Discussion
Moto said:
Yes my AVO bushes have all self destructed also. My AVO's seem to be a built to a budget, low quality item. The adjuster knob is terrible to use. Until you get to approx 7 clicks it is totally smooth with no noticeable click. This makes them impossible to balance equally on a soft to medium setting.
On the positive side they do feel OK from a driving point.
I would prefer to fit a set of better quality shocks such as Nitrons but I've never been able to get hold of the correct specification to give to them.
Moto
Exactly my experience, I count clicks back from full on the setting rather than up front zero but still have no real idea wether they are even or not!!On the positive side they do feel OK from a driving point.
I would prefer to fit a set of better quality shocks such as Nitrons but I've never been able to get hold of the correct specification to give to them.
Moto
nwarner said:
My AVOs have done the same after 500 miles this is the second set. Every time I move the car out of the garage there are bits of red poly. Mine are over 3 years old now so I doubt if they'll replace them again. Saving up for some different replacements.
Yes they should replace them, mine were older than that just send a photo of the knackered bushes to their email and they respond very quick. They’ve sent me a full car set so I’ll do the lot.I think they’re very good on customer service which is handy!!
However it would be good to find something better that fits.
996Type said:
Is there a chance they were tightened up pre-loading then chewed into that position once the car settled to ride height?
I know on one car I had we had to leave everything only finger tight until the car settled down, weight it etc before tightening everything up otherwise the bushes were at risk of deforming / tearing like the image above.
That doesn’t really happen with these, there’s some rotation when they’re tight, it’s more the basic impact loading which hammered the bushes and they don’t seem to be able to stand it..I know on one car I had we had to leave everything only finger tight until the car settled down, weight it etc before tightening everything up otherwise the bushes were at risk of deforming / tearing like the image above.
Dollyman1850 said:
V6 Pushfit said:
Its inside I need to see. Is it literally plain tube or are their 2 circlip rings within the tube itself on the shocker. N.
Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 24th July 10:54
LLantrisant said:
V6 Pushfit said:
lookslike wronlgy fitted:the inner (metal) sleeve must be slightly wider than the polys. the sleeve is clamped between the chassis brackets and the bushes will rotate over the sleeve. to make this happen the bushes need to have space. in your case it looks like the bushes are tightly clamped between the chassis-brackets...therefoe they will destroy themselves.
Dollyman1850 said:
A bush centre is critical on a rotating element such as a wishbone where the inner bush sleeve should clamp against the bracket / tang to allow it to rotate around the sleeve but how you can tell that from those photos eludes me anyhow.. The inner sleeves aren't so much too short as too thin in my view ( as a person who has stripped a few sets down.)
You have the later AVO's without circlip grooves and as such I would put the failure down to poor quality bushes!!
N.
You can’t tell from the photos, correct. However as I said before the sleeve is a push fit between the chassis brackets so is clamped well before significant compression of the top hat. You have the later AVO's without circlip grooves and as such I would put the failure down to poor quality bushes!!
N.
Dodgy material spec yes as I mentioned earlier but increasing the sleeve size will be counter productive with less bush material so increased risk of splitting.
IMO AVO need to increase bush strength while marginally reducing the top hat depth to prevent any pinching on fitting.
I wonder how many cars are running around with knackered AVO bushes because owners thought they were fit and forget so haven’t checked.
RobXjcoupe said:
Dollyman1850 said:
V6 Pushfit said:
You can’t tell from the photos, correct. However as I said before the sleeve is a push fit between the chassis brackets so is clamped well before significant compression of the top hat.
Dodgy material spec yes as I mentioned earlier but increasing the sleeve size will be counter productive with less bush material so increased risk of splitting.
IMO AVO need to increase bush strength while marginally reducing the top hat depth to prevent any pinching on fitting.
I wonder how many cars are running around with knackered AVO bushes because owners thought they were fit and forget so haven’t checked.
I would fit Nylatron or Delrin To take all the play away !Dodgy material spec yes as I mentioned earlier but increasing the sleeve size will be counter productive with less bush material so increased risk of splitting.
IMO AVO need to increase bush strength while marginally reducing the top hat depth to prevent any pinching on fitting.
I wonder how many cars are running around with knackered AVO bushes because owners thought they were fit and forget so haven’t checked.
N.
I’m pretty sure it’s a material issue, the bushes need to be harder and ideally a rubber insert compete with integral sleeve so it’s one insert.
Solid hard bushes? Not for a road car as it negates the whole idea of a shock absorber and would transmit far greater impact force to 50 year old chassis welds than is healthy.
Andrew Gray said:
That is the older style bush
Avo replaced these when there was the issue with earlier bush before they altered the design
The other one is of the new pair that i added when i went from two to four on the rear.
So my Vixen is running bot old and new style and this was changed about 6 years ago and both styles have now done a lot of work and no issues whatsoever.
Andrew
It’s not possible to see the bush wear without removing a shock or jacking carefully, but 6000 miles still seems a lot - have a look at the MOT history that’ll tell you accurately - I doubt I’ve done more than 2000 in the last 5 years (mind you it’s not been on 4 wheels for most of that. Avo replaced these when there was the issue with earlier bush before they altered the design
The other one is of the new pair that i added when i went from two to four on the rear.
So my Vixen is running bot old and new style and this was changed about 6 years ago and both styles have now done a lot of work and no issues whatsoever.
Andrew
LLantrisant said:
i have already posted my opinion above and want to repeat it:
from this pic it looks as the chassis-brackets clamp the bush and not the inner sleeve, hence the bshes MUST wear.
we can discuss endless here...imo, the damage is caused by wrong fitment.
The sleeve is solidly clamped in that photo. The nut gets to a point of locking up when clamped so it’s difficult not to get wrong. I don’t get how you think you can ‘see’ the sleeve when it’s not visible. from this pic it looks as the chassis-brackets clamp the bush and not the inner sleeve, hence the bshes MUST wear.
we can discuss endless here...imo, the damage is caused by wrong fitment.
AVO supply the sleeve and bush. The sleeve extends beyond the bush. The only way the fitment could be wrong would be:
1. The welded chassis tabs are significantly bent due to over tightening of the bolt. Almost impossible as they clamp the sleeve.
2. There is an issue with the AVO design of the bush.
Given the above which do you think it is?
spitfire4v8 said:
poly is completely unsuitable for use as a damper bush, the load is only taken by one side of the bush which will be crushed flat and cause the bush to split. What you need is a good quality bonded rubber bush.
Avo have known about the splitting poly bushes for , oo, 10 to 15 years ?
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
you could probably find earlier posts if you look further than the first result on google.
I stopped using avo dampers maybe 15 years ago and have no plans to go back to them ever.
Yes the material is clearly not up to it, and what you say there is bang on correct IMO. Avo have known about the splitting poly bushes for , oo, 10 to 15 years ?
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
you could probably find earlier posts if you look further than the first result on google.
I stopped using avo dampers maybe 15 years ago and have no plans to go back to them ever.
I looked briefly earlier and other poly bush suppliers don’t appear to offer them as shock absorber bushes let alone split ones. (VERY happy to be proved wrong on this?)
A bonded rubber bush would sort this.
I believe there is an issue with the AVO bushes and it may not be visible (well frankly it isn’t visible) by looking at the setup in situ. Bolting it together can’t easily be done wrong.
Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 28th July 19:31
LLantrisant said:
in the above pic you can (imo clearly) see, that the chassis-brackets clamp the bush.
if they would clamp the sleeve, you should see a small gap between bracket and red bush...but there isnt any gap.
the other pic, showing the damage, is also indicating that the bush has rotated and has destroyed itselves at the bracket.
And I said: if they would clamp the sleeve, you should see a small gap between bracket and red bush...but there isnt any gap.
the other pic, showing the damage, is also indicating that the bush has rotated and has destroyed itselves at the bracket.
V6 Pushfit said:
:
The sleeve is solidly clamped in that photo. The nut gets to a point of locking up when clamped so it’s difficult not to get wrong. I don’t get how you think you can ‘see’ the sleeve when it’s not visible.
AVO supply the sleeve and bush. The sleeve extends beyond the bush. The only way the fitment could be wrong would be:
1. The welded chassis tabs are significantly bent due to over tightening of the bolt. Almost impossible as they clamp the sleeve.
2. There is an issue with the AVO design of the bush.
Given the above which do you think it is?
…. Clue: it’s number 2. The sleeve is solidly clamped in that photo. The nut gets to a point of locking up when clamped so it’s difficult not to get wrong. I don’t get how you think you can ‘see’ the sleeve when it’s not visible.
AVO supply the sleeve and bush. The sleeve extends beyond the bush. The only way the fitment could be wrong would be:
1. The welded chassis tabs are significantly bent due to over tightening of the bolt. Almost impossible as they clamp the sleeve.
2. There is an issue with the AVO design of the bush.
Given the above which do you think it is?
RobXjcoupe said:
Just a thought. If the bushes are being clamped when tightening up. Maybe you need to just nip the bolts until the car is sitting on the ground, loading the suspension. Then torque up the bolts. That will make a huge difference and stop the bush being twisted beyond its material capacity.
That’s the way it’s done, but the main issue is the bushes going oval, this has given up to 5mm movement in the bush as shows the bush material is not up to the jobGassing Station | TVR Classics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff