Whats wrong with Tough Dogs?

[steve patrol]

This quote is from the "RANCHO warning" Post

Go buy another brand of shocks. (But not Tough Dogs, that's another story altogether)

Chris

Whats wrong with Tough Dogs? Looking at getting some thats all...

[superzuki]

they are crap. to big and rubbed on the springs in my mav. i somehow bent the rear two. don't know how went 4wding and back shocks stopped working. pulled them out n they had slight bends in the shafts. the adjusters stopped working. but apart from that they were good

got pro comps now cheaper and better in my opinion.

[Josh n Kat]

i can't afford em thats whats wrong! Buy a set, give them to me and i'll tell you what happens with them

[GRPABT1]

The problem is he probably doesn't sell them....

[steve patrol]

So there better than ranchos but not as good as...

Whats a better for my app?;

Long travel (min needed 295mm on a GQ ute) shock that gets hammered by corrigations constantly, and adjustable to suit different driving conditions.

[udm]

they are crap. to big and rubbed on the springs in my mav. i somehow bent the rear two.

yours are bent because as you already mentioned, they hit your springs.

[turps]

So there better than ranchos but not as good as...

Whats a better for my app?;

Long travel (min needed 295mm on a GQ ute) shock that gets hammered by corrigations constantly, and adjustable to suit different driving conditions.

90series Koni on the front.
88series Koni on the back.

[taps]

I've got the 45mm adj tough dogs front and rear and a adj steering dampener. and love em.
Never had a problem !!!!!!!!!

[badger]

ABSOLUTLY NOTHING

You do have to set your car up correctly to run them just like any other suspension mod on a lifted car, eg if your rear pinnion andle is adjusted to suit your lift you will not dint your shocks on the bump stop pads and dont expect them to hold up a heavily over loaded or under sprung car they are shocks not coils

they did have some build quality issues a few years back but they seem to have over come them. i have a set in my gq that are now 5 years old n still working awesomely and will prob buy them for the 80 too

[DIRTY ROCK STAR]

ive heard good reports about tough dogs!

but if you want another option the guys at raw4x4 are very helpful and have some good size shocks.

[cooter]

i run the big bore adj all round on mine 1 seal weeps a little but that may have had something to do with the quick sand it was buried in for 12 hours
other than that and the paint flaked off them they are awesome

[Goatse.AJ]

I ran them all round on my Vit, which the Ex still has. They were excellent and still going strong, even though they never see anything more than the odd speed hump these days

[Froon]

i run the big bore adj all round on mine 1 seal weeps a little but that may have had something to do with the quick sand it was buried in for 12 hours
other than that and the paint flaked off them they are awesome

You have a surf?


Anyway... On Topic... I have had the big bore shocks on my GQ for less than a year and honestly don't like them... the adjusters on my rear shocks have been ripped off by whatever obstacle I've tried to over come and they leak. Personally I'm not happy with them and will be replacing them with another brand as soon as I can.

[... rick]

I've run them on all my trucks and never, ever had an issue. Im a fan.
I have found over the years that 95% of the time when there is a problem, you usually only hear the version of events that the complainer wants you to hear. Usually there is a perfectly good reason for failures, and it is mostly mis-use or poor fitment.
Of any manufacturer (of ANY product) we have had to deal with in regards to warranty, Tough Dog are by far the fairest, quickest and most customer focused mob we have had to deal with, often replacing well out-of-warranty items when they were under no obligation to do so.
IMHO, you can buy TD with confidence.

[bogged]

ranchos..
.

OEM Nissan shocks are better than them.

[Ruffy]

Personally i don't think the tough dogs are a bad shock, but i think there are better value for money shocks on the market that will perform every bit as good.

[GRPABT1]

I've run them on all my trucks and never, ever had an issue. Im a fan.
I have found over the years that 95% of the time when there is a problem, you usually only hear the version of events that the complainer wants you to hear. Usually there is a perfectly good reason for failures, and it is mostly mis-use or poor fitment.
Of any manufacturer (of ANY product) we have had to deal with in regards to warranty, Tough Dog are by far the fairest, quickest and most customer focused mob we have had to deal with, often replacing well out-of-warranty items when they were under no obligation to do so.
IMHO, you can buy TD with confidence.

You sell them, therefor your opinion is pretty much in-valid even if it isn't biased.

[tna racing]

some one off here has snapped 2-3 allready (not saying who)

[Roctoy]

The problem is he probably doesn't sell them....

I don't sell shocks at all
I'll wait for my mate Rod to chime in on his Tough Dog story. Basically he's got a 4" lifted 80 series with the full TD system arms and all. The seals on the Big Bore's went on them really quickly.

[bogged]

You sell them, therefor your opinion is pretty much in-valid even if it isn't biased.

wheres the killfile option?

[Nelso]

Of any manufacturer (of ANY product) we have had to deal with in regards to warranty, Tough Dog are by far the fairest, quickest and most customer focused mob we have had to deal with, often replacing well out-of-warranty items when they were under no obligation to do so.

I have to disagree with you Rick regarding their customer focus.

I bought a steering damper and the shaft rusted within a couple of months. I spoke to the rep at the stand at Tuff Truck and showed him the steering damper on my car and he told me to send it back and they would fix it, so I did. They repainted the damper a different colour and put a rubber boot over the spring to hide the rust on the shaft and sent it back to me like that! It was the most appalling, deceitful and arrogant act I have experienced by a vendor ever.

I know you (BBM) have a close affiliation with Tough Dog and Third's gear so I would expect that you get a great response dealing with them. Unfortunately, there are those of us customers who do not get treated with the same respect and for that reason I will never buy another product from them and have no problems advising others to do the same.

[segan1]

Of any manufacturer (of ANY product) we have had to deal with in regards to warranty, Tough Dog are by far the fairest, quickest and most customer focused mob we have had to deal with, often replacing well out-of-warranty items when they were under no obligation to do so.

I have to disagree with you Rick regarding their customer focus.

I bought a steering damper and the shaft rusted within a couple of months. I spoke to the rep at the stand at Tuff Truck and showed him the steering damper on my car and he told me to send it back and they would fix it, so I did. They repainted the damper a different colour and put a rubber boot over the spring to hide the rust on the shaft and sent it back to me like that! It was the most appalling, deceitful and arrogant act I have experienced by a vendor ever.

I know you (BBM) have a close affiliation with Tough Dog and Third's gear so I would expect that you get a great response dealing with them. Unfortunately, there are those of us customers who do not get treated with the same respect and for that reason I will never buy another product from them and have no problems advising others to do the same.

After hearing that story I will never be owning anything Tough Dog.


Cheers

[jessie928]

The problem is he probably doesn't sell them....

I don't sell shocks at all
I'll wait for my mate Rod to chime in on his Tough Dog story. Basically he's got a 4" lifted 80 series with the full TD system arms and all. The seals on the Big Bore's went on them really quickly.

that has been my experience with toughdogs.
leaky seals.

Jes

[... rick]

I've run them on all my trucks and never, ever had an issue. Im a fan.
I have found over the years that 95% of the time when there is a problem, you usually only hear the version of events that the complainer wants you to hear. Usually there is a perfectly good reason for failures, and it is mostly mis-use or poor fitment.
Of any manufacturer (of ANY product) we have had to deal with in regards to warranty, Tough Dog are by far the fairest, quickest and most customer focused mob we have had to deal with, often replacing well out-of-warranty items when they were under no obligation to do so.
IMHO, you can buy TD with confidence.

You sell them, therefor your opinion is pretty much in-valid even if it isn't biased.

I can understand your point of view, even if I dont agree with it.

Nelso, Im dissapointed to hear that you had a bad experience. Can you PM me the details of who you dealt with?

In my experience, it is always best to return to your place of purchase if/when a warranty issue arises. This gives you the best opportunity to have the issues dealt with properly. I know if a customer of mine comes in with a problem, I will fight as hard as I can for them to get a fair result. I would hope that most other retailers would do the same for their valued customers.

Rick.

[macca81]

Of any manufacturer (of ANY product) we have had to deal with in regards to warranty, Tough Dog are by far the fairest, quickest and most customer focused mob we have had to deal with, often replacing well out-of-warranty items when they were under no obligation to do so.

I have to disagree with you Rick regarding their customer focus.

I bought a steering damper and the shaft rusted within a couple of months. I spoke to the rep at the stand at Tuff Truck and showed him the steering damper on my car and he told me to send it back and they would fix it, so I did. They repainted the damper a different colour and put a rubber boot over the spring to hide the rust on the shaft and sent it back to me like that! It was the most appalling, deceitful and arrogant act I have experienced by a vendor ever.

I know you (BBM) have a close affiliation with Tough Dog and Third's gear so I would expect that you get a great response dealing with them. Unfortunately, there are those of us customers who do not get treated with the same respect and for that reason I will never buy another product from them and have no problems advising others to do the same.

After hearing that story I will never be owning anything Tough Dog.


Cheers

one story does alot to change ppls thoughts it seems...

[bogged]

I know you (BBM) have a close affiliation with Tough Dog and Third's gear so I would expect that you get a great response dealing with them.
.

I agree, thats why some people have a better result from some of these companies...

[cun7s]

Of any manufacturer (of ANY product) we have had to deal with in regards to warranty, Tough Dog are by far the fairest, quickest and most customer focused mob we have had to deal with, often replacing well out-of-warranty items when they were under no obligation to do so.

I have to disagree with you Rick regarding their customer focus.

I bought a steering damper and the shaft rusted within a couple of months. I spoke to the rep at the stand at Tuff Truck and showed him the steering damper on my car and he told me to send it back and they would fix it, so I did. They repainted the damper a different colour and put a rubber boot over the spring to hide the rust on the shaft and sent it back to me like that! It was the most appalling, deceitful and arrogant act I have experienced by a vendor ever.

I know you (BBM) have a close affiliation with Tough Dog and Third's gear so I would expect that you get a great response dealing with them. Unfortunately, there are those of us customers who do not get treated with the same respect and for that reason I will never buy another product from them and have no problems advising others to do the same.

i had the same problem with my shocks they rusted and sent them in for warranty and they leaked they were only a month old ill nevre buy tough shit dogs a gen and i buoght them from oppossitelock

[Guy]

some one off here has snapped 2-3 allready (not saying who)

How do you snap a shock unless your over extending it. Unless the geometery is horrible limiting straps would most likley solve this.

[Suspension Stuff]

I have always bagged Tough Dogs because of the leaking issues but someone convinced me that besides the early leaking issues all current problems are because of 4WD's that are not set up correctly.

Unless you have either upper or lower adjustable control arms your 4WD is not set up correctly for Tough Dog shocks. Even then I would be trimming the lower coil hats. When you're flexed up they get side loads and then spring a leak. Other shocks can either take bigger side loads or have a smaller bore. Or Tough Dogs are crap lets avoid them.

My question is this. How many of you have stuffed their Tough Dogs and do run adjustable control arms?

My next question is. I know that they have an inner bump stop but how many of you have raised your bump stops enough so you don't use the shocks inner bump stop?

Shane

[turbo gu]

My experience with tough dogs have been average to say the least. i've had two rear shocks fail. no leaks but end up knocking(semi siezed). i have seen this on quite a few patrols. mainly the r/h/r. yes cars had bump stop pads trimmed and adjustable arms.
my front shocks did the same and one would always self adjust. no they weren't rubbing but would always end up on 0 setting(replaced adjusters still had problem)
Now have EFS extreme and vey happy. Car drives a whole lot better on them.