AVO dampers....anyone have experience?

[rigga]

Having had the car serviced today at David Geralds i need to decide what suspension to upgrade to from the standard Billies,i have a rear one leaking,and was going to upgrade at some point soon anyway,they reccomend three levels depending on budget and use,basic upgrade to AVO dampers (£90 a corner)with the standars eibech springs swapped over from the current Billies,height and damping adjustable units and rose jointed now,reckon this works well when set up,and at a reasonable cost,midlevel replace with new standard Billies,(double the AVO at £190 a corner when bushed etc)and top end a Nitron set up(roughly £250 a corner).... now im not a track day warrior,or even a mental road driver,so a grand on Nitrons is a tad excessive i think for my needs,the AVO's i know nothing about as most current topics regarding upgrades seem to be about Gaz in their various incarnations and a few racing red,i just wish there was a definate set that a lot of guys reccomend to cut out all the guess work,every time one of these topics surfaces there seems to be conflicting stories regarding quality control on certain models,squeeks oil leaks etc....so any pointers on AVO as a choice?

[FlipFlopGriff]

Martin,
If the dampers are tired then chances are the springs will be too won't they?
I'd consider Gaz as middle of the road although IMO it's worth the extra for the Nitron, but I'm sure Derek (Abs Shocks) will disagree.
FFG

[rev-erend]

I had AVO and they were not great dampers and rusted to bits in < 3 years.

Changed to Gaz golds and they are much better. Check the prices in Sprint or Dereks website.

http://www.absolutelyshocks.com/

[RFC1]

I was about to go down the road of standard billies/new springs, but they cost the same as a set of nitrons....so i have gone with the nitrons...
Sandy

[Del 203]

Quinny said:

I had AVO's on my old Griff and they were ste..

If I had to go with a new set up tomorrow, I'd stick with the standard stuff. Especially given your use of the car.

Had AVO's (not on standard springs) & not had a problem.

Steve Guglielmi commented how well the car was set up & handled whilst he passing lots of later model cars at Snetterton

This was 3 or 4 years ago & i think you have more options with budget shocks now but mine are still going strong (thats asking for a large pot hole/broken shock )

Would i buy AVO now ? Yes, but if i could go higher up the market i would...


I have heard about failures on these & others

[dumbfunk]

I have a set of AVOs with less than 20k miles on them in my garage if you want them? Sadly and despite the small mileage they have the damping ability of a pogo stick. Economising with suspension proved a very poor strategy for me.


dumbfunk

[laz11]

i had avos....not impressed at all! lasted about 2 years!

[Johno]

I know the search hfunction is pants these days, but the simple advice I ould give with suspension is that there are plenty of threads concerning the poor performance of AVO's and Gaz dampers every year 'v' very rarely for Nitrons.

Protech seem to have a good reputation as well though . . .

Note on Nitrons though - They DO need servicing, as any dampers do, most manufacturers do not highlight this, Nitron do to their credit and it really makes a difference. I know I do a fair mileage on mine and after the first couple of years, couple of trackdays and 20k miles they didn't feel as crisp as they did and after servicing they were superb again.

This isn't night and day difference, but these are precision bit's of kit and need looking after accordingly. You should budget this into your considerations.

[FlipFlopGriff]

Just had the rear Nitrons rebuilt after one side sagged, but they had been on a daily driver for over 4 years so pretty good IMO.
FFG

[rigga]

FlipFlopGriff said:

Martin,
If the dampers are tired then chances are the springs will be too won't they?
I'd consider Gaz as middle of the road although IMO it's worth the extra for the Nitron, but I'm sure Derek (Abs Shocks) will disagree.
FFG

Paul i think the springs may indeed sag a little after use,not sure if they continue to lose their "springyness" after a certain ammount of time or not,i would prefer to use new springs anyway to completly refresh the set up,i have contacted Derek regarding this,and he has given some info that would rule Nitron out,even if i coud justify the outlay,which for its use i cant,apparently Nitron tend to degass themselves on infrequently used cars.... so Gaz gold seem to be the last man standing at this point in time,i have tried contacting protech a while back,but never got a reply,so they are an unknown as yet.... AVO it seems are a no go,Racing redss ive also been informed are not the route to go down due to build quality.....

[Mark (UB)]

rigga said:

FlipFlopGriff said:

Martin,
If the dampers are tired then chances are the springs will be too won't they?
I'd consider Gaz as middle of the road although IMO it's worth the extra for the Nitron, but I'm sure Derek (Abs Shocks) will disagree.
FFG

i have contacted Derek regarding this,and he has given some info that would rule Nitron out, apparently Nitron tend to degass themselves on infrequently used cars.... so Gaz gold seem to be the last man standing at this point in time

[Torquemada]

rigga said:

FlipFlopGriff said:

Martin,
If the dampers are tired then chances are the springs will be too won't they?
I'd consider Gaz as middle of the road although IMO it's worth the extra for the Nitron, but I'm sure Derek (Abs Shocks) will disagree.
FFG

Paul i think the springs may indeed sag a little after use,not sure if they continue to lose their "springyness" after a certain ammount of time or not,i would prefer to use new springs anyway to completly refresh the set up,i have contacted Derek regarding this,and he has given some info that would rule Nitron out,even if i coud justify the outlay,which for its use i cant,apparently Nitron tend to degass themselves on infrequently used cars.... so Gaz gold seem to be the last man standing at this point in time,i have tried contacting protech a while back,but never got a reply,so they are an unknown as yet.... AVO it seems are a no go,Racing redss ive also been informed are not the route to go down due to build quality.....

Why would Nitrons degas with infrequent use? Surely degassing would be more likely with frequent use?

[rigga]

Would need to ask Derek,but my thoughts would be like air con systems,seals drying out through lack of lube due to infrequent movement of the oil....gas then escapes.... but as i said Derek would obviously no more

[Johno]

I've never heard of that in 6-7yrs of them being around for TVR's . .. Sounds a little spurios to me, would be good to see the evidence?

[GreenV8S]

I've run Nitrons for years, including dampers being left unused for a long time and then refitted, and I haven't had any problems like that. I haven't heard of anyone else having that problem, either.

[rigga]

dont shoot the messenger...... just relaying info received off Derek @absolutleyshocks....