Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

Thanks CATS, nice pics, very helpful indeed.

The circlip, what spaces are they apart and can that be used to gain the height increase up front instead of spacers as per a review I am busy with for gaining some ride height both front and back.

@CATS: Do you still have the Ironman coils in? Would be interesting to see if the shocks work with the slightly stiffer coils.

On a general note: Are the shocks for a specific car model tuned for that car's springs or is it a more one-size-fits-all type solution?

pierreandre wrote:@CATS: Do you still have the Ironman coils in? Would be interesting to see if the shocks work with the slightly stiffer coils.

On a general note: Are the shocks for a specific car model tuned for that car's springs or is it a more one-size-fits-all type solution?

Yes the Ironman coils are still in. The shocks seem to be a more one size fits all type and not geared to a specific suspension setup unfortunately. This is one of the things that I like about the Old Man Emu setup which gives different options regarding normal, medium or heavy duty. IM and HDP make one for all.

Davidvan wrote:Thanks CATS, nice pics, very helpful indeed.

The circlip, what spaces are they apart and can that be used to gain the height increase up front instead of spacers as per a review I am busy with for gaining some ride height both front and back.

The circlip space is about 16mm apart and there are only two settings available. According to the leaflet that came with it the higher setting will give a lift from normal height. - See the one photo of the document(not so clear unfortunately)

CATS

OK

So I had the front ones fitted as well now and have been driving around for the last week over the normal traffic calming bumps and mini circles. So far I am impressed in the damping and rebound of the shocks and could notice a definate better ride from my old shocks, which has not done too much mileage when replaced.

It was decided to not put the front shocks on the higher setting and thus increasing ride height on my particular vehicle due to the fact that I already have Iron Man coils in which is slightly longer than the original coils thus already lifting the vehicle by about 3-4cm. The fitment center also said that the Iron Man coil was VERY hard to compress and that he was worried that if we fitted the shock on the upper setting that the coil would be too stiff and damage the shock. So ride height is still the same as before on my vehicle. Of course height is not determined by shocks in general, but in this case where this particular model has a setting on the front McPherson setup to push the coil up, it will actually give a slight increase in height. If the standard coils are used I would definately investigate this handy feature on the Gabriel HDP shocks.

CATS
PS - Please note that I have been given these shocks by Gabriel as a test unit for the Pajero Owners Club.

I'm still waiting for mine (it seems there is a supply problem for Gen2 shocks at this stage), but I have a question, I guess aimed at Gerrit.

Can this ride height adjustment be used on a torsion bar setup. My gut said it wont make any difference but my gut has been known to fail. One normally just tweaks the torsion bars to ramp up ride height, so how would this affect the HDP shock.

When I get mine I just need to work out which of the two settings I would put it on.

So Saturday came and off i went to the local wheel fitment center.

Had HDP Gabriels fitted on all 4 corners of the Pajero. I still had the old OME coils is and it fitted without out a problem and without loosing any lift. still 545mm from wheel arch to wheel center.

Just need to download the photos from my phone and will post them later.

Like i said, i had new shocks fitted front and rear to the Pajero over the week end. The same shocks as CATS did.

Must admit, that the shocks that came out were shot. Could push the front shock in with my thumb and the rear ones were not putting up any resistance when you compress them.

The new shocks fits perfectly and it settled at a ride height of 545mm from wheel center to wheel arch on all 4 wheels.

Would say R4700 well spend as i took it on a 100km drive and SWAMBO took it to work this morning (120km there and 120km back) so will have to wait and hear what her verdict is on road holding.

I cant complain yet as from where i was with the old shocks to the new shocks already shows a 100% improvement.

now only time will tell.

Hi guys.

i have recently installed the new HDP shock absorbers to my pajero.I must say i am not happy at all.The shocks rides hard to start of with, i have taken my car back 3 times because of a banning noise at the shocks, sounds like the shocks are loose.
The gabriel rep said the shock settings were wrong ,which i believed and they took them out reset them back again same story.

Now i am taking it back again 4th time and feel like taking them out completely..I had enough now!!!!!!
Can someone assist me.
thanks Guys

I'm having similar issues with my 2004 gen3, the consensus at the moment, is that the front shocks are too short and are topping out, resulting in a harsh ride and feedback through the steering wheel.

Checked part no's and they seem to be correct, although autozone where I bought them now say that gabriel don't make shocks for the gen3, and that the ones they supplied me are from a gen2, which has torsion bar front, so not putting too much faith in them.

At the moment I assume that they're part of a bad batch, or they've been labelled incorrectly. I've still got standard springs etc, so spring length is not the problem.

I'm having them pulled out on Monday, so hopefully I'll get some resolution before December shutdown.

Silverpaj wrote:I'm having similar issues with my 2004 gen3, the consensus at the moment, is that the front shocks are too short and are topping out, resulting in a harsh ride and feedback through the steering wheel.

Checked part no's and they seem to be correct, although autozone where I bought them now say that gabriel don't make shocks for the gen3, and that the ones they supplied me are from a gen2, which has torsion bar front, so not putting too much faith in them.

At the moment I assume that they're part of a bad batch, or they've been labelled incorrectly. I've still got standard springs etc, so spring length is not the problem.

I'm having them pulled out on Monday, so hopefully I'll get some resolution before December shutdown.

Silverpaj. The feedback you're getting regarding them not making for the Gen3 is rubbish because I supplied a set of Gen3 shocks to CATS and they are definitely different part numbers to my Gen2 HDP shocks