Thread: Heavy duty shocks

It'll be interesting to hear your thoughts Pat after a few thousand K's. I just can't help hearing Derek's comments re the Koni Raids.

Us blokes of the NEVLRC completed the Anne Beadell Track last year and we were lucky to have the NE Victoria Land Rover guru Ivan Clarke on the trip. He had one of those shocky-temp gizmos which he used extensively to check the shockie temkps - the 130s came up the best.

A new Puma 130 went well but interestingly the Commander & Chief has fitted the Terra Firma dual shockie brackets BUT with dual original shocks since the trip.

One bloke had Tough Dogs - he found these very disappointing.

Ivan had Terra Firmas and reckoned they were OK.

The rest were original or Bilsteins. My Bilsteins were great.

Wow - plenty of info, but probably no closer to choosing than before

Quality is a priority, that's for sure. I won't be doing anything extraordinary until after I visit Tassie, so maybe Justin can help me sort something out. I'm curious about the Decarbon's, mostly because you don't hear much about them.

I'm very keen on dual shocks though, so would be interested to find out pricing and worklogs for going down that path.

Originally Posted by Ranga

Wow - plenty of info, but probably no closer to choosing than before

Quality is a priority, that's for sure. I won't be doing anything extraordinary until after I visit Tassie, so maybe Justin can help me sort something out. I'm curious about the Decarbon's, mostly because you don't hear much about them.

I'm very keen on dual shocks though, so would be interested to find out pricing and worklogs for going down that path.

Hey, when are you coming down here? I'd certainly be happy to talk shocks and twin mounts etc with you!

JC

Originally Posted by justinc

Hey, when are you coming down here? I'd certainly be happy to talk shocks and twin mounts etc with you!

JC

On my way now! I'm just outside Goulburn atm, and should be in Tassie late this year or early next year. I've already mentally booked in for a service anyway, so we can talk suspension then

Originally Posted by Ranga

Wow - plenty of info, but probably no closer to choosing than before

Quality is a priority, that's for sure. I won't be doing anything extraordinary until after I visit Tassie, so maybe Justin can help me sort something out. I'm curious about the Decarbon's, mostly because you don't hear much about them.

I'm very keen on dual shocks though, so would be interested to find out pricing and worklogs for going down that path.

Thats why I'm going Terrafirma next,try them all I say so the info is based on fact not ''my mate said''.For the price ex UK the britpart ones are worth a shot. Pat

Originally Posted by Barra1

It'll be interesting to hear your thoughts Pat after a few thousand K's. I just can't help hearing Derek's comments re the Koni Raids.

Us blokes of the NEVLRC completed the Anne Beadell Track last year and we were lucky to have the NE Victoria Land Rover guru Ivan Clarke on the trip. He had one of those shocky-temp gizmos which he used extensively to check the shockie temkps - the 130s came up the best.

A new Puma 130 went well but interestingly the Commander & Chief has fitted the Terra Firma dual shockie brackets BUT with dual original shocks since the trip.

One bloke had Tough Dogs - he found these very disappointing.

Ivan had Terra Firmas and reckoned they were OK.

The rest were original or Bilsteins. My Bilsteins were great.

This is all well and good but did all vehicles have the same springs and weight distribution? I doubt it! You cant compare different dampers accross different vehicles. The dampers are part of a system and cannot be considered independantly, the springs play a massive part in the damper' performance and reliability also.

I have recently returned from travelling the Anne Beadell so know exactly the sort of punishment you are talking about. I'll add to that that I have King Spring springs and Tough Dog (Foam Cell) dampers on a heavy 110. Those Tough Dogs are now a few years old and they all performed very well with no leaks or damages.

The flip side of that is if you put any damper onto a system with tired / badly matched springs the dampers could be over-worked and show premature failure or an inability to damp the spring movements.

Jon

Originally Posted by Barra1

It'll be interesting to hear your thoughts Pat after a few thousand K's. I just can't help hearing Derek's comments re the Koni Raids.
...

I recall reading Dereks review when the Raids where pretty new, from memory they were the dog's danglies.

Is this still the case many km's later?? I presume so.

Jon

I'v got Terra Firma on both our 90 and Puma 110. I originaly had +2inch sport on the Puma but due to the extreem load we carry and tow going north, have had to return to standard length Big Bore Terra Firmas standard stroke and air bags. The sport model did a great job the springs not. Thus far very happy with the big bore/air bag set up. On the 90 almost nothing in the suspension is standard and I am more than happy with the T.F sports shocks.

Allan