4x4 Action Group

Shock fade is something that’s very important in an offroad shock absorber.

Basically it occurs when the shock heats up & bubbles start forming in the oil causing aeration. This is turn reduces the viscosity of the oil & allows it to pass through the holes in the piston faster, causing the shocks to go ‘soft’ & reduces their effectiveness.

Some shock manufacturers try to overcome this by charging the oil with nitrogen, others use a sealed foam cell, others argue that a well designed shock shouldn’t need either, & a whole host of others approaches.

Top of the range shocks tend to have an external reservoir to maintain the shocks performance (Bypass shocks).

By its nature, off-roading can be brutal on shocks. So whilst a shock could perform very well on the road, it could fade & perform very differently & poorly during heavy offroad use.

Dune driving is where I’ve experienced this the most. When it happens, I just stop for a while & let the shocks cool down. Gravel roads is another terrain where shocks can heat up pretty quickly, especially if your going a bit fast.

Out of all the shocks I’ve had, here is my rating of those shocks, from best to worst:

1.) Fox 2.0 Racing (incredible product)
2.) Zone Nitro (Impressive)
3.) Procomp (pretty good, but not the best)
4.) Old Man Emu (piss poor, especially for the price)

The Fox is an example of a clever design. One of differences is that the shock tube is made from aluminum, which is a better conductor of heat than steel. Another thing to note is that the shock body is 5mm thick. So both of these features presumably dissipate the heat much faster than crappy shocks. They pretty much won’t fade at all (I’ve tried).

Other top shocks like Koni & Bilstein also focus on proper design including accurate valving & correct oil viscosity.

Examples: Here are some interesting graphs that illustrate respective shock performances & how well they respond to heat & their susceptibility to fading.

There are 2 blue lines. The top line is offroad performance when they cold & the bottom blue line indicates their road performance when cold.

The top & bottom red lines indicate the drop off in performance in either offroad or on-road use.

OME - great for overlanding, but look at the drop when offroad.


RAW - pretty good. They are big shocks so I reckon the bigger volume of oil it houses takes longer to heat up.


TJM & Tough Dog - TD is clearly better


Bilstein & Koni - both show massive consistency, but Koni is the clear leader.


Content here
https://raw4x4.com.au/wp-content/upload ... omparo.pdf

That article is Australian,
So Ironman, Pedders & EFS are conspicuous by their absence [emoji848]

Does the slow driving that we do on obstacles make shocks heat up?

It can but not as much as dunes. But there’s many variables.

Interesting thread thanks Neil. Slightly off topic but I found that a few aftermarket shocks (TD and EFS that I know of) are problematic on the Pajero. The EFS mounting points at the rear are not the right size so it causes knocking, and on TD an owner I met the other day had his removed after struggling with noises that sounded like “scraping” sounds inside the tubes. Probably a manufacturing fault on the TD but definitely a design fault on the EFS.

Interesting. I think a lot of crap happens when shocks/coils are not specifically spec’d for the required vehicles. I reckon some of them just find a shock for a different vehicle, that’s the correct length, then stick them on. Customers would be none the wiser & unknowingly have the wrong, or unsuitable shocks.

A well known aftermarket fitment centre in CTN did an EFS lift on my mates petrol SWB Pajero. The ride was horrible so he kept taking it back to them but they said everything was fine. He eventually took it to Maniac. They checked the part numbers & discovered that the front coils were for a diesel. Hence the harsh ride.

Theres plenty of clowns out there fitting the wrong stuff, giving the brand a bad name. Poor fitment can also be an issue.

Maniac actually do like EFS & reckon the quality of the shock bushes are about the best compared to the usual suspects that people fit.

I eventually went to The EFS importers in Jet Park at one point. I lost a good few Friday afternoons going back and forth trying to get my setup right, but that’s a story for another thread.

I won’t buy EFS again.

Personally, I wouldn’t touch any Aussie suspension system. Their kits are incomplete & overpriced.

But fitting a suspension properly to a Pajero should be a no brainer because it’s a mainstream 4x4 with all sorts of variety to fit.

What do you think about Terrafirma for a landy?

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Oppies3800 wrote:What do you think about Terrafirma for a landy?

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Was about to ask the same....

I had terrafirma on the Defender in the front and old man emu in the back.
The old man emu's actually broke (the bottom thread part broke off) on sand roads in kosi Bay somewhere, only realized when we got home after the trip.

On the range rover I've got terrafirma all round, on road so far I've had no issues, still need to take them off road

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Buddy of mine snapped a Leaf Spring on his way home. He live on a farm out towards Melkbos. Ranger and the Suspension was OME. He also had an issue with a shock. This happened at around 30000km’s

Myself have been happy with TD. Had them in the Ranger, my first FJ and now also the 200.

I don’t think I do enough 4x4’ing to worry about over heating or air in the shock itself, but I regularly do long distance over landing with a laden vehicle and a BL Ratel in tow.

You definitely have me thinking about the Fox shocks or at the very least a shock with a Bypass Tube.

Is there anybody on the Forum that runs Fox on their vehicles and also that tows heavy? I would love some input

Terrafirma kits look very focused. I’ve seen a few complete kits on Land Rovers & they certainly give the impression that they know what they are doing. I’ve only ever heard 1 complaint from a mate that had TF but I can’t recall the details.

Mike, funny enough OME leaf springs were the only component that I was happy with. They are damn good so it’s odd to hear about a set breaking [emoji15].

But the BDS Durablades I have now are far superior.

Isn’t it weird how Koni shocks are the best, yet costs the least in SA compared to the Aussie brands?

In Aus it’s the other way around. [emoji848]

Then the Koni shock range used in the test are Heavy Tracks. Their Raid shocks are even better. All the genuine Arctic trucks use Raid shocks. One of their features is that you can’t smash the compression all the way, because they have a feature that hydra locks them. So you don’t need bump stops . Then at full articulation, you can suspend the weight of the entire axle off them.

Legendary product.

XJ I fully agree nothing touches FOX.

Fokkit Just FOXit

With my very limited experience I found that combination of different suspensions components works best.
I am not brand loyal when it comes to suspensions.