Shock Pre-Load

[heliox]

I've been trying out some new Avo adjustable shocks on the car and wondered if anyone could give me some advice on pre-load settings for these.

cheers H

[GreenV8S]

Pre-load? I assume you mean damper setting (or settings, if you have a multi adjustable). Its a matter of trial and error, best way I've found is work from the two extremes of adjustment and gradually work in to the best compromise, but remember it is very easy to go overdamped and generally the right setting is softer than you'd think.

[heliox]

yes they have adjustable spring heights but its the spring pre-load that baffles me, how do you work out where they should be? is that the trial and error bit?

h

[GreenV8S]

I thought you were asking about damper rate adjustment but perhaps you're talking about spring seat height adjustment? The spring seat adjustment is used to obtain the correct ride height. Of course you need to know the correct ride height and how to measure it, but as a good starting point just get the front and back wheel arch clearance roughly the same as a standard car. I assume the damper lengths are right and your springs are about the right length for those dampers.

[heliox]

GreenV8S said:

I thought you were asking about damper rate adjustment but perhaps you're talking about spring seat height adjustment? The spring seat adjustment is used to obtain the correct ride height. Of course you need to know the correct ride height and how to measure it, but as a good starting point just get the front and back wheel arch clearance roughly the same as a standard car. I assume the damper lengths are right and your springs are about the right length for those dampers.

Ok, I seem to have got the pre-load mixed up with the spring seat hight adjustment.I thought that the springs needed to be pre-loaded.
The damper lenghts are ok and i've got 9 inch springs as recommended by Avo,I had realised that the adjustment on the spring seat would alter the ride hight but i've found that if I set it up as per my Konis the damper seems almost closed and riding on the bump stops.I've put this down to the measurements taken with the Konis fitted which had very worn springs so perhaps the measurement that I took was lower than it should have been.

I've just set it up so as per your advice and got the wheel arch clearances roughly the same,I really need to get the correct info on the ride hight to be confident that its all as it should be.
Also will it need more adjustment as the new springs sag?

cheers for the help Peter

H