Shock testing

[taylormj4]

What's normal for the front shocks on the Chimaera.
I think mine may be bust, seems very easy to press the front of the car down and when releaseit bounces up past the normal position and then settles down to normal.
Can some of you try that on your cars and let me know what happens?

Also, anyone found a good price for replacement shocks. Just been quoted £850 for a set of 4 Nitrons!
Sheesh!
Matt

[pbrettle]

taylormj4 said:

Also, anyone found a good price for replacement shocks. Just been quoted £850 for a set of 4 Nitrons! Sheesh! Matt

Actually thats pretty good..... Nitrons, AVO or even Spax are available and are all better than the original ones fitted - though you will pay a penalty on ride quality (though only a small one). Prices are pretty similar with the Nitrons being the most expensive (just).

What ever you do, get the car balanced and weighted properly. Its one thing to change the shocks, but its another to make sure that the ride height and balance are set correctly. TVR's are notorious in being hand built and ever-so-slightly different to each other.... worth making sure your investment of nearly a grand is as good as you can get it....

Oh, and get adjustable ones and have fun with altering them.... :heh:

[Corin Denton]

Changed mine for AVOs, nice shock - will you be doing them yourself?

[plunkett]

im looking at this right now and im going to keep the spring and just change the damper.Spax have adjustasble dampers listed for Chim at £104.00 ea.

[greenv8s]

Check the damper dimensions carefully if you plan to keep the OE springs, you need to ensure that the spring seat clears the chassis and suspension (didn't on the S without fettling) and also that the spring diameter and length is compatible. Also remember that SPAX are budget dampers, I would advise you to buy the best dampers you can afford, they make a big difference to the way the car feels and handles.

[bassfiend]

taylormj4 said:

I think mine may be bust, seems very easy to press the front of the car down and when releaseit bounces up past the normal position and then settles down to normal.

I was always taught that a quick way to check dampers is that when released from compressed, a shock should go through its "rest" position once (and once only) and then return to rest...

...isn't it more a characteristic of the spring rate that determines how easy or hard it is to compress in the first place? (Rather than the damper itself.)

Phil

[k4trv]

taylormj4 said:

What's normal for the front shocks on the Chimaera. I think mine may be bust, seems very easy to press the front of the car down and when releaseit bounces up past the normal position and then settles down to normal. Can some of you try that on your cars and let me know what happens? Also, anyone found a good price for replacement shocks. Just been quoted £850 for a set of 4 Nitrons! Sheesh! Matt

Does sound like you've a problem. Have a read of the attached link - suspension and springs were discussed - it's a long read: www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=58992&f=8&h=0&hw=spring+rate

Cheers

Trev McM

[Griffithy]

If you have Bilstein shocks it is also possible to get them reconditioned.
That´s what I did, as I wanted to drive and didn´t want to lose time because of difficult shocks decisions.
If you decide for a rebuild, at least do it pair wise.

[Jonnyb]

Try Damper Tech on 01709 703992. He will supply GAZ ajustables for £95 each and the up-rated springs are £35 I think for the pair, but I could be wrong (I carnt find the recipt)

[taylormj4]

Corin Denton said:

Changed mine for AVOs, nice shock - will you be doing them yourself?

Yes, I'd planned to.
Any tips?

Another symptom is that although the ride is rather springy/wooly I'm getting much more vibration / feedback of the road conditions through the car - it feels as if I've got a flat tyre all the time. Any ideas (and no, the tyres aren't actually flat!)

Also, under heavy braking the car virtually stands on its nose.

Why can't it handle as well as my fiancees Audi A3 sport?!

Matt

[Corin Denton]

As the shocks are held in place by the compression of the fitment only, i.e. no strut top mounts the springs have to be clamped in place prior to removal. The distance between the rear coils is vey narrow so make sure your spring clamps fit before you start. AVOs can be bought from Elite Motorsport at the moment for £320 inc VAT, when I did mine I whipped off the wishbones and repainted and waxed them as they do suffer with finish issues. When I refitted them I fitted polybushes also which made a hell of a difference (£80)
Apart from that it is a doddle of a job, if you fit AVO make sure you have them on the lowest setting for the first 500 miles otherwise they don't bleed properly.

Feel free to email me for my phone number if I can help anymore.

Corin

[kenny320]

taylormj4 said:

Why can't it handle as well as my fiancees Audi A3 sport?! Matt

My guess would be because the shocks aren't doing the job.

Driving my friends chimaera 4 or 5 months ago it handled like a dream, like a more masculine, much faster mx5. Last night I did a back to back test with the mx5 and the chim (which hasn't felt quite right recently), and the mx came out on top by a BIG margin. The upshot is that I've now confirmed the rear shocks are shot and are to be replaced. As far as I can tell if if doesn't handle like a dream, the shocks aint doing the job they should be.