Thread: Shock Horror! (or which brand)

Originally Posted by one_iota

Firstly....thanks for the contributions here. AULRO quality stuff.

Decision made: Bilsteins B6 series.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

You've absolutely made the right decision.

Originally Posted by Slunnie

You've absolutely made the right decision.

Thanks Simon. Much anguish has been assuaged by that comment.

Originally Posted by austastar

Hi,
I've just had rear Airbagman springs and some big, red Konis installed, but have only driven home on them so not much to report as yet.
Cheers

Is this Koni's all the way around?

Do u have model numbers and where they were sourced from?

I've had a few mates suggest that I should go with what every other Tom, Dick & Harry seem to be using these days & that's "Remote-Res Shocks"... but for remote touring (sometimes off-track) I think that may just be increasing chances for problems. I like the idea of adjusting your shocks for the various road conditions u can drive but worry about durability...

I too will be watching this post with interest with what are people's thoughts as to what is the better way to go...

Originally Posted by Robmacca

I've had a few mates suggest that I should go with what every other Tom, Dick & Harry seem to be using these days & that's "Remote-Res Shocks"... but for remote touring (sometimes off-track) I think that may just be increasing chances for problems. I like the idea of adjusting your shocks for the various road conditions u can drive but worry about durability...

I too will be watching this post with interest with what are people's thoughts as to what is the better way to go...

For a regular tourer, with nothing more than standard or off the shelf suspension you really don't need remote res. They are very cool and they do cool a bit better but really they're about gaining a performance package in terms of high levels of travel as well as performance, Bilstein motorsport when you're talking to them just call them buggy shocks. As much as we hate to admit it, 2" lifts are not comparable.

You've got options with the shocks, but as soon as you say loaded, touring or corrugations you're straight away looking at mono-tube shocks, which admittedly do include remote res in the family.

Foam Cell shocks like Rancho etc you will kill in a few hours on the corrugations and they wont recover - throw them in the bin.

Twin shell shocks like Monroe, OME, Koni etc are all the same design, and Koni is a high quality version of the same shock. They will perform well until they get hot, the oil with low pressure gas will aerate and then the shock will fade. When they cool down, the shock performance will come back again.

Mono-tube shocks like Bilstein, Ultimate and any remote res shock keep the oil and the gas seperated with a piston. In a regular monotube shock the piston and gas is in the bottom of the shock and in a remote res it is relocated into a seperate canister (this is why remote res have a more efficient suspension travel design). Because the oil and gas are seperate the shock is very reluctant to fade, and as the shock heats up the gas pressure increases which improves the oils ability further to not aerate and fade. For a tourer you don't need remote res unless you've got something pretty custom setup, but these are the reasons I would always recommend a monotube like the Bilstein shock for a tourer.

Originally Posted by one_iota

Firstly....thanks for the contributions here. AULRO quality stuff.

Decision made: Bilsteins B6 series.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

I’ve just been searching for open/closed lengths but the bilstien website doesn’t seem to have them.

Any chance of a link where you purchased from.

As far as reliability- I’ve ran remote res shocks for years. Never had one fail.

Lara (110) had LTRs that I worked with OME directly to calibrate and improve.
D2 has 7100 Bilsteins.

Both were given a very tough life, and still going strong.

Blk Knight can tell you if the LTRs are still going as his Dad owns Lara now.

I can tell you the D2 is still alright - 14 years after they were installed.

Originally Posted by austastar

Hi,
I've just had rear Airbagman springs and some big, red Konis installed, but have only driven home on them so not much to report as yet.
Cheers

Which koni’s did you install?

Originally Posted by Slunnie

For a regular tourer, with nothing more than standard or off the shelf suspension you really don't need remote res. They are very cool and they do cool a bit better but really they're about gaining a performance package in terms of high levels of travel as well as performance, Bilstein motorsport when you're talking to them just call them buggy shocks. As much as we hate to admit it, 2" lifts are not comparable.

You've got options with the shocks, but as soon as you say loaded, touring or corrugations you're straight away looking at mono-tube shocks, which admittedly do include remote res in the family.

Foam Cell shocks like Rancho etc you will kill in a few hours on the corrugations and they wont recover - throw them in the bin.

Twin shell shocks like Monroe, OME, Koni etc are all the same design, and Koni is a high quality version of the same shock. They will perform well until they get hot, the oil with low pressure gas will aerate and then the shock will fade. When they cool down, the shock performance will come back again.

Mono-tube shocks like Bilstein, Ultimate and any remote res shock keep the oil and the gas seperated with a piston. In a regular monotube shock the piston and gas is in the bottom of the shock and in a remote res it is relocated into a seperate canister (this is why remote res have a more efficient suspension travel design). Because the oil and gas are seperate the shock is very reluctant to fade, and as the shock heats up the gas pressure increases which improves the oils ability further to not aerate and fade. For a tourer you don't need remote res unless you've got something pretty custom setup, but these are the reasons I would always recommend a monotube like the Bilstein shock for a tourer.

When I bought my Puma - it can with adjustable Toughdog shocks. Now, I know they are probably not the best but I liked the ability to adjust the shocks upwards to help when we crossed the madigan in 2019. It helped stopped the heavy vehicle roll around a bit and then when driving on dirt corrugated roads turn them back down to help smooth out the ride a bit. It got me wondering if forking out some $$ for better remote res shocks would be a good idea when touring and fully loaded ?