Dear All,

Ok been scratching my head and pacing up and down for the whole of Saturday wondering what I should do....so many differing thoughts on the best way to go but I thought I'd just ask on personal experiences!

So the situation is: 12 months travelling around Africa in my LR110 which will be pretty heavily laden with kit so getting close to 3000kgs. I have LR HD springs with 130 helpers inside and am unsure of the best thing to do about the type of shock absorber to fit.

Two trains of thought really:

1. Fit Old Man Emu shocks as they are the bees knees (subject to a few bad experiences I've heard about) but will cost a small fortune as I have to buy six in all (two spares) and look like costing around £300 for the lot. If one of these fails and the other side goes pretty quickly after, the likelyhood of finding another OME supplier anywhere apart from South Africa is remote potentially leaving me stranded with no simple replacement option.

2. Fit Land Rover shocks (not sure if HD are available from them??) and as they are a standard part it should be fairly easy to pick them up from a LR agent/local garage/vehicle stripper somewhere en route.

Or do people have other suggestions on the best way to take on this problem? Really be good to hear your thoughts!

A confuzzled and frustrated Ben

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Just buy 4 of whatever shock you think is the best and take the two best used ones (are front and rear identical?) as spares. There's nothing terrible about using a different shock at one corner; not like using different diameter tires, for instance.
I broke an aftermarket Koni (right rear) in Baja about 6000 miles ago and replaced it with a factory shock. I can't feel too much difference, I certainly don't feel assymetric going over bumps. With a coil sprung vehicle you definitely would feel the absence of a shock.
Also, the absolute "best" shocks are Fox and King racing shocks. They are very expensive, ranging from US$300-1000 each. The also only come with "eye" type mounts (a hole at the top and bottom for a bolt) and limited ranges of length and travel. Check their internet sites if curious.

Charlie

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Unimog U500 w/Unicat

I know the feeling. There is no set brand really.

You need to buy decent shocks really - OME are quite expensive and break just as often as others it seems - so I have always bought Koni's and they seem to do the job ok for about £20 less per shock. I've broken 2 rear shocks in 60,000km in Africa which seems pretty good going. Take 2 rear spares and 1 front spare. You can't drive without a front shock really, but you can manage without a rear one for a while. But it's the rear ones that always seem to break which is good as they are easy to fix compared to the front.

Standard landy shocks won't last unless you at least double them up - but gas is the way to go - a days driving on heavy corrugations will soon set your mind at rest that it was money well spent.

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Kiwi, 7 years around Africa. Overlanding channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/roamingyak

I'm having these babies fitted to the Troopy tomorrow.

4 Way Suspension

I was originally going to go fo this one

4 Way Suspension

but in the end decided against it because the ride will be a bit too harsh. You need a constant load of at least 600kg to justify using the ralphs and they will still be quite rough then.

I'm replacing the whole suspension on the troopy with HD (9+2) leafs at the back and HD coils for the front with the adjustable shocks. I will be taking 2 Monroe shocks for the back (currently in there and brand new anyway) and probably 1 shock for the front. Might also take one coil for the front depending on space.

In terms of cost. The whole lot is costing me AU$ 2300. Yes, a lot of money, but hopefully money well spent.

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www.seeyouwhenwegetthere.com

fully Agree with everything here - OME are not as special as the hype, although I was happy with mine. Konis give you some adjustability. Don't sweat about being in trouble if on fails as you can put an original on - or a bush mechanic can easy weld your eyes/threaded rod from your broken shock to an old one lying around and not necessarily from a l/r.
Pumbaas shocks do look the biz though! Can I ask what springs you are putting with?
gil

Standard LR oil filled low rate shocks are best and cheapest. Gas cost more and although give you a more controlled ride merely transmit more stress to their mountings and the chassis. Yes LR has tested them thoroughly..........

This discussion has been held before, look through the thread.

Andrew.

They are fitting the Tough Dog coils in the front and also Tough Dog leafs in the back (sometimes rebranded as rockcrawler leafs)

If you look at the product section on the site, you'll be able to see it there.

4 Way Suspension

I'm not sure re the part numbers etc, but it is the heavy duty coils because of the extra weight in the front like dual batteries, winch etc.

The leafs are also TD and for heavy load, ie 9+2 leafs. I will only add the 2 a couple of months before departure.
4 Way Suspension

Speaking to a lot of people here in Oz about different brands of coils and leafs, i came to the conclusion that there's no real difference between the aftermarket brands (IMO). I'm no expert though!!!!

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www.seeyouwhenwegetthere.com

Yep,

I agree with Andrew, standard oil filled shocks do the trick.

Rob

A good set of opinions all round and all based on very personal experiences with different setups and end results.

Darrin - where did you manage to find Koni's for that sort of price and what model are they? my searching has only picked out the ones at Rimmer Bros. - Product Price Information and they come in at £320 ish.

Gas V's Oil - so the deal here is oil are cheaper, offer a lesser ride but transfer less shockforce to the rest of the body which over a 40,000km trip may have negative effects?

Off to search some more......

Ben

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www.bensouthall.com
www.bestlifeintheworld.com

I had Koni Heavy Tracks under my Troopy and mistreated them for 60.000 km in Africa and they are still OK!!!! You can even go a step up to Heavy Track Raid! The OME thing is rebranded Monroe shock with some changes. For me nothing else than Koni.

Make sure you buy some good stuf. My Troopy with HD leafsprings does not really utilize the shocks as much as the coilspringed LR. I have seen many LR with blown-up shocks after 400 km of killing corrugations.

Cheers,

Noel
exploreafrica.web-log.nl

Noel - and the best place to but them from in your opinion?

Excellent info, thank you

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www.bensouthall.com
www.bestlifeintheworld.com

Can't help you there Ben! As I am not from the UK I don't now the distributer network but I guess you should be able to buy them in the UK too. Have you Googled it yet?

Cheers,

Noel

Whatever you do don't buy from a company called Ed Worthy - they were advertising full Koni range, took my money and didn't deliver... I was heading back to Ghana and assumed they would go to my UK address. 3 months later I am back in UK and no shocks and no refund until I chase them. Total crap. I am currently experimenting with keeping everything as Mr. Toyota designed it with a bit of help from Firestone heavy duty airbags on the rear. Pretty nice ride and if they go pop nothing has really changed to the suspension. Also quite cool to be able to increase and decrease pressures according to load.
Gil

To get Castor corrector kit and dampner. Otherwise all that will be a bit uncomfortable for cornering!!!

Paddock Spares or Scorpion Racing do Koni's. Paddocks would be best on price maybe? £46.41 each (£39.50 + VAT). Paddock Spares - Land Rover, Range Rover Parts & Accessories - Discovery, Defender and Freelander

Though from memory, there are a few different kinds, so maybe check with Scorpion as to what model they suggest and then check on the price and compare with Paddocks model and prices etc

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Kiwi, 7 years around Africa. Overlanding channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/roamingyak