually add?
On our Stage 1 upgrades we don't exceed the axle ratings. You get a 10% increase on GVM, or the combined front and rear axle ratings, whichever of the two is lower. It's a conservative approach and a deliberate one. We do have some axle rating upgrades available in house where we've done the engineering to support them.
Do you do suspension repairs as well as upgrades?
We do — control arms, bushes, shocks, leaf springs, the lot. Have a look at our suspension repairs page.
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