Tough Dog Failures
Submitted: Friday, May 01, 2009 at 16:17
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68417
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Replies:
9
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Member - Ingo57 (NSW)
Thought this was worth a report from such a reputable brand of
suspension. The old man has a GU Patrol with a 2" lift springs and big
bore 45mm adjustable shocks. They have been on for around 2 years and a little over 25,000kms. The left hand side rear shock collapsed internally and was replaced with a new one to there credit and the other one was also revalved to suit at no expense to him.
This is all
well and good but a shock absorber of this calibre should last longer than 25,000km, then the guy said that it may have been overloaded and it depends If its had a hard life????? Thought that's why we put aftermarket
suspension on our 4bies for, besides that
weights carried,draw systems, dual wheel carriers, long range tanks, roof racks, bullbars steel or Aluminum, dual battery's etc ARE AND WERE all the standard questions asked for fitting the right
suspension set up.
My brother also has a GQ with Tough dog springs 5" lift and 45mm Big
bore adjustables supplied by Macquarie 4 x 4.
This was done 1 1/2 years ago both Rear shock adjusters have seized and one is spewing oil out like no tomorrow...7000kms.
This machine has been built purely for
rock hopping and the odd trip (is his play car), Macquarie 4 x 4 have stated that non servicing of the adjusters has caused them to seize and because the vehicle has been raised over 4" the warranty only applies for 12 months not the usual 24????? Tough Dog have requested to send them back for them to look at... now waiting for a response
It would appear these shocks are not as tough as what people claim. At $275 each shock you would think that they would last longer than these two examples!!!!!!!!
Reply By: Rockape - Friday, May 01, 2009 at 16:38
Friday, May 01, 2009 at 16:38
My neighbour has adjustable toughdogs and at least 3 have been replaced under warranty.
He has had enough of this because he has to return them and pay freight.
AnswerID:
362638
Reply By: Crackles - Friday, May 01, 2009 at 19:05
Friday, May 01, 2009 at 19:05
"shock absorber of this calibre should last longer than 25,000km,"
What calibre is that? They may be a high profile shock because of their heavy advertising but unfortunately they don't consistantly live up to the claims made, never have. Those in the
suspension business certainly don't speak very highly of them,
well at least those that don't sell them. Lasting 25K, that's 4 times worse than one would expect out of a factory shock.
Cheers Craig................
AnswerID:
362664
Follow Up By: Member - Ingo57 (NSW) - Friday, May 01, 2009 at 19:39
Friday, May 01, 2009 at 19:39
G'day Crackles
"shock absorber of this calibre should last longer than 25,000km,"
"What calibre is that?"
I guess Ive always thought they were a pretty good shock until now that is! I dont recall hearing anything bad about them although Ive always liked the Nitro chargers and now the Ironman seem to get a pretty good wrap.
Anyway Tough Dog should be put in the same basket as Wanko's and Coopers....LOL!
As I stated for $275.00 you think you would get a bit more use out of em & I agree a factory shock would last 4 times as long..
Cheers
FollowupID:
630362
Reply By: howesy - Friday, May 01, 2009 at 19:32
Friday, May 01, 2009 at 19:32
When I asked at our local stockist about fitting the big
bore tough dogs he actually talked me out of it and said if I really wanted a good reliable shock to fit the big
bore Koni.
AnswerID:
362666
Reply By: Member - Duncan W (WA) - Friday, May 01, 2009 at 20:11
Friday, May 01, 2009 at 20:11
For an upcoming trip into the
Pilbara, I was looking at replacing my current Tough Dog
suspension with new Tough Dogs and keep the existing as spares. Hearing the above I'm starting to wonder.
Existing set-up is about 40,000K's old and mostly off road and rough. Now getting a knocking sound at the back. Have had the bushes replaced twice during the 40K period though.
AnswerID:
362677
Follow Up By: Member - Ingo57 (NSW) - Friday, May 01, 2009 at 22:15
Friday, May 01, 2009 at 22:15
G'day Duncan,
The old man's GU started with a knock in the rear end and a harsh kick back over medium bumps. When the left hand rear shock was removed and you pushed the shock down by hand It would fall with no resistance until half way down then it suddenly became firm, on closer inspection under the car the control arm bushes had been flogged out completely and needed replacing...perhaps a result of the erratic behaviour of the faulty shock.
Cheers and enjoy the
Pilbara
FollowupID:
630393
Follow Up By: Member - Duncan W (WA) - Saturday, May 02, 2009 at 00:10
Saturday, May 02, 2009 at 00:10
The knock is only evident at low speeds over rough terrain. May be evident over other terrains but with the windows up and at speed with the stereo cranked I don't hear it.
FollowupID:
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Reply By: Robin Miller - Friday, May 01, 2009 at 21:29
Friday, May 01, 2009 at 21:29
Hi Ingo
I put the little(35mm) tough dog adjuistables on my GU some 3 years and 75,000 ago.
They don't have a lot of shock left now and I have them set to max ans they are still to soft.
But I reckon thats fair enough and I have had no faults or issues with them.
MInd you
suspension is the sum of the whole I choose to keep standard springs on my car.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Ingo57 (NSW) - Friday, May 01, 2009 at 22:27
Friday, May 01, 2009 at 22:27
Hi Robin,
I reckon that's fair enough too mate 75,000km is a pretty good innings out of shocks.
FollowupID:
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Reply By: Trekkie (Member - WA) - Friday, May 01, 2009 at 21:49
Friday, May 01, 2009 at 21:49
Tough Dog --- NO ---
Tough Pussies - YES
Similar to others I has two sets replaced - originally all modifications done by the same 4WD
shop - In the end they gave up and refused to help any more -
well they lost me and many others who I will never refer to that national group again
AnswerID:
362698
Reply By: pt_nomad - Saturday, May 02, 2009 at 00:26
Saturday, May 02, 2009 at 00:26
My tough dogs adjuster also siezed. The seals b/t the adjuster and shock are garbage and we poorly fitted during construction. River crossings lead to ware ingress and rust on the adjuster
bore.
wit hsome effort the can be free'd. I have applied grease to try an arrest corrosion. Tis a bit dissapointing :(
Paul
AnswerID:
362722
Reply By: Janset - Saturday, May 02, 2009 at 11:46
Saturday, May 02, 2009 at 11:46
Hi all.
I agonized for
well over 12 months as to what
suspension and shockers I should put onto my Troopie and after reading everything that I could lay my hands on I settled for a Lovell's (mining specs) springs.
As to the shockers, it came down to 3, Koni, Bilstien or Decarbone (I think that is how you spell it).
Koni won out. I have had these on my Troopie (that weighs in at 3.2 tonnes loaded) for over 10 years and have been through the
Kimberley's,
Canning Stock route, Ruddle River National Park, and Great Central crossing just to mention a few.
The Konis have never faded or let me down. They are as good as the day they were fitted. I adjusted the settings on the shockers to my loaded weight and that's that. They are not fancy nitro filled, or gas charge or whatever, just plain old big
bore shockers.
Just as a side issue, the handling of the Troopie is now a pure delight, but that is only my opinion. :-))))
Regards
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Drew - Karratha - Sunday, May 03, 2009 at 23:37
Sunday, May 03, 2009 at 23:37
Yep - I paid the extra $ for a Bilstien / lovells combo in my 80 series about 6 yrs ago and have travelled about 180000km in that time throughout some of the
Pilbara's worst corrugated roads without a drama - no adjusting knobs to get knocked off and no huge advertising campaigns - just good gear.....
FollowupID:
630709
Reply By: 08Kingcab - Sunday, May 10, 2009 at 18:03
Sunday, May 10, 2009 at 18:03
I paid $165 each for my Bilsteins and would expect 50000k before I send them off for a service, Shockers cop a hammering, don't expect too much fromt them .Even the best will fail, never mind the ones manfactured in Asisa.
AnswerID:
364179