[DylanSJ80]

Looking for a good quality shock to replace the stock shocks in my Sierra SJ80 coil sprung front and rear, not many companies make a shock for coil sprung front and rear sierra's i.e. SJ80.

Not interested in Ebay brands looking for a GOOD QUALITY one, if anyone can help me out with some suggestions would be much appreciated.
Tried OME and Tough dog, tough dog no longer makes a shock for this model due to some structural fault with the car body itself. OME don't make a shock for coil sprung models, and iv'e heard bad things from people who have used jimny shocks.
Stuck for idea's

[Gwagensteve]

Many years ago a club member had a pair of Konis custom made with the spring seats required. They were expensive, but the car rode nice. Of course, the best shock in the world can't fix the inherent coiler problems, so the shock towers broke, it had stuff all travel, excessive front roll stiffness and flaky caster. I fixed the caster but the design problems stayed.

Steve.

[1DYX]

Seems to me if there was a "structural fault" with the body (shock mounts?) it would be because the shocks were too stiff.

I would suggest to use a mainstream shock, and replace it every 2 years or so(depending on how much abuse I gave them).

My 2.2 c

[Fatzook]

1DYX wrote:

Seems to me if there was a "structural fault" with the body (shock mounts?) it would be because the shocks were too stiff.

Nope. Just poor design and material choice by suzuki. OEM shocks are quite soft.

[Dec]

I've been looking into this for sometime now, rears are simple to source however the fronts are the tricky ones, the only way I've been able to source fronts are to cut out the original shockie insert and find a longer insert and weld the coil seat back on, however it is rather dodgy.

The only other front shock which i have found is on snake racing website.
http://snakeracing.com.au/store/rancho- ... c70323a232
Quote"Known as the worlds best-selling high performance light truck shock absorber. The RS5000 is available for the front and rear of your SJ80 Suzuki

However after calling them and asking they advised me that "no they'll only suit the rear" (go figure).

[ZukinLao]

DylanSJ80 wrote:

Looking for a good quality shock to replace the stock shocks in my Sierra SJ80 coil sprung front and rear, not many companies make a shock for coil sprung front and rear sierra's i.e. SJ80.

Not interested in Ebay brands looking for a GOOD QUALITY one, if anyone can help me out with some suggestions would be much appreciated.
Tried OME and Tough dog, tough dog no longer makes a shock for this model due to some structural fault with the car body itself. OME don't make a shock for coil sprung models, and iv'e heard bad things from people who have used jimny shocks.
Stuck for idea's

I take it that the kings/ultima kit on eBay isn't good quality? Was thinking of ordering them as they were the only ones I've Been able to find...

[Fatzook]

What is your budget guys?

[Fatzook]

The reason I ask is, I knocked up a design for a strut housing some time last year, that accepts strut inserts. Theoretically, the housing could be made to accept an insert to suit 50-75mm of lift. this would be a good time to throw some higher damp and rebound valve rates at it too. Then all you would need is a suitable rear shock to match.

The advantage of this setup is that you don't need to pay for a new strut ever again. Just buy inserts ( which cost about half the price )

[1DYX]

Well, as a dinky die Aussie and a zook owner, I have to say my budget is about as much as a carton of beer.
But having seen the advantages of strut inserts on cars that I have owned, I would be interested to obtain further details...

[greenzook89]

I've got the king springs and ultima shocks combo in my Zook and i Havn't had any problems. For 500 bucks its a winner in my book. But i an mega tight lol

[Fatzook]

Rusho had no issues with his ultima kit either IIRC, but the struts were shot when I pulled them out for the jimny conversion.

[greenzook89]

For a cheap kit i don't expect them to last forever, but I'll worry about that when the time comes.

[Dec]

ZukinLao wrote:

DylanSJ80 wrote:

Looking for a good quality shock to replace the stock shocks in my Sierra SJ80 coil sprung front and rear, not many companies make a shock for coil sprung front and rear sierra's i.e. SJ80.

Not interested in Ebay brands looking for a GOOD QUALITY one, if anyone can help me out with some suggestions would be much appreciated.
Tried OME and Tough dog, tough dog no longer makes a shock for this model due to some structural fault with the car body itself. OME don't make a shock for coil sprung models, and iv'e heard bad things from people who have used jimny shocks.
Stuck for idea's

I take it that the kings/ultima kit on eBay isn't good quality? Was thinking of ordering them as they were the only ones I've Been able to find...

Yes i believe the kings/ulitma kit isn't good quality, nothing wrong with the king springs it's the ultima shocks that i dislike. I actually purchased mine from Suzisports in Brissy which i was told were there own brand however turned out to be Ultimas with there "Suzisport" sticker ontop. In the time i've had them i've had one replaced due to leaking oil and i find they can't handle what i'd like them to.

[Dec]

Fatzook wrote:

The reason I ask is, I knocked up a design for a strut housing some time last year, that accepts strut inserts. Theoretically, the housing could be made to accept an insert to suit 50-75mm of lift. this would be a good time to throw some higher damp and rebound valve rates at it too. Then all you would need is a suitable rear shock to match.

The advantage of this setup is that you don't need to pay for a new strut ever again. Just buy inserts ( which cost about half the price )

I'd be keen to check them out:)

[Fatzook]

Well I might knock out a set just for the hell of it. Who knows..... They may even work out to be affordable

[greenzook89]

Yeah let us know how it goes, the more options for us coily owners the better:-P

[ZukinLao]

I'm interested as well...

[rwt65]

I would be interested too.
Keep us posted Pete

[Minimog]

Hi this is my first post on az!! As owner of a coily for a couple of years have been lookin for more options for front suspension, would be interested in what fatzook comes up with?

[djed]

has anyone had experience with running the Rancho 9000 in the rear of a SJ80? I want to replace a pair of damaged ultima Shocks. i Noticed that you can get shocks to suit a 50mm lift.

The ultima shocks are only to suit a 30 mm lift. This could be causing the values in the shock to get damage. has anyone ever fitted a spring limiting strap to prevent the shock values from getting damaged?



http://snakeracing.com.au/store/rancho- ... 537234c458

[Gwagensteve]

Wow, that's a confusing post.

Firstly, they're is no such thing as a shock to suit a 50mm lift. I keep asking people to explain what they mean by this but all I get is crickets.

Secondly, RS9000's are overpriced and of only average quality.

I do not believe there is an RS9000 part number for the rear of a coil sierra with 50mm of lift. I think it's just some random shock that "fits"

If you mean "valving" damage due to the shock being only suited to a 30mm lift, I'm not sure I believe that either. I think it's more likely the shocks are failing because they are of only average quality.

As a guide, most "lift" shocks are very little longer, and often have less stroke than the standard shocks. Fitting meaningfully longer shocks requires bumpstop spacing and/or relocate shock mounts.

Steve.

[djed]

Thanks

[iNDIGOarts]

Seems like finding decent front shocks for the SJ80 is tricky business... That was until I came across KYB Excel-G front shocks that aren't usually advertised to fit the SJ80, but totally do and work great! Not badly priced either.


Hope this helps other SJ80 owners

[1DYX]

Part number?
Cant quite read it on yer pic....

[iNDIGOarts]

1DYX wrote:

Part number?
Cant quite read it on yer pic....

Looks like its 341317. I attached a pic above with more info if you need from the box itself.

[Onderbroek]

Thanks mate this helps a lot

[HarryHoudini]

Yeah,KYB are often on special on Ebay and OK for normal stuff,don't know how they'll handle the real ruff stuff.I have had no problems with them but i notice online to make sure you get the Jap made ones instead of the USA(Mexico).

My Brother got them off this guy,has a 20% off sale every so often.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SUZUKI-SIERR ... a01&_uhb=1

[Gwagensteve]

Whats wrong/different with the Mexican made product?

I imagine that the OEM shocks were made by KYB.

[HarryHoudini]

No idea Steve,may be just a Furphy or Urban Myth,i just did a Google on the KYB's before purchase and there was a long thread on people unhappy with the USA sourced product.When i get some time i'll try and find the link again and post.


Edit.....This isn't the link but along the same theme ...

http://www.ebay.com.au/gds/KYB-GR2-Exce ... 207/g.html

[mevanz]

Hey guys, bought my sj80 with 50mm kings/ultima lift already fitted. Fairly rough ride after my leafy sierra with OME/rancho rs5000's which surprised me after hearing coily's should be a little more responsive. After a year or so one of the shocks blew through the shock mount in the middle of nowhere. Made up essentially a giant washer out of 5mm plate which fit inside the shock tower and eventually had that welded in place which did the job significantly better than the flimsy steel the original was made out of. Today the exact same thing started happening to the driver's side. Knew what it was as soon as I heard it. Will probably do the same thing for now but was considering having some much stronger shock mounts made up. A few questions:
-I was considering having the new shock mounts 1" lower, essentially giving an extra inch of lift...bad idea?
-I noticed most shock mounts integrate a swivel as the angle of the shock changes throughout the stroke, but on an sj80 they make do with a bushing... Is this because the shocks remain relatively in-line with the line of travel throughout the stroke, or was suzuki just being cheap?
-Was considering putting the rancho rs5000's from my leafy on the coily... Everyone above was talking about shocks made specifically for the vehicle; the leafy is essentially the same as far as front/rear weight distribution goes, but I understand the mounting positions would affect it greatly. If I made new mounts and put them in roughly the same position as on the leafy and then used the leafy shocks...would that work?

Please feel free to tell me I'm in way over my head, I just figured that if anyone else had ruined a shock mount or two (likely) and was going to make up new ones anyway, that emulating the suspension geometry of the leaf-sprung version of the same car might open up the possibility of tapping into the more well-established after market for leafys.

Thanks,
M@