Tough Dog vs Rancho for NJ LWB 3.5

[physh]

Guys,

I'm in the market for new suspension setup for my new Pajero.

The Paj currently has some 50,000km old Bilsteins in it, that I don't like much.

I have the Tough Dog big bore adjustables on the HZJ80 Landcruiser, and they are sensational.

I'm concerned about putting something that size on the Pajero though - it's significantly lighter than the Landcruiser is.

What would people's recommendations for adjustable shocks for my Pajero be?

Tough Dog 45mm adjustables?
Rancho RS9000x's?

Any other ones?

Cheers
Nick

[Bitsamissin]

I didn't think Tough Dog did 41mm adjustables ??
I thought their range was :-
- 41mm foam cells
- 53mm big bore Ralph's
- 35mm 9 stage adjustables
- 45mm big bore 9 stage adjustables
I have the 45mm adjustables and find them good for the weight of the Paj, hard is very hard, soft is very soft. But for a standard Paj I believe they are overkill and they don't do a size that will fit a Paj.
They do the 35mm adjustables to suit a Paj though.
So I think your choice will be between the Tough Dog 35mm adjustables and the Rancho 9000X (both are the same size I think).
Personally I would go the Rancho's only because I know of a few happy Paj owners with these shocks. I don't know enough about the Tough Dog 35mm adjustables to really comment.
I know Rancho's have got a bit of a bad name amongst Patrol & Cruiser owners with some failure but these are much heavier trucks than a Paj.

[physh]

Bitsamissin - Absolutely correct... 45mm are the ones I've got on the Landcruiser, brain explosion here... :/

So the 35mm adjustables would still be OK for a 50mm lifted Pajero with barwork, long range tank, soon to be winch, drawers and roofrack?

The 35mm Tough Dog adjustables and Rancho 9000x adjustables are about all I can go for?
Ranchos are around $198 each, the TD 45mm are $275 each.

How much are the TD 35mm adjustables?

The info from TD at http://www.toughdog.com.au/pdf/mitsubishi.pdf says to use foam cell (FC42057B) at the front, but 35mm adjustables (BM1178) at the rear...
Excuse my ignorance... but why would that be?

TOUGHDOG PREMIUM Comfrot/Medium Load SPRING KITS
NH, NJ, NK, NL Coil Spring rear - 40mm Lift

KIT-325
FOAM CELL/ADJUSTABLE SHOCK KIT
Foam Cell FC42057B x2
35mm Adj. BM1178 x2
Coil spring TDC632L x2

And by the by - I love the Tough Dogs on my Landcruiser - 33"s, full barwork, 3" spring lift, up till recently had drawers, fridge, full kit in it 24/7 and it worked wonders.
Very happy with the TD 45mm adjustables on the 80 series Landcruiser.

[swaddo]

I just checked out the very same thing for my MK Triton physh.

I am leaning toward the rancho 9000 adjustables cause this will allow me to have the adjustment up front too. The downside with the ranchos is that if they have are fitted with the adjustment knob exposed (like on some Jeeps) then they have a habit of breaking them off (you can buy replacements knobs so it isnt terminal)

On the Triton the rear is fine (I assume the aj is the same?). The lower eye of the shock goes left to right (not fore-aft) so you can face the knob backwards and keep it out of harms way. The fronts will have the knob to the side, however before it can be damaged I would have to tear half my front suspension out .

So for $80 more than the tough dogs I can have fully adjustable shocks all round. Looks good to me

Cheers
Blake

[physh]

From Tough Dog:

[quote]New beefier torsion bars are certainly the way to go. These were a bit on the soft side from new. Add on your kms, plus when you “crankâ€