Shocks & Springs

[flinny]

I'm going to be replacing my shocks and springs all round in the next month or so. I got a quote from AVO, cos they're mentioned in the bible, but I know Gazman on here has his own line, I've not approached him yet but having had a look at his site, sorry to talk in the third tense Derek, they're a bit more.

What's the difference? I've never replaced this sort of thing before, so I'm turning to the most informed bunch of people I know, well don't know, but you know what I mean.

I'm not really interested in which is better than the other, just the difference and which would suit my needs best, general driving with maybe a track day or two at most.

Please help I'd rather not spend upwards of £400 plus fitting to be disappointed.

[WonkyGibbon]

Hi there,

I can't comment on Gaz as I've never used them.

Moved to AVO's about 18 months ago. The main advantage is the ability adjust the damping by hand. This is simply a case of firmly clicking a thumb wheel on the shock. No tools required. They have 12 or 14 positions if I remember right. This means you can trial various settings over the days or weeks after you get them - to set it up just right for your driving style. A knock on of this is that you may want to have a different setup for the track - in which case you can just click to your favoured "track" position - and off you go.

I believe you're supposed to send them back to the factory to have them reconditioned every couple of years. If I remember this is for a nominal fee - the main cost would be the labour of getting them on and off and not having the car for a week.

Hope this helps,

Danny

[pies]

Bugsy

[bridgdav]

pies said:

Bugsy

Who....

www.pistonheads.com/gassing/profile.asp?h=0&memberId=36887

[the gazman]

If you want impartial advice, why not have a word with Guglielmi, he is his own man and IMHO he is one of the best guys to fit and set up suspension around.

[flinny]

the gazman said:

If you want impartial advice, why not have a word with Guglielmi, he is his own man and IMHO he is one of the best guys to fit and set up suspension around.

Thanks Derek I may give him a call. As I said I really don't know the first thing of what to look for hence the question.

At least if I speak to Steve, it'll mean I dont have to post a question about set up

[the gazman]

Whatever you do, get the car set up by somebody who knows what they are doing, yes Spax and Avo are slightly less expensive than gaz but are they as good? are they specifically set up for the S, you need to ask the question.

>> Edited by the gazman on Monday 23 January 16:14

[pies]

Spax i think GreenV8S might say something

[F908 Tim]

Changed my dead springs and knackered dampers for new Gaz all round a couple of months back and very happy I did.
Still need to play some more to get the clicks just right for both front and back, but the ride height and handling are much improved.

[greenv8s]

pies said:

Spax i think GreenV8S might say something

Let me just say that last time I drove the car with Spax on, the expression 'over my dead body' was almost not a figure of speech, and at that point I decided it would be *the* last time I dove the car with Spax on.

[the gazman]

and they such nice things about you Peter, never had Spax on a car myself and only had second hand reports about reliability, as for Avo, I did have them on my old green S and was singularly unimpressed, I felt it bounced round corners rather than drove and IMHO the valving/piston rod dia is wrong on Avo on the Chim/Griff as well, which is another car with a sensitive rear end.

Its funny actually that the one car you think would hate Avo's the worst i.e. the Cerbera actually doesn't run too bad on them, there you go, I suppose sooner or later if you have generic valving that it will suit something, or be close.

I should say that Nigel from Avo did offer to specifically valve the various cars for me but to be honest I couldn't be arsed to go through the process again.

>> Edited by the gazman on Monday 23 January 19:04

[pies]

greenv8s said:

pies said: Spax i think GreenV8S might say something Let me just say that last time I drove the car with Spax on, the expression 'over my dead body' was almost not a figure of speech, and at that point I decided it would be *the* last time I dove the car with Spax on.

Sorry I just find it funny

[greenv8s]

I only tried AVOs briefly, and I suspect I didn't experience them at their best. The ones I was supplied were completely the wrong size and rate for the car and they were really quite unpleasant. Perhaps they've improved since then, but I suspect that the 'one size fits all' damping will always be a limiting factor. I was the guinea pig for the early GAZ dampers for the S series and they worked quite a bit better than the AVOs, but still not good enough to pursuade me to buy a set.

[the gazman]

greenv8s said:

I only tried AVOs briefly, and I suspect I didn't experience them at their best. The ones I was supplied were completely the wrong size and rate for the car and they were really quite unpleasant. Perhaps they've improved since then, but I suspect that the 'one size fits all' damping will always be a limiting factor. I was the guinea pig for the early GAZ dampers for the S series and they worked quite a bit better than the AVOs, but still not good enough to pursuade me to buy a set.

Considering that Rod Avon was the consultant at Gaz in those days I'm not surprised they were similar, I think you would be more impressed with the Dave Lyon era shocks and Guglielmi and others valving.

>> Edited by the gazman on Monday 23 January 20:08

[mmickgoodall]

I fitted Gaz springs and shocks to mine a couple of years ago and they are fine.
I cant speek for the others though as I havent tried them.