Cerbera shocks/springs

[madmick]

Hi all need to replace shocks / springs in my 97 cerb. Looking for advice on shock make, length, and spring length and rate. Mostly road use. Thanks in advance

[DuncanM]

I've recently fitted Gaz Mono shocks, with 600lbs springs front and rear. The car feels superb, needed helper springs, all supplied by Derek - http://www.absolutelyshocks.com/

I wanted the car to feel more like my gt86, and I'm very happy with how it's turned out. If you're interested, I can supply more details, like ride height etc.

[CerbWill]

DuncanM said:

I've recently fitted Gaz Mono shocks, with 600lbs springs front and rear. The car feels superb, needed helper springs, all supplied by Derek - http://www.absolutelyshocks.com/

I wanted the car to feel more like my gt86, and I'm very happy with how it's turned out. If you're interested, I can supply more details, like ride height etc.

Interesting. What shocks did you have before? My Cerb has Gaz Gold Pros and my Tuscan has Nickels. I do wonder about either moving the GGPs to the Tuscan and fitting something new to the Cerbera, or keeping GGPs on the Cerb and upgrading the Tuscan.

[gruffalo]

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

My upgrade.

[Gazzab]

One of the masters of Cerbera suspension
http://www.kitsandclassics.co.uk/

[DuncanM]

CerbWill said:

Interesting. What shocks did you have before? My Cerb has Gaz Gold Pros and my Tuscan has Nickels. I do wonder about either moving the GGPs to the Tuscan and fitting something new to the Cerbera, or keeping GGPs on the Cerb and upgrading the Tuscan.

Hello,

I had a very old set of Nitrons, I believe they were the first model (NTX?), one of the fronts had a tiny weep/leak hence changing them, but I'd wanted to anyway so a good excuse.

I did a lot of research on here before choosing the Gaz Mono, and the damping is as good as I could have hoped. They are superb.

The 600/600 sounds stiff, but it really isn't on a Cerbera, I can back off the damping and make it feel like a 90s Jag XJ.

In my experience:

Springs = body control/roll resistance

Dampers = ride quality

Although I'm sure getting the balance right between the two is important.

Edited by DuncanM on Wednesday 26th January 10:00

[Byker28i]

I put Nitrons on when I first got my car and had them fully rebuilt a couple of years ago, they looked like new when returned...

Springs were 400 front, 350 rear. It was on the invoice.
Product code 0900-225-0400S and 0900-225-0350SS 2.25" springs

15 years old after rebuild and new springs

[DuncanM]

Byker28i said:

I put Nitrons on when I first got my car and had them fully rebuilt a couple of years ago, they looked like new when returned...

Springs were 400 front, 350 rear. It was on the invoice.
Product code 0900-225-0400S and 0900-225-0350SS 2.25" springs

15 years old after rebuild and new springs

Great option if you are happy with your suspension, mine were just too old, and I fancied the change.

[spitfire4v8]

DuncanM said:

Byker28i said:

I put Nitrons on when I first got my car and had them fully rebuilt a couple of years ago, they looked like new when returned...

Springs were 400 front, 350 rear. It was on the invoice.
Product code 0900-225-0400S and 0900-225-0350SS 2.25" springs

15 years old after rebuild and new springs

Great option if you are happy with your suspension, mine were just too old, and I fancied the change.

Yep the ntx was i think Guy's first model after going it alone .. twin tube steel bodied .. they were a nice damper but have been obsolete for quite some time and not rebuildable but nitron for some time. He then introduced the ntr and tvrs were probably one of the key markets for getting him established as a supplier of quality suspension .. and let's face it he's not really looked back. Nitron have just moved again in to new premises. Great guy who's done very well for himself

[Byker28i]

So they have moved! They aren't far from me so were easy to drop off to. But the above was just a post about the quality and how good they look after so long.

[Jhonno]

What is your budget?

[Flatplane8]

Hi,

I replaced some Nitrons with Bilstiens as spec'd by Ben Lang at Blackdown Automotive. A broken spring snapped one of the Nitrons end off). Ben did the development work for the final fling of TVR and the reviews were good. I'd already had the Nitrons rebuilt once before and fancied a change, I also hadn't felt the need to adjust them for well over a decade and 70k miles. They seem good so far, but I'm not planning any trackdays soon so can't comment on their suitability for that.

Simon

[madmick]

Hi guys thanks for all the messages. I’ve gone with gas gold pros with springs 400 front 350 rear as I only use car few times a year and road miles only. Thanks once again

[MattPlaneCrank]

spitfire4v8 said:

DuncanM said:

Byker28i said:

I put Nitrons on when I first got my car and had them fully rebuilt a couple of years ago, they looked like new when returned...

Springs were 400 front, 350 rear. It was on the invoice.
Product code 0900-225-0400S and 0900-225-0350SS 2.25" springs

15 years old after rebuild and new springs

Great option if you are happy with your suspension, mine were just too old, and I fancied the change.

Yep the ntx was i think Guy's first model after going it alone .. twin tube steel bodied .. they were a nice damper but have been obsolete for quite some time and not rebuildable but nitron for some time. He then introduced the ntr and tvrs were probably one of the key markets for getting him established as a supplier of quality suspension .. and let's face it he's not really looked back. Nitron have just moved again in to new premises. Great guy who's done very well for himself

I read in a previous post that removing the rear anti roll bar improves grip on cornering, would you use higher rated springs in this setup and which dampers give the best results?

[Davo23]

OP, let us know what you think of them once fitted

[spitfire4v8]

MattPlaneCrank said:

I read in a previous post that removing the rear anti roll bar improves grip on cornering, would you use higher rated springs in this setup and which dampers give the best results?

Yes i've done that on many cerbs now, though i shamelessly stole the idea from martin short, plus his front anti roll bar modification to go with it.
As for dampers well that's a very open ended question, i've tried a great many of the options over the years, but many of those dampers have evolved over the years too so my opinions are somewhat out of date now and so don't tend to voice them very often.

if you're serious about suspension though you really need something either easily re-configurable, or double, triple, or quadruple adjustable depending on your budget, and how much you enjoy tinkering with settings!

As mentioned above, many people with adjustable suspension never touch it.

[Byker28i]

I used to adjust for track days, then worked out I'd rather know what the car was doing as it was setup on the road.
The only other time is I raise the suspension, especially the rear when the car is packed for camping at Classic Le Mans

[DuncanM]

I love adjustable suspension, everyone has a different preference, and so being able to change the damping, test, then change again is brilliant.

I prefer having the front dampers a couple of clicks stiffer than the rear, despite reading advice to leave them all the same. I also much prefer the feel of the car with the rear ARB in place.

[spitfire4v8]

DuncanM said:

I love adjustable suspension, everyone has a different preference, and so being able to change the damping, test, then change again is brilliant.

I prefer having the front dampers a couple of clicks stiffer than the rear, despite reading advice to leave them all the same. I also much prefer the feel of the car with the rear ARB in place.

That depends how they're valved though. Only entry level dampers tend to have the same response curves front and rear, as you go more esoteric they will be valved differently front to rear, plus you have different motion ratios front and rear too , so where you end up setting your own dampers is very much personal preference. Treat any advice for setting up damper clicks as a starting point only.

[DuncanM]

spitfire4v8 said:

That depends how they're valved though. Only entry level dampers tend to have the same response curves front and rear, as you go more esoteric they will be valved differently front to rear, plus you have different motion ratios front and rear too , so where you end up setting your own dampers is very much personal preference. Treat any advice for setting up damper clicks as a starting point only.

Oh definitely, it's early days with the new setup, as winter isn't great for testing/playing about. I'm happy so far though, and am aiming for a similar feel to my GT86. It's nice to have a benchmark to compare it with, and jump between cars.