"Real world" suspension
Submitted: Tuesday, May 04, 2004 at 17:00
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Hatcher
Alright, it’s "Can O’ Worm" time.
I’ve read with interest on this
forum that the general consensus is King springs and Koni or Bilstein shocks is the ducks guts in after market
suspension. But when reading about custom trucks in all the 4WD mags, hardly anyone uses these brands. It’s all OME, Rancho, Tough Dog, and other “glitzy” names. This got me thinking, what do the REAL off-roaders use as opposed to the weekend warriors and
rock crawling gladiators. Could those people that use their 4WD for business use, i.e. tour operators, miners and such give their opinion on why they use the
suspension they use and/or what
suspension they wouldn’t use from experience.
Reply By: Baz (NSW) - Tuesday, May 04, 2004 at 17:15
Tuesday, May 04, 2004 at 17:15
I cant speak for the rest of the
forum but i went OME and Tough Dog because that was the best of the cheap options, cheaper than Bistein, koni and XGS and so on and so on, i am very pleased, also they have a good reputation as a good product and easy to get for the Explorer, sometimes you have no choice, as with the Explorer.
Baz.
AnswerID:
57195
Reply By: Member - Raymond - Tuesday, May 04, 2004 at 17:37
Tuesday, May 04, 2004 at 17:37
Hi Hatcher
Interesting that the mags always have the "glitzy" shocks, don't forget that many of the competition trucks are sponsored and they put on the shocks they are supplied with. By the way several competitors in the Outback Challenge use Koni's
How long do you want them to work.
Had Koni's on the Bronco for 12 years and 350000k's Tried OME on the Toyota and the Nissan, could only get 100000K's out of them, I have gone back to the Koni's on the Ute with the camper, much better ride for the money
Ray
AnswerID:
57199
Reply By: Michael_FNQ - Tuesday, May 04, 2004 at 21:06
Tuesday, May 04, 2004 at 21:06
100,000km out of a set of shocks sounds about right, they are not meant to last forever. Run OME on my 100 Series and GU Ute. Worth noting that OME is easily Australia's biggest supplier of 4x4 shocks, does very little advertising and keeps getting bigger. My brother owns some ARB shares and keeping gloating as the price just keeps going up. There must be alot of happy customers out there.
A mate rang Rancho last week about some shocks for his GU Patrol and said that he planned to do a desert trip and the salesman offered to sell him Tough Dog shocks as they worked better. The strange part is that the salesman (have not got his name in front of me) was the guy who fronts the double page ads in the 4x4 mags stating that Rancho is the worlds best shock.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Roachie (SA) - Wednesday, May 05, 2004 at 10:31
Wednesday, May 05, 2004 at 10:31
Michael,
I think the blokes name is Kirk at Auto Alliance (aka: Rancho).
I think he's the only one at the office. He answers the phone and is the boss too....nothing wrong with that.
Their ad's have always raved on about how Rancho shocks are the absolute best in the world, bar none. Now they sell Tough Dogs as well.
My Konis have done about 125,000klms on my GU and seem to be weeping a bit of oil (oily dust build up on lower half of them) since our
Cape York trip in 2002. However, after some discussion on the
forum, I've decided for the time being to stick with them. They still seem to be doing the job okay. My GU weighs over 3tonne before I load it up for a trip. If I was to consider any other shock it would either be the Tough Dog "Ralph" (huge dimensions & $260- each) or possibly the OME one with the remote cannister (about $360- each though). The Koni's are re-buildable, but I can't afford to have my truck off the road for several weeks while they get sent to
Melbourne to be done.
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Reply By: pathfinder - Wednesday, May 05, 2004 at 13:43
Wednesday, May 05, 2004 at 13:43
I think the biggest advantages of OME shocks is that they are tough for their price, allow good wheel articulation and are well matched to
the springs they come with...i.e. they are a more integrated package than most shock/spring combinations which come from two different manufacturers...
AnswerID:
57304
Reply By: Austravel - Wednesday, May 05, 2004 at 18:59
Wednesday, May 05, 2004 at 18:59
I've been using Dobinson's springs and shocks for quite some time now. Can't beat the price and back up service. The're located in
Rockhampton and are one of the few that actually manufacture springs in Australia.
AnswerID:
57345
Follow Up By: sean - Wednesday, May 05, 2004 at 22:07
Wednesday, May 05, 2004 at 22:07
I have also been using Dobinsons and they are a very good product. If you can make it to their factory then a custom lift suited to your exact requirements for very little extra can be obtained.
Sean
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