pajero genII +monroe bottoming out

[Maki]

previously i was using KYB gas-adjust on the front and excel g's on the rear. i felt that the ride on the front end was harsh, and the rear bottomed out when i go fast on speed bumps.

wo what i did first. i opted to change to the gas charged monroe matic-plus. after installing it, the harshness was gone, but lo and behold! after hitting a speed bump fast enough, i felt my bumpstops in the front for the first time!! (this never occured with the KYB;s)

wo what i did, i turned up the torsion bars in front to gain a 2inch liftthe problem with bottoming out was less prominent, but was still there,plus i replaced my rear springs with a slightly longer one so that my front and rear would level out.

so now the rear doesnt bottom out. but the FRONT does. i really like the way the monroe's ride but hate the bottoming out, how can i eliminate the bottoming out and still reatin theride quality. would changing to the yellow monroe's (gas magnum) help? thanks

[KCboy]

maki,
i think maharap yun gusto mo, u have to sacrifice one over the other talaga especially when u crank up the torsion bars, ur gonna have a harsher ride sa harap. are u lifting or lowering your pajero?

[ARB]

change your shocks to OME, nice ride without the bottoming out of the suspension.

[Maki]

kcboy,
actually di ko balak lift dati, pero since nag bottom out, nag lift nlng ako =) actually kahit nung di ko pa lift+KYB gas-adjust shocks, harsh ang ride for me e =(

ARB,
hmmm Old Man, medyo pricey yan, heheh how much would a pair cost? baka puwede na monroe(para mas cheap), sila din naman gumawa ata dati ng OME diba? heheheh

thanks for the reply guys =)

[v22]

sana you just experimented on your old shocks by having them done at zee's.... they can install a valve on the shock making it refillable and adjustable to the pressure you desire...

[ARB]

just for the information of the forumers about OME made by Monroe.

"Monroe Australia, as the only shock absorber manufacturer in Australia, does produce the Nitrocharger range for ARB under agreement to ARB. In this agreement ARB (Old Man Emu) is the only private brand 4x4 shock absorber range that Monroe can make, other than their own Gas Magnum range. All other 4x4 shock absorbers are imported. The OME product has a number of exclusive features compared to the Monroe Gas Magnum product. They are: 18 mm Piston Rod compared to 16 mm in the Gas Magnum Triple Lip Check Valve Oil Seal compared to mufti lip seal type 1.6 mm Reserve tube thickness compared to 1.3 mm Most importantly, the OME Nitrocharger range has many hundreds of hours spent on valving engineering to ensure the shock absorber is matched to the OME coil range, as well as the OEM coils. This why in most cases there are a choice of part numbers to choose from for an individual vehicle. The Monroe Gas Magnum is valved as a replacement for the original shock and therefore has only 1 part for each application."

yes OME is pricey than Monroes, but if you consider the ride quality you want then i guess its not the price that counts but what you want. you bought already two shocks that you are not happy with, and you are planning to buy another type of monroe to test if its better, so that would be three shocks with no guarantee na ok sa expectations mo. why dont you buy OME na lang so that you dont need to experiment.

[Maki]

just for the information of the forumers about OME made by Monroe.

"Monroe Australia, as the only shock absorber manufacturer in Australia, does produce the Nitrocharger range for ARB under agreement to ARB. In this agreement ARB (Old Man Emu) is the only private brand 4x4 shock absorber range that Monroe can make, other than their own Gas Magnum range. All other 4x4 shock absorbers are imported. The OME product has a number of exclusive features compared to the Monroe Gas Magnum product. They are: 18 mm Piston Rod compared to 16 mm in the Gas Magnum Triple Lip Check Valve Oil Seal compared to mufti lip seal type 1.6 mm Reserve tube thickness compared to 1.3 mm Most importantly, the OME Nitrocharger range has many hundreds of hours spent on valving engineering to ensure the shock absorber is matched to the OME coil range, as well as the OEM coils. This why in most cases there are a choice of part numbers to choose from for an individual vehicle. The Monroe Gas Magnum is valved as a replacement for the original shock and therefore has only 1 part for each application."

yes OME is pricey than Monroes, but if you consider the ride quality you want then i guess its not the price that counts but what you want. you bought already two shocks that you are not happy with, and you are planning to buy another type of monroe to test if its better, so that would be three shocks with no guarantee na ok sa expectations mo. why dont you buy OME na lang so that you dont need to experiment.

ahh very informative and very good logic, thanks for the advice, time to save up for the OME! =) what's the price range on those and where can i buy them? thanks alot =)

[paj4x4]

Maki,

Are you sure you installed the correct length shocks up front? If one installs longer length shocks than required the suspension will feel like its bottoming out.

Or you may have cranked up the TB’s too much. Remember cranking the TB’s to gain some lift will limit suspension travel. Personally I will not exceed 2 inches. You also have to hack your bumpstops to regain some articulation up front. I cut mine to about ½ of its original size.

Hope this helps.

Paj4x4

[dabar]

Maki,
my ride is 1990 LWB leaf spring type which i change my shocks to OME, i feel that my ride now is upgraded or parang kotse ang ride.
ARB,
since you are an expert for ARB products, what would you comment if i replace my stock leaf spring to ARB leaf spring.

[Maki]

Maki,

Are you sure you installed the correct length shocks up front? If one installs longer length shocks than required the suspension will feel like its bottoming out.

Or you may have cranked up the TB’s too much. Remember cranking the TB’s to gain some lift will limit suspension travel. Personally I will not exceed 2 inches. You also have to hack your bumpstops to regain some articulation up front. I cut mine to about ½ of its original size.

Hope this helps.

Paj4x4

actually the first thing i did was install the monroe shocks(stock height). then it bottoms out, so i adjusted the TB's, less bottoming out, but better/softer ride.

question lang diba pag nag adjust ng tb to get more height, ang nababawasan is yung droop? like when u jack the car up by the chassis, konti lang ang "Droop" ng gulong kasi nga tumatama na agad sa bumpstop. the problem im having is that pag nag speed humps ako, tapos pag bagsak ng car tsaka magbobottom out (downward movement) not when pataas =( sori labo ako magexplain.. heheheh

im pretty sure it was the same length, but softer or easier to compress. kasi the KYB''s GAJ that i took out was still in good condition. tapos we had the opportunity to test/compress the socks by hand to test which is softer.

overall we tried the KYB GAJ, Monroe matic plus and KYB Excel G's, this is the order from hardest to easiest to compress (by hand), but the diff between the KYB GAJ and monro matic plus was not that big, (but evident) as compared to the monro maticplus and the KYB Excel G's, wherein the excel G's could be compressed to the groun by just using one hand...

[ARB]

hindi naman expert, just like its ride improvement sa pick-up ko so I also like others to experience what OME users experience. he he.

i been using OME leafs on my Pick-up, isuzu 4wd, and it is better than the stock leafs. will check of availability for your pajero. btw it will be lifted on the rear by 2" if you install OME leafs.

[dabar]

ARB,
Talaga, di dapat pa adjust din TB para pantay. Kaya ba maghapon, saka saan lugar ang shop.Pareho lang ba OME saka ARB? Gusto ko kasi pag dating sa off road eh medyo smooth pa rin at di matalbog, then sa high way eh parang chedeng ang ride, meron b nun?

[ARB]

dab - its hard to get that merc ride with a leaf sprung suspended vehicle, close maybe but we cannot get both worlds. but it in my case I can attest to the ride quality compard to stock and compared to other isuzu pick-ups at that. I before had inverted rear leafs and the ride was better than stock then i changed to OME leafs and it was better than the inverted stock leaf ride. yes adjustment of the front TB's but not too much the stance should be front lower a bit. OME is under ARB. You can get your OME's there in manila from RATS 4x4.

[dabar]

ARB,
Thanks Bro for the input, I was about to upgrade under chassis and aiconditioning instead of painting which will cost me 30K or more na sasama pa loob ko pag nagasgasan.