Shocks for standard springs - increased damping needed

[Ozdunc]

2a SWB, OEM springs, sagged 30mm, all clean and greased, tapered ends with no wear lips on the leaves.

What are the recommendations for replacement shocks?
Traditional leaf spring shocks seem to have minimal compression damping, allowing for leaf friction to do that, with most damping in the rebound circuits.
My front springs are very supple and I'm blowing through my up-travel too fast, I'd prefer to have a more damped shock on the compression stroke.

The hard bit comes trying to find shocks, and what they actually do.
For example Paddocks list 4 shocks, std, H/D, Monroe GAS and deCarbon GAS, Roverparts list std and BOGE. No other infomation other than price.
(I'm presuming where no manufacturer is listed the shock is Britpart)

I don't really want an extended length shock as I've removed half the bumpstop.
Hunting around on the web, its practically impossible to get any info on series shocks apart from some vague chat about how standard springs don't really need shocks, but parabolics need extra damping due to the seperated leaves.
Anyone got any experience running standard length gas shocks to control more flexible springs?
Does H/D in a leaf spring shock mean greater compression damping or just a more solid build? Or even less damping as a H/D spring is less likely to flex?
Is BOGE a gas damped shock?
Tough Dog and Dobinsons seem to offer shocks for series but they're pretty expensive. I could buy 2 std shocks (Britpart?) for the same price as one. Mind you if they were manufactured with low speed and high speed compression damping circuits I could be tempted!
OME seem to offer shocks in the US, but I'm not seeing any company listing them here.
Where do people get their shocks from? I'd happily phone and ask my questions to them.
Can you substitute Toyota/Nissan shock part numbers at all? If so it might open up the choice

Cheers
Duncan

[rick130]

Koni, but if you think Dobinsons and whatever are exxy.....but you'll get whet you need.
I'd contact Geof at Proven Products at Albury.
They are one of the two Koni importers for Oz and Geof can valve anything to suit.

FWIW gas pressure contributes bugger all to bump damping, and all dampers are velocity sensitive (ie. the damping varies as a function of shaft speed) as they rely on the movement of oil through orifices and shims.

[rover-56]

Duncan,

I have a set of 4 Santana/LIP brand dampers for a SWB Series that have the same compression and rebound damping.
New unused. They came with a set of parabolic springs but I was happy with the Bilsteins I had so I didn't fit them.
PM me if you want to talk....

Terry

[B.S.F.]

On e-bay
KYB FRONT GAS SHOCK ABSORBERS - ROVER LANDROVER / DISCOVERY, 1954-1984, #KFG5001 | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/KYB-FRONT-GAS-SHOCK-ABSORBERS-ROVER-LANDROVER-DISCOVERY-1954-1984-KFG5001-/140753241785?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item20c58c06b9)

On my series L/R ,because I've got heavy duty springs ,shock absorbers don't seem to make any difference.At the time I bought the cheapest ones I could find . W.

[jerryd]

I've used these, EFS Elite supplied by M R Automotive. Seem to work well too.

[Ozdunc]

Thanks for the offer Terry, but it appears the Lip shocks are about 40mm (290mm) longer compressed than the standard shock (250mm) and as my bumpstops are already chopped and I definitely use all the travel. I think its a no go.

Rick I agree Konis are a great shock, but if I were going to spend that much I'd probably go for Fox or Kings.:twisted:

BOGE aren't gas damped for Series shocks.

From what I can gather std oil filled shocks are good for on the road and slow off road work, but will cavitate and overheat fairly quickly on corrugations. Depending on the condition of your springs you may not notice.
35mm gas dampers such as ToughDog Gas, ProComp3000, Monroe Gas would probably be a better set up for multi leaf springs over faster off road. Esp if you've removed a few leaves.

41mm foam cell shocks - ToughDog Foam, ProComp9000 are really suited for parabolic springs/coils, and a bit too stiff for multi-leaf set ups.

From my own experience running Bilsteins on my 80, the initial circuitdamping is pretty hard so more suitable to parabolics/heavily loaded vehicles - a really great touring shock.

I found this info on shock lengths on HeysteeAutomotive website, and thought it might be useful.

Land Rover SWB 88" / LWB 109" Front
Brand Type Collapsed Extended Stroke Fixing
mm inch mm inch mm inch eye/eye
Land Rover 1ton RTC4431 280 11,02 405 15,94 125 4,92
Land Rover RTC4483 250 9,84 375 14,76 125 4,92
Trail & Track 4x4* 716.410 300 11,81 507 19,96 207 8,15
LiP 4x4* 716.15 290 11,42 430 16,93 140 5,51
Ironman 12090GL 283 11,14 439 17,28 156 6,14
OME (gas) N78 287 11,30 447 17,60 160 6,30
Explorer ES3000 / 9000 _18546 280 11,02 455 17,91 175 6,89

Land Rover SWB 88" rear
Brand Type Collapsed Extended Stroke Fixing
mm inch mm inch mm inch eye/eye

Land Rover RTC4232 320 12,60 515 20,28 195 7,68
Trail & Track 4x4* 716.410 330 12,99 522 20,55 192 7,56
LiP 4x4* 716.16 330 12,99 530 20,87 200 7,87
Ironman 12741GL 342 13,46 552 21,73 210 8,27
OME N90 357 14,06 582 22,91 225 8,86
Explorer ES3000 / 9000 _21546 350 13,78 550 21,65 200 7,87


Land Rover LWB 109" rear
Brand Type Collapsed Extended Stroke Fixing
mm inch mm inch mm inch eye/eye
Land Rover RTC4233 315 12,40 495 19,49 180 7,09
Land Rover RTC4235 285 11,22 465 18,31 180 7,09
Trail & Track 4x4* 716.420 330 12,99 522 20,55 192 7,56
LiP 4x4* 716.18 315 12,40 440 17,32 125 4,92
Ironman 12640GL 332 13,07 551 21,69 219 8,62
Explorer ES3000 / 9000 _21573 350 13,78 550 21,65 200 7,87

I couldn't find any info on ToughDog or KYB shock lengths, and Ironman nor EFS are listing any shocks for Series. So if you've got any part numbers that would be really helpful.
Some part numbers:
Tough Dog: Gas - Front:BD2000T, Rear:BD3005T; Foam - Front:FC42000, Rear: FC43005
ProComp3000 - Front:3175xx, Rear:3205xx
Monroe: Gas - Front M6415, RearM4044
This is all gotten off the web and maynot be correct, I'm really just trying to collect a heap of data together.

[Ozdunc]

Got under the truck this arvo and took some measurements.

Eye to eye with the front end fully compressed and no bumpstop is 265mm.
A bumpstop will compress about 20mm ( I stuck one in a vice and wound the jaws together. Very scientific:D ).
So the maximum compressed shock length you should use with a stock spring and bumpstop is 290mm.

Then I extended the spring as far as it could go with the shock removed, and compressing the spring the other side. 430mm is the max extension before the bushings bind, which is just as well as any further and you'll need to be extending the brake lines.

I'm still in a quandary over resetting my springs before considering shocks, so I hope this info helps someone.

I haven't done the rear calcs yet as the upper shock mounts are offset and it needs a bit more thinking rather than straight out measuring.

Cheers.