Recommended AVO adjustable damper click settings?

[piemanpaul]

I have recently had the AVO adjustable dampers serviced by AVO and am now ready to refit them to my Chim (will be fitting Powerflex bushes to front wishbones also).
So the question I have is what initial settings (clicks) should I use on the front/rear dampers and also how much should I wind up the spring on the damper body???

It looks like you're meant to use some kind of tool to wind the spring up the damper body - anyone know what is best to use.

And if anyone wishes to give me an education on the topic - then I'd be interested to understand what is the difference of winding up spring Versus increasing clicks on the damper?

And finally how have people protected the damper body from rust - I was thinking of spraying with waxoyl?

[pupp]

piemanpaul said:

And if anyone wishes to give me an education on the topic - then I'd be interested to understand what is the difference of winding up spring Versus increasing clicks on the damper?

Without wanting to be patronising, if this needs to be explained, are you sure it's in your (and other road users') best interests to be doing the set up? These adjustments have a drastic effect on handling characteristics of the car. Did the supplier not provide any initial recommendations?

To answer the question, the spring platform will dictate car ride height and I started by getting the rear to about 160mm and front to 150 (measured at the front most/rear most chassis outriggers over a good flat and level surface) but assumes reasonable spring rates have been selected too (ie so that the car is 'settled' and not 'topped out' or 'bottomed out'). Don't be surprised if different platform heights are needed corner to corner to achieve the desired ride-height, also be aware that the car bodies are not necessarily 'true' (nor even the chassis), which can add an element of doubt to the process (look at wheel arch to tyre gap as another indicator). The spring provides the bounce. The click adjusters on the dampers vary how much control the dampers exert over the spring deflection/extension...if the spring was off a damper body, you would easily feel the difference between adjustments by stroking the rod(!) through its length (sorry), with the lowest setting being far 'easier' than the highest. More advanced dampers separate compression and rebound damping with dedicated adjusters for each (ie two knobs or dials), most just have one, where the two functions are adjusted together and the relationship between them is dictated by the manufacturer (one knob).

It's not possible to generalise on settings as even two batches of damper from the same manufacturer may vary (fr/rr pairs should at least be matched) but I'd set them maybe 6/10ths firm and go (easy) from there... afraid that's where the fun really starts.

[Jason1788]

Hmmm... Adjusting the springs up or down will alter the vehicle height, nothing else. Adjusting the damper changes the rate of bump and rebound damping.

You can fiddle around with all this yourself if you know what you are doing, but the general consensus is take it to a specialist to get the job done properly. Whilst there are theoretically optimum damping settings for a given road condition, the final settings will vary according to your driving style and handling preference.

Edited by Jason1788 on Thursday 17th August 10:41

Damn! beaten to it!

Edited by Jason1788 on Thursday 17th August 10:42

[piemanpaul]

Sorry should have explained - post a 2500mile round trip to Prague via LeMans the dampers were shot and the bushes on the front wishbones had also seen better days. On hearing an approx labour quote for the work I decided I'd go and do it myself! I consider myself reasonably competent at wielding a spanner but have to admit I know basically nothing about suspension setup.

So I stripped off all the AVO dampers and also the front hub/wishbones. Then sent the dampers off to be serviced by AVO. At same time I POR15 treated the wisbones and chassis. Intend to give them coat of underseal also. Have purchased set of powerflex bushes for the front which I will fix on reassembly.

I was just after advice on some suitable initial suspension settings, as post setup I intend to fit four new tyres (when I get round to it) and then take it to automeadon for full 4-wheel alignment.

[biggiles]

Watch out for bust dampers affecting your wishbones- look for a recent thread I started on "forked front wheels" - I think my dead dampers probably started the wishbone failure process.

Re the settings, I'd put the clicks in the middle and then just drive it...refine...drive... until you're happy.

[andy11]

I set mine up in the middle also and adjusted from there, think I set them at 11 clicks. If you want to speak to the main man on suspension ring Jules at Track car solutions, what he does not know about TVR'S/suspension is not worth knowing.