Suspension - time for replacement.
Discussion
I bought the S knowing full well she would need bits and pieces doing and planned for most of these to be done during the winter months. One of these jobs was the suspension. After living with this for a while, I don't know if I can see the summer months out and need to sort it sooner rather than later.
Symptoms:
Bonnet does not clear ground to get bonnet stay in place.
Less than a Rizla paper between front arches & tyres. Plenty of the clearance on the rears.
Offside tyre starting to rub inner arch on full left hand lock.
Very harsh response when going over bumps or drain covers (even cats eyes !)
Bu99er all ground clearance and regular grounding (not good with SS exhaust - do not want to replace that too).
'Skittish' handling, lack of taut turn in (feels vague and wanders) and definitely becoming more tail happy, even in the dry. Whilst I am not planning track days, this issue is my major concern. I drove her in the wet recently and it was 'exciting' to say the least. (She's wearing P6000s, BTW).
Questions:
I've scoured the forum and it seems AVOs seem to be the favoured tried and tested dampers and springs. I know these can be sourced direct from AVO UK for around £450.
What is the best way to go about having them setup and fitted ? Is it best to get AVO to set each unit up and supply them ready to fit, or is it preferable to have a specialist set the units up whilst on the car ?
Can anyone recommend a specialist on the south coast (Hants / Wilts / Dorset) who could check a new suspension set up / geometry and tweak as necessary ?
I have no problems fitting the units myself, are there any pitfalls to be wary of or tips to make the job a whole heap easier ?
Any comments would be appreciated guys.
Symptoms:
Bonnet does not clear ground to get bonnet stay in place.
Less than a Rizla paper between front arches & tyres. Plenty of the clearance on the rears.
Offside tyre starting to rub inner arch on full left hand lock.
Very harsh response when going over bumps or drain covers (even cats eyes !)
Bu99er all ground clearance and regular grounding (not good with SS exhaust - do not want to replace that too).
'Skittish' handling, lack of taut turn in (feels vague and wanders) and definitely becoming more tail happy, even in the dry. Whilst I am not planning track days, this issue is my major concern. I drove her in the wet recently and it was 'exciting' to say the least. (She's wearing P6000s, BTW).
Questions:
I've scoured the forum and it seems AVOs seem to be the favoured tried and tested dampers and springs. I know these can be sourced direct from AVO UK for around £450.
What is the best way to go about having them setup and fitted ? Is it best to get AVO to set each unit up and supply them ready to fit, or is it preferable to have a specialist set the units up whilst on the car ?
Can anyone recommend a specialist on the south coast (Hants / Wilts / Dorset) who could check a new suspension set up / geometry and tweak as necessary ?
I have no problems fitting the units myself, are there any pitfalls to be wary of or tips to make the job a whole heap easier ?
Any comments would be appreciated guys.
As far as I am aware there are mixed feelings about AVO's, I have AVO's and am having the car set up correctly corner weighted tomorrow so I will let you know what they are like when I get it back. The favoured set up is Nitrons, but they are pricy, around £1200 (all in fitted) I am told, so depends on your budget, but I am told the nitrons are far superior to the AVO set up.
I am sure some of the guys that have tried both can give more detail GreenV8S has had both I think and Kenny (gifdy) has just had Nitrons fitted, send him a mail.
Mike
I am sure some of the guys that have tried both can give more detail GreenV8S has had both I think and Kenny (gifdy) has just had Nitrons fitted, send him a mail.
Mike
V8Smith said:
As far as I am aware there are mixed feelings about AVO's, I have AVO's and am having the car set up correctly corner weighted tomorrow so I will let you know what they are like when I get it back. The favoured set up is Nitrons, but they are pricy, around £1200 (all in fitted) I am told, so depends on your budget, but I am told the nitrons are far superior to the AVO set up.
I am sure some of the guys that have tried both can give more detail GreenV8S has had both I think and Kenny (gifdy) has just had Nitrons fitted, send him a mail.
Mike
I think £1200 is a bit steep on a car I am not planning to do any track days in. I'm sure the Nitrons are quality kit but aren't AVOs or GAZ setups OK for day to day and 'fastish' road use ?
PS Thanx again for the piccies, Mike.
WildfireS3 said:
I've got AVOs on the front, and will fit them to the rear as soon as I can afford it. They were a big improvement on the KONIs (although mine were leaking), the height and damping adjustability is a good to have. Once I get all four I'll get it properly set up by Austec.
Austec are in Crawley, aren't they ? Not a bad run from Southampton.
Any idea of typical charge for a full suspension set up ?
sotonS2 said:
I've got AVOs on the front, and will fit them to the rear as soon as I can afford it. They were a big improvement on the KONIs (although mine were leaking), the height and damping adjustability is a good to have. Once I get all four I'll get it properly set up by Austec.
Austec are in Crawley, aren't they ? Not a bad run from Southampton.
Any idea of typical charge for a full suspension set up ?
Austec are in Crawley...
Guessing (and I do mean guessing) around £600 for full suspension setup...
WonkyGibbon said:
Do you mean ste up of install and set up? Putting the shocks and springs on is a pretty easy job. Took me about 30 min to do the front.
That £600 would include the shocks and springs. They did mine a while back.
Jeez !! Thats a relief - thought £600 was being quoted for suspension setup only and didn't include the components.
sotonS2 said:
WildfireS3 said:
Do you mean ste up of install and set up? Putting the shocks and springs on is a pretty easy job. Took me about 30 min to do the front.
That £600 would include the shocks and springs. They did mine a while back.
Jeez !! Thats a relief - thought £600 was being quoted for suspension setup only and didn't include the components.
Sorry... didn't mean to give you a coronary..
Podie said:
WonkyGibbon said:
WildfireS3 said:
Do you mean ste up of install and set up? Putting the shocks and springs on is a pretty easy job. Took me about 30 min to do the front.
That £600 would include the shocks and springs. They did mine a while back.
Jeez !! Thats a relief - thought £600 was being quoted for suspension setup only and didn't include the components.
Sorry... didn't mean to give you a coronary..
... quite funny though
They do a rolling road setup for £100 too which is well worth the dosh.
Can't wait for the weekend when the S is back from Austec. Engine sorted and possibly "Podied" too if funds allow !!
I love those guys.
WonkyGibbon said:
sotonS2 said:
WonkyGibbon said:
WildfireS3 said:
Do you mean ste up of install and set up? Putting the shocks and springs on is a pretty easy job. Took me about 30 min to do the front.
That £600 would include the shocks and springs. They did mine a while back.
Jeez !! Thats a relief - thought £600 was being quoted for suspension setup only and didn't include the components.
Sorry... didn't mean to give you a coronary..
... quite funny though
They do a rolling road setup for £100 too which is well worth the dosh.
Can't wait for the weekend when the S is back from Austec. Engine sorted and possibly "Podied" too if funds allow !!
I love those guys.
Yeah, quite funny now the heart rate has stabilised.
The S is being serviced this weekend. I'll probably order a complete set of AVO dampers and springs (I think Podie posted the part numbers in a previous thread). I'll fit them and get her booked in to Austec. Definitely worthwhile to have a rolling road done (if its only £100) at the same time.
Wildfire - you fitted the fronts in 30 minutes. Any tips or things to be aware of ??
Only thing you may have difficulty with is compressing the springs to fit them on the dampers (if they come seperate). The clearance between the coils is wuite small and not all the spring compressors out there work that well with them. It's OK fitting the compressor on to compress them but can be a problem getting them off again once the springs are on the damper.
Colin
Colin
Now could you not save a whole load of money and fit the standard springs and shocks about 30quid ea for shocks and 25ea for springs, you will need to sort out the correct springs though for ride height, i was told spring compressors were not good and that cutting down the original cortina ones also not good was an option although i hear this can cause stress on springs if done too quickly without cooling. this is what i am planning to do to mine as i generally dont thrash it around and i dont do track days, surely there cant be much wrong with fitting originals, arent the S and wedge front suspension the sameish ie Ford and Triumph
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