Tough Dog Suspension products has gained a name for quality and reliability that has reached the ears of Premium Armoured vehicle manufacturers for both civilian and military applications. John Agostino, owner of 4Way Suspension Products explains, “To capitalise on the reputation Tough Dog has, we had to go where the action is, and the IDEX show is the most important exhibition in the world for defence and personal protection industries.” In fact, the IDEX show, which is held biennially in Abu Dhabi takes up a huge 133,000 square metre space. The show and features 12 exhibition halls as well as an outdoor showing section and a purpose built demonstration area land, sea and air based products and systems.
Simon Vella, the head of Research & Development for 4Way Suspension also travelled with John to engage with technical enquiries that potential clients had. “It’s unbelievably important to get everything right in armoured vehicle applications,” Simon explains. “When you boil it down, we are talking about the difference between life and death for some of these applications, and the end user of the suspension needs to be sure that the equipment is more than up to the task.” The process of armouring a vehicle can add a huge amount of weight to the vehicle, so uprating the suspension and braking components is essential to restore the vehicle’s ride and handling characteristics. “A 200 series LandCruiser can end up weighing up to five tonnes.” Simon said.
4Way Suspension have made a number of small changes on to Tough Dog products the back of first hand research and development in this field. “The great thing is that everything we learn about longevity and strength in armoured applications is directly translated to the shocks and springs we use in the Australian Domestic market.” Simon told us, “While you might not be in the same personal danger here in Australia when 4WDing, the importance of reliability is still just as high, especially when travelling in remote areas.”
The response has been fantastic, with a number of clients requesting trial orders for production and testing. John explains, “One of the largest armoured manufacturers has approved the Tough Dog product range for use in their vehicles, which is really exciting for us.”