Outer Limits 4x4 Board

I have just started looking into new shocks for my 96 GQ LWB, how do these prices go over? front $447/pair, rears $456/pair adjustable 2 inch lift, supply only.

seems expensive!. Can I do better? I welcome any sellers to message me if they choose.

cheers

tought dog adjustables are $220 each ... so its in the price range

thought konis were able to be rebuilt thou ???????

true .. konis are rebuildable ... toughdogs aren't

Pretty well all shocks are rebuildable.

Tough dogs normally retail for more like 250 +

I have just put efs shocks on my patrol as a short term thing and they are fine for road. the ride I have now is surprisingly very good. I have not been offroad yet. They are quite firm but I like that especially after driving around with buggered ranchos (really boat like on the road)

Konis are expensive.

Make your mind up as to what money you would like to spend and go from there. You generally get what you pay for.

I would love to say that the shocks I have on now are the really good but I have not had em for long enough.
From experience tough dogs do give a very good ride on patrols and the adjustability is great.

Cheers
Brian

There are a couple of options with the Koni's, standard 'Heavy Track'
then an in between model, then the 'Raid' shock which is based on their biggest bore truck shock (IIRC, 41mm) which is aimed at the 'budget' Dakar type entrant, and the winch challenge mob.

Their build quality is generally excellent, and the back up from the two importers is very good. Except for their road type mono tube gas models, they are re-valvable/re-buildable.
I've used them for years on various vehicles, on, off road and race, and they have always lasted well.

I really like the rear Heavy track shocks in our stock GU coil cab ute, but I'm not happy with the (stock) valving in the front ones, even when adjusted full hard, and I've been too bloody slack to re-valve them. It feels like Koni have gone too much for comfort, and don't (IMO) have enough low speed rebound control. I want to play around with the bump valving as well, as the front end tends to crash through onto the bump stops, but then I'm probably being a tad unfair as I'm comparing it to the awsome ride/handling and decent bump stop clearance of my Defender.... (with re-valved 80 series TLC Koni's in the front)

fatassgq wrote:I have just put efs shocks on my patrol as a short term thing and they are fine for road. the ride I have now is surprisingly very good. I have not been offroad yet. They are quite firm but I like that especially after driving around with buggered ranchos (really boat like on the road)

Brian you sound as though you put EFS on only as a last resort and that, to date, you're not enamoured by them.

What, in your opinion, do you think they could do better at/have wrong with them that would stop you from recommending them to others or putting them on another vehicle?

Incidentally, anyone know whose rebranded shocks the EFS shocks are made by?

The whole 'rebuild-able' sales pitch is a crock. I hear so many people justify over priced shockers by saying they are able to be rebuilt. I'd like to know how many people have actually rebuilt their shocks after years of off-road use. By the time the shocks need a rebuild they are externally damaged etc from off-road use therefore you need to rebuild the outside as well as the inside. This obviously means buying a new shocker. Hence you've spent more $$ than you should have on the fantasy that the shocker can be rebuilt.

harvey wrote:

fatassgq wrote:I have just put efs shocks on my patrol as a short term thing and they are fine for road. the ride I have now is surprisingly very good. I have not been offroad yet. They are quite firm but I like that especially after driving around with buggered ranchos (really boat like on the road)

Brian you sound as though you put EFS on only as a last resort and that, to date, you're not enamoured by them.

What, in your opinion, do you think they could do better at/have wrong with them that would stop you from recommending them to others or putting them on another vehicle?

Incidentally, anyone know whose rebranded shocks the EFS shocks are made by?

EFS are made by carrols arnt they??? or do they only make the springs and outscource the shocks?

re-buildable is nice when you want to re-valve, or something minor happens, like a leaky shaft seal, otherwise, if it it requires major parts, its cheaper to replace the whole damper. e.g. if you need the pressure tube replaced in a Koni, (caused through bottoming out the shock) buy a new shock.
FWIW, I've re-valved something like 6 pairs of Koni's, one pair quite a number of times myself.
Had a set of Bilsteins on the missus' GQ that were there for over 170,000km and were still on it when we off loaded it and were working fine with no discernable loss of damping.

EFS are made by carrols arnt they??? or do they only make the springs and outscource the shocks?

None of the suspension crowds make shocks, they just re-badge them. e.g. OME are made in the Monroe factory, although I think the remote can ones may be assembled by OME, the components are Monroe.

rick130 wrote:re-buildable is nice when you want to re-valve, or something minor happens, like a leaky shaft seal, otherwise, if it it requires major parts, its cheaper to replace the whole damper. e.g. if you need the pressure tube replaced in a Koni, (caused through bottoming out the shock) buy a new shock.
FWIW, I've re-valved something like 6 pairs of Koni's, one pair quite a number of times myself.
Had a set of Bilsteins on the missus' GQ that were there for over 170,000km and were still on it when we off loaded it and were working fine with no discernable loss of damping.

Correct, however the majority of people won't re-valve their shocks hence wasting money

The efs ones I have on are actually very good on the road etc. I am loving the firm ride after comin from rancho's and 7" lift etc.

I now have only about 3-4 inch lift and the ride is much different (better)

for interest's sake I have the 4" lift 80 series efs shocks on front
and louisville truck shocks on rear. They are plenty long enough and the valving seems good. Build quality also seems very good definitely better than some of the yank shocks I have seen.

My only problem is in recommending them outright as I have not done enough km on road or any offroad driving as yet.

I honestly think at this stage there is no real standout shock on the market for lifted patrols or cruisers for that matter. Tough dog are good and you pay for it. Same with Koni's. I have heard terrible things about both but when you take into consideration how many are out there in circulation and they are made on production lines then a few bad stories are bound to occur. The trucks I have driven with tough dogs drove really well. I have not driven on koni's.

cheers
Brian

fnqcairns wrote:I have just started looking into new shocks for my 96 GQ LWB, how do these prices go over? front $447/pair, rears $456/pair adjustable 2 inch lift, supply only.

seems expensive!. Can I do better? I welcome any sellers to message me if they choose.

cheers

EFS shock are very good shock for the money. they are indentical to TJM XGS & LOVELLS shocks
cheers johnz

JOHNZ wrote:EFS shock are very good shock for the money. they are indentical to TJM XGS & LOVELLS shocks
cheers johnz

That's what I was told and I've been happy with mine on and off road.

Being a shorty you will get a bit of pitching around no matter what shocks you use.

With the really soft springs I have (without shocks you can bounce the tank on the ground by standing on the towbar) if the shocks were any softer the thing would be undriveable onroad.

fatassgq wrote:I now have only about 3-4 inch lift and the ride is much different (better)

for interest's sake I have the 4" lift 80 series efs shocks on front
and louisville truck shocks on rear. They are plenty long enough and the valving seems good. Build quality also seems very good definitely better than some of the yank shocks I have seen.

this does interest me... what advantage is there to fitting a 4" LC shock over a 4" Patrol shock and is it just a strait bolt on replacement or do you need to modify something?

Also... who does 3-4 in lifts i thought they were either straight forward 2,3, or 4" inch lift with no [effectively] 1/2 sizes as it were

harvey wrote:

fatassgq wrote:I now have only about 3-4 inch lift and the ride is much different (better)

for interest's sake I have the 4" lift 80 series efs shocks on front
and louisville truck shocks on rear. They are plenty long enough and the valving seems good. Build quality also seems very good definitely better than some of the yank shocks I have seen.

this does interest me... what advantage is there to fitting a 4" LC shock over a 4" Patrol shock and is it just a strait bolt on replacement or do you need to modify something?

Also... who does 3-4 in lifts i thought they were either straight forward 2,3, or 4" inch lift with no [effectively] 1/2 sizes as it were

Have a look at the part numbers. I would guess that a 4" cruiser shock will have the same part number as a 6" Patrol shock. Same would be a 2"cruiser=4"patrol.

I take it then that like for like, Cruisers have a much longer suspension travel than Patrols?

I take it then that like for like, Cruisers have a much longer suspension travel than Patrols?

harvey wrote:I take it then that like for like, Cruisers have a much longer suspension travel than Patrols?

Nah just think the static hieght is 2"s higher than a patrol.
From other discussions. I think the cruiser front does flex slightly better than a patrol. But the rear 5 link on the patrol seems to be better.

They are both basically the same setup. 3link front (radius arms and panhard rod) and 5link rear (2uppers, 2 lowers and a panhard rod).

turps wrote:

harvey wrote:I take it then that like for like, Cruisers have a much longer suspension travel than Patrols?

Nah just think the static hieght is 2"s higher than a patrol.
From other discussions. I think the cruiser front does flex slightly better than a patrol. But the rear 5 link on the patrol seems to be better.

They are both basically the same setup. 3link front (radius arms and panhard rod) and 5link rear (2uppers, 2 lowers and a panhard rod).

cruisers will flex a little better than patrols,but it does depend spring & shock combination
cheers johnz

the extra LC front flex comes from the way the radius arms are mounted to the chassis. nissan use pin in hole arrangement, and lc uses hinged clevis mount.

The Patrol, Cruiser and Rangie/Disco all use the same front shocks but the rear shocks are all different.

For the front
We use 2" lift Rangie shocks to suit a 3 inch lift Patrol
We use a 2" lift Cruiser shocks for a 4" lift Patrol.

For the rear the Patrol has eye top and eye bottom.
For the rear the Cruiser has pin top and eye bottom.
For the rear the Rangie has eye top and pin bottom.

For the rear the different makes have their shocks on different angles so the longer shocks doesn't necessarily mean more flex.

In my opinion the more expensive shocks such as Koni and Bilstein don't last any longer than Dobinsons or EFS or Lovells or TJM shocks. I wouldn't trust the Tough Dogs yet.

If I had dollars to burn I would buy Bilstein shocks.

Dobinsons shocks are valved a bit stiffer than Lovells/EFS shocks.
I think Procomps are valved a bit softer again, still good though.

Dobinsons shocks are also a lot heavier than EFS/Lovells shocks. It costs me a fortune to freight them. They are built out of thicker steel so they will take more abuse caused by stones etc.

Most of the cheaper brands won't last very long and will not be cost effective in my opinion.

For a Patrol you can easily get Dobinsons and EFS shocks to suit a 3 inch lift, and Dobinsons to suit a 4-5 inch lift but if you want anything else then I would spend my money on Procomps every time.

I hope this helps someone out there in Outers land.

Shane

Excellent response Shane. Thank you.

Shane,

is it the same scenario with the springs [front's you can swap over between makes but rears you can't] or is it specific to each brand/model?

my dad did a 3" dobinson springs with procomp shocks and they flex really well

Springs are a totally different story and I am sure Nissan and Toyota copy each other making sure every part they make is different so they don't get sued. They must have made a mistake with castor bushes for they are interchangable/

Patrol coils are wider so won't fit.
Rangie coils are interchangable front to rear which has come in handy for me personally.

I am told the front coils of the 80 series will fit a Rangie but I am pretty sure there is a mod that is required. Someone here should be able to reply with more detail.