Thread: ARB BP51 By Pass Shocks now available.

Originally Posted by 86mud

Wow is an understatement.

I'll stick with my Koni Raids thanks.....

Personally I would spend the $150 more per shock and go the bp51 over the raid, it's a whole new level.

Originally Posted by Vern

Personally I would spend the $150 more per shock and go the bp51 over the raid, it's a whole new level.

I agree, the Raids are several generations of shock design development behind these.

$150? These are $643 each plus a $150 fitting kit.. Raids are $300 each.

For $800 a shock, I would be getting proper shocks with custom valving that are tuned specifically for your own truck.

Originally Posted by Red90

$150? These are $643 each plus a $150 fitting kit.. Raids are $300 each.

For $800 a shock, I would be getting proper shocks with custom valving that are tuned specifically for your own truck.

I don't believe that you can compare Raids and the BP-51s directly. The Raids are proven old-tech, basic, unsophisticated, bullet-proof and only slightly adjustable and will ride pretty stiff irrespective. The BP-51s are latest-gen, very sophisticated, fully adjustable in small increments for both jounce and rebound and will have ride comfort you can't even imagine... but the bullet-proof-ness is yet to be determined in the real world. ARB can't claim any Dakar pedigree on these... Even Koni describe the Raid's as unsophisticated and heavy-duty, they are a blunt object. Comparing chalk and cheese here. If you want the simple ruggedness of a Koni Raid, then that's for you. If you want a shock that does so very much more and are willing to pay more to get that, then the BP-51s are for you. I'm not buying or selling here, it really depends on what you want to get out of the set up. For me (D1) I want to maintain and improve the ride quality so I'm not getting hammered to bits and suffering fatigue when travelling, also I can have light-load and fully-loaded configurations I can set in a few minutes without tools or disassembly, and fine-tune if required on the fly easily. So my ride and control is the same if I'm empty or maxxed out or anywhere inbetween. Rear airbags plus fully adjustable BP shocks will do that.

The fitting kits include things like open cage front towers (to get the remote reservoir line through), rear bump stop extensions and rear upper eye-to-pin mount conversions so some of those may or may not apply depending on what you've already done to your truck. The eye-to-pin is a common recommendation to de-stress the shock when articulating and most 'long-travel' kits include that requirement. I already have bump stop extensions due to bigger tyres, so that's no pain for me. The front towers you could probably achieve with a hole saw and grommet... It would have been nice if they offered an eye-pin rear configuration as well as a straight drop-in, but perhaps they saw issues due to the side-loading? It's where I broke my last shock.

Koni Raid 90s for $300 each? Can you provide details as that sounds like a pretty sharp price? Best I found was around $800 for a pair delivered. The 90s are still on my back-up list in case the specs of the BP51s don't match what I need (travel, etc).

Originally Posted by Red90

$150? These are $643 each plus a $150 fitting kit.. Raids are $300 each.

For $800 a shock, I would be getting proper shocks with custom valving that are tuned specifically for your own truck.

Koni raid 90 for a landy here are approx $500 each.

Originally Posted by DiscoClax

I never really understood the desire for a by-pass shock until I experienced them first hand. I've spent a fair bit of time in US Raptors, and was involved in locally-engineering its little brother as well. The improvement to ride comfort is extraordinary. Even on crappy cart spring rear ends (US one). Try holding two cups of hot coffee and getting the driver to punch up a set of extreme moguls at maximum attack - ask me how I know this... (crested at over 100km/hr, no spills). Now that's the Fox internal by-pass Shocks we are talking specifically there but a quality by-pass is quite comparable irrespective of brand or internal or external. The BP-51s have a ridiculous amount adjustability for for both rebound and jounce, and the 'softness' and compliance in the middle of the shock travel makes the vehicle so much less fatiguing to drive big distances. That, and you still have the ultimate control for big-hits with a progressive stop and no crash-through. And, of course, great body control. Due to cost they really aren't for everyone and either the value equation is there for you or it isn't. Personally I got a heads-up mid year that ARB were developing these for the Defo and immediately cancelled my Koni Raid order to wait for them. The Koni Raids will do the job, day-in and day-out no matter what you throw at them and are industrial quality. Bypass shocks means you get that and a level of comfort and plushness you'd think was impossible to achieve. Plus they have some really nice innovation and engineering in their design (have a look at one in bits or a cut-away) and are entirely Australian engineered and manufactured. Ridiculous price for what it costs to make them, but that's driven by market forces and they are comparable to other products so why not? A couple of years ago if you asked me if I'd throw $2.5k at a set of shocks for the D1 I would have scoffed at you (at best), and yet here I am likely to do just that. I guess I'm saying that you should experience them before writing them off. My 2c.

Damn.

You have me wanting to get some to play with now.

I put a set of BP51s on the rear of my 130 to replace the Bilstien 7100 that I recently destroyed in the Kimberley. I used the long 80 series model as they didn’t have the landy ones out as yet. I already had Gwynn Lewis 2” extended mounts and bump stops. It’s great to be able to adjust the compression and rebound damping separately just like my KTM. My initial impression is that they are the best shocks I’ve had on the car. Better than Konis and even better than the Bilsteins. If they continue to perform as they have so far I’ll put some in the front too. I’m overseas at the moment so I’ll put up some pics when I’m home
Nick

Originally Posted by Vern

Koni raid 90 for a landy here are approx $500 each.

It is 2018. I know you guys are used to being raped by the local distributors, but you do not have to let them get away with it. $300 is the normal price everywhere else in the world delivered to your door.

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