I am drowning in information...Help

[Jon Wildsmith]

Often the valving is too specific- it works amazingly well in certain circumstances, but not well in others, whereas shocks from people like OME are designed to work well (but not amazingly0 in all situations.

The Bilsteins in question are fit and forget which is why I chose them over Fox etc, for simplicity. AFAIK they are valved for a heavily loaded 100 traveling in the Australian Outback, the valving being specified by Darren who's done a bit of that, so they were good enough for me chugging about here and there There is no adjustment on them, they just work.

 

[warrenpfo]

Right so to sum up:

OME and Ironman are considered the cheaper alternative, the Bilsteins Julian sells are better and then one gets into Fox, Radflo etc.

I have been told that is doing the job its worth doing right and so should really swap out my torsion bars at the same time.

The one thing we have not discussed are springs.

Is there one make to go for above all others or are they all much of a muchness?

I know OME, Ironman, Toughdog and Bilstein make springs but are there any other worth considering and do I need to go with the same spring manufacturer as the shocks/dampers that i choose.

Sorry for al the questions but I cant afford to get this wrong.

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

I put RidePro's on the rear of mine, also from Julian. I'd guess they're about the same spring rate as an OME 863 and with airbags covered my needs. I didn't have a heavy back bumper, but I did have the swing out and an LPG tank under the back so probably similar weight. The RidePro's I used (ZC7565) are only +30mm and then I used spacers to fine tune the remainder of the lift. I wanted to avoid the stink bug look bearing in mind there's a limit to how high you can raise the front to balance out the rear. I think some research on ih8mud should give you a good idea what you'll need and speak to Julian.

 

[Julian]

Right so to sum up:

OME and Ironman are considered the cheaper alternative, the Bilsteins Julian sells are better and then one gets into Fox, Radflo etc.

Warren, you might think I have a vested interest in this, but I wouldn't put OME and Ironman in the same category, OME I believe are australian made (well mine are, they have it stamped in them), Ironman are Chinese. OME are owned by ARB and have a pretty good reputation in Oz , they have been the go to choice for overlanders for years.

 

[warrenpfo]

Julian

I would agree with you i only wanted to rank them based on cost not performance.

Perhaps I should give you a call to discuss as everyone has thier own opinions be them right or wrong but they are generally based on thier own experiances and so you are always going to get conflicting opinions.

 

[Andrew Prince]

I wouldn't put OME and Ironman in the same category, OME I believe are australian made (well mine are, they have it stamped in them), Ironman are Chinese. OME are owned by ARB and have a pretty good reputation in Oz

Do we conclude from this that made in Aus means superior vs being made in China? (stirring the pot)
The majority of of ARB/OME stuff IS made in China - dunno whether the OME shocks are though. Or whether Ironman shocks are made in China either.

My take on this is don't be caught up in the marketing hype and make sure you're actually getting top quality suited to your purpose if paying top dollar.

 

[Julian]

I wouldn't put OME and Ironman in the same category, OME I believe are australian made (well mine are, they have it stamped in them), Ironman are Chinese. OME are owned by ARB and have a pretty good reputation in Oz

Do we conclude from this that made in Aus means superior vs being made in China? (stirring the pot)
The majority of of ARB/OME stuff IS made in China - dunno whether the OME shocks are though. Or whether Ironman shocks are made in China either.

My take on this is don't be caught up in the marketing hype and make sure you're actually getting top quality suited to your purpose if paying top dollar.

I am simply pointing out the country or origin. Costs of production will be much higher in Australia than China, a decision to keep production in Australia would not have been made without a reason?

Also can you give a definition of top quality?

 

[chadr]

Also can you give a definition of top quality?

Toyota Landcruiser

 

[pugwash]

Right so to sum up:

OME and Ironman are considered the cheaper alternative, the Bilsteins Julian sells are better and then one gets into Fox, Radflo etc.

Warren, you might think I have a vested interest in this, but I wouldn't put OME and Ironman in the same category, OME I believe are australian made (well mine are, they have it stamped in them), Ironman are Chinese. OME are owned by ARB and have a pretty good reputation in Oz , they have been the go to choice for overlanders for years.

fully agree with this

having seen OME stuff for years now in the landrover world its very vrey rare to see it fail, the springs don't sag, and it just works. Maybe not hte blingiest- but very very good at what it does.