TWIN TUBE SHOCK ABSORBERS
Feb 22nd 2021
Designed, developed and tested in Australia by Dobinsons Spring & Suspension, in house suspension design engineers, Dobinsons 4×4 shock absorbers are designed and tested to perform in the harshest conditions right across the world.
As Dobinsons Spring and Suspension export to over 40 countries worldwide from their Australian head office, the importance of quality is at the forefront in the complete design and manufacturing process. This ensures every shock can withstand the blistering heat and corrugations of the Australian outback right through to the subzero temperatures of a Russian winter.
- Nitrogen Gas Charged
- Superior Design
- High Quality Parts
- Manufacturing Process
Testing Process
Dobinsons Twin Tube Nitrogen Gas charged shock absorbers are made from the world’s highest quality external and internal parts sourced worldwide. They provide a significant increase in performance over the standard shock absorbers.
Originally equipped shock absorbers are prone to shock fade and when a vehicle is loaded simply cannot cope with the additional weight and the harsh condition that 4X4 owners love to put them through.
Dobinsons twin tube shock absorbers feature larger bodies, larger bores and increased valving performance to dramatically improve vehicle handling and control and reduces shock fade.
Nitrogen Gas Charged
Each shock absorber is filled with high quality Hi-Temperature shock absorber oil then filled with low pressure nitrogen gas to pressurize the oil and assists in reducing oil aeration commonly know as Shock Fade.
Superior Design
Where possible Dobinsons design each part number to provide a longer shock absorber for more wheel travel, firmer valving for a more controlled ride and a larger body with increased oil capacity for cooler operation than the original vehicle shock absorbers.
Other hidden design features also include thicker external tube wall thickness up to 3mm on Dobinsons 4×4 struts where other brands use as small as 1.5mm.
Selected Dobinsons 4×4 struts also include single piece drop forged lower mounting stems to provide far superior strength and reliability.
High Quality Parts
Only the highest quality internal and external parts are used to ensure hassle free long life operation. When developing shock absorbers, Dobinsons test every single component of the shock absorber to ensure each part can withstand the vast difference in operating temperatures, a variety of different environments and conditions, and also ensure each part provides long service life.
These include Japanese NOK Multi-Lip seals, Fuchs German shock absorber oil, Natural Rubber bushings for reduced Noise Vibration Harshness, high quality Teflon piston rings and Double Chrome hardened rods are just a few of the components that put Dobinsons shock absorbers ahead of the rest.
Manufacturing Process
As Dobinsons Spring and Suspension have been manufacturing the highest quality springs and suspension components for over 60 years, they are no strangers to state of the art manufacturing processes. Dobinsons 4×4 shock absorbers are manufactured using the latest technology and are manufactured to TS16949 International Quality Assurance Systems. This includes double re-enforced robotic welding, friction welding, CNC Machined components and drop forging of high stress mounting components.
Testing Process
Dobinsons 4×4 shock absorbers are first completely quality checked and Valve Force-Velocity Dyno tested in the factory before final approval.
Dobinsons then perform further in depth quality testing in their Australian head office to ensure long life reliability.
In House Dyno Testing
Dobinsons perform further sample testing of the shock absorber valve forces using a state of the art Dyno testing machine. This ensures each shock absorber is manufactured in accordance with Dobinsons requirements to provide accurate valving for each application.
In House Durability Testing
A completely custom made shock absorber durability tester was built for Dobinsons to simulate extreme conditions a 4WD experiences over its’ lifetime. This machine is crucial when designing and testing each component to minimize any possibility of component failure. The durability tester simulates real life conditions with varying velocity’s where shock absorber operating temperatures can exceed staggering temperatures of over 100 degrees Celsius. The tester provides real time feedback of temperatures, velocity and valve force which is crucial when testing for shock fade when Dobinsons shock absorbers are pushed beyond a few million cycles.
Component & Performance Testing
Dobinsons shock absorbers are also stripped down and components tested using different processes to ensure they meet Dobinsons strict quality requirements. Finally ride quality and in vehicle performance testing is performed to check final ride comfort, handling, load handling ability and performance to ensure each type of shock absorbers outperforms the best.