Koni - Heavy Raid or Standard?

[roamingyak]

Koni have the 'normal' Track Raid shocks that I've always used and had very good milage and value from over the last 14 years in a few sets, even if they have doubled in price without changing.

It's now time to proactively change them out again, and wondering if the larger and more expensive 'Heavy Track Raid' offer any benefits?

Vehicle is a 1991 Defender Hard Top with expedition equipment used for long trips in Africa
LR Heavy Duty Springs, 130 helper springs at the back.
Dual koni shocks at rear.
Single Koni shocks at front
No ARB's fitted

Advantages I can see:
- do away with dual shocks at the rear.
- carry less spares as less likely to fail?

Review here for those who are interested:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoNQibuDnEg

 

[Eightpot]

Do you not find the ride very harsh with dual shocks & helper springs? Especially with Koni, which I like but I do find them to be overly stiff.

I used to use OME heavy duty springs with koni heavytrack,  very stable with big loads and barely dipped with half a ton in the back but next time round I'm definitely going softer on the dampers and will put ARBs on. Corrugations used to be hell and I took some damage underneath.

One of the Konis was determined not to be outdone by the corrugations through serengeti and punched out the lower shock mount completely.  I got a monster crack all round the chassis by the shock mount as well, and destroyed a couple of exhaust systems.

Some variable rate heavy duty lifted rear springs would help nicely but can't recall seeing anyone making them?? 

Next time I ship the car back I'll send a few different shocks with it to trial.  I'm interested to try some of the britpart cellular dynamic & see how they last , I've got on pretty well in the past with standard genuine LR shocks and just change out every 10k miles, but they fade really quick on corrugations,  interesting to see if the cellular business improves that.

Last trip out I tried some Monroe gas magnum. Lasted for 2 days before the seals burst! 

The Bilstein monotube shocks look worth a gander as well, not too stiff and supposedly good for reducing fade.

[Ex Member]

Koni, overly stiff???  They have the softest shocks on the market.

[Eightpot]

2 hours ago, Red90 said:

Koni, overly stiff???  They have the softest shocks on the market.

Not the heavytrak adjustables I had - could have used them on the landing gear of a 747.   Way the most difficult shock to compress I've ever used,  was quite a fight to fit them on the mounts. 

[Ex Member]

Something was wrong.  They should be easy to compress by hand.  I have heavy tracks and they are the best riding shock I've ever used.  They are magic on rough roads.  You just want to drive faster and faster.  I drive with a lot of different people and nobody can maintain the speed that I can and it is all due to the shocks.

Are you sure you turned the adjuster the right way?

[Arjan]

Think a talk with Koni makes sense.

We have them over 20 years under the Hybrid and they' ve never failed, very soft and Koni is a serious shock builder.

[roamingyak]

Back to the original question 😉 (as I'm buying Koni regardless 🙂 )
Are the larger Heavy Tracks ones worth changing to?

[Arjan]

Depending on the vehicle weight (have you weighed the vehicle ?)I would not bother.

[Ex Member]

They do the same thing.  They will last longer in extreme use due to the larger design.  If you are blowing out the current shocks from overheating, then they make sense.  If the current ones are lasting fine, then don't spend the extra money.