Shock absorber advice

Hey everyone,

I've done some research on what type of shock I want and I'm hoping people's experience can lead me to the best shock for my needs.

I just purchased the 2" flexy coils from suspension stuff and will be looking at fitting 3" shocks in the front and 4" shocks in the rear as recommended. My GQ is mainly set up for touring.

I want a shock that's a monotube design that's going to do the job for touring through WA. I've looked at AmadaXtreme, Profender, and Tough Dog as the main contenders. I don't want an adjustable shock either.

Does anyone have any experience with these shocks? My budget would be $1000 max. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

I would go with the amada's they are rebuildable which means buy them once, when it flogs out put a seal kit through it new oil and repressurize. A downside to monotube shocks are if the tube gets dented (by a rock or something) the piston is not able to travel past that dent as it wont fit. That could lead to more serious damage like bending a shaft.
The amada and profender are remote resovior. This helps with cooling the oil, the hotter the oil gets, the thinner it gets and the shock does not perform properly. shocks get incredibly hot, I recently had one of my King shocks on a shock dyno for 5 minutes I could not touch it for half an hour its was that hot after a 180kmh simulation. Imagine what 8 hours of corrogated roads will do.

Amada is my pick

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Originally Posted by Ben-e-boy

I would go with the amada's they are rebuildable which means buy them once, when it flogs out put a seal kit through it new oil and repressurize. A downside to monotube shocks are if the tube gets dented (by a rock or something) the piston is not able to travel past that dent as it wont fit. That could lead to more serious damage like bending a shaft.
The amada and profender are remote resovior. This helps with cooling the oil, the hotter the oil gets, the thinner it gets and the shock does not perform properly. shocks get incredibly hot, I recently had one of my King shocks on a shock dyno for 5 minutes I could not touch it for half an hour its was that hot after a 180kmh simulation. Imagine what 8 hours of corrogated roads will do.

Amada is my pick

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The things you learn! I did not know they got that hot


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Same.. Learn something new everyday..

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Originally Posted by Winnie

The things you learn! I did not know they got that hot


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Originally Posted by Westy's Accessories

Same.. Learn something new everyday..

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I knew they got hot, but up until it went on the shock dyno I didnt realise they got blistering hot. I had to see it to believe it. I know why some cheap shocks fade so quickly now.....cant dissipate the heat

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Originally Posted by Winnie

The things you learn! I did not know they got that hot


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Originally Posted by Westy's Accessories

Same.. Learn something new everyday..

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That's why the Old Man Emu shocks are called Nitro chargers. They run Nitrogen gas as it has a much higher boiling temp and they resist fade by design.

The idea of a remote res shock like the LTR OME or the Amada or Kings is that the remote res is an extra canister of gas to dissipate the heat.

I have Amadas on the GQ and am stoked with them.

Yo need to check your lengths before ordering mate and ignore the advice about 3" and 4" shocks with your 2" springs. It defies logic. The centre position of your shock should be aimed for mate. A long shock will end up being close to bumping out if its 2 long and you will blow them. I have blown 2 rear sets with that advice from Suspension Stuff. Ripped it all out and started again. So much nicer now with Superior Setup. Junked the SS gear

Tough Dog should not be written on the same page as the other 2 choices you have listed. Simply not in the same class.

I run tough dog nitro max shocks and find them great 16000 klm of rough corrugation working in the cape lots of pot holes and fully laden with no bottoming out works for me. They have been making them in south Africa for nearly forty years so they must have some merits .

Hey Mudrunner,

Can I ask why you'd stay away from Tough Dog? I'm keen to know if you had a bad experience with them or if there not well suited for a GQ. I'm definitely keen on a shock with a remote reservoir depending on how much they are and I haven't heard a bad thing yet about Amada.

I bought the flexy coil and was given the measurements of 570mm in the front, and 720mm in the rear. Could you explain what you mean't by "the centre position of your shock should be aimed for." Not quite sure what you mean.

Does anyone on the forum have experience running the 2" flexy coils?

Thanks guys

So I'm curious, what's the advantage of Flexi coils over say, regular OME lifted springs?
BTW if you're touring, the nitrogen filled shocks are excellent if you don't want your ride pogoing down the road.....


Tip tip tip......tap tap tap....

The flexy coil is tapered at the top and slightly thinner. It was explained to me that the top of the flexy coil is designed to compress when the truck is loaded up, and you still retain the two inches of lift in the main section of the spring. They have a five year warranty against sagging so I'll be keen to see how they go

But what is the advantage of making the spring that way?


Tip tip tip......tap tap tap....

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Originally Posted by Drewboyaus

So I'm curious, what's the advantage of Flexi coils over say, regular OME lifted springs?
BTW if you're touring, the nitrogen filled shocks are excellent if you don't want your ride pogoing down the road.....


Tip tip tip......tap tap tap....

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It's in the name.. Flexi's are made to flex, Stock is made to carry the loads. Haven't done heaps of digging so not sure if the make different weight ratings like OME's do.

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Originally Posted by Drewboyaus

So I'm curious, what's the advantage of Flexi coils over say, regular OME lifted springs?
BTW if you're touring, the nitrogen filled shocks are excellent if you don't want your ride pogoing down the road.....

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This is off their website.

FLEXY COILS

Suspension Stuff Ultra flexy coils have been perfected. They have a ride height of a 2" lift and the flex of a 5" lift for both front and rear.

Flexy Coils are made out of a micro alloy high tensile steel which is about 20% higher tenisile then other coil manufacturers. The variable spring rate allows a comfortable ride with less body roll then a regular coil. They also can carry heavier loads without sagging so they are ideal for touring and we warranty them for 5 years.

G'day jens,

The tough dog range of shocks are a mass produced budget specific shock for the world market, if you have a look around on forums across the net you will find many many mixed reports about them. When you sit them next to the others on your list they are just completely out classed by design. Tough Dog would agree that their range is not pitched against the Amada or the Profender or the Old Man Emu LTR range. Simply No Comparison. It was never the idea though.

A Full Step down from the above and you have the likes of Old Man emu Nitrocharger v Tough Dog v Iron Man. The OME are a class above the other two there too.

Tough Dog and Iron Man have a Business plan for the mass market World Wide.likely both are Made in China under supervision I'm sure. The OME are made in Kilsyth Victoria.

The 12 stage Adjustable technology is just silly when stacked against the OME. The OME designed a infinitely variable valving system in the shock to interact to the load and the conditions and constantly adjust to the feedback from the road. Why would anyone thnk they can do better than that by manually adjusting a shock to a single setting????

The Shocks that Alfonso notes in the above post I believe are a Tough Dog copy of the OME variable valving system and are not an adjustable shock. Given they are based on the World Class design of the Aussie Made Old Man Emu I am sure they are performing well to date. I note that Alfonso's sig line lists Bellow Airbags too which will be helping Allot.

Second part of your post.

What are those measurements mate? Is that pin to pin measurements? Fully open measurements? Or fully closed measurements??

A the idea of aiming for the centre of your shock is this. The Manufacturere of the shocks design around the shocks optimum performance being a ride in the dead centre of the travel of the shock, allowing the shock to travel an equal distance up and down.

If you buy a 6" shock that is say a 10" travel shock (for the conversation) you have 250mm of travel. When you bolt that shock up if it sits flat in your driveway in the centre of its travel you have 125mm up and 125mm down travel. But you fit that to a 4" spring so robbing 2" from the centre all at the top. Now it sits at 75mm up and 175mm down.
So now all you have is 75mm of compression left before you turn a wheel.

I was left with 50mm of compression on my setup designed by SS. I did not extend my bump stops and blew 2 sets of shocks to show for it. I could drive along and feel it bumping along not very bumpy tracks on the bottom of the shocks mate! Horrid. Bottoming out because I have 50mm of compression from ride height.

So now you want to go touring, load up the car and the thing sags 30mm with the weight and now you have Nothing left! Plenty of flex in the droop though! Joy! Mathematically incorrect IMO.

So the bottom line is that the longer the shock is the bigger the body therefore the Longer the Closed length is. Measure the Close Length of the shock you want to buy the measure the Pin the Pin measurement of the shock mounts and consider where the centre of the shock Stroke will be when it's at ride height (stroke being distance between fully closed to fully open)

Hope that makes some sense mate.

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Originally Posted by Westy's Accessories

It's in the name.. Flexi's are made to flex, Stock is made to carry the loads. Haven't done heaps of digging so not sure if the make different weight ratings like OME's do.

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Front coils have a 270-290lb spring rate at ride height depending on how much weight you have on the front.
The rear coils have an approx 290lb spring rate at ride height if you are a wagon, 250lb if you have a ute, 330lbs with a bit of load and a 400lb spring rate with a lot of load so no matter how much weight you have on the vehicle you have the perfect spring rate. The increase to a 400lb spring rate does help stability off road.

I don't do any super extreme stuff but have done some reasonably hard high country tracks and haven't lacked for flex with my OME springs.
That's why I'm curious about them.

I will be putting in some swaybar disconnects for the front to help things along a bit.


Tip tip tip......tap tap tap....

So the concept of the flexi coil is that when its off the car it is a Long Spring. Side by side with say a tough Dog spring it would be equivalent to a 5" tough dog spring for unloaded length.

Being a flexi coil though, when loaded with vehicle weight the top 3 or 4 coils of spring are fully closed and stacked on top off itself waiting to be used. This means though that the spring is now restricted in its compression by the space left between only half it's stack because the rest is closed. But the concept is restrict compression anyway as they are marketed as a super long spring and your shocks can't cope with much compression as above anyway.

So when they are unloaded (drooping due to cross flex of the axle) they extend to their unloaded extra long length without disengaging from the spring tower limiting the need for drop out cones or spring retainers to hold the springs in when your Super Long 6" shocks are now aloud to use all that open length and you get good flex.

Flexi coils in a Nut Shell.

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Originally Posted by MudRunnerTD

So the concept of the flexi coil is that when its off the car it is a Long Spring. Side by side with say a tough Dog spring it would be equivalent to a 5" tough dog spring for unloaded length.

Being a flexi coil though, when loaded with vehicle weight the top 3 or 4 coils of spring are fully closed and stacked on top off itself waiting to be used. This means though that the spring is now restricted in its compression by the space left between only half it's stack because the rest is closed. But the concept is restrict compression anyway as they are marketed as a super long spring and your shocks can't cope with much compression as above anyway.

So when they are unloaded (drooping due to cross flex of the axle) they extend to their unloaded extra long length without disengaging from the spring tower limiting the need for drop out cones or spring retainers to hold the springs in when your Super Long 6" shocks are now aloud to use all that open length and you get good flex.

Flexi coils in a Nut Shell.

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So, Aye or Nay

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Originally Posted by MEGOMONSTER

So, Aye or Nay

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I have taken Out the Flexi Coils from the GQ and fitted Superior own Coils with the Amadas and it has Transformed the Car.

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Originally Posted by MEGOMONSTER

So, Aye or Nay

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It flexes pretty good.........

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This is my 2" OME about 3/4 flex...
Attachment 34215
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Rear factory disconnect disconnected, but front sway bar still fitted..

I have removed front sway bar it it is alot nicer and gained another 50mm I reckon..

I would love the front of my car to flex like Darren's but my front does not flex much at all.

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Originally Posted by Winnie

I would love the front of my car to flex like Darren's but my front does not flex much at all.

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Still got your front sway bar fitted?

Yep, and rear lmao.

Hey MudRunner,

Those measurements were fully open. Sounds like the Amada and Profenders would be the way to go. Did you purchase the 2" flexy coils when you had them on your truck? I'm not really keen on blowing decent shocks either, so if you did, I'll probably have to get bump stops and see if that helps.

Also how much did you extend your brake lines when you had the flexy coils?

Thanks very much for your help mate. This is why I joined the forum. Haha. Cheers

You won't notice the front removed on road, but you will the rear

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Originally Posted by megatexture

You won't notice the front removed on road, but you will the rear

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My old one had the rear disconnects, but this one doesn't. I might just take the front ones out then?


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Originally Posted by Winnie

My old one had the rear disconnects, but this one doesn't. I might just take the front ones out then?


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Can just undo them and take it for a drive to see if it's still half decent on the black top

Might just unbolt them when I go away and cable tie them up, leave them on when on the road.


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Originally Posted by Winnie

My old one had the rear disconnects, but this one doesn't. I might just take the front ones out then?


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I've removed my front and the rear is broken for the 2nd time , just unbolt one side so you don't have to zip it up

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Originally Posted by MudRunnerTD

It flexes pretty good.........

Attachment 34212

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is that it? :p

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Originally Posted by megatexture

You won't notice the front removed on road, but you will the rear

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Originally Posted by Winnie

My old one had the rear disconnects, but this one doesn't. I might just take the front ones out then?


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Did mine and didn't notice it..
But have removed the lot so there are no tell tail signs of one ever being there unless you look hard..

Mines got mean body roll when cornering , maybe you have stiff coils

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Originally Posted by Ben-e-boy

is that it? :p

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Yeah I know!!!! Sh1t right!! :(. Oh well back to the drawing board damn it!

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Originally Posted by Westy's Accessories

Did mine and didn't notice it..
But have removed the lot so there are no tell tail signs of one ever being there unless you look hard..

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Thats what i did, but i still got a freaking fine for not having one :mad: They were flagging me down for a random roadside inspection nearly 500m down the road, they actually went out of their way to stop me. Purley because i drive a 4b

How much was the fine? My rear one has snapped through the bar and I've left it on but it can't function so I'm hoping I can play dumb if pulled up lol

I'd leave the rear one on. I am chasing the HD rear off a GU to fit to the rear of the GQ actually.

I don't run a front one on the GUIv though but would not run without a rear. I have been in another GUIV without any and it was terrible

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Originally Posted by megatexture

How much was the fine? My rear one has snapped through the bar and I've left it on but it can't function so I'm hoping I can play dumb if pulled up lol

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$110. I had rear only for 9 months or something, and it was awesome, drives so much nicer. I tried to play dumb but i still got a fine, maybe i got off lighter?

I can live with $110 lol

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Originally Posted by megatexture

I can live with $110 lol

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As could i, still a pain in the butt, and with the new anti hoon laws, they can defect you can impound your car.