Fitting rear GAZ spring/dampers

[tvrbob]

Many thanks to my petrolhead wife, she knew without help from me that adjustable GAZ dampers and better springs would bring cheer to me on Christmas morning. Now I need to fit them. The job looks simple but I need some help.

Remove nuts, tap out pins. Is it that simple?

Torque settings when retightening the pins?

Should I torque up with the car on the road, i.e. suspension under load?

For an initial setting what is a good damper setting for road and how many clicks harder do people use for the track?

Many thanks in anticipation.

Edited by tvrbob on Wednesday 27th December 13:25

[chassis 33]

Essentially yes, it's that simple, however after many years of being coated in road spray some may need a bit of persuasion. The most difficult bolt is the lower front wishbone bolt, cos it's difficult to get access to it.

Torque settings and bolt sizes (incase you need new bolts) are here www.thegriffithpages.com/modifications/chassis-modifications/chassis-nut-and-bolt-sizes.html

Don't rush it, spend a couple of days dousing the threads in WD40 or similar before attempting the job, TBH for the cost putting new nuts and bolts is worth while (you shouldn't really re-use a nyloc anyway). At a steady pace and assuming everythong behaves 1hr a corner is ample time, even with the compulsary brew breaks!

I think Derek (the Gazman) generally reccomends about 18clicks from soft to start with, but you may want to contact him just to confirm

Regards
Iain

[the gazman]

tvrbob said:

Should I torque up with the car on the road, i.e. suspension under load?

For an initial setting what is a good damper setting for road and how many clicks harder do people use for the track?

Many thanks in anticipation.

Bob
Yes, don't torque up in full droop, get the weight on the wheel first.
18/20 is a good starting point but remember that your front shocks and springs are probably knocking on a bit so you might need to run the rears a bit softer to keep the car balanced.
I'd bounce the front and see how soft it felt and if it was fairly soft, I'd start at 10 clicks from soft on the rear and bounce the rear and gradually increase until you start to see it holding on the way up, i.e the rebound control is starting to have an effect and then I'd take it for a run and see how it drove and increase or decrease accordingly.

Oh, and BTW, run the rear about 10mm higher than the front, an easy way to do this is to measure from the front and rear of the outrigger to the ground.

Edited by the gazman on Wednesday 27th December 08:47

[biggiles]

I would re-iterate the advice of covering everything in WD40 for a day or so to loosen the bolts.

You'll also need a pair of 19mm spanners (ring/open). I didn't have a ratchet spanner, but I wish I had- it's very fiddly getting in there and doing up bolts 30 degrees at a time takes a while.

I also found a socket set attached to a 5ft pipe made the initial loosening a much easier process.

[tvrbob]

the gazman said:

.....remember that your front shocks and springs are probably knocking on a bit so you might need to run the rears a bit softer to keep the car balanced.

I hope to see you at Chimfest '07 (August 12th) to discuss upgrading the fronts.

[the gazman]

tvrbob said:

the gazman said:

.....remember that your front shocks and springs are probably knocking on a bit so you might need to run the rears a bit softer to keep the car balanced.

I hope to see you at Chimfest '07 (August 12th) to discuss upgrading the fronts.

Probably find you at the auction then Bob