Anyone replaced their own shocks on a V8S

[oldred]

I am thinking of replacing the shocks on my V8S for some GAZ shocks, and was wondering if anyone has undertaken this job themselves, if so how difficult is it? I realise that a full setup will be required afterwards, but thought I would fit them myself.

[GreenV8S]

Yes, it's very easy to do. The only slightly fiddly bit was the upper mount on one of the rear dampers; on mine, the body was tight up against the chassis on one side and it was a bit of a fiddle to get the nut threaded. Also make sure the front dampers are the right length so that you don't need to over-travel the front ball joints to fit them, and make sure you have the right bump stops fitted so that the suspension can't compress so far that the chassis hits the ground or the wheel hits the body. Finally, assuming you're using dampers with ordinary bushes, put the weight back on the wheels before you tighten the mounting bolts fully.

[the gazman]

GreenV8S said:

Yes, it's very easy to do. The only slightly fiddly bit was the upper mount on one of the rear dampers; on mine, the body was tight up against the chassis on one side and it was a bit of a fiddle to get the nut threaded. Also make sure the front dampers are the right length so that you don't need to over-travel the front ball joints to fit them, and make sure you have the right bump stops fitted so that the suspension can't compress so far that the chassis hits the ground or the wheel hits the body. Finally, assuming you're using dampers with ordinary bushes, put the weight back on the wheels before you tighten the mounting bolts fully.

to all points by Peter.
Gugi did suggest a better bumpstop on the rear, when he looked at them last year and we got one made by Powerflex.

[oldred]

Thanks for the replies guys, will look to do this when I return from holiday.


Edited to add I will be in touch soon Derek, I assume you stock the bump stops.

Edited by oldred on Wednesday 26th July 09:02

[the gazman]

oldred said:

Thanks for the replies guys, will look to do this when I return from holiday.
Edited to add I will be in touch soon Derek, I assume you stock the bump stops.

Edited by oldred on Wednesday 26th July 09:02

Now standard fitment on all TVR rear shocks, just slightly smaller on the S

Edited by the gazman on Wednesday 26th July 18:20

[honourablepickle]

i'm just changing the rear shocks and springs on the v8
does any one want the old ones they aren't leaking or any thing

[GreenV8S]

honourablepickle said:

i'm just changing the rear shocks and springs on the v8

I recommend that dampers are treated as a set. Having mismatched dampers on the car is not going to do the handling and ride comfort any favours. If the fronts are old and tired, nothing you put on the rear is going to match them, even if the fronts are nominally still working.

[honourablepickle]

you are absolutely right about buying matched sets of dampers and springs
but if some one needs to prop up a chassis for rolling around the workshop or something the old ones i just took off might come in handy

[the gazman]

I do hope people take note of all these comments, in Reb's case he had already changed the fronts anyway.

9 times out of 10 people come back and buy the other half when they realise that tightening up one half of the car simply highlights the deficiancies of the other half, I tell people over and over but at the end of the day it comes down to money I'm afraid, despite the fact that the car could be dangerous.

The other thing I say till I'm blue in the face is get the geo checked once you have fitted the kit and time and time again we hear of people on the forums who were disapointed with their kit (Nitrons included) who only reaped the benefit of the new kit once they sorted out the toe-in and camber.
My Chimaera was toeing out 3mm on one side and toeing in 1.5mm the other, can you imagine how that handled?

[honourablepickle]

any where close to abergavenny for geometry gazman ?
i can do ride height camber etc byt don't have corner weight guages or lazer

reb

[GreenV8S]

honourablepickle said:

any where close to abergavenny for geometry gazman ?
i can do ride height camber etc byt don't have corner weight guages or lazer

reb

Corner weighting is a waste of time, and you can do everything you need with sticks and string, no need for expensive laser equipment unless time is money.

[honourablepickle]

hey green you are right every thing acan be done at home
if you can be bothered and your garage floor is flatter than mine
what's wrong with corner weighting ?

reb

[GreenV8S]

honourablepickle said:

hey green you are right every thing acan be done at home
if you can be bothered and your garage floor is flatter than mine
what's wrong with corner weighting ?

reb

Corner weighting is used to take the torsional pre-load out of the suspension. Torsional preload can be caused by a bent or asymmetrical chassis. If you have one of these, corner weighting is the least of your problems. Torsional preload can also be caused by having significantly different roll stiffnesses front / rear (which you will have) combined with a center of gravity which is offset laterally and longitudinally from the center of the wheelbase. TVRs have a very small longitudinal offset and a very small lateral offset, so the torsional preload will be very small and not enough to worry about. The final cause of torsional preload is assymetrical spring lengths/rates from side to side. This could be caused by broken/sagging springs, or by having adjustable spring seats adjusted unequally from side to side. You should set the spring seats to the same height on both sides, and make sure you adjust them up and down together. If you try to 'correct' the corner weights by setting unequal spring seat heights then you are very likely to introduce the problem you think you are fixing. This is a trap that some people fall into when they see that the body doesn't look level and think they can correct it by playing with the spring seats. The position of the bodywork is random and variable, and nothing to do with suspension geometry and corner weighting.

You can make a flat work surface very easily using a few planks of wood under the wheels. Just use a spirit level to make sure the left and right wheels are at the same height, add and remove planks as necessary. You should be able to get it within half an inch in a few minutes and that's accurate enough if you're just setting up a roadgoing car. Incidentally, there's no need to worry about the front and rear wheels being at the same height as long as they are more or less the same - don't park it on a 45 degree slope, but any flat-ish ground will be fine.

Edited by GreenV8S on Sunday 30th July 12:10

[honourablepickle]

thanks for the advice and info green
i've just spent an hour setting the ride heights and adjusting the camber etc
took the car out and gave it a good thrashing
i set the dampers as per derek's advice - still seems a bit bouncy so perhaps a few a few more clicks on the damping are needed

reb