Advise on shock replacements. PLease help

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damatmoekrim

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Hi,

I am currently thinking in replacing shocks for a softer ride.
So I was looking at OME suspension kit and this is $1400 at my local ARB shop.
This is too high for my budget and was thinking only to get the shocks.

Will this give me a softer ride? or does the whole kit give u this?

regards,

Donovan
 
D22's arn't renowned for their luxurious ride but the shocks they came with are garbage. Its actually a firmer shock that will give you a better ride in these.
Ome are pretty good but so are Koni, Bilstein, ect. Best bet is to shop around for a good price. A decent shock will make a big difference. A little bit of weight in the back helps too.
 
Okay that good advise!
I read that billstein are allot stiffer than OME.
bilstein are allot cheaper here locally and there are not allot of options in my country. My main goal is a firmer ride. I know it a truck but the standard shocks are crap.

Do you have any experience with both brands? bilstein and ome?

Regards,

Donovan
 
I have Koni in mine and they are very good. A lot of people on here have Bilstein and swear by them. The Koni are rebound adjustable, but the Bilsteins are possibly better. Both are rebuildable. OME stuff always was overpriced - not worth it when there are possible better options for a lot less money.
Any decent shock will actually be firmer than the original equipment, but give you a much smoother ride and better handling.
 
Hi,

I am currently thinking in replacing shocks for a softer ride.
So I was looking at OME suspension kit and this is $1400 at my local ARB shop.
This is too high for my budget and was thinking only to get the shocks.

Will this give me a softer ride? or does the whole kit give u this?

regards,

Donovan
factory shocks are fairly soft.

i think your gettign things mixed up here.
what you should be looking at is fixing the the rear springs.
D22's are really bad for sagging springs and hitting the bump stops, which is what gives you the harsh ride.
adding an extra leaf will lift the ute and give a softer ride. then you can control it better with decent shocks.

if budget is an issue i would fix the springs first then look at shocks later on.
 
Two separate components to suspension and both perform different (and separate) tasks.

Springs - hold the vehicle up, allow the undercarriage to move beneath the car as it traverses bumps. Stiffer springs support more weight but react more quickly (and with more strength) to axle movement which translates to more motion passing into the vehicle. Sitting in the vehicle, we feel that as a harsher ride.

Shocks - are correctly called "motion dampeners". Their sole function is not to support the vehicle at all, but to reduce the rate at which the springs react to movement. Properly matched shocks will stop the spring from moving shortly after the first depression.

Unfortunately we have several issues that work against us.

Load variation - especially for tradies or those of us that tow - if your load varies from "near empty" to "near limit" then standard springs aren't going to support the car properly. Springs designed to support the maximum weight will be far too stiff when the vehicle is unloaded. Bring on multi rate springs - leaf spring packs that don't fully engage until more weight is added. Definitely worth the coin - I have OME Dakar dual rate springs on my car and they are absolutely superb.

Rough roads - if your shocks are stuffed, your car will vibrate and wallow on rough terrain and steering/braking control will be sacrificed. A good pair of shocks will have a wider body with more fluid inside and a larger surface area allowing the heat to dissipate. If that doesn't happen quickly enough, the oil heats up and the valves inside deteriorate until the shocks fail. I have OME Nitrocharger Sports shocks which are good. Tough Dog make a similar shock. The best I've seen in Australia are Shockwerx, which have the widest bore I've seen and an extra reservoir with heat sink to help reduce heat from the main chamber.

I would follow tweak'e's advice re budget. Springs hold it up - do them first.
 
the other factor is how far can the axle move before it hits the stops.
the less distance the axle has to move the stiffer the spring has to be otherwise it will bottom out constantly. stiff springs can be harsher.
give it a lift, more travel and you can run softer springs. but go to soft and handling gets worse, there is always a trade off.
 
I believe with suspension mods, you really need to sort it out once and for all without buggerising around with it for the next few years.
To do this you need to replace all shocks and springs with a kit that is matched to the vehicle, and the shocks matched to the springs.

My STX d40 was bouncing off the bump stops from new because of heavy load for work.

I put old man emus heaviest spring and shock combo in.
(yes OME is expensive and yes the salesmen will tell you theres better options but a. Its made in Australia so someones still got a job and b. Its friggin awesome)

Im now on 116,000 ks, havent touched a thing suspension wise for 100,000ks and have carted 500-800 kgs everywhere for 4 years

The shocks are still tight and responsive, and the 3 tonne rig still whips round tight corners at 120kph smooth enough to impress owners of new utes 10 years its junior


All that said, i think Bilstein and koni can be amazing too but i dont know the best spring combos, and i like to support ozzie made gear
 
Following this with interest. Put Bilsteins in new car 5 years ago - rears are leaking. Called Bilstein and they said rebuild will be nearly as much as new. Thinking of going something else just on rear for now, will go through Zordo - he did my whole lift with a Bilstein, ironman bars and efs leaves. It was/is a great combo and particularly good on the road - I put it through its paces cornering wise. I'd like a little more compliance off road - its probs just a nav thing but I'm thinking of going an oil or foam shock in the rear - bilstein is gas right?
 
I put a set of efs 40mm raised springs on the rear, raised the front torsion bars commensurately and a set kyb off road shock absorbers all round. Have been around much of aus since, on some horrendous tracks with a heavy vehicle carrying lots of extra fuel and water at times, they performed well and I am happy enough. Couldn't see the value in the high end shock absorbers at the price they ask, though I really think if anyone's after a comfortable family sedan type ride they have the wrong vehicle lol.
 
Played around with my suspension took 3 goes before setting it up to where I was happy, best thing I ever did was fitting Ranch 9 stage adjustable shocks, when around town I can soften it up for daily commuting,
Have setting that I like for sand driving, rocky roads, and loading up the trailer for camping trips would be well over 6 years now just replaced the front as they sprung a leak, rear are still going strong after all this time.
Highly recommend.
 

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