Early Vantage dampers
Discussion
Hello, looking for some advice please.
I have a 2006 Vantage with a weeping rear damper. This is the Multimatic shock, not the Bilsteins, which i know can be rebuilt.
Clearly one would need to replace them as pairs, a pair is coming in at circa £2100 fitted, including VAT. This seems an awful lot for some standard dampers to me.
I see that Nitron do i kit i can get for circa £2k plus fitting, so lets say £2.5k. This seems like a far better solution, replaces all four shocks, and gives an 'upgrade', the only issue i have with this is that my car is standard, i dont really have the need or desire to upgrade it, and will likely sell the car next year, which i would think non standard dampers would then prove to be an issue.
If my shocks were Bilsteins i would have them rebuilt, i have two cars so the down time is not an issue. Has anyone had their Multimatics rebuilt? Has anyone switched to Bilsteins? Is that even an option and at what price?
I'm not trying to be cheap, it just seems a very expensive way to solve one weeping damaper, and knowing my luck the fronts will shortly start doing the same.
Many thanks in advance.
I have a 2006 Vantage with a weeping rear damper. This is the Multimatic shock, not the Bilsteins, which i know can be rebuilt.
Clearly one would need to replace them as pairs, a pair is coming in at circa £2100 fitted, including VAT. This seems an awful lot for some standard dampers to me.
I see that Nitron do i kit i can get for circa £2k plus fitting, so lets say £2.5k. This seems like a far better solution, replaces all four shocks, and gives an 'upgrade', the only issue i have with this is that my car is standard, i dont really have the need or desire to upgrade it, and will likely sell the car next year, which i would think non standard dampers would then prove to be an issue.
If my shocks were Bilsteins i would have them rebuilt, i have two cars so the down time is not an issue. Has anyone had their Multimatics rebuilt? Has anyone switched to Bilsteins? Is that even an option and at what price?
I'm not trying to be cheap, it just seems a very expensive way to solve one weeping damaper, and knowing my luck the fronts will shortly start doing the same.
Many thanks in advance.
If you switch to the Bilstein shocks, you *might* need new springs as well. Maybe someone can fill this in better. But the Bilsteins are different from the Multimatics, so you should replace all four if switching over.
From what I've heard, the Nitron coilovers are supposed to be great and I've heard good things about the guys at Nitron. But as far as I know, these are more track-oriented. You may be losing some comfort on rough roads, and resale might be more difficult due to the aftermarket setup.
From what I've heard, the Nitron coilovers are supposed to be great and I've heard good things about the guys at Nitron. But as far as I know, these are more track-oriented. You may be losing some comfort on rough roads, and resale might be more difficult due to the aftermarket setup.
Get a pair of used ones from astonmartinbits.
You will need to send him the old one or quote the part number to get an exact like for like replacement.
There are about 5 different versions of the Gas shocks.
Very poor choice of shocks if you ask me for a Sports / Grand tourer or whatever you wish to consider your Vantage.
I wouldnt go spending big money especially if you are selling the car next year. Especially £2k for poor quality and ride gas dampers.
You will need to send him the old one or quote the part number to get an exact like for like replacement.
There are about 5 different versions of the Gas shocks.
Very poor choice of shocks if you ask me for a Sports / Grand tourer or whatever you wish to consider your Vantage.
I wouldnt go spending big money especially if you are selling the car next year. Especially £2k for poor quality and ride gas dampers.
I'd be interested to hear options for MY06 rear shocks too. Aston Martin Bristol advised last week that both of mine had a small leak and were border-line for replacement. It subsequently sailed through the MOT no problem, so obviously not that bad yet. Might be something I'll need to look at next year though, so would like to know what my options are ahead of this.
Looking at the workshop manual, it looks like a pretty straight forward job to change the rears, so maybe swapping out for new Bilsteins would be an option if these ride significantly better than the standard dampers? Would I necessarily need to change fronts at the same time?
Looking at the workshop manual, it looks like a pretty straight forward job to change the rears, so maybe swapping out for new Bilsteins would be an option if these ride significantly better than the standard dampers? Would I necessarily need to change fronts at the same time?
I would think the issue is swapping for Bilsteins would require swapping all four to retain matched spring and damper rates, so this may mean more outlay, but then if its a 'factory upgrade' then maybe worth it.
I think im heading towards either buying some road set up Nitrons, as i think the actual shock appears for superior, or trying to find a set of decent standard used shocks, i think the deciding factor in this is if i am keeping the car a while or not.
Im loath to pay a large sum for some standard outdated non serviceable shocks.
Anyone else have any experience? I think this is quite a common issue, maybe people just pay up for standard replacements?
I think im heading towards either buying some road set up Nitrons, as i think the actual shock appears for superior, or trying to find a set of decent standard used shocks, i think the deciding factor in this is if i am keeping the car a while or not.
Im loath to pay a large sum for some standard outdated non serviceable shocks.
Anyone else have any experience? I think this is quite a common issue, maybe people just pay up for standard replacements?
Have a look at this
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Also go in eyes wide open with other options.
I'm led to believe that Nitrons have "questionable" weather proofing and can require periodic rebuilds.
With the associated geo that could work out expensive and painful.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Also go in eyes wide open with other options.
I'm led to believe that Nitrons have "questionable" weather proofing and can require periodic rebuilds.
With the associated geo that could work out expensive and painful.
peterr96 said:
Have a look at this
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Also go in eyes wide open with other options.
I'm led to believe that Nitrons have "questionable" weather proofing and can require periodic rebuilds.
With the associated geo that could work out expensive and painful.
How are you led to believe that Nitrons have questionable weather proofing? Im curious - any facts?. They seem a well established company with a wide portfolio of products. http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Also go in eyes wide open with other options.
I'm led to believe that Nitrons have "questionable" weather proofing and can require periodic rebuilds.
With the associated geo that could work out expensive and painful.
How often are you led to believe periodic rebuilds are required? 6 months, 5 years , 10 years?
Some facts would be helpful to all concerned.
Vergis said:
peterr96 said:
Have a look at this
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Also go in eyes wide open with other options.
I'm led to believe that Nitrons have "questionable" weather proofing and can require periodic rebuilds.
With the associated geo that could work out expensive and painful.
How are you led to believe that Nitrons have questionable weather proofing? Im curious - any facts?. They seem a well established company with a wide portfolio of products. http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Also go in eyes wide open with other options.
I'm led to believe that Nitrons have "questionable" weather proofing and can require periodic rebuilds.
With the associated geo that could work out expensive and painful.
How often are you led to believe periodic rebuilds are required? 6 months, 5 years , 10 years?
Some facts would be helpful to all concerned.
http://www.nitron.co.uk/pwpcontrol.php?pwpID=17741
BamfordMike said:
Seems a fair question / point from a layman perspective to me, based on comments from Nitron own website and photo of damper next to OEM, OEM having big weatherproof boot whereas the other pic shows damper rod open to environment. But yes, we are probably all wrong and a wizard from Nitron will pop up and say that super-doper rod material and awesome seals do job of OEM boot. It has to be something like that cos OEM dampers get mighty grubby and need the weatherproofing to survive.
http://www.nitron.co.uk/pwpcontrol.php?pwpID=17741
Interesting to see the picture of the dampers side by side. http://www.nitron.co.uk/pwpcontrol.php?pwpID=17741
Thanks for providing.
Having just bought a set of Nitron dampers for my Lotus Elise I would say that the blue coating on the springs is rather thin. To counter that the shocks them selves are a work of art and I was tempted to hang them on the wall of the garage instead of replacing the very scabby Bilsteins!
I have a set of AST 4100 shocks on order for my DB9, well priced and seems quite good.
http://www.ast-suspension.co.uk/shop/shockabsorber...
http://www.ast-suspension.co.uk/shop/shockabsorber...
I have leaking multimatic dampers on my sport pack DB9, I am a bit surprised they have failed as the car has only done 17k miles from new. Aston Bristol has quoted me £4200 plus VAT to replace them. That is out of the question for me to pay all that money to put rubbish Multimatic dampers put back into the car.
I have been thinking about upgrading to BR switchable suspension, which I think is similar money. Which I am led to believe are better quality parts & I can have the suspension set for a much softer ride to my liking. I'm just not sure which way to go, as I am not sure about putting non approved parts put on my car.
I think the ride quality of my car is rubbish with sport pack suspension, its way to hard & jarring for my liking, it's the weakest part of the car, everything else about for me is about spot on.
Steve
I have been thinking about upgrading to BR switchable suspension, which I think is similar money. Which I am led to believe are better quality parts & I can have the suspension set for a much softer ride to my liking. I'm just not sure which way to go, as I am not sure about putting non approved parts put on my car.
I think the ride quality of my car is rubbish with sport pack suspension, its way to hard & jarring for my liking, it's the weakest part of the car, everything else about for me is about spot on.
Steve
Jibberingloon said:
Easiest way is find a Sports Pack Vantage and give the Registration to a AM Dealer and ask for the model number of the front and rear dampers and springs 
I was in the AM Bristol dealer at the weekend and he mentioned the 'sports pack' upgrade, but I didn't really want to spend the +£4k just because I have a leaky shock. Accepting that the upgrades would improve handling and I'd have some fancy 5 spoke alloys. I should have asked for the actual Bilstein part numbers, but know how secretive these parts people can be sometimes, especially as they know your just going to try and buy them elsewhere.Gassing Station | Aston Martin | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff