toughdogs or ranchos?

[j-top paj]

looking at getting a lift kit for the GU within a week or so and originally thinking of using toughdogs.
a mate of mine said that he has heard a few people having trouble with them and that ranchos are a bit more reliable except when loaded up heavy.

anyone have any dramas with thoughdogs on a patrol?
i always assumed they were ok, but just wana hear what other people think...

also anyone recomend where to buy a complete kit (4inch minimum) in sydney and roughly how much id be looking at.

[NZ4x4]

i take it you mean the TD 45mm adjustables?

[YankeeDave]

was talking to a repatuble business here in melb that says up to 50% of toughdog big bore's are being returned

[Nigel R]

Ring simon at 4 way (tough dog) .I think they are still doing 20 % off from tuff truck ,I spoke to simon about the returns and he said they had a batch of shocks that had leaking seals and some returns and they got replaced.
I've had the big bores on for six months with the incab ajuster kit and had no problems going to the top end and back from sydney.They have been great so far.4 ways number 02 9672 8899

Just my 2 cents

[viperguy]

had the big bore adjustables for about 2 1/2yrs as part of a 5inch lift. no dramas what so ever and simon is very helpful and willing to help in anyway if u do have dramas. have the incab kit im selling if ur interested..pm me..cheers

[blackmav]

I have had both in two different patrols and never had a problem with either.
Lots of open road with corrugations and lots of slow stuff.

[striped tomato]

can't comment on the tough dog adjustables but i have the big ralph's on the rear of my competition gq and they keep it well under control and have seen a lot of abuse over the time they've been on there (were on when i bought it 2+ years ago and gave the previous owner a lot of service).

i had rancho adjustables on my gu wagon. personally i found them a little disappointing, i don't think they are quite up to the task of such a heavy vehicle. they do have an excellent range of lengths which is why i think they are on a lot of lifted vehicles. i had to run mine quite stiff to get them to keep it under control which made teh ride harsher than i would have liked.

[bogged]

search for ranchos.
Dont go near them.

Go with Koni, or OME.

[j-top paj]

yeh was thinking of the td45mm adjustables...
what i been hearing is about half of them are being returned so thats what made me wonder.

will give simon a call on monday or tuesday
thanks

[TOPLUX]

Go with Koni, or OME.

are Koni adjustables any good and what are they worth roughly?

[leigh 2]

l got rancho adjustables in my gq and love them never had a problen with tham


leigh

[Gruntahunta]

I have rancho adjustables and hate them. They are overated for high speed work but they are good slow speed, long travel shocks. I find them too skittish on the dirt roads and i have tried every bloody adjustment on them to no avail!
Talking to "Raw 4x4" rep on friday at tinnie n tackle show and he said they are bringing out a real big bore long travel shock in a few months. Apparently these guys are in the business of making truck shocks, so they should know what they are doing i spose. They are just waiting on the test vehicle to come back from a lap around oz.

Cheers...............Pete!

[bogged]

are Koni adjustables any good and what are they worth roughly?

They are one of the most expensive, but theres a reason for that. they are about the best on the market bar none.

I'd go a set tomorrow if I didnt have the LTR's. they RAWK!

[YankeeDave]

i've seen more broken konis then ranchos

[BIG GQ]

i had rancho adjustables on my gu wagon. personally i found them a little disappointing, i don't think they are quite up to the task of such a heavy vehicle. they do have an excellent range of lengths which is why i think they are on a lot of lifted vehicles. i had to run mine quite stiff to get them to keep it under control which made teh ride harsher than i would have liked.

Couldn't agree more. I changed my front shocks from Rancho's to ProComp and am happier with the ProComp's by far. My opinion is stay away from Rancho on a Patrol.

[Tiny]

the ranchos can not keep cool on a heavy rig like a patrol or cruiser. For big lifts the best way to go ATM are the TD 45mm but baer in min on heavy corragaions over extended periods they WILL overheat.

Alot of people crank the adjusment up to 9 on the ranchos and tough dog, but y doing this you are risking them over heating. the rancho and TD chock effectivly have no valving though the piston like a conventional chock and instead use a bypass valving sytem in the baser of the shock. what the adjuster does is put more presure on the pin holding it onto the seat and therefore firming the valving. when you try to force the same amount of oil through this gap you create alot of heat fron the friction and thus the shock wil over heat. the rancho is a smaller shock and there fore with less oil and less area to cool the shock will gain heat far quicker than the TD

TD had a few problems with the bump stop on the forst shock they got, this caused the early issues but they have being upgraded anda ll the old shocks were replaces no questions asked if there was issues with them.

If the shose shocks are now playing up I would tend to say you received a good life out of them and any twin tube shock in the same application would need changing by now.

also bear in mind if 50% of the shocks were being returned then 4ways would not be still here

[jimsaq]

I've got the tough dog adjustables on my GU, one of them did have a small leak within a couple of weeks of purchase but it was swapped out for me without any dramas as you'd expect. Since then, so far so good - I like them.

I have no experience whatsoever with any other brand.

[j-top paj]

what about dobinsons or efs?
anyone have any thoughts on those??

[HeathGQ]

I have the pro-comps on 4". Good travel, but I dont think they control the bounce all that well. Mainly up-hill rutted, where a bit of momentum is needed, seems the back end bounces and slows the car down. I dont really know much about what I should be feeling with it though, but i think they are a little too soft???

[GQ Toy]

Have the TD 45 adj shocks, replaced three of the original set and one of the replacements in the first 12 months since then have had 12 months trouble free. All I can suggest if you are using TD or Rancho is to get the incab kit. It is the only way you will make full use of the adjustible feature. Mine is a GQ ute and load varies from empty to 700+ kg and adjusting shocks makes a huge difference to handling

[Tiny]

Have the TD 45 adj shocks, replaced three of the original set and one of the replacements in the first 12 months since then have had 12 months trouble free. All I can suggest if you are using TD or Rancho is to get the incab kit. It is the only way you will make full use of the adjustible feature. Mine is a GQ ute and load varies from empty to 700+ kg and adjusting shocks makes a huge difference to handling

adjustable should not be sen as a feture. they are made adjustable to the same shock can be used with correct valving (to a point) for a zook to an ftruck

[YankeeDave]

"adjustable should not be sen as a feture. they are made adjustable to the same shock can be used with correct valving (to a point) for a zook to an ftruck"

sorry Tiny I disagree here.

back in uni i had to take a vibration class and we concentrated a lot on damping. Changing the damping coefficenent makes a drastic difference to the whole system (spring and mass.) This value can change the entire dynamcis of the system (or 4wd in our case.) This is proven everyday as I adjust my own ranchos to suit the road I am transversing. And yes it makes a massive difference.

The adjustability feature is in fact a feature and a great one at that. If the TD were getting a better rep, I'd buy them. Untill all those problems are sorted I'm happy with my Ranchos

Also, Nissan engineers put a smaller shock than a rancho on all their patrols as standard, so It's hard to say the rancho is too small for the truck, if Nissan puts thousands on everyday. It might not be ideal for long trip up the cape, but they are plenty big enough.

[rOd]

"
Also, Nissan engineers put a smaller shock than a rancho on all their patrols as standard, so It's hard to say the rancho is too small for the truck, if Nissan puts thousands on everyday. It might not be ideal for long trip up the cape, but they are plenty big enough.

But it really is barely adequate. They (Nissan) do not have shock absorbers longevity in there agenda.

[Fatrolls]

Joined: 29 Aug 2005
Location: appin
Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 12:48 pm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
what about dobinsons or efs?
anyone have any thoughts on those

Dobinson's don't make shocks. They import Indian shock absorbers, and label them as them as Dobinson's!

[Tiny]

"adjustable should not be sen as a feture. they are made adjustable to the same shock can be used with correct valving (to a point) for a zook to an ftruck"

sorry Tiny I disagree here.

back in uni i had to take a vibration class and we concentrated a lot on damping. Changing the damping coefficenent makes a drastic difference to the whole system (spring and mass.) This value can change the entire dynamcis of the system (or 4wd in our case.) This is proven everyday as I adjust my own ranchos to suit the road I am transversing. And yes it makes a massive difference.

The adjustability feature is in fact a feature and a great one at that. If the TD were getting a better rep, I'd buy them. Untill all those problems are sorted I'm happy with my Ranchos

Also, Nissan engineers put a smaller shock than a rancho on all their patrols as standard, so It's hard to say the rancho is too small for the truck, if Nissan puts thousands on everyday. It might not be ideal for long trip up the cape, but they are plenty big enough.

sorry, I will explain better.

Firstly the comment about the shock being to small, in a standard height truck to 2" ish then the rancho would be fine, but in a lifted truck the shock will not be able to contol the weight of the truck for long before over heating. this would also apply to the standard shock if it was available in a long reach option.

Re the adgustability. 100% agree that the correct dampening is essential, effectivly the spring controls the weight of the the vehicle and the shock controls the spring (leaf to coil to torsion bar) the correct dampening ensures a good ride and minimises over heating of the shock. In many offroad application such as rally there wil be very little valving on the down stroke. this allows the wheel to drop into a hole very quickly for stability etc and also means far less friction and as such heat meaning the up stroke can be firm and responsive. A shock needs to be valved to suit the vehicle abnd the application. The TD and rancho are not valved to suit any vehicle or application, rather they are adjustable to suit a valving suitable for many vehicles. this can be seen as a benifit fro the manafacturere (less bits and variation) it is usfull for the distributor as one shocks can suit many applications as long as the O&C lenths and mounting config is suitable and is good for the buyer as if springs are changed etc BUT as far as adjusting for on and off the road as a feture of sales and as a point to sell an expensive incab kit I maintain they should not be seing as a feture.

[JOHNZ]

Joined: 29 Aug 2005
Location: appin
Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 12:48 pm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
what about dobinsons or efs?
anyone have any thoughts on those

Dobinson's don't make shocks. They import Indian shock absorbers, and label them as them as Dobinson's!

Dobinson don't use indian shocks. They are made in Tunisia to Dobinson spec's. After selling approx 50 sets over the last 4 years i have never had a single failure. Dobinson are very good shocks that give a firm ride. i have them in my 100series with 3" lift/bodylift/ 33s very happy with them.I also sell Tough dogs/ Rancho /EFS /Blue max. but chose Dobinson for my own rig. Best value for money.
EFS are also very good with a softer ride than Dobinson & 3yr warranty
Its a matter of preference & how much you want to spend & want you do with your fourby.
cheers JOHNZ

[MadDan]

i've got a mate that's gone through about 3 sets of rancho's (all being replaced for free that's why he put them back on) on a 80 series... that pretty much made up my mind... i aint gonna touch them

[embryo]

at the end of the day everyone has a horror story about every product so buy what you want and if it doesnt work 4 you then get something different. buy the way ive got tough dogs and i like em!

[blackmav8]

i was running ranhos in my swb gq and didn't like them much. now run efs and can't fault them