Thread: Old Man Emu Shock Absorbers

I think Opposite Lock supply them (if they are down in SA), I don't know what part number they are but if you talk to someone from there they should be able to help you out.

Nathan.

109" and 88" are different.... Which have you got?

With leaf springs, especially rusty old ones, the shocks do much less than with coils and people often drive for years without knowing their shocks are wrecked. On that basis, it may not be worth carrying the extra weight? I'm putting OME on my wife's Series 2 88", but only because it also has parabolics which have much far less internal friction and therefore require (in theory) more damping. My 86" would feel exactly the same with no shocks at all, because someone took it on a beach and the springs have rusted solid.

For the same reasons, even if the mountings are the same the valving should be different between the 109" and 110 because the coils need more damping.

Much the same for the steering damper, which (if my pre-coffee memory serves) was only factory fitted to the 1 ton and V8. Is it worth carrying the extra weight when you can live without it anyway?

[These comments may vary with your usage - a weekend of serious offroading has different requirements to a 3 month trip where the vehicle is already heavily loaded with food, camping gear etc. and GVM, wear and tear or fuel economy are considered.]

I tend to agree with warn, I had old rear shocks on my 2a shorty, took them off to find numbers and buy new ones, I drove it for about 4 weeks without shocks and it was no change from having the old ones, but since fitting new rear shocks, I still think there is no difference. My springs are in good condition and were well lubricated at that time.

Mine is the 109 and it will be loaded pretty heavily- especially at the beginning of the trip when we will be carrying 100 liters of fuel as well as full tanks (115 liters). Plus camping gear, food, water, and the Navigator's cosmetic bag...
My 109 is set up for a steering damper, and I found the steering to have a bit of "kick" when it became detached at one end along the OOdnadatta track once. I wouldn't like to drive it too far, especially in sand country, without the damper fitted. However, I don't think I'd bother to carry a spare damper, just a couple of shocks.
Thanks for all the suggestions, I'll have a chat to the local Opposite Lock they aren't far away from where I live,
Cheers

Coop

Originally Posted by C00P

My 109 is set up for a steering damper, and I found the steering to have a bit of "kick" when it became detached at one end along the OOdnadatta track once.

I remember the good old days before power steering, when we all learned to drive off road with our thumbs outside the steering wheel to stop them being broken by the spokes when the wheel "kicked".....

Spares are good and useful, but over the years I have learnt that heavily loaded vehicles break suspension more often than lightly loaded ones. I had a friend who, a few years ago, carried spares for everything. He even had spare springs mounted on his bullbar. The funny thing was that he often used them, as his springs broke with alarming regularity!!

Another approach that works well for a long trip is to have the spares at home, with a friend who can be contacted by satphone and overnight them out to you. The spares have often arrived at the nearest town by the time you limp in, and the courier costs are offset by the reduction in fuel usage from not carrying 100kg of spare parts you probably (hopefully!) won't need.

Of course if you actually fit the replacements a few weeks before you go, and keep the old ones as "spares to be posted in an emergency", that works even better. Most importantly it avoids the problem of finding, in the middle of nowhere, that your new untested part is actually faulty!

Originally Posted by Warb

I remember the good old days before power steering, when we all learned to drive off road with our thumbs outside the steering wheel to stop them being broken by the spokes when the wheel "kicked".....

Spares are good and useful, but over the years I have learnt that heavily loaded vehicles break suspension more often than lightly loaded ones. I had a friend who, a few years ago, carried spares for everything. He even had spare springs mounted on his bullbar. The funny thing was that he often used them, as his springs broke with alarming regularity!!

Another approach that works well for a long trip is to have the spares at home, with a friend who can be contacted by satphone and overnight them out to you. The spares have often arrived at the nearest town by the time you limp in, and the courier costs are offset by the reduction in fuel usage from not carrying 100kg of spare parts you probably (hopefully!) won't need.

Of course if you actually fit the replacements a few weeks before you go, and keep the old ones as "spares to be posted in an emergency", that works even better. Most importantly it avoids the problem of finding, in the middle of nowhere, that your new untested part is actually faulty!

Point taken. We had a fuel pump diaphragm fail at Arkaroola-no problem, as the previous owner had included a spare in the kit in the rear locker. Removed the pump, split it open, only to discover that the replacement diaphragm was the wrong type...

We will weigh everything to see how close we are to the max load. We are carrying spare axles and a used clutch plate, and we tend to drive conservatively to reduce the impact loads. Some both overload and drive hard with the expected results. At least if we are a bit over the max, we know it will reduce as the trip proceeds and we consume water and fuel.

I've used your suggested method (friends with access to the spares at home) when flying around the country because weight is critical, but hadn't thought of doing that when taking the Landy. Thanks for the suggestion.
Cheers

Coop

Does this help?

Many thanks, Alistair, that's exactly the information I needed.
Sorry about the delay replaying- we are travelling at the moment.
Cheers

Coop