Vixen Suspension
Vixen Suspension
Author
Discussion

jpa

Original Poster:

218 posts

253 months

Monday 28th January 2008
quotequote all
Hi

Having just bought a project Vixen S3 (with 4 rear shock set up), I am looking to buy new shocks / springs for the car for a standard/fast road set up.

Any recommendations for which product to use? AVO? Spax? Also, any recommendations for suppliers?

Also, newbie question here, are the shocks / springs different from the M-series?

Cheers
Paul.


THREEFISHORANGE

574 posts

243 months

Monday 28th January 2008
quotequote all
Get in contact with Adrian Venn at 'exactly TVR' .He's the fella.He will sort you out with AVO's to whatever spec you want.As he will tell you the spec AVO will give you is different to his.Adrian's being better set up.(that's another tenner you bl**dy owe me Adrian).

heightswitch

6,322 posts

272 months

Monday 28th January 2008
quotequote all
THREEFISHORANGE said:
Get in contact with Adrian Venn at 'exactly TVR' .He's the fella.He will sort you out with AVO's to whatever spec you want.As he will tell you the spec AVO will give you is different to his.Adrian's being better set up.(that's another tenner you bl**dy owe me Adrian).
Speak to Adrian.

Your ideal set up for fast road will be AVO shocks, 2 pair only required. 190lb Adrian venn springs. 4 no, same poundage front and rear, if you are a fat bastard you may want 195lbhehe fit the rear coil over on the front location rather than the rear.

Adrian will sell you a matched set with the correct free length springs and non of the bull that DG will give you. just ask them to tell you what their spring rates are.

N.

nwarner

612 posts

282 months

Tuesday 29th January 2008
quotequote all
jpa said:
Hi

Having just bought a project Vixen S3 (with 4 rear shock set up), I am looking to buy new shocks / springs for the car for a standard/fast road set up.

Any recommendations for which product to use? AVO? Spax? Also, any recommendations for suppliers?

Also, newbie question here, are the shocks / springs different from the M-series?

Cheers
Paul.
I have just fitted a set of AVO's to my Vixen S3 that I got from Steve Reid. Very pleased with them.

Regards

Nige

jpa

Original Poster:

218 posts

253 months

Thursday 31st January 2008
quotequote all
Thanks for the advice gents. Have spoken to both parties. Nige, did you end up with a 6 shock / 6 spring set up? Sounds like the logical thing to do with regard to spreading the load across the rear upright tie bars.

As most places seem to offer AVOs only, does anyone know what is available in standard / non-adjustable form?

Paul.

thegamekeeper

2,282 posts

304 months

Thursday 31st January 2008
quotequote all
Koni Classic

nwarner

612 posts

282 months

Thursday 31st January 2008
quotequote all
jpa said:
Nige, did you end up with a 6 shock / 6 spring set up? Sounds like the logical thing to do with regard to spreading the load across the rear upright tie bars.

Paul.
Yes, I've got a 6 shock / 6 spring set up

Nige

pridaux

4,974 posts

171 months

Monday 3rd June 2013
quotequote all
heightswitch said:
Speak to Adrian.

Your ideal set up for fast road will be AVO shocks, 2 pair only required. 190lb Adrian venn springs. 4 no, same poundage front and rear, if you are a fat bd you may want 195lbhehe fit the rear coil over on the front location rather than the rear.

Adrian will sell you a matched set with the correct free length springs and non of the bull that DG will give you. just ask them to tell you what their spring rates are.

N.
Here is some help regards the Vixen shock looks like changing to two rather than 4 for fast road may be the way to go?
Unless you just want to spent another 350 beer tokens on doubling up?
Andrew

heightswitch

6,322 posts

272 months

Monday 3rd June 2013
quotequote all
Holy thread resurrection

I quite like protechs at the mo but Koni's are nicer quality and nicer price.

2 or 4 on rear depends on what you are doing with the car..Their is no right and wrong answer..Just different.

Again Adrian or Steve will advise...Steve in particular for Vixens and early chassid car.

I would probably run 4 rear on a road car certainly nowt wrong with the Avo's Adrian supplied and you cant fault the after sales from any of our specialists.
N.


N.


Edited by heightswitch on Monday 3rd June 19:13

pridaux

4,974 posts

171 months

Monday 3rd June 2013
quotequote all
heightswitch said:
Holy thread resurrection

I quite like protechs at the mo but Koni's are nicer quality and nicer price.

2 or 4 on rear depends on what you are doing with the car..Their is no right and wrong answer..Just different.

Again Adrian or Steve will advise...Steve in particular for Vixens and early chassid car.

I would probably run 4 rear on a road car certainly nowt wrong with the Avo's Adrian supplied and you cant fault the after sales from any of our specialists.
N.


N.


Edited by heightswitch on Monday 3rd June 19:13
Thanks Neil
I went looking for other threads that covered this subject due to how my car is set up.
Interesting that my Vixen has the single Avo as you suggested and although i have only done 1000 miles in her in the last month 700 myself and 300 by Richard i have found that she is not as hard as i had expected and the handling is rather nice for road use however i will get out soon and test her on some of our nice country roads with a heavy foot and see how she handles.
I can see the benefit of double springs but as this is how she is set up i will be leaving well alone for the moment.
Andrew

heightswitch

6,322 posts

272 months

Monday 3rd June 2013
quotequote all
pridaux said:
Thanks Neil
I went looking for other threads that covered this subject due to how my car is set up.
Interesting that my Vixen has the single Avo as you suggested and although i have only done 1000 miles in her in the last month 700 myself and 300 by Richard i have found that she is not as hard as i had expected and the handling is rather nice for road use however i will get out soon and test her on some of our nice country roads with a heavy foot and see how she handles.
I can see the benefit of double springs but as this is how she is set up i will be leaving well alone for the moment.
Andrew
For best handling I would always go twin damper, single spring, spring and damper on the forward most position, damper only on rear. (opposite to original S2 set up)
Halving spring rates is ok in principle but for some reason 2 springs with half rate always feels stiffer than 1 spring...with double
The other argument is the halving and evening out of the weight to both sides of the pivot rod on the rear upright which especially on a road car with reliability in mind is a good thing..Its all been tried.

You pays your money and takes your chance..
N.

RCK974X

2,521 posts

171 months

Monday 3rd June 2013
quotequote all
And of course while you're there, check your pivot bar (which the shockers attach to) isn't bent.

As heightswitch says, 4 shocks put a lot less strain on the bar, and the single shock setup is known for bending that bar (and snapping, I understand).

As far as I know the replacement bars are made of stronger HT steel than the originals.

From post above, are there 4 x 190 lbs at rear ? That seems very hard to me !

Slow M

2,862 posts

228 months

Tuesday 4th June 2013
quotequote all
Adding my 2d,
One spring, and one shock weigh less than two.
What is the likelihood of pivot rod breakage?
When using the single coilover, the pivot rod is well within the 4:1 ratio commonly accepted as a limit for a cantilever.
"Stronger HT steel" will typically show a benefit at UTS, not in lower degrees of deflection under the same load. Of course, cycle life would be improved, but do these break before they're rusted to absolute st?

* (if this means stronger steel)

Best,
B.

Edited by Slow M on Tuesday 4th June 05:42

daza

237 posts

304 months

Tuesday 4th June 2013
quotequote all
RCK974X said:
And of course while you're there, check your pivot bar (which the shockers attach to) isn't bent.

As heightswitch says, 4 shocks put a lot less strain on the bar, and the single shock setup is known for bending that bar (and snapping, I understand).

As far as I know the replacement bars are made of stronger HT steel than the originals.

From post above, are there 4 x 190 lbs at rear ? That seems very hard to me !
Its meant to be 4x 90lbs

D

RCK974X

2,521 posts

171 months

Tuesday 4th June 2013
quotequote all
[2d read and accepted]

All true...and good points.

I can only repeat that BOTH the bars on mine were bent (on shocker side) when I got to refurb it, could have been a mad previous owner, or driven it over a kerb or similar.

I was told that the rods do fatigue and break, but I have no way of confirming if that info is actually true or not, and whether it's under 'normal' loads. (whatever normal is)
I just decided to be cautious anyway and go for 4.

As you say, there's a whole range of steel properties which come into play, so you takes yer choice...

Edited by RCK974X on Tuesday 4th June 06:22

RCK974X

2,521 posts

171 months

Tuesday 4th June 2013
quotequote all
daza said:
Its meant to be 4x 90lbs

D
OK - I'm pretty sure I got 4 x 80lbs for mine... must check receipts....

daza

237 posts

304 months

Tuesday 4th June 2013
quotequote all
RCK974X said:
OK - I'm pretty sure I got 4 x 80lbs for mine... must check receipts....
Depends on your weight and who rides in your chariot.
(Falkner Springs)

Regards D

jpa

Original Poster:

218 posts

253 months

Tuesday 4th June 2013
quotequote all
I got my AVOs and springs from Steve Reid (4 shock/spring set up) - Steve, can you confirm what rate my springs will be?

And yes pivot bars can break, although mine broke due to the fact a previous owner had 'scalloped' the bar and used normal bolts to hold it rather than used scalloped bolts!!!!!

Paul.

daza

237 posts

304 months

Tuesday 4th June 2013
quotequote all
RCK974X said:
OK - I'm pretty sure I got 4 x 80lbs for mine... must check receipts....
Depends on your weight and who rides in your chariot.
(Falkner Springs)

Regards D

TVRVixenV8

81 posts

251 months

Wednesday 5th June 2013
quotequote all
does anybody know the typical length of a Vixen shock? My S2 is a lot to low, only 8cm ground clearance when the car is on a car lift! so i assume the shock is to short, i've got a set of Gaz Gold and it is not possible to get any more clearance by adjusting the heights on the shock