Shock Absorbers for Classic Jag
Discussion
Give Glenn a ring, they have restored loads of E types. He may able to point you in the right direction.
http://www.jaguarspares.net/
http://www.jaguarspares.net/
mph said:
My E-type is currently undergoing a full rebuild and I have to make a decision on which shock absorbers to use.
Has anyone got any experience, good or bad, regarding the various brands available?
The best shocks in the world on old Jaguars are Koni. You can set them up to give the best compromise between ride quality and handling, and the quality of the product is secodn to none.Has anyone got any experience, good or bad, regarding the various brands available?
Yes Koni are good on an E , but Bilstein are the best !
The Older Konis on my E are only adjustable by taking the springs off, which is a pain in the a....
I beleive that the newer Konis now have an adjuster on the bottom of the shock body, similar to Spax. ? Spax are worth considering, much cheaper than Konis and their quality has improved.
Make sure you fit new uprated springs, the originals will be well past their sell by date and were too soft when new.
The Older Konis on my E are only adjustable by taking the springs off, which is a pain in the a....
I beleive that the newer Konis now have an adjuster on the bottom of the shock body, similar to Spax. ? Spax are worth considering, much cheaper than Konis and their quality has improved.
Make sure you fit new uprated springs, the originals will be well past their sell by date and were too soft when new.
I have had Koni Classics on my E type for about 10 years, they performed as they should. I have recently changed them for Gaz shock absorbers for two reasons
1) The 4 rear have adjustable spring perches which allow the correct setting of the ride height, given the replacement springs now available this is very advantageous. The ride height at the rear of my car had been below minimum, I replaced the springs (they were 40 years old...) only to find that it was still below minimum. Reason was that the old springs has 10 coils and the new ones 10.5 making them 5% softer.
2) The Koni Classics have adjustable damping but only by removing them from the car and removing the spring. All 6 Gaz shock aborbers can be easily adjusted while on the vehicle.
There was an interesting article on this subject in the JEC magazine about 12 months ago.
1) The 4 rear have adjustable spring perches which allow the correct setting of the ride height, given the replacement springs now available this is very advantageous. The ride height at the rear of my car had been below minimum, I replaced the springs (they were 40 years old...) only to find that it was still below minimum. Reason was that the old springs has 10 coils and the new ones 10.5 making them 5% softer.
2) The Koni Classics have adjustable damping but only by removing them from the car and removing the spring. All 6 Gaz shock aborbers can be easily adjusted while on the vehicle.
There was an interesting article on this subject in the JEC magazine about 12 months ago.
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