Lifespan of springs & dampers ?
Discussion
My Chim is a 98 model with 25k on the clock and to my knowledge (I took ownership just under a year ago) the springs and dampers have not been renewed since the car rolled out the factory.
Obviously the lifespan of the springs & dampers will be affected by how hard the car has been driven and over what road surfaces. However, my gut feel is that after 7 years and 25k miles in a high performance car like a Chim, I would expect these suspension parts to have either been changed or need changing. I haven't noticed the handling on the car detriorating over the time I've owned it, but then again it may have already been in decline when I took over ownership. Also, at its recent 24k service no mention was made of these parts needing renewal in the near future, but I'm not entirely convinced the service was as thorough as it ought to have been.
Any thoughts that any of you may have would be much appreciated.
Obviously the lifespan of the springs & dampers will be affected by how hard the car has been driven and over what road surfaces. However, my gut feel is that after 7 years and 25k miles in a high performance car like a Chim, I would expect these suspension parts to have either been changed or need changing. I haven't noticed the handling on the car detriorating over the time I've owned it, but then again it may have already been in decline when I took over ownership. Also, at its recent 24k service no mention was made of these parts needing renewal in the near future, but I'm not entirely convinced the service was as thorough as it ought to have been.
Any thoughts that any of you may have would be much appreciated.
1) Are you happy with your handling?
2) Do you trust your service agent and does he road test the car.
If the answer to either question is no, I would get the car into an expert like Thames Valley Racing, Topcats, Guglielmi,Austec or Jools to check out.
If the answer to both questions is yes, then why bother.
However the springs and dampers will get tired and you could definately improve the handling if you wanted to.
All IMHO
2) Do you trust your service agent and does he road test the car.
If the answer to either question is no, I would get the car into an expert like Thames Valley Racing, Topcats, Guglielmi,Austec or Jools to check out.
If the answer to both questions is yes, then why bother.
However the springs and dampers will get tired and you could definately improve the handling if you wanted to.
All IMHO
You can't *run in* dampers .. they are at their best on day one and from that point on the performance is deteriorating. You're always forcing oil through tiny orifices, if you do a lot of back road blasting your dampers will get very hot and lose performance..
the fact you've asked a question suggests you're thinkng all is not well despite not feeling any tangible drop off of performance and the apparent clean bill of health from teh service agent?
Best thing to do is get to your local club and see if there's a car there with a decent kit on that's been set up properly .. compate to your car and see if you consider it worth spending any money on your suspension.
the fact you've asked a question suggests you're thinkng all is not well despite not feeling any tangible drop off of performance and the apparent clean bill of health from teh service agent?
Best thing to do is get to your local club and see if there's a car there with a decent kit on that's been set up properly .. compate to your car and see if you consider it worth spending any money on your suspension.
One rear Bilstein on mine was absolutely shot at 16,000 miles when I bought the car, so at the subsequent service I paid a small fortune for a new pair.
The most worrying thing is that, although there was a vague feeling from the rear suspension (the handling was at best indifferent), I only really noticed when I followed the car and was alarmed to see that over a small pothole, the offside wheel went through the full travel of the spring!
Even worse, it doesn't feelt vastly better now, but I suppose that says something about my feel for the car!
As for the springs, if they keep obeying Hooke's Law, they're alright.
The most worrying thing is that, although there was a vague feeling from the rear suspension (the handling was at best indifferent), I only really noticed when I followed the car and was alarmed to see that over a small pothole, the offside wheel went through the full travel of the spring!
Even worse, it doesn't feelt vastly better now, but I suppose that says something about my feel for the car!
As for the springs, if they keep obeying Hooke's Law, they're alright.
I had a similar feeling when I went out in Hoovers Griff,it just didn't feel right, there is no doubt that Polybushing and aftermarket dampers and springs make a huge diffence but at the end of the day its down to whether the cost can be justified.
However, with such powerful/lightweight cars the steering,suspension and brakes are must-do items, if they don't feel right IMHO.
However, with such powerful/lightweight cars the steering,suspension and brakes are must-do items, if they don't feel right IMHO.
With work I had a visit to Freudenburgs Factory in the NorthEast where they make the vast majority of Shock seals used world wide (like MILLIONS).
They showed us round the development lab where we saw some shocks on test. They said, if your shocks have done more than 50K they will have lost 20% of their effectiveness.
Springs on the other hand I know sod all about.
They showed us round the development lab where we saw some shocks on test. They said, if your shocks have done more than 50K they will have lost 20% of their effectiveness.
Springs on the other hand I know sod all about.
Some people obviously do have trouble with springs sagging, but I have no idea why and it doesn't sound to me like normal wear and tear - springs *should* last forever (or until they fail through rusting).
Dampers on the other hand gradually wear out due to worn seals, oil leaks and the oil simply breaking down. I would expect dampers to last at least 25k miles of normal use but by 50k miles they may be getting rather tired. A lot comes down to the environment though, I expect you could wear dampers out a lot quicker than that if you tried.
Dampers on the other hand gradually wear out due to worn seals, oil leaks and the oil simply breaking down. I would expect dampers to last at least 25k miles of normal use but by 50k miles they may be getting rather tired. A lot comes down to the environment though, I expect you could wear dampers out a lot quicker than that if you tried.
I replaced my rear shocks a few weeks ago.
Its not that hard, a bit of elbow grease is required to get the bolts undone/done up, and a bit more to set the ride height.
I didn't bother getting them professionally set up, I don't really drive it all that fast. Just a tape measure from the tarmac to the chassis was all I used.
Its not that hard, a bit of elbow grease is required to get the bolts undone/done up, and a bit more to set the ride height.
I didn't bother getting them professionally set up, I don't really drive it all that fast. Just a tape measure from the tarmac to the chassis was all I used.
parrot of doom said:
I replaced my rear shocks a few weeks ago.
Its not that hard, a bit of elbow grease is required to get the bolts undone/done up, and a bit more to set the ride height.
I didn't bother getting them professionally set up, I don't really drive it all that fast. Just a tape measure from the tarmac to the chassis was all I used.
Whilst I concede that the rear quite often stays within tolerences if you take them back to the sameish ride height, the front appears to be more critical and to get the best out your new shocks and springs, I believe you should at least get a four wheel geo.
A lot of people have posted indiferent results from fitting kits without geo checking and if you want the car to handle properly in emergency situations, why not have it set up right after paying out the money.
The only emergency situation I anticipate is braking hard to avoid a collision with another car or pedestrian in front of me.....
The ride height is fine, and the dampers are both the same which can be said for just about 99.9% of the vehicles on the road, so unless I decide to take it on a track (very unlikely), I reckon it will be ok.
The ride height is fine, and the dampers are both the same which can be said for just about 99.9% of the vehicles on the road, so unless I decide to take it on a track (very unlikely), I reckon it will be ok.
It's a pretty easy job unless you need to mount or unmount the springs on the dampers, a job which can be distinctly dangerous without the right tools (and the right tools are not common).
In some ways it's a shame that new springs and dampers can be installed with minimal mechanical skill and effort, because imo it encourages people to just bolt them on without doing the rest of the job. That means choosing the appropriate springs, and damper settings, and resetting the geometry to achieve the desired handling. It is pretty likely that the ride height will be changed when you replace the dampers and this will throw the geometry out, in any case the original geometry may not be suitable for the new spring and damper settings.
If car handling is not important to you then no big deal, but for me the whole point of driving a car like a TVR is that they are so involving to drive, the handling and performance is what makes these cars special. To drive a car like this and not care about the handling is a baffling concept.
In some ways it's a shame that new springs and dampers can be installed with minimal mechanical skill and effort, because imo it encourages people to just bolt them on without doing the rest of the job. That means choosing the appropriate springs, and damper settings, and resetting the geometry to achieve the desired handling. It is pretty likely that the ride height will be changed when you replace the dampers and this will throw the geometry out, in any case the original geometry may not be suitable for the new spring and damper settings.
If car handling is not important to you then no big deal, but for me the whole point of driving a car like a TVR is that they are so involving to drive, the handling and performance is what makes these cars special. To drive a car like this and not care about the handling is a baffling concept.
That depends on if the suspension geometry had been biased to compensate for the poor performance of the previously worn items ..
bottom line is : if you're having anything suspension related changed, get the geometry checked .. checking is daed easy and straight-forward .. it's adjustment and seized components that takes time.
bottom line is : if you're having anything suspension related changed, get the geometry checked .. checking is daed easy and straight-forward .. it's adjustment and seized components that takes time.
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