Henk Coetzee Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 Last time I replaced the shocks on my Disco - about 50k km ago - the old ones were clearly shot. Now I'm not so sure. The Disco somehow seems to ride a bit rougher and is a bit bouncy at the back, particularly when heavily loaded. Is there a reliable way to check shocks without pulling them off? I'm currently running on Gabriel Kubus, which are gas pressurised, so I wouldn't be able to check them manually unless they were completely shot. Also, what are the signs of a worn steering damper? Henk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 You need to do a bounce test on the vehicle. dump yourself on the rear load space and then back off straight away. If the shocks are ok it should rise and then settle down. If it bounces up and down then the shocks are weak/no good. Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BogMonster Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 Check the bushes are OK particularly the bottom ones. Shocks may often seem OK at a "bounce test" but can still be quite tired! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fern Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 Last time I replaced the shocks on my Disco - about 50k km ago - the old ones were clearly shot. Now I'm not so sure. The Disco somehow seems to ride a bit rougher and is a bit bouncy at the back, particularly when heavily loaded. Is there a reliable way to check shocks without pulling them off? I'm currently running on Gabriel Kubus, which are gas pressurised, so I wouldn't be able to check them manually unless they were completely shot. Also, what are the signs of a worn steering damper?Henk Also if a shock has an oil on it then it's "finished". Also you can undo one nut (17mm) from the bottom mount and try to stretch/unstretch a shock by a hand, you will fill the difference with a new shock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodewaryer Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 I started to notice a clicking on rebound in my Series 1 at 107k mi. I thought a shock was bad or broken. I looked but couldn't figure out what was wrong so I had my mate that runs a shop check it out. He figured the sound was front bushings, which he replaced and upon closer inspection noted that the original shocks were leaking so we replaced all 4 and the steering damper as well. $2K to do all this work (did a few other things, front alignment, the oil lines adjacent to the filter were leaking, did an oil change, topped transfer case etc) or I would have upgraded the shocks. I was impressed the stock ones lasted that long without any obvious issues. I do have to add a comment about Dunlop A/T Radial Rover tyres. They're fine off road as I used them extensively a couple months ago, however, they're pretty splashy (soft sidewalls) on the tarmac and made me change my driving style on road since they flex so much prior to responding. I would have expected the LT version of these tyres to be stiffer. Now I'm stuck with them.....If Pirelli hadn't changed their A/T tyres to such a mamby pamby tread design, this would never have happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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