Expected shock absorber life

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Originally Posted by rick130

At a guess The Ultimate Suspension's shocks should be a really good substitute for deCarbon (or any other brand)

They used to be a deCarbon importer, supplier and rebuilder, but now make their own mono-tube dampers in-house here in Australia at Minto, south west of Sydney.

When shocks come up in discussion I always forget about them, but they (Ken O'keefe) have been at the forefront of 4WD suspension development here in Australia since the seventies.

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Hi Rick, yes I saw they were supplying their own brand now, if you say they are built to their specs etc then I shall definately look into it!

JC

I used their products in the distant past on Jeep CJ's and a County.

They offered 3 year warranty on shocks and 7 if you bought springs at the same time. I had a claim at 2 years and they just posted a replacement to Cairns.

Good to deal with

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Originally Posted by Graeme

LR genuines seem to be in the same category.

Your reference to Koni twin-tube fading is interesting, having experienced it on Knolls Track.

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The old genuine Defender ones I have kicking around the shed are Woodhead-Monroe, and FWIW on the Monroe website they recommend an 80,000km change point.

Twin tubes will fade when worked hard, although I doubt anyone has made a 90 series fade, too much oil volume in comparison to a 'standard' 82 Series Koni and the larger piston of the 90 Series ensures lower working pressures = less heat, etc.

The Konis were K8240-...

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Originally Posted by rick130

The old genuine Defender ones I have kicking around the shed are Woodhead-Monroe, and FWIW on the Monroe website they recommend an 80,000km change point.

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I've always stuck with genuine L/R and have gotten over 100,000km from most of them. However I just bought a new set of rears and they have plastic stone guards!! I kind of get it for the fronts as they're encased by the springs, but the rears? Will be interesting to see how they go!

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Originally Posted by Graeme

The Konis were K8240-...

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82 Series, low pressure gas.

At least with Koni's they 'come back' after cooling down.

As Slunnie mentioned, cheap dampers, and particularly the cellular foam ones, seem to just die once they've overheated.

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Originally Posted by Westie

I've always stuck with genuine L/R and have gotten over 100,000km from most of them. However I just bought a new set of rears and they have plastic stone guards!! I kind of get it for the fronts as they're encased by the springs, but the rears? Will be interesting to see how they go!

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The new Defender Puma factory ones are gas charged, and very good quality. I just fitted a set to a 2005 110 and they are very good so far:D

JC

My last set of shocks lasted less than 2 years even though they had a 2 year warranty on them. They were only cheap because I got trade price on them, they were bought for the amount of travel, not for price. They were replaced with OME sport extra long travel shocks just over 12 months ago and I had to change the lower bushes last week as they had flogged out in that short time. Not happy with that aspect, but the shocks themselves seem to be working fine still.

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Originally Posted by Slunnie

Is it a foam cell shock? I don't think that construction ever recovers from being run hot.

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I think they are gas.

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Originally Posted by modman

I don't know how to list a link but have a read of the site that does Len beadell tours (google)
Great write up of shocker and bush life on a deefer that does more than half it's work off road and off track
Good results from the big Konis and superpro bushes
Dc

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His website is a very worth while read generally if planning a trip into central Australia.