ASK ARB – Toyota
Landcruiser 100 series

Hi ARB,

When looking at replacing the standard suspension on our 100 Series LandCruiser with IFS, quite a few sales staff of other brands were stating that the IFS Cruisers are very hard on shock absorbers and that is why they have big bore units to fit. The Old Man Emu suspension does not have a big bore shock absorber so is the big bore shock statement a fallacy?

Regards

Darryl Darben

Hi Darryl,

The so called ‘big bore’ 41mm plus twin tube shock absorbers currently on the market come out of the shock absorber manufacturers’ large truck range, and as you would expect the valving available for these type of shocks is very coarse. There is not much need for valving refinement in a 40 tonne truck. So not surprisingly, when used in today’s modern 4x4s, like a 100 Series IFS, the result is a very firm and harsh ride.

The 35mm Nitrocharger is also known in the industry as a large bore shock absorber, but its valving system has been developed and improved over many years to ensure it has kept up to date with the suspension improvements that are incorporated into the modern 4×4.

Currently the Nitrochargers’ valving system has over 15 million valving combinations which our two full time ride engineers use to provide a very refined valving system that will enhance the ride quality of a vehicle rather than reduce it.

The comment that the 100 Series LandCruiser is ‘hard on front shocks’ relates more to the fact that the vehicle has no rebound bump stop so the shock absorber becomes the bump stop on full shock extension. This is not a problem in normal use, or when the front ride height has been set with a minimum of 60mm of droop (droop being the downward travel that the shock has from normal ride height).

In our experience some 100 Series IFS owners do not like the pronounced rear to front rake of the vehicle and have the front raised by winding up the torsion bars. When this is done the amount of droop is reduced, which in turn means the shock absorbers can and will constantly run out of downward travel and continually top the shock absorbers out. Eventually this will destroy the front shock absorbers, no matter what type of shock it is.

I hope that answers your question, Darryl.

Syd Groves
(Old Man Emu Product Manager)