Which Shocks?

[Rippthrough 98]

You won't see the bump stop as its inside the strut casing. The Sport/Sprint use an inverted strut meaning the insert is actually upside down. If you look at the base of the strut you will see a large nut where the other end is bolted in. The struts are inverted so the stronger shaft (the main body) is at the weakest point which is sticking out of the top of the strut. When cornering.......the strut will having a bending force applied, which has a negative effect on both ride and handling, so by inverting the strut......this is minimised.

 

 

I'm quite suprised a road going strut is tbh, They tend to need a fair bit of maintainence due to moisture collecting through the breather holes, that and the extra stiction from the englarged seals and extra sealing mechanisms makes them a touch harsher over potholes and the like than non-inverted struts, weird.

 

-Phillip

[Adi 0]

Mitsubishi and Subaru have been using inverted struts for some time now on their road cars. Peugeot 307s use inverted struts as std as do Caterham with their front dampers. With the fact that the dampers are montube high gas pressure.........makes the inverting far easier.

[Rippthrough 98]

Mitsubishi and Subaru have been using inverted struts for some time now on their road cars. Peugeot 307s use inverted struts as std as do Caterham with their front dampers. With the fact that the dampers are montube high gas pressure.........makes the inverting far easier.

 

 

yeah, but the mitsis and the subaru's shocks are to be checked at every service because of it. Caterham you expect the maintainence tbh, it's a road going track car really.

[Doof 11]

So does this mean my shocks are high maintenance?!

[Rippthrough 98]

So does this mean my shocks are high maintenance?!

 

 

Just check them over whenever you do a check over the rest of the car - it's more precaution than anything, I can't see you having any trouble with them, it's not like they are a cheap and nasty set.

 

 

-Phillip

Edited September 21, 2006 by Rippthrough

[Adi 0]

but the mitsis and the subaru's shocks are to be checked at every service because of it

 

And what about a std run of the mill 307 which can have services as far as part as 20,000 miles?? Any monotube high gas pressure damper can run upside down.

[Rippthrough 98]

And what about a std run of the mill 307 which can have services as far as part as 20,000 miles?? Any monotube high gas pressure damper can run upside down.

 

 

I didn't say it couldn't, just the ones which are designed to be permently inverted usually have extra sealing mechanisms, and if moisture collects in the air breather holes you can start to get corrosion, hence why they should be checked, there's no reason they shouldn't run to 100,000+ miles, it's just something to watch out for.

 

They also have a fair bit more stiction, which is why all serious inverted dampers have low friction DLC coatings on the stanchions.

 

-Phillip

Edited September 21, 2006 by Rippthrough

[Adi 0]

Don't get me wrong.......I understand totally what you mean. The problem is frightening people into thinking they can be a higher level of maintenance than other aftermarket products. Thus putting them off buying the dampers in the 1st place. Products like the Bilstein Sports/Sprints are a very good quality product.

You could argue that BMWs/Mercs running high degrees of castor can equally encounter stiction problems. But as usual everything is a compromise. The benefits of type/angle of fitment against the possible maintenance. As you say......if the lower friction coatings are used.......this significantly helps.