Discussion
When I bought the car the original springs were a little tired causing the car to bottom out over speed humps. The seller gave me a set of Griffith springs that he intended to fit as replacements for the originals, which I've now had fitted. The shocks are AVOs. I'm worried that the car is now 'over sprung' as when hitting large dips in the road/dual carriageway at speed the car seems to bounce/spring up before settling down. I've screwed the shocks fairly hard to try and cure the symptom to little effect. I wondered if anyone had any thoughts as how to address the problem. Is it possible that the Griffith springs are stronger than necessary, to the detriment of the handling?
MTIA Steve
MTIA Steve
Yes Griffith springs are not the right ones to fit. They are different rates and I suspect different lengths. Sounds as if the car is oversprung and the cure is to fit the right ones.
You might find adjusting the AVOs will help but these cars are very susceptible to spring and shock changes.
Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk
I would put the original springs back in the mean time.
You might find adjusting the AVOs will help but these cars are very susceptible to spring and shock changes.
Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk
I would put the original springs back in the mean time.
As Steve says, the V8S suspension is quite different to the Griffith, the V8S has a trailing arm rear that gives a completely different leverage and requires totally different springs. I think it's very unlikely that the Griffith springs will give a suitable ride, and I would expect them to mess up the handling too.
The good news is that springs are relatively cheap and easy to change, and since those AVOs have adjustable spring seats you can easily wind the original springs up a little to restore the ground clearance, and if you replace the springs you have a margin of error over the length. Most TVR specialists will be able to provide standard or mildly uprated springs, for example Tower View offer an uprated Gaz shock/spring package and would surely supply the springs separately.
The bad news is that the AVOs I tried were easily the worst dampers I've ever tried on the car (and I've tried quite a few sorts now), they gave a spectacularly harsh ride and had very coarse adjustment. Be careful with them. With harsh dampers, or dampers that are just set very hard, it is possible to bend the lower front wishbone and they can also lead to fatigue failures of the rear trailing arms.
Obviously since my V8S has so much more power and massively stiffer suspension than standard I'm particularly aware of the weak points in the suspension, and mine has been strengthened where necessary. But I know people who have had these problems with standard cars too.
Cheers,
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)
>> Edited by GreenV8S on Wednesday 18th September 12:14
The good news is that springs are relatively cheap and easy to change, and since those AVOs have adjustable spring seats you can easily wind the original springs up a little to restore the ground clearance, and if you replace the springs you have a margin of error over the length. Most TVR specialists will be able to provide standard or mildly uprated springs, for example Tower View offer an uprated Gaz shock/spring package and would surely supply the springs separately.
The bad news is that the AVOs I tried were easily the worst dampers I've ever tried on the car (and I've tried quite a few sorts now), they gave a spectacularly harsh ride and had very coarse adjustment. Be careful with them. With harsh dampers, or dampers that are just set very hard, it is possible to bend the lower front wishbone and they can also lead to fatigue failures of the rear trailing arms.
Obviously since my V8S has so much more power and massively stiffer suspension than standard I'm particularly aware of the weak points in the suspension, and mine has been strengthened where necessary. But I know people who have had these problems with standard cars too.
Cheers,
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)
>> Edited by GreenV8S on Wednesday 18th September 12:14
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