Adjustable Remote Res. Lift Kits with Fitting Position Front and Rear, Front Axle, Rear Axle for TOYOTA LAND CRUISER 79 Series

Heat is what kills a shock absorber on corrugations, and a remote reservoir is the engineering answer to it.

Adjustable remote reservoir lift kits pair that extra oil capacity with damping you can tune, which suits your 79 Series LAND CRUISER if it works hard and carry weight that changes.

What a Remote Reservoir Does on Your 79 Series LAND CRUISER Lift Kit

A conventional shock holds all its oil and gas inside one body. Working hard, that oil heats up, thins out and loses its ability to damp, which is fade.

A remote reservoir moves part of the oil volume into a separate canister connected by a hose. More total oil means more thermal mass, and a canister sitting in open airflow sheds heat far better than a body tucked up inside a wheel arch.

Separating the gas charge from the oil is the second benefit. Keeping the two apart stops the oil aerating under rapid cycling, and aerated oil is foam rather than fluid. Foam cannot damp a suspension the way oil does.

The practical result is a shock that holds its damping on a long stretch of corrugations rather than going soft an hour into the drive.

When Remote Reservoir Shocks Earn Their Place on Your 79 Series LAND CRUISER

These are not the right answer for every 4WD, and it is worth being straight about that.

Sustained high frequency work is where they win. Corrugated remote gravel roads, fast gravel, repeated whoops and long stretches of unsealed touring all cycle a damper continuously with no chance to cool.

Sustained load is the other case that justifies them. A vehicle carrying a canopy, water and gear works its dampers harder for the same road than an empty one does, and heat builds accordingly.

A 4WD that spends its life on bitumen with occasional gravel does not generate enough heat for the reservoir to pay for itself. A conventional heavy duty shock is the better value there.

What Adjustable Damping Changes on 79 Series LAND CRUISER Shock Absorbers

Adjustable shock absorbers let you change how firmly the damper resists movement without changing the spring, and adjustable 4x4 shock absorbers put that control where load varies most.

Wound softer, the shock lets the suspension move more freely, which suits an unladen vehicle on rough surfaces and improves wheel compliance.

Wound firmer, the shock controls the suspension more tightly, which is what a loaded vehicle or a high speed gravel run needs to stay settled.

The adjustment is on the shock itself and it is made with the vehicle stationary. This is tuning for how the vehicle is being used, not a switch flicked on the move.

What it does not do is add capacity. A damper wound to its firmest setting does not hold a vehicle up, and it does not compensate for a spring rated below the load being carried.

Mounting a Remote Reservoir Lift Kit on Your 79 Series LAND CRUISER and Routing the Hose

The reservoir and its hose need somewhere to live, and that is the practical consideration on these kits.

The canister mounts to the chassis or body with the supplied bracketry, positioned in airflow and clear of heat sources, moving components and anything that could strike it.

The hose has to run with enough slack for full suspension travel without chafing on a suspension arm, a brake line or the chassis. That means checking it at full droop and at full compression, not just at ride height.

Hose routing matters considerably more than it looks. A hose that rubs through is a shock that loses its oil, and the check takes a few minutes while the vehicle is already on the hoist.

What Comes in Your 79 Series LAND CRUISER Adjustable Remote Reservoir Lift Kit

Kits are application specific and built around the same principle as the rest of the range.

The shocks are the headline, supplied with their reservoirs, hoses and mounting hardware.

Springs are matched to the dampers and rated to a specific load band, whether that is coils front and rear or Formula leaf springs and new U-bolts on a leaf sprung bakkie.

Supporting hardware is included where the lift height requires it, which varies by platform.

Check the listed contents for your 79 Series LAND CRUISER, since the hardware needed differs considerably between applications.

What Your 79 Series LAND CRUISER Remote Reservoir Lift Kit Costs

These sit at the top of the lift kit range and it is worth understanding what the money buys.

The cost sits almost entirely in the dampers. A remote reservoir shock carries a separate canister, a hose, mounting hardware and an adjustment mechanism that a conventional shock does not, and each of those adds manufacturing cost.

Installation also takes longer than a fixed shock. The reservoirs need mounting, the hoses need routing and checking at full travel, and that is work a fixed shock does not require.

What you get for it is damping that holds up on sustained corrugations, and the ability to tune for load. On a vehicle that spends its life on sealed roads, neither of those is being used.

A wheel alignment after fitting is required on top, and certification applies if the chosen height triggers it where the vehicle is registered.

79 Series LAND CRUISER Legal Lift Heights for Remote Reservoir Kits

The damper specification does not change the regulations, and the lift height still does.

Suspension modifications must meet the requirements that apply where the vehicle is registered, and the figure measured is the total lift including tyres.

A 2 inch lift kit at around 50mm is the most commonly fitted height and generally the most straightforward. A 3 inch lift usually brings certification into play, and 4 inch further again, with the detail varying by jurisdiction.

Larger tyres add roughly half their increase in overall diameter to the total, which is what catches people out when a 2 inch lift and a tyre upgrade are bought together.

Check the current requirements where your vehicle is registered before settling on a height.

Reservoir Mounting and What to Check on Your 79 Series LAND CRUISER Afterwards

Once fitted, a few checks are worth repeating rather than doing once.

Confirm the hose has slack at full droop and does not bunch at full compression, and check it is clear of the suspension arms, brake lines and any heat source through the whole range.

Look at the reservoir bracket after the first few hundred kilometres. Corrugations work at every bracket on a vehicle, and a reservoir that has loosened will chafe its own hose.

Check the adjuster is clean and turning freely at service intervals, since grit packs into an adjuster that lives under a vehicle.

Inspect for weeping around the shaft seal and around the hose fittings. A remote reservoir shock has more joints than a conventional one, and any of them losing oil means the damper is on its way out.

None of that is onerous, and it is the difference between a set of dampers that lasts and one that does not.

Big Bore, Monotube and Foam Cell Shocks Compared

Several approaches exist to the same heat problem and they suit different budgets.

Big bore shocks increase the body diameter, which raises oil volume and piston area. More oil means more thermal mass and more piston area means better control for a given pressure.

Monotube shocks run a single tube with a dividing piston separating oil from gas, which handles heat better than a twin tube and responds faster.

Foam cell shocks use a foam insert in place of a gas charge to control aeration, which is a cost effective way of resisting fade without a reservoir.

Remote reservoir sits at the top of that progression, adding oil volume and airflow that none of the others can match. The trade-off is cost and the mounting work.

Why Shock Fade on Your 79 Series LAND CRUISER Lift Kit Is Worse Than It Sounds

Fade does not announce itself, which is what makes it dangerous rather than just uncomfortable.

A shock that has heated through loses damping gradually over a stretch of corrugations. The vehicle starts moving around more, the steering feels less connected, and the driver adapts without registering that anything has changed.

What has actually changed is the vehicle's ability to keep its tyres on the road surface. A faded damper lets the wheel skip rather than following the ground, and cornering traction drops with it.

Braking distance suffers in exactly the same way. A wheel that is bouncing is not loaded consistently, and a tyre that is not loaded consistently cannot brake properly.

The recovery is simply time and cooling, which means the problem reappears every time the conditions do. That is the argument for the extra oil capacity rather than a comfort one.

Setting Adjustable Damping on Your 79 Series LAND CRUISER for How You Drive

Start at the manufacturer's recommended setting rather than at either extreme.

Drive the vehicle loaded the way it normally runs and adjust from there, one or two clicks at a time, rather than making large changes.

Keep the front and rear damping settings balanced. Winding the front firm against a soft rear changes how the vehicle behaves under brakes, and that is a bigger change than the comfort difference you were chasing.

Note where you ended up, because it is easy to lose a good setting while experimenting.

Softer for unladen comfort, firmer for load and speed, is the shape of it.

79 Series LAND CRUISER Remote Reservoir Lift Kit Warranty and Support

Formula 4x4 lift kits carry a five year warranty under the applicable terms, activated online after purchase.

Every kit ships with fitting instructions, and installation by a technician with wheel alignment facilities is recommended, particularly where reservoir mounting and hose routing are involved.

A wheel alignment after fitting is required rather than optional.

Find an Adjustable Remote Reservoir Lift Kit for Your 79 Series LAND CRUISER

Remote reservoir kits sit at the top of the Formula 4x4 4x4 lift kits range, built for heat, load and long corrugated runs.

Select your 79 Series LAND CRUISER to see the adjustable remote reservoir lift kits available for it. These suit 4WDs doing sustained corrugated and high speed unsealed work while carrying load, and the load rating still needs matching to what the vehicle actually carries.