FWIW it's the springs, or cones on a Mini, that provide the stiffness and bounce. The dampers are meant to do no more than that - damp out the spring's periodicity so it needn't be a problem if you can open and close them by hand.
There are other threads here where guys have set their racing shock absorbers as stiff as they could - and then found their suspension simply didn't work! Couldn't work!
by the way, if fitting KYB gas-a-justs alter the car's ride height, it suggests to me that there's something wrong with them.
Right lets clear up something that seems to crop up very often about dampers affecting ride height..... Some people say they do, some people say they don't, but nobody says which type of damper they are talking about....so here goes!
KYB gas a just WILL increase your ride height. This is because it is a monotube design damper and has high pressure gas inside which acts on the piston rod, pushing it out. Anyone who's fitted them will know how hard they are to compress. They are not stiff 'damping wise' but feel stiff in your hands because you are also trying to compress a gas spring.
The increase in ride height will be more on the rear than the front for two reasons, 1) the rear is lighter, 2) because the damper has more leverage over the weight of the car on the back as it acts directly, i.e. wheel travel = damper travel.
On the front there may be none or little difference in ride height because the front is much, much heavier, and the weight of the car has a leverage over the damper of about 2:1. It also depends on what the ride height is to start with.....if its lowered, the effect will be bigger because the damper is more compressed and therefore is imparting a greater spring pressure than if you were fitting them to a standard or increased ride height for example. Incidently then, this type of damper will slightly add to your spring rate, again noticable to a greater degree on the rear due to leverage/weight issue compared to the front.
If you fit these dampers to replace worn standard ones you wont notice the fronts affecting the ride but the rear firms up substantially. Not harsh but firm.
Bilstein SPORT dampers are also monotube so the above will also be true for these to a greater or lesser degree. (depends on the gas pressure used and the piston rod diameter) At one time there were also some De Carbon ones around too that Avonbar sold.....
As far as i'm aware all other dampers generally available for the mini (i.e. not silly money) are TWIN TUBE design and will not affect ride height, whether they be plain oil, or low pressure gas. (the gas will still push the damper rod out but with hardly any force)
To the original poster, if your dampers are feeling and sounding like a slapper's sloppy ******* (very easy to pump in and out, with plenty of squelching) then you need to get new ones for sure. You won't believe the difference it makes to ride and feel of the car. Sachs/Boge are very good actually, oe on many cars inc VW. Unless you only ever drive gently around town i'd opt for gas ones as the oil-only ones will turn into quivering sloppy minges in minutes if shown a country road at speed!
Having said that, slapper's can be fun!.... :)
Hope this has been of some help
Tim
