Snapped shock!

[notax]

Was driving my 1998 Chim yesterday (slowly on a straight road thank God) when there was an almighty bang. Car was due to go to Austec for some Nitrons anyway - now there a bit earlier thanks to AA... Shock was original Bilstein (car only done 10k miles) has this happened to anyone else?

[GreenV8S]

Did the rod actually snap, or just the top came off? Had similar happen to me with some cheap-and-nasty-four-letter-word dampers, which collapsed the suspension and locked the steering solid. Luckily it went when I was doing 20 mph and not a couple of minutes earlier at three figure* speeds.


* 20.1, obviously

[notax]

I think the rod snapped near the top. Strange, but fortunate, that it happened to both us when we weren't putting the suspension under any great loads.

[GreenV8S]

If yours actually snapped the rod that is probably a sign that a bending load was being applied to it, which shouldn't normally happen but could happen if the top mount has seized. It might be worth confirming why it failed before you replace it, because no damper will tolerate bending loads for long and it would be a smahe to wreck the replacements too.

[notax]

Good thinking. I don't want the Nitrons to suffer the same fate. I guess that the guys at Austec will be able to sort it out in any case. PS just about to start another thread which is a continuation from another you've helped me with...

[dingg]

yes - near side rear snapped on mine a couple of months ago - on inspection it appeared to snap just at the last thread on the top part of the damper where it screws into the boss looks to be an inherent weakness IMO and I suspect it may have been cracked for a while (crack had a rust bloom ) prior to parting completely - driving down a bit of a bumpy road at the time but not going too heavy in it.

[IPAddis]

notax said:

Was driving my 1998 Chim yesterday

notax said:

car only done 10k miles

Could that be the reason? If it's only done 10k miles and it's 8 years old, it will have spent quite some time sitting around. I guess the top mounts could have rusted solid in that time.

Ian A.

[scoule]

This happened to my '94 Grif 500 before I bought it around 7 years ago .. one snapped, the pair were replaced.

[pblake]

Mine broke on the second week of ownership. At 60mph the n/s/r shock came into the car to see me. Was great fun at 5:30am trying to get it on the low loader, it made lots of sparks as the exhausts draged along the road.
Scary but alright now.