Nitrons - 1st experience .....
Discussion
Please bear in mind that I have only driven from Tower View to Greenford round the North Circular ... however ..... the overall composure of whole car has been measurably improved. The mid corner stability and turn and improved and although the setting are a way from where I would want overall, the impression is first rate.
I put the dampers on at Tower View with my Dad and we set them to height by eye initially on Saturday, they seem absolutely spot on. Certainly driving it it feels much more planted.
Once I get back from france the real set up work will start, but for first impression on a short journey I am a very happy man.
14 Front
10 Rear
Need to bring the rear up just a touch, bearing in mind the xpression ..... minimum damping to get the job done.
I put the dampers on at Tower View with my Dad and we set them to height by eye initially on Saturday, they seem absolutely spot on. Certainly driving it it feels much more planted.
Once I get back from france the real set up work will start, but for first impression on a short journey I am a very happy man.
14 Front
10 Rear
Need to bring the rear up just a touch, bearing in mind the xpression ..... minimum damping to get the job done.
14 front and 10 rear ... from fully soft ... People are running them much harder, and bearing in min dit was the North Circular and not a back road I found that they were fine.
I did a long trawl through previous threads and the base setting appears to be at 8 clicks from soft and then work form there. I based the 14/10 split on my experiences with the S and will work from there.
In first impressions, for me, I need to stiffen the rears a little more. However, I am very conscious that I need to set eveything up before playing too much.
I will undoubtedly stiffen the rear a little for france though as we'll be 2 up with luggage etc ...
I did a long trawl through previous threads and the base setting appears to be at 8 clicks from soft and then work form there. I based the 14/10 split on my experiences with the S and will work from there.
In first impressions, for me, I need to stiffen the rears a little more. However, I am very conscious that I need to set eveything up before playing too much.
I will undoubtedly stiffen the rear a little for france though as we'll be 2 up with luggage etc ...
The main reason for setting them from fully soft was that to properly check the height of the car after lowering it from the ramp I set them to fully soft to help the car settle to a truer ride height.
Once we were happy with the ride height, we then set the dampers to fully hard, raised the car on the ramp, backed down to fully soft and did back up to the current settings. Then let the car settle back down and compared the 2 ...
Bearing in mind the fronts are at 14, it wouldn't really matter if they were from fully hard or fully soft, 14 clicks, however I recognise that the dampers may need setting from fully hard due to the internals, bear in mind that they were on a ramp at the time.
As much as anything, for me it is a reference point for the dampers. I could easily say they are 15 and 11 clicks from fully hard and it would sound very different.
Once we were happy with the ride height, we then set the dampers to fully hard, raised the car on the ramp, backed down to fully soft and did back up to the current settings. Then let the car settle back down and compared the 2 ...
Bearing in mind the fronts are at 14, it wouldn't really matter if they were from fully hard or fully soft, 14 clicks, however I recognise that the dampers may need setting from fully hard due to the internals, bear in mind that they were on a ramp at the time.
As much as anything, for me it is a reference point for the dampers. I could easily say they are 15 and 11 clicks from fully hard and it would sound very different.
lazyitus said:
lazyitus said:
How easy are they to adjust.
Do you just use your hands or an alan key or wot?
anybody, please, anybody, can you answer me. Its a simple question from a simple bloke
If you are talking damping settings then very easy, if you are talking ride height a little more difficult. I assume the griff is siilar to the S, as with scrabbling about I can adjust them all without jacking
. Harry
Edited to add the actual adjusters are on top of the damper and are easily done with the hand
>> Edited by HarryW on Wednesday 20th October 17:24
You adjust the damping with the “knob” at the top. It is ( Just) possible to do this without removing the wheels, it helps if you slightly raise the car. The fronts can be reached from under the bonnet but your hand gets a bit too close to the manifolds if it is still hot. The ride height is set by winding the spring seat up and down the damper body. You ideally need a C spanner for this but I initially used a 6mm drill shaft and then made a tool from a bit of stainless. They are quite easy to set with the weight off the wheel. Important thing is to set the dampers from full hard not full soft. If you wind from full soft they won’t necessarily match each other as not all the units have the same number on “clicks” . Mine range between 25 and 23 clicks. Do agree though, a massage improvement on the originals.
Never understood this 'set from fully hard not fully soft'. I appreciate what you are saying about the number of clicks but shirley it is just as equally true to say it from the other end of the range too 
.
Anyone care to commetn, because like Johno, I subscribe to the least stiffest setting to do the job for road use school of motoring
Harry
. Anyone care to commetn, because like Johno, I subscribe to the least stiffest setting to do the job for road use school of motoring
Harry
Most dampers (including Nitrons) have a positive end stop at the 'hard' end of the range, which gives an amount of damping which is consistent between dampers. There may also be an end stop at the 'soft' end of the scale too, but this is just to stop the adjuster being completely unscrewed and is not an integral part of the valve. It is obviously the valve position which matters so it helps to adjust it relative to a known reference point for the valve i.e. fully hard (valve closed).
Thanks for that Peter, might be one of the reason mines a bit 'different' at present 
.
Note to self, wind fully on then wind back requisite amount of turns
.
Seriously often wondered why the first click from soft was a bit vague sometimes
. Luckily the adjustment on the nitrons is linear enough between clicks to not too far out though......................hopefully .
Harry
. Note to self, wind fully on then wind back requisite amount of turns
. Seriously often wondered why the first click from soft was a bit vague sometimes
. Luckily the adjustment on the nitrons is linear enough between clicks to not too far out though......................hopefully . Harry
OK OK .....
Colour ...
Moonraker Black Metallic, with black full hide interior. (plus 2500 stone chips and crumpled rear end thanks to an enthusiastic Punto driver)
Adjustment, very easy. Damping adjustment from the top of these dampers is very easy, rotary adjuster, awkward on the Griffith and it helps to have a rag or something similar.
Height adjustment is easy, I found that a 6mm drill bit to be the best, has been mentioned here before.
I had my concerns over grubber screws on collars etc etc and GUY assured no issues with his dampers, due to aggressive thread pattern. This is very true, there is no horrible little screw to deal with.
With weight of the wheel, it is possible to turn the whole spring/collar to change height by hand without the need for the drill bit.
I had an adjustable 'C' spanner, however this had a square fitting and the Nitrons are round holes on the collar. A 'C' spanner is available from SNap On, but it will cost you around £70 !
The drill bit, although perhaps inappropriate, fits the hole (6.1mm) very nicely and saves damaging the holes.
As for setting from fully hard or fully soft, I was unaware that they had this consistency end stop.
However, before I fit any dampers I check they all have the same number of click, soft to hard. In my case, all of my dampers have a full 25 clicks, I would advise anyone to check for the reasons detailed. In future I will adopt this practise, now understanding why. Thanks Pete H !
Colour ...
Moonraker Black Metallic, with black full hide interior. (plus 2500 stone chips and crumpled rear end thanks to an enthusiastic Punto driver)
Adjustment, very easy. Damping adjustment from the top of these dampers is very easy, rotary adjuster, awkward on the Griffith and it helps to have a rag or something similar.
Height adjustment is easy, I found that a 6mm drill bit to be the best, has been mentioned here before.
I had my concerns over grubber screws on collars etc etc and GUY assured no issues with his dampers, due to aggressive thread pattern. This is very true, there is no horrible little screw to deal with.
With weight of the wheel, it is possible to turn the whole spring/collar to change height by hand without the need for the drill bit.
I had an adjustable 'C' spanner, however this had a square fitting and the Nitrons are round holes on the collar. A 'C' spanner is available from SNap On, but it will cost you around £70 !
The drill bit, although perhaps inappropriate, fits the hole (6.1mm) very nicely and saves damaging the holes.
As for setting from fully hard or fully soft, I was unaware that they had this consistency end stop.
However, before I fit any dampers I check they all have the same number of click, soft to hard. In my case, all of my dampers have a full 25 clicks, I would advise anyone to check for the reasons detailed. In future I will adopt this practise, now understanding why. Thanks Pete H !
On this ride height adjustment, does this collar just alter the preload on the spring, which in turn will affect the ride height?
In order for there to be a truly independant ride height adjuster, surely it would need to vary the distance from the spring to the mounting, without affecting spring preload, such as by a threaded rod connecting the coilover unit to one of the mountings?
In order for there to be a truly independant ride height adjuster, surely it would need to vary the distance from the spring to the mounting, without affecting spring preload, such as by a threaded rod connecting the coilover unit to one of the mountings?
Yes the spring seat just changes the spring preload and hence the static ride height. Changing the static ride height by this method means you move the operating range of the suspension, clearly the damper has a fixed mechanical end stops in bump and rebound and the spring seat adjustment doesn't affect these. regardless of the spring. For example, if you lower the car it will have less travel left before it hits the bump stops, if you raise it it will have less before it hits the droop stops. In practice, small ride height changes are not generally a problem and the main issue with lowering and stiffening is to make sure the spring doesn't come fully unloaded on full droop. Large ride height changes are a bad idea anyway as they can mess up the geometry, especially the camber correction.
Peter is dead right, last time I had my car on friendly laser alignment, I tweeked the ride height and front camber (peninsular adjustable ones) was quite surprised how much the camber & toe settings changed.
This was a check since I have been experimenting with ride height settings. The spring rates and ride height affect the feel of the car dramatically, you need a whole A4 notebook just to keep records of all the changes, and reference to a starting point is very important (I also need occassional checks on the laser alignment - even this may 'mis-read' over time). IMO the number of clicks on the damping is probably the most trivial setting, but strangely the most discussed? Setting up the car becomes a long and hard road to follow, dont know how anybody has time for anything else :-)
Dave
This was a check since I have been experimenting with ride height settings. The spring rates and ride height affect the feel of the car dramatically, you need a whole A4 notebook just to keep records of all the changes, and reference to a starting point is very important (I also need occassional checks on the laser alignment - even this may 'mis-read' over time). IMO the number of clicks on the damping is probably the most trivial setting, but strangely the most discussed? Setting up the car becomes a long and hard road to follow, dont know how anybody has time for anything else :-)
Dave
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