Gen4 shocks replaced

l think that l will leave mine with the standard dampers for now.
We have no complaints with the ride quality, it's better than a Defender which is what l drive (and what my missus drove before the Jimny)
We won't drive it fast, we'll just cruise along and let the world go by. Longest journey l've done in it is a mainly motorway 240 mile round trip in one day and it was fine.

It's interesting that Bilstein themselves don't list shocks for the Gen4. I wonder if these are simply Gen3 shocks being sold as Gen4? That would make sense seeing as the running gear is virtually identical. That would also mean that you can get them significantly cheaper at other sites such as bilsteinsuspensionstore.co.uk
It's the claims that these offer more travel than standard that I can't work out. Looking at the Bilstein shocks for the Gen3 they don't offer any more travel than standard.

Which shockies to fit? Lots of suggestions but they all seem to be longer and lift orientated.

Maybe Lambert can give us some science as to why the Gen4 is so uncomfortable and difficult to tame?

I have a theory, look at the ratio of un-sprung weight to sprung body mass. There is just not enough mass in the vehicle to absorb all that kinetic energy! Unless we use a fluid or air to soak it up, it will always bounce and/or be uncomfortable. I look back at Citroen and the Hydro-pneumatic suspension, Mini and the hydrolastic suspension, even some Range Rovers have air suspension, and I see a better solution.

Grima wrote: Thanks Soeley, renewing in Nov. LV here i come.
Any idea on fitting a 30mm chain gun & hell fire missiles?

I have been recommended BRENTACRE by someone I know, they allow any modification at all as long as it doesn't increase BHP apparently without raising the premium. I will get a quote off them when mine is due for renewal. They might be dearer for a standard car, but might work out cheaper if your insurance charges for each mod.

LV didn't even charge an admin fee each time I rang them.

I went with LV because quotemehappy wouldn't insure my wheel and tyre change. LV policy was 217 a year! I bit their hand off!

I used compare the meerkat site (shite)

GeorgeC wrote: Which shockies to fit? Lots of suggestions but they all seem to be longer and lift orientated.

Maybe Lambert can give us some science as to why the Gen4 is so uncomfortable and difficult to tame?

I have a theory, look at the ratio of un-sprung weight to sprung body mass. There is just not enough mass in the vehicle to absorb all that kinetic energy! Unless we use a fluid or air to soak it up, it will always bounce and/or be uncomfortable. I look back at Citroen and the Hydro-pneumatic suspension, Mini and the hydrolastic suspension, even some Range Rovers have air suspension, and I see a better solution.

I am extremely happy with my trailmaster sport dampers. For my exact use they are only ever going to be beaten by an adjustable damper. They offer a nice range of firm damping when the car is loaded with work supplies or when I have a trailer on the back, the pitch control is especially good. Yet in the solo and empty state the same dampers with road springs are perfectly smooth on all but the most severe irregularities and yet they don't make it feel unstable in corners. Get to the circuit and swap the road springs to the track ones and the same dampers now allow for almost flat cornering at silly speed much to the general amazement of my track day friends.
It's also worth remembering that the dampers work in conjunction with the springs. While the effects of a stiffer damper will noticeable its not going to be as much of a change as alterations to the spring rate as its the springs that actually absorb the energy and the dampers control how that energy is dissipated in both compression and rebound. It is also worth mentioning that a good road damper is not necessarily a good one for off road. Tuning suspension is a very precise art and there's no one size fits all solution, it's why so much development is being done on adaptive systems that react in real time to the exact conditions.