Koni or Spax

[TXcoyote]

Looking for a new set of Dampeners. What y'all recommend? And why?

[rev-erend]

Koni are original equipement and none adjustable (except for wear - and you have to remove from Car to do it .. well almost..)

Spax - OK but are a bit crude.

Avo - adjustable. Pretty good. Build quality not great - they rust and the adjuster gets stuck.

Gaz - Nickel plated so should not rush. Adjustable. Ride & handling seem good.

Nitrons - not really suitable as they are alloy and Tasmin racers have broken them - wedge suspension seems to put too mack load on them. Expensive.

Are there others for wedges..

Gaz seem to have it at the moment..

[TXcoyote]

Thanks for the reply, what is the best place to purchase GAZ?

[grahamw48]

There are also the RT Racing 'Redline' adjustables, which they fitted to my 280i, along with new springs. They looked pretty good quality to me, and I'm sure Richard would be able to ship them.

edited to add: -adjustable springseats on the coilovers of course.

>> Edited by grahamw48 on Sunday 14th May 22:41

[wedg1e]

Koni's are adjustable: they have 7 settings... Hard. Very hard. Harder still. ing hard. Mike Tyson. Diamond. Something harder than diamond

[TXcoyote]

[quote=grahamw48]There are also the RT Racing 'Redline' adjustables, which they fitted to my 280i, along with new springs. They looked pretty good quality to me, and I'm sure Richard would be able to ship them.

Graham,

You got an email for Richard?

Thanks,

[planman350i]

grahamw48 said:

There are also the RT Racing 'Redline' adjustables, which they fitted to my 280i, along with new springs. They looked pretty good quality to me, and I'm sure Richard would be able to ship them. edited to add: -adjustable springseats on the coilovers of course. >> Edited by grahamw48 on Sunday 14th May 22:41

Yes, I've recently had Redline fitted by RT and they seem pretty good to me. Also a reasonable price.

[s.hogan3]

ive got a account with gaz shocker if you go for them i can order them in for you and have them posted to you direct thay are 24 settings and ajusterbal hight but you have to have your lower arm stregthend were the shocker bolts on give me a email if your intrested

[cuneus]

s.hogan3 said:

have to have your lower arm stregthend were the shocker bolts on give me a email if your intrested

So what's that all about then ?

[l33]

I have AVO shocks on mine and think they are great. been on about 2 years and no signs of rust yet

[Heebeegeetee]

wedg1e said:

Koni's are adjustable: they have 7 settings... Hard. Very hard. Harder still. ing hard. Mike Tyson. Diamond. Something harder than diamond

Thats interesting.

If I'm allowed to say so here, guys , but a mate put a Koni set-up on his MX5 (am I allowed to say that word here?) and absolutely destroyed the cars ride and handling.

These konis have 3 height settings, which are: Too low, way too low, and we're on the floor now, so whats the point?

I also recall some years ago a mate put Konis on his VR6, which gave his Golf the ride quality of a plank.

I understand that Spax no longer have a technical department, and that they're only interested in the chav market.

The Golf mate used AVO when he wanted a shocker built for this:


Their technical chap listened to what Jim wanted, they put the exsisiting shocker on a test-bed, prodiuced graphs, and agreed on a plan. Then built somethin completely different.

Its much harder getting what you want than it should be, and its a right cesspool out there.



>> Edited by Heebeegeetee on Monday 15th May 10:13

[chassis 33]

cuneus said:

s.hogan3 said: have to have your lower arm stregthend were the shocker bolts on give me a email if your intrested So what's that all about then ?

It's a common problem if converting the Ford wishbones to accept coil overs, you end up punching the bottoms out of the wishbones.

[txcoyote]

I have heard many good reports on the Redlines. I left a message via email for Richard, so let's hope he responds soon.

[txcoyote]

Boy the Redlines are expensive 460 pounds for a set of 4, Gaz are 380 and AVO's and Spax are 280. Since I will be needing other parts as well I am leaning towards the AVO's right now.

[FrenchTVR]

chassis 33 said:

cuneus said: s.hogan3 said: have to have your lower arm stregthend were the shocker bolts on give me a email if your intrested So what's that all about then ? It's a common problem if converting the Ford wishbones to accept coil overs, you end up punching the bottoms out of the wishbones.

Like this

[JR]

FrenchTVR said:

Like this

Sadly all too familiar; especially if the dampers are on a stiff setting or sieze up.

[350matt]

Worth bearing in mind that the AVO's can be rebuilt very cheaply for about 15 quid a throw by the factory in Northampton, I had mine refurbed a couple of times over 50K miles
Matt

[txcoyote]

350matt said:

Worth bearing in mind that the AVO's can be rebuilt very cheaply for about 15 quid a throw by the factory in Northampton, I had mine refurbed a couple of times over 50K miles Matt

Hopefully you live around some bad roads otherwise the AVO's don't seem to hold up?

[jchase]

Would I be right in thinking the Konis are only adjustable for Bump damping, not rebound? Apparently you can get AVOs that have seperate Bump and Rebound damping adjustment - any idea what the system is for the RedLine jobbies?. I Have brand new Konis on the rear of my 350i FHC, and it is brutal going over speed bumps, and mildly unleasant as you come off the speed bump. It might be the springs are just too stiff (oo-er) though ?

I had SPAX once on an ALF* - both adjusters siezed and one started leaking 1 day after the warranty lapsed - they were also very very scary when it got a bit cold outside - they went rock hard. Of course that was a few years ago, so they may have sorted them out by now.

-Jim

[JR]

txcoyote said:

350matt said: Worth bearing in mind that the AVO's can be rebuilt very cheaply for about 15 quid a throw by the factory in Northampton, I had mine refurbed a couple of times over 50K miles Matt Hopefully you live around some bad roads otherwise the AVO's don't seem to hold up?

When Wedges were a current model it was con sidered quite normal to renew the dampers (stock was Armstrong) at the 18K (36,54,72 etc) services and the springs at the 24K etc services. Frightening isn't it?