Thanks Darrin & Co

Will do some further investigation into the best pricing for my choice! I have found these in the meantime and am seriously considering them?

LANDROVER HEAVY DUTY MONROE GAS DAMPERS DEFENDER 90/110 on eBay, also, Land Rover, Car Parts, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 29-Nov-07 19:38:32 GMT)

Any thoughts or horror stories?

I was told for the extra weight of a overland vehicle, go for koni's - and I knew no better at the time and they seem to work ok

airbags?
 

Gil,

I have been thinking about airbags too on the rear but I have pretty stiff leave sets now. Good for heavy loaded car but seriously bouncing with an empty car. So if I install the air bags I would take a few leaves out and compensate with the air pressure. But the setback would be when a bag pops while travelling and heavy loaded, I am probably left with an sagging suspension on that side which might not be able to take the load. How does that work with you?

How is your rear pack built up, how many leaves curved, how many straight, leave thickness?

Cheers,

Noel
exploreafrica.web-log.nl

They'll leak too
 

I had monroe's on my trans african and Algeria trip.
My rears where shot after 50Kkm (including 25K in Africa). But you won't feel as bad if these shocks start leaking then if it where a pair of OME's (the two cars I came accross with OME's had leaking shocks by the time they where in Ghana, my monroes started leaking in Angola...). Gas shocks don't like currugations. I repleased the monroes with HD oilshocks in Zambia, and they where great. If you want more damping, I'd recommend to mount twinshocks rather then gas shocks.

Rob

yeah - a bit of a dilema Noel! My troopy runs STD toyota suspension (two thick flat leaves and six curved if I remember correct) but with the weight of a kaymar copy and long range tank the ride is good but sagging a little bit. the firestones were cheap compared to new suspension, and are very highly rated by 'troopyoz' owners. my thinking is that the bags spread the weight over three points versus two and thereby making a bag or spring failure fairly unlikely. If a bag was to pop then I could bang some wooden wedges into the spring to try and temporarily cure the sag. Of course leafs are fairly easy to bush repair so extra leaves or re-setting could also be done just about anywhere. I feel the bags are very solidly made ( we use identical bags in varois industrial machines). Early days yet so a bit premature to comment, but the ease of adjustment is super. I have a heavily laden trip to Mali planned in a month so will let you know how they do. Of course one other advantage is that they are reputed (and I can agree already) to reduce body sway - IMHO not a bad thing on a troopy!
Gil

air bags
 

thank Gil, will have to compare the std Toyota's with mine. I think mine are considerably heavier. That's why I am thinking about taking a leaf or two out. Am very interested in the results of your Mali trip.

Bon voyage,

Noel
exploreafrica.web-log.nl

OME ironman
 

Both are excellent. Did UK to CT with OME and all 4 vehicles came back with perfect shocks.

I would use ironmans next time. U can put 400kg in the back and 200kg in the front. With airbags too!

Seems the right way to pack the back for load.

We took OME HD shocks to Africa, 30,000 miles later they were fine. One finally started leaking after a wet winter back in the UK. One or two other people seemed to destroy them but seeing how they drove over corrugations it doesn't surprise me...

As others have said, don't buy 6, take old ones as spare. You can buy OME in Nairobi (High Ratio 4x4 behind the Nakumatt Mega).

Mike

In Egypt now and have been more then 20 months on my Koni shocks (with OME springs) around Asia, Australia and Africa.

No problems at all.

Would recommend Koni at any time

Roel
www.popadd.com/overlandy2006

Mike,

That's what separates good quality shock absorbers from the rest - they don't fade or burst when used in extreme conditions.

I've once driven for a few thousand miles with a set of stock shocks. That was after I had destroyed another set of stock shocks. The difference was I had to drive very carefully and stop before holes or bumps, which was pretty tiring and required always keeping the eyes on the road, not on the views around.

Hi Ben,
I've used and abused Monroe Adv's and am happy enough. Still carrying spares and waiting for them to burst 20k later. The ride is fine.

Tried Konis, also good, especially for on-road handling, but mine did not last long - after 15k 2 out of 4 were leaking. Seemed excessively stiff compared to other shocks when off the vehicle, no matter what the setting, but maybe that's the technology.

I have driven loads off brands.
Driving the Koni HD raids now and have badly mistreated them for 50k km.

for me the best affordable right now.

Scorpion will be the one to contact for the UK.
You can also contact LPI BVBA ask for Guy

Just go with LR standard
 

I drove my 110 from Manchester to Cape Town in 2006 and took 12 months to do it. My Landy was fitted with HD springs and standard shocks and they lasted until Swakopmund, approx 53000km later. I confess, it made a huge difference to change the shocks in Swakop (to standard gas Gabriels). But I know these need to be changed again now as they haven't lasted as well.
My Landy, fully laden, weighed in at just short of 3 tons. You'll be fine. Stop worrying about kit and get on the road.
Enjoy!

On Defender 90:

In Morocco one my new rear Koni's just snapped near top eye when driving off the road with high articulation -- probably it was my own stupidity, I used red PolyBush and perhaps top eye was over tightened so the shock had too little side play. I don't recomment red PolyBush to anyone -- too rigid and they put additional strain to hardware.

I got Monroe Adventures as replacement in Morocco and put a pair to rear, left Konis in front. Monroes are not as good as Konis (also cheaper), they are softer and after 40K km of African small roads they still worked but looked quite worn compared to Konis. Monroe is also shorter when fully extended.

At the moment I have full set of Bilsteins (good price from Paddock) and they seem similar to Konis.

I run Oram shocks but used to run Koni.

Here's a pic of the Koni and the Koni HT
http://imagehost.vendio.com/a/365341..._Koni_HT_1.jpg

and one with the stock LR shock
http://imagehost.vendio.com/a/365341..._Koni_HT_2.jpg