Thread: What shocks

05 td5, 3" lift with extended sus stuff shocks, very convy ride and not as much body roll as expected, been on sum very bumpy rds and got prity hot to touch but still dident fade, 440 i think the 4 were, very happy with them,

Plenty of threads around about it.. but the billies are well regarded.

These guys are the cheapest you'll find. (note USD, expect to pay twice that if buying from AU)

http://eshocks.com/bil_veh3.asp?Mode...=All&SubChar=Q

but may not work if you have a lift.

Depends what you want to spend. Bilstein/Koni, supposedly the best, but do you want to spend 3 or 4 times as much to gain (maybe) a 15% performance increase. They are fully rebuildable, but the cost of rebuilding is what you pay for a new (lesser) shock anyway.

What sort of driving do you do? Just gentle touring with light or moderate load - a 35mm/36mm gas will be fine (something like Lovells or Dobinsons are good value for money). Do you go hard or over a lot of corrugations? - A bigger bore would be advisable. Horses for courses!

i posted my impressions recently.. but i went for the Terrfirma big bore expedition shocks (+2) and went with the raised king springs also on a 2002 110

about $850 all up give or take a bit, fitted them myself to save a bit of cash...

they may not be the best... but they work and fitted my budget and plenty of people seem pretty happy with the Terrafirma stuff..

Steve

Originally Posted by ugu80

Depends what you want to spend. Bilstein/Koni, supposedly the best, but do you want to spend 3 or 4 times as much to gain (maybe) a 15% performance increase. They are fully rebuildable, but the cost of rebuilding is what you pay for a new (lesser) shock anyway.

What sort of driving do you do? Just gentle touring with light or moderate load - a 35mm/36mm gas will be fine (something like Lovells or Dobinsons are good value for money). Do you go hard or over a lot of corrugations? - A bigger bore would be advisable. Horses for courses!

If you are prepared to pay for Koni you will get far more than a 15% performance increase. The 8200 series oils are infinitely adjustable and will last far longer than a lesser shock. I have removed konis from older 4x4s that have been traded in to be put on the owners new vehicle. Some of these vehicles have done 200K on all sorts of roads with these shocks and no rebuild! I have yet to see other brands last like that

Having driven Defenders with both lesser and top line shocks, I'd be looking for the best.

I've just ordered some Billy 7100's.

If you are doing lots of dirty driving, corrugations etc you will need good shocks or they will become useless in no time. I've seen too many shocks explode / bend / fade to the point that they are totally useless.

But if you are just driving around on the highway, with the off slow speed offroad bit then top end shocks are going to be overkill.

Terrafirma's here too, I think there OK although not had chance to bash them on a long trip yet, only time will tell.

Had another puma driver drive my car on the weekend and he also said he liked my suspension..all I have is Land Rover springs with the Terra's

Originally Posted by 5teve

i posted my impressions recently.. but i went for the Terrfirma big bore expedition shocks (+2) and went with the raised king springs also on a 2002 110

about $850 all up give or take a bit, fitted them myself to save a bit of cash...

they may not be the best... but they work and fitted my budget and plenty of people seem pretty happy with the Terrafirma stuff..

Steve

Just had Dobinsons springs/shocks fitted for the same price and I'm pretty happy with the result. Seems to be about the minimum spend for a good result. I would have fitted Koni if price was no object (agreeing with many comments here), unfortunately, that sort of up front cost is out of reach of many people, as is many things discussed on this forum (tyres, driving lights, winches, etc). I recall posting a good deal for Maxxis Buckshot Mudders (235/85/16 $185 fitted and balanced) and was assailed by "this is better, that is superior, they don't have sidebiters, blah, blah. They missed the point that these were half the price of anything else (don't ask; too late; all gone).