The last article talked about the guard plate as a naked advertisement for itself, and this article talks about the shock absorber is absolutely dry goods…
Let’s start with the big types first, nitrogen reduction vs non-nitrogen reduction.
The misunderstanding of many people is to choose the shock absorber according to the budget, thinking that there must be nothing wrong with buying expensive ones, and they fall into endless pain as a result…
First of all, what is the benefit of nitrogen reduction? There are mainly the following points: large damping and anti-attenuation. And then it’s basically all downsides…
Regardless of the intensity of use, if there is no repair shop or modification shop in your area that can provide nitrogen reduction installation, simple adjustment (at least adjust the nitrogen pressure), maintenance services, or your personal requirements for comfort and quietness Relatively high, use nitrogen with caution! ! !
Nitrogen reduction has relatively high requirements for installation technology, because its structure is different from the original oil-gas hybrid shock absorber, and in most cases, nitrogen reduction needs to cooperate with various limit adjustment parts, thrust rods, upper supports, etc. Arms, etc. can be installed and used together to ensure the life and achieve the best use effect, so not just any repair shop or 4S shop can install nitrogen reduction according to the construction standards. This leads to various unexpected failures and damages in the later stage, and it belongs to oneself to make trouble for oneself. At the same time, after the nitrogen reduction is installed, you need to adjust the nitrogen pressure according to your own use environment and driving habits, or take a step back, let’s not talk about adjustments, the nitrogen reduction cannot be guaranteed to be maintained during long-term transportation and storage. The pressure is preset at the factory, and it is also necessary to check the air pressure after installation. I have met several modified cars that are armed to the teeth, but they are always flickering when they are driven. After checking, I found that the shock absorbers have no pressure at all. They never actually worked…
In addition, there is a huge misunderstanding-it will be comfortable to change the nitrogen reduction! This is completely unscrupulous merchants who say nothing in order to sell products! The original intention of nitrogen reduction is for competition. Who would consider comfort in racing? Why the performance of nitrogen reduction is strong, because the damping is large, and the large damping can be directly understood as hard in daily use! If the nitrogen reduction is replaced, there will be more fine vibrations, and the bouncing will be more obvious when passing on bumpy roads at low speeds. The advantage is that the wheel tracking will be greatly improved when passing on bad roads at high speeds, and the suspension will not easily bottom out when the wheels are vacated and landed. In short, it is definitely impossible to become comfortable in daily driving after switching to nitrogen reduction. The advantages of nitrogen reduction must be reflected in high-intensity use.
Finally, it comes to the issue of abnormal noise and maintenance. Let me talk about the abnormal sound first. As I said just now, nitrogen reduction is originally used for competitions, so many structures are based on performance and strength. For example, fish-eye bearings are used to replace the rubber sleeves used in traditional shock absorbers, which leads to Nitrogen is used for a period of time, and after the nylon coating between the inner and outer steel sleeves of the fisheye bearing is worn, abnormal noise will be produced when the iron is rubbed against the iron, which is unavoidable. The so-called “solutions” currently on the market can only alleviate and prolong life, and it is impossible to eliminate wear and abnormal noise. As a result, the following two results have been produced. The first is that your car creaks and you need to bear the strange eyes of passers-by. The second is that in order to solve the abnormal noise, you need to replace new fisheye bearings regularly. This is undoubtedly a problem. an additional expense.
Besides maintenance, nitrogen reduction requires maintenance. In long-distance rallies, the shock absorbers of big teams are basically broken up for maintenance or replaced with new ones after 2-3 stages. As a civilian vehicle, even if the intensity of use is average, it is recommended to change the oil for maintenance after 50,000 to 60,000 kilometers. It is not too much to maintain once for 10,000 to 20,000 kilometers, and the condition of the oil seal and piston rod must be checked regularly, and any problems should be dealt with in time to avoid more serious damage. Maintenance is not only a troublesome thing, but also a costly thing, and more importantly, you have to have the conditions for maintenance. If you can do maintenance locally, it’s okay. If you are more skilled, disassembly and assembly of the four shock absorbers + maintenance can basically be done in a whole day without affecting the use of the car. If there is no such condition in the local area, the shock absorber needs to be dismantled and sent to the manufacturer or a refit shop with maintenance capabilities. The logistics + maintenance back and forth, let alone the cost, the car has to be on the lift for a week before it runs away. Have to ask the repair shop if they’d like it.
To sum up, nitrogen reduction has its irreplaceable advantages, but it also has its unavoidable defects. Nitrogen reduction is not suitable for everyone. Everyone must take their actual needs as the starting point and consider the local modification environment comprehensively. Decide if nitrogen reduction should be applied.
Of course, pouring so much cold water does not mean that everyone will stay away from nitrogen reduction. With the development of the domestic economy and the continuous development of off-road culture, more and more repair shops and refit shops have begun to have nitrogen reduction equipment for installation, commissioning, and maintenance. In addition, the price of accessories such as fisheye bearings is getting lower and lower, and the later use of nitrogen reduction will become more convenient and cheaper. Nitrogen reduction does have some incomparable advantages of non-nitrogen reduction. In addition to the advantages of large damping and anti-attenuation performance just mentioned, there is another point of cost performance! Of course, there is a premise for this price-performance ratio. The premise is that you are really serious about using the car. The original shock absorber or non-nitrogen reducer will leak oil and fail after a long time in your car. Then I strongly recommend that you use the nitrogen reducer in one step. , not only because of the strong performance of nitrogen reduction and anti-attenuation, but also because nitrogen reduction can be maintained! The maintenance cost of nitrogen reduction will not be higher than that of a very common modified oil-gas separation shock absorber. As long as it is properly maintained, nitrogen reduction can be kept in the best condition for a long time, and the total cost of use is lower in the long run .
Having said so much, let’s be honest. In the category of non-nitrogen reduction, it is probably a reasonable choice for the Prado car series (L/C120 and L/C150 chassis are almost identical, so to speak together). Divided into the following levels:
A. No modification, the load capacity of the original factory is OK, the chassis height of the original factory is OK, and the handling is slightly improved under the premise of basically retaining the comfort——Bilstein B6 Offroad or KYB red barrel
The original springs are kept and only the shock absorbers are replaced, so the comfort is basically not affected and the handling is improved.
KYB Red Bucket is also one of the few performance-upgraded shock absorbers that support the height of the original factory. It is characterized by relatively large compression damping, which can improve the situation of soft suspension and obvious nodding, and is cost-effective. However, the recent word-of-mouth of Red Barrel is not good, so everyone chooses carefully.
Note: Both Bilstein B6 Offroad and KYB Red Bucket only support the height of the original spring. If you replace the lift spring, you must use these two shock absorbers with caution, as there is a high possibility of oil leakage or even breaking. The picture below is on the road from Ganzi to Seda in 2014, matched with KYB red barrels.
The ToughDog 40mm raised spring caused the top cover of the shock absorber to be pulled off and directly scrapped.
B. There are modifications, the load capacity of the original factory is insufficient, the height of the chassis of the original factory is insufficient, and the handling is slightly improved – OME ordinary oil-gas hybrid shock absorber or ToughDog foam honeycomb shock absorber.
Model comparison list:
OME and ToughDog are the shock absorber brands with the largest stocks in Australia, and the domestic channels are relatively smooth and the supply is sufficient. Don’t underestimate the fact that the supply of modified parts is stable. Shock absorbers are consumables after all, especially this type of oil-gas hybrid shock absorber. It is normal for oil leakage damage after high-intensity use, and it is not a quality problem, so before buying It must be determined that if one shock absorber is damaged, whether the shock absorber of the same type can be easily purchased, if not, the shock absorber can only be replaced as a whole set, and the cost of use will be greatly increased.
Personally, if there is no special requirement for overloading, OME is preferred. The spring of ToughDog is too hard. The advantage is that it has almost no attenuation after several years of use, and the height of an empty car is almost the same when it is fully loaded. However, it is really uncomfortable for daily use, especially the rear of the car keeps bouncing, and the comfort is very poor. Relatively speaking Although OME is also hard, but there is more tenacity in the hard, and it is much softer for daily use. In addition, the price of ToughDog has been rising all the way. The price of the whole set is already comparable to some higher-level shock absorbers, and the price/performance ratio is relatively low.
Now that OME is recommended, in view of the complexity of the OME product line, I will be responsible for the end and make a simple explanation. It may be that a blunt list is more suitable for everyone to judge.
First, clarify the definitions of light load, medium load, and heavy load (this definition is based on OME’s official explanation combined with my own trial experience):
A. Before
a. Light load: OME is defined as no modification, and I personally understand that the weight of the front of the car is within 30Kg
b. Medium load: OME is defined as adding a steel front bumper or a winch. My personal understanding is that the weight of the front of the car is within 80Kg (calculated according to the weight of the front bumper of the ARB standard)
c. Heavy load: OME is defined as the addition of a steel front bumper and winch. My personal understanding is that the weight of the front of the car is increased by 150Kg
B. After
a. Light load: OME is defined as 0Kg to GVM, and I personally understand it as a basic vehicle
b. Medium load: OME is defined as 200Kg to GVM, I personally understand it as one of the three choices of auxiliary fuel tank or steel rear bumper or rear winch
c. Heavy load: OME is defined as 400Kg to GVM, I personally understand it as the auxiliary fuel tank or steel rear bumper or rear winch, choose two or all
Of course, this is just a matching suggestion given by OME from a theoretical level. In actual use, we should still match it rationally according to our actual situation and our own needs. Spring, rely on the weight of the winch to offset the increase in the range, the same reason you can infer other cases from one instance.
In addition, OME has matched two sets of springs with different lifting ranges for 120 and 150, and you can choose according to your own lifting range. In the same way, you can also choose to mix and match, for example, use 30mm raised mid-load springs in the front, and in order to coordinate the height of the vehicle body and ensure a certain degree of comfort, you can choose 50mm raised mid-load springs in the rear.
As for nitrogen reduction, I recommend a brand – KING, it is best to buy adjustable ones.
Why recommend KING? Because KING is one of the most well-known high-performance shock absorber brands in the United States, its production scale and technical strength are indeed not as good as FOX, but FOX has not made great efforts in the OE market, so the most reliable brand is only KING. It has been more than ten years since they entered China in batches, and the word of mouth has been very stable, which shows that KING’s quality control is relatively good. Nitrogen reduction is actually a product that is finished and reassembled from semi-finished profiles, such as oil seals, hydraulic oil, bearings, etc. They are all externally sourced. The quality depends on the selection of accessories and the final assembly. The technical threshold basically does not exist (of course, some higher-end racing brands in Europe, including FOX, have added different shock absorbers to the shock absorbers at this stage. There is indeed a threshold for less professional and more complex functions, but this type of product is of little significance to the civilian market). Another reason is that based on the principle of what you get for what you pay for, KING can’t be said to have the most realistic price, but it’s almost the same. When KING first entered China ten years ago, it sold at the current price. At that time Nitrogen reduction has not yet been popularized, and rare things are more expensive. In fact, profits are still relatively high. Later, with the change of the exchange rate and KING’s official price increase several times, the actual cost of KING is getting closer and closer to the terminal selling price, so that now many merchants would rather bear a high proportion of after-sales risks to promote a product that came from nowhere. The fake foreign devil brand is also unwilling to sell KING with stable quality. But for consumers, if the money is spent on the manufacturer, they basically still buy high-quality products. If the money is spent on the merchant, I can’t say what to buy.
The rest of the imported brands and the so-called “imported brands” are not recommended. It’s meaningless. It’s better to buy pure domestic brands and it will be cheaper. Which brand you want to buy depends on your channel. I can say responsibly that when a merchant pushes you a certain “new” brand, it is definitely not because the performance of this brand is particularly good, but because the price difference between wholesale and retail of this brand is large. Generally speaking, the performance and quality are actually the same, so give priority to after-sales and For the price of accessories, it is more important to install and adjust well than the shock absorber itself.
Nitrogen reduction is now the main source of profit for various businesses. I won’t name the specific brands and go into details. I just advise everyone—don’t believe in so-called American brands or Australian brands, unless they are well-known brands in the world. One day, an original imported XX brand shock absorber popped up out of nowhere. It was probably a liar. I was deceived myself, and I cried if I said too much… Later, I figured it out. In fact, as long as the quality is stable and the price is reasonable , What is the difference between which one? Just don’t pay for the so-called “import”!
