Patrol suspension
Submitted: Tuesday, Jan 27, 2004 at 16:20
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Roachie
G'day, Has anybody had any experience with quick disconnects for sway bars or with Tough Dog Ralph's shockers?
With the quick disconnects, has anybody tried only fitting one at each end. What I mean is can you leave one side of the sway bar connected to the chassis with the existing "arm" and have a disconnect on the other side? They cost about $200- a pair and I was thinking of just getting one pair of front-type ones and using one of those at the back. The back sway bar connects on the GU have one the same length as the 2 front ones and the other one is about twice as long. I would leave the long back one in place and put a "quicky" on the other side and do the same at the front.
On the Tough Dog "Ralphs", has anybody used them? They are bloody huge compared to other brands (in diameter) and I like the idea that the company is prepared to give a 5 year warranty while most other companies are limited to a 2 year warranty. My Patrol is pretty heavy @ just over 3 tonne before I load the gear, camper trailer and family up for a trip and my Koni's have done 115,000 and look very tired.
Thanks in advance for any tips or experiences.
Roachie
Reply By: Mark - Tuesday, Jan 27, 2004 at 16:50
Tuesday, Jan 27, 2004 at 16:50
I reckon a "one-sided" quick disconnect would work fine, as long as the swaybar has room/clearance for up and down movement.
I once
broke the front swaybar pivot on my previous 80 series and had unbelievable wheel articulation, both sides. It was a while before I noticed the broken pivot (thought shocks were simply getting old when cornering) and once repaired had noticeably worse articulation. The weld on the repaired pivot
broke again after a while, which shows the amount of stress the swaybar is under. Took me a while to get around to fixing it again ;-)
I now have a GU and would be interested in how it works if you decide to go ahead.
Cheers
Mark
AnswerID:
44491
Follow Up By: Roachie - Tuesday, Jan 27, 2004 at 18:13
Tuesday, Jan 27, 2004 at 18:13
Thanks Mark,
I should have said too that I'm currently running with both sway bars off altogether. I have Lovells 4" front and 5" rear coils and Polyairs in the back too. The reason the back ones are 5" is to cater for the weight of the Opposite Lock heavy duty steel rear bar and dual spare wheels, 145lt long range tank, cargo drawer with recovery gear and ARB 40lt fridge permanently mounted on slide and cargo barrier etc. Also have ARB full length steel roof rack. Up front have ARB steel b/bar, Warn 9000lb winch and dual batteries etc.
With sway bars both off, I get good articulation and because
the springs are heavy duty, the amount of body roll is not too bad......not as bad as an early model Rangie I once had a ride in!!
Cheers,
Roachie
FollowupID:
306685
Reply By: Member - Raymond - Tuesday, Jan 27, 2004 at 18:56
Tuesday, Jan 27, 2004 at 18:56
Hi Roachie
The Koni's are rebuilderable, and also they may just need adjusting up, 115,000 is about 1/3 of the life I got out of them on a ford Bronco. I have a set on the Nissan and they are great. You can even get them altered if you change your lift
Raywanderin' in retirement. victor 2010
AnswerID:
44512
Follow Up By: Member - AndrewPatrol - Tuesday, Jan 27, 2004 at 20:55
Tuesday, Jan 27, 2004 at 20:55
Raymond,
How much does it cost for rebuild of Koni's vs. new?? Saw the Tough Dog Ralphs the other day, they are huge , Must be a good amount of oil in there to resist fade but who's gonna be brave enough to spend $260 ea to give us an idea on their longevity. The other question is how long is that knob gonna last on the side with water and s@$t getting in there, the rancho's have had a bad go with this problem.
FollowupID:
306706
Follow Up By: Member - AndrewPatrol - Tuesday, Jan 27, 2004 at 21:04
Tuesday, Jan 27, 2004 at 21:04
Roachie, I've heard that it's a bitch to get the disconnects lined up again to re-insert the pin. On the weekend i experimented with removing one of the arm on the front sway and it feels like you're driving with half flat tyres and also it leans over to sit on the spring, when going into a corner, but nothing that you wouldn't get used to. In my spare dreaming time I'm trying to dream an easier method of making a disconnect. Help me out. I'm also keen on the idea of only disconnecting one side, 'cos if you disconnect both what stops the bar from hangig down and getting caught on something???
FollowupID:
306709
Follow Up By: Roachie - Tuesday, Jan 27, 2004 at 22:49
Tuesday, Jan 27, 2004 at 22:49
Andrew,
With regard to the Tough Dogs, I think you might be getting the new adjustable ones (similar to Rancho 9000's) confused with the "Ralph"s.
The Ralphs have a 53mm
bore and are 70mm outside diameter. The others (ie: heavy duty adjustables) are a bit smaller @ only 45mm
bore size. I think both have the same size piston rod @ 22mm. A "normal" shock (eg: Koni, OME, Nitro shocker etc) generally have a 35mm
bore and a 18 or 19mm piston shaft.
The Ralphs and the Heavy Duty Adjustables cost the same @ $260- each. The adjustables only have a 2 year warranty and they reckon there is an in-cab adjuster kit to come. I notice that the Rancho ad in 4wd Monthly now shows that they are selling the Ralphs too, so I wonder if they have formed some alliance (ie: Rancho & Tough Dog) and if so, Tough Dog will probably use the Rancho in-cab kit for it adjustable range. I'm a bit of a gadget freak, but I think for the same money outlay, I might opt for the Ralphs with their larger oil capacity and longer warranty.
Thanks for your
feedback,
Cheers,
Roachie
FollowupID:
306722
Reply By: Truckster (Vic) - Tuesday, Jan 27, 2004 at 21:53
Tuesday, Jan 27, 2004 at 21:53
Quick disconnects are exactly that!!! but one day Roly was stuck for over 45 minutes tryin to get it back in..
he gave up threw them and the swaybars away.
Konis are rebuildable.
AnswerID:
44543