Well, I saw all of the hub bub here so had to go pick up a copy for myself. Having done some overlanding and "field evaluation" myself, I enjoyed the article very much and could really sympathize with you, and felt a hearty "right on mate!" for your ingenuity and ability to just deal with it. Despite how bad it must have seemed at the time, your troubles certainly produced some entertainment value, that's for sure. It makes for good reading!
In the article, you mentioned that you "replaced the top heim joint in each shock". So were you carrying spares? I wouldn't think they would have heim joints in Yaounde
I'm just amazed that the front shocks aren't completely blown being pounded like that. Have you since had them apart and had a look at the insides?
I had a similar issue with the schrader valves on an earlier version of Sway-A-Way shocks where under just the right conditions (thankfully not very often) with the front end drooped and turned to the steering stops, the valve could contact the brake calipers. (on a Toyota though) That was frustrating. I came up with a solution by simply reversing the position of the lower mounts by 180 degrees.
Anyway, great job on the article Graham!! :clapsmile