Do i need new shocks?

[pche059]

Sometimes...just in front of a red light....my car start "bouncing" up and down??
LOL
....not quite bouncing....not that badly...but you can feel the car sort of like vibrating? does this mean i need new shocks?

I have had my car lowered with Eibach springs at about 42mm...the bump stop has been "modified" too....
it has been about 1 and 1/2 years now....


I can get a set of Konis for 1000NZD...is that a decent price? and how good are they with the eibach springs?
I do drive hard... I drive to the limit of the road....and the car...


Please do help

[b-b00gie]

Sounds like they may have blown by now if its been 1.5 years. Mine went in just a few months since I drive through horrible pot hole ridden cities around here

[G-Forces]

Well usually you can tell a blown or worn shock by the way it settles after a soft bump. If it bounces once then settles your shocks are good. If you go through about 2-3+ osolations (sp?) then your shocks are blown/worn.

[pche059]

Why would lowering the car cause the shocks to wear out so quickly?
does this apply to after market shocks like konis and kybs too?
How long can I expect a set of koni to last me?
I thought they (different brands) are all the same length ....

[G-Forces]

It's not the lowering, per se, that causes the shock to wear out prematurely. A lowering spring is generally up to 20% stiffer than a stock spring, sometimes more. The stock shock is not ment to handle this increased spring rate which needs more energy to stop the ossilation (sp) of the spring. You are working outside of the parameter of the shock. The shock has to work harder thereby shortining the life of the shock.

Not the greatest explination but I hope it helps.

[T4 Primera]

Find yourself a brake/shock/muffler shop that has one of those pressure tests pads for checking shocks. You put the pressure pad under the tyre and bounce that corner of the car. This gizmo then produces a graph of the oscillations of the spring and will indicate the condition of your shocks.

I think NZD$1000 is not bad for a set of Konis. My co-worker got a set for his MX-5 (Miata) through a group buy and paid $960 for the set. Or call Suspension City http://www.suspensioncity.co.nz in Hamilton and see what they can do for you. These guys are switched on and do very good business. I have yet to hear anything but good about them

[pche059]

It's not the lowering, per se, that causes the shock to wear out prematurely. A lowering spring is generally up to 20% stiffer than a stock spring, sometimes more. The stock shock is not ment to handle this increased spring rate which needs more energy to stop the ossilation (sp) of the spring. You are working outside of the parameter of the shock. The shock has to work harder thereby shortining the life of the shock.

Oh is this right? thx for the info man....so does it mean that...having the shocks at their hardest setting will shorten their life too?


And also...G Force...can your car actually give you G-Force feeling???
Coz mine can't...
hehe

[P10DET]

Originally posted by pche059
Oh is this right? thx for the info man....so does it mean that...having the shocks at their hardest setting will shorten their life too?

Oh, absolutely!

Some years back I read a paper of sorts that was written by a Koni engineer. In it he stated that by far the vast majority of the prematurely worn out dampers they see are due to people over adjusting them.

Springs should be used to set suspension stiffness and the dampers should merely control the spring oscillations. Period. Dampers should not be used to stiffen the suspension. Once you do this, you over burned the dampers. Don't make them do the work of the springs.

The only exception I can see this is competition classes where stock springs are mandetory. Then you have no choice.