Want a smoother ride... which shocks?

when your loaded are you carrying near 1t. ?

Smileyfella,
I used to own a courier and I think you will find that the shocks are NOT the issue,It's the springs!.
Yes they are designed to carry a ton but no good when empty,I went and spent $2k on mine(old man emu) and it was a vast improvement because they where designed to use only the top two leaves when empty and when load went on they "toughened up" giving a slightly higher ride than genuine plus more travel
If you just change the shocks I think there maybe an improvement in the handling(on bumps) but it will still kick you in the arse on rough roads
My ute was a dual cab and had "soft" springs and just by putting 1-200kg in the back made a difference.
cheers
Shane

Taking a leaf out will give a better result than new shocks in your case.

Shocks will help dampen the osculation of the spring, but the springs in utes are so stiff they don’t move in the first place. 1 less leaf will give a plusher ride, or you could go the OME option and get a spring pack that is a bit more sophisticated.

Taking out a leaf will make the vehicle drag it ass though if you load it up, so not recommended if you intend to do intermittent load carrying.

Hi Smiley.

I've got OME shocks on mine, and I actually beefed up the rear spring pack by adding an extra leaf to carry the drawers, canopy, roof bars, fridge etc which generall y live in the back most of the time.

I find it quite good. It' s a family tourer most of the time and my daily driver.

There are pics of what I carry all the time on my website, and in the latest 4wd monthly.

If you change the front shocks beef up the front shocker upper mounts (ARB have a kit for it) as they are prone to failure.

Mine also has had the front end wound up to compensate for the winch bar, winch & battery it carries in the front and I picked up some clearance there also.

Can't go too far in the front as you are limited by the upper and lower bump stops anyway.

Dave

Mate I have similar set up on my Explorer with Rancho 9000’s on the back and 5000’s on the front, I leave the 9000’s on setting 6 for everyday driving.

I have fairly beefed up rear spring packs on mine and I find it Ok but then I don’t expect a grate ride out a 4WD anyway.

I had the guys form WA Suspensions rework a set of Lovell’s rased duty leaf packs to get more lift out of them and a firmer ride for when it’s loaded up. The result was the addition of another leaf into the pack’s and some adjustment of the overload leaf now when it’s empty it’s real firm LOL.

I reckon it would be perfect for towing a boat now; too bad I don’t have one LOL.

41mm bore shocks are properly a bit of a overkill for leaf springs and are better suited to Coils as they work the shock a lot harder. The rancho 9000’s are only 32mm compared to the 5000’s, which are 35mm, which I thought was a bit odd. But they are both a Foam cell shock.

Cheers.