Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Hey All,

First post, Please be gentle with my virginity.

I did a quick search through the forum and wasn't able to find anyone talking about the Tough Dog shocks. Wouldn't surprise me if I missed any though.

What I want to know is; Are the Tough Dog 9 Position Shocks any good.

I was going to buy rancho shocks but found out I can get the Tough Dogs at a cheaper rate.

Your thoughts............

Regards Wayne

I would like to know where you can get the tough dog adjustables for a cheaper rate than ranchos!!!!!!!!!1

I think the bigger ones (45mm bore) are around 260 ea!!!!
I am sure that the rancho 9 stage ones are only 35 or something dia and around the 180-200 mark ea

I think there is a smaller tough dog adjustable so these may be cheaper.


I am eventually going to get the tough dogs for mine cause it is so damn heavy and the tough dogs are a big shock to cope.
Have heard mostly good and only one bad thing about em but everything on the net should be taken with a grain of salt. (except pron of course!!! )

Not what you know, it's who you know

I only have a 2" suspension lift so I will be after the smaller ones.

Can you remember what the bad report was on them?

I've tried to get a few opinions on them, but a guy from Tough Dog basically said they are very similar (I reckon that means "identical") in design to the 35mm bore Ranchos but they had rubber bushes top and bottom, unlike the Ranchos poly ones. And of course they are different colour.

The shocks he was talking about here aren't the big bore ones that are dearer, they are their lighter duty adjustable ones suitable for light trucks or leaf spring trucks.

I think these are the ones you are talking about and personally I would go for them if they are cheaper than Ranchos. When I checked their price few months ago the Tough Dogs were about $20 per shock more expensive.

Only thing is that you can't put an in-Cab kit on to them, so you need to get dirty when changing settings and you can't change settings while driving.

nope I was told by auto aliance that the rancho in cab kit will go on to the tough dogs.

What sort of car/truck have you got as it is not so much the lift you have but the weight of the truck and the kind of work it will be doing.

Toyota Surf, 2" suspension and 2" body lift.

I'll be doing a trip at the end of the year to Cape York and heading over to Kakadu and Alice Springs.

Plus don't mind going out and playing on weekends

I don't put it through it's paces like some of you guys But I do give it a hard time once in awhile.

Tibbs wrote:Toyota Surf, 2" suspension and 2" body lift.

I'll be doing a trip at the end of the year to Cape York and heading over to Kakadu and Alice Springs.

Plus don't mind going out and playing on weekends

I don't put it through it's paces like some of you guys But I do give it a hard time once in awhile.

If that 2in lift is from one of the usual suspects (ARB,TJM etc) and is in good nick, spend the money on something else.

the tough dogs are similar in design and application to rancho but not the same; the tough dogs are valved differently and specifically for each application, they perform much better than ranchos in coil spring applications (ranchos are all valved for leaf spring applications). I have the big bore tough dogs on my 80 and recently fitted a set of the baby ones on a GU, both are nice both on and off road, I can't imagine a load heavy enough to need the "9" setting on the big bore shocks though, even fully laden I run them around 5.

4 way are developing their own high tech in cab system which is all electronic and includes numerous presets as well as manual adjustment, it tells you if an air line comes off etc - but at the moment it is over $1200 so wait for the price to come down. you can in the meantime rin the rancho in cab system on them.

cheers

Brian

Thanks Guys

Geez, from what i got from the rep at the show. the smaller ones have more in common to the rancho's than the maverick had to the gq patrol.

He said"different colour, different name, same factory."


Steve

Ahhhh well if thats the case,then they are just another crappy Monroe product

Main problem I have noticed with Rancho's, and I presume Tough dogs would be similar, is that the bushings and eyes are too damn small for any truck with decent articulation. when fitted to the back end of a Rangey for example, at maximum flex the shocker shafts have a noticable bend to them. Yes they usually straighten out again when the vehicle is level, but that shaft flexing doesn't do the innards any good and they eventually fail. I purchased some GU patrol Koni's recently, and the top bush and eye on those were also smaller than original ones which makes me wonder how much field testing these manufactures do. Bill

i notice in the 4x4 monthly the ad from auto aliance had tough dog shocks and ranchos for sale as well and in car adjust er kits to suit both ranchos and tough dog shocks. they were cheaper the ones they were 41mm bore tough dog shocks

I'm not sure about your surf I think it would probably work ok with rancho's if it's not loaded .What I can tell you is that the Tough Dog's Definatey work better in heavier vehicles such as my 80 series(with 4 inch lift) which drove like crap with rancho 9000x's in the back,I changed to ToughDog adjustables in the back only and it completly changed the way it drives!.I have sold these to Patrol owners with great success.As for the price the T/D adjustables are around $260.00 ea Rancho's $198.00 ea And i don't think you could ever bend the shaft on the T/D'S!!!!!!