Shock Absorber Recommendation Needed.

Bilstiens.
And yes, better shocks can very well give a better ride, particularly on corrugations, big bumps and holes.

Dennis, There are shocks and shocks, and everyone will have a different opinion as to the best.
But it may be worth while reading what Mick Hutton (of Beadell Tours) has to say about shock absorbers and Koni's in particularhere.


A couple of years ago I replaced all the shocks on my Troopy as a precaution as I did not know their full history. I used Tough Dog. On the next trip at 6,000k a front one failed completely. I returned it to the supplier for inspection but could get no response. Guess which brand I will NOT be using again. Not because of the failure, it can happen, but because of zero customer service. Nah, next time I'll use Mick's Koni's. But they don't come cheap!

Konis are the bees knees if you can afford them. Personally, on my heavy 79 series ute, I'm running tough dog big bore 45's adjustable. They've had 50k of rough outback tracks and off road useage and have been simply fantastic. Do a forum search for other opinions. OME....be wary.

Cheers, mick.

I have Koni's on my 78 Series, very happy with them.

I also have King Springs, a very different vehicle with that combination.

My 2008, 78 series is an ex police vehicle that was used in the Halls Creek region here in WA. It came with Koni's on it and are still on it (but I've been thinking about a new set) and Lovells coil and leaf springs. The vehicle had done a mere 36,000ks. I discovered both coils were broken within the first coil up from the bottom. So it was evident the vehicle had a hard life to which the Koni's survived ( just talked me self into what I need to replace with).

Bilsteins, but dont buy the normal yellow and blue ones get the silver ones (5100 series ) and get them from the US if you can find the part number for your vehicle the distributor in Australia has sh-t service and the warrenty is the same i had a set of yellow ones and one of the bushes failed( bought in Australia) they told me I would have to buy a new one ! When I was at sema in the US I spoke to the Bilstein guys there and told them of my issue in Australia they said you must joking and sent me a set of bushes free of charge to Australia because they did not want Bilstein to get a bad name even though I never bought them the US ! You can buy two sets for the price of one here
Jeff

Thanks to all responses.
I now have a fair bit of info to sort through.