Thread: Tough Dog Vs ARB (OME?)

If you're on a budget, then the RAIDS will be overkill.

Grab some Bilsteins from one of the online shock shops in the US. There are a number of threads here on the various online options....

Just a suggestion have a look at gwyn lewis who (terrafirma copied) for raised shock mounts(to fit longer shocks ome 60070L 11.7in travel to standard 8in) , cranked trailing arms, dislocation cones/hooks etc so when you raise the suspension you get better travel instead of less down-travel as with arb's OME lr kit, tough dog,tjm etc, your using the same length shock with a raised spring. suspension stuff or dobinsons are good for springs.

LOL that sounds a tad expensive/complex.....
Does anybody know out of curiosity how long it will take for my springs to start sagging badly?
I'm fitting an ARB steel winch bar to my D2, just wondering how long i have to get them replaced before it starts being a real problem?
Cheers
Muppet

Originally Posted by Disco Muppet

...
Does anybody know out of curiosity how long it will take for my springs to start sagging badly?
I'm fitting an ARB steel winch bar to my D2, just wondering how long i have to get them replaced before it starts being a real problem?
...

The springs won't sag any more than they have by fitting the bar. So if the ride height is OK now, it will stay the same for several years most likely.

So - if the ride height is currently OK there is no rush.

Personally - I wouldn't touch either of those brand of shocks (though I have had a reasonable run out of OMEs), and would stay away from ARB springs after we saw a pajero that had snapped both rear coils in several places in the middle of the canning.

Suspension stuff is probably the cheapest option. Fitting coils and shocks is very easy and not dangerouus.

Not sure of your vehicle, but we have a 98 D1 (tdi, heavy steel winch bar, Warn XD9000, dual batteries at the front) with:

2" heavy duty King Springs all round (from memory $400 for the set); and
Koni +2" Heavy Track shocks from Paddocks in the UK (from memory these were a bit over $500 to my door and took about 10 days?).

This combination has been excellent (incl 17000k's touring with heavy camper trailer attached along Oodnadatta track, in and out of Dalhousie Springs and up to the Alice via Finke) over the past 12 months. However, the springs are starting to sag, so I'll be more than likely tracking down a set of Les Richmond coils myself. I would never buy any other shocks apart from Koni's now. Though I could be tempted into Bilsteins?

Regards

I bought 4 shocks and coils from Suspension Stuff for my 98 Defender for $770 delivered. I fitted it myself in a day with nothing but spanners, a trolley jack and some blocks of wood. There are numerous you tube clips showing how to, I watched about five before I did it. The hardest bit was holding the front shock and undoing the nut on the bottom over the rusty thread.

If you took it to a workshop they would probably take a lot less time and I nearly did this as we had lots of wet weather at the time, but did it myself.

Jeff