10 replies to this topic

[jayjay31]

Hello i have done some searches but cant really find an answer

 

My mini 1275 GT 1980 when purchased already had adjustable front suspension and what looked like standard shock absorders

 

recently the front absorders busches had gone make squeaking noises so it needed replacing, although the ride was still comfty and not bouncy !

 

I have  purchased upgraded shock adsorbers from huddersfield_spares  on ebay - GAZ Front Adjustable Shock Absorbers/Dampers for Classic Mini

 

 

 

Fitted on the mini great but the ride is really bouncy , even tightening it to full clockwise stiffest setting

 

is this ment to be like this ?

 

is there other things i need to get ( i.e  Better suspension , trumpets or the rear GAZ Shocks ) ?

 

any advice would be great

 

cheers

jay

Edited by jayjay31, 02 July 2014 - 12:04 PM.

[Cerberus]

First thing, don't run the gaz shocks at full + on the adjuster.

 

To be comfy, you'll probably want them at somewhere under 6 clicks.

I had mine set at about 4 and 6 (F & R) at one point, produced a reasonable ride, was stiff but not too bad.  I'm now running it a bit stiffer somewhere around 8-10 clicks.

 

 

Could be that the original dampers were shot, but the Gaz ones will be stiffer anyway than a standard set of shocks.

 

 

Could also be that your rubber dougnuts are due for replacing, if they've shrunk and gone stiff then the ride will be harder.

[firstforward]

What is the clearance with the top arm to the bump stop when sitting on level ground, anything less than 1/2 inch is going to be a bounce ride, its difficult to see from looking front back so try back front within the wheel arch.

[jayjay31]

looks like there clearance from the bump stop and i quickly mwaured from wheel arch clearence to tyre as front is sitting lower than rear !

 

2.2 inch front

 2.8 inch Rear

 

 

I now changed the GAZ seeting , 8 clicks clockwise from the softess setting and this has helped , definatly an improvement

 

cheers

j

[Cooperman]

Never set the dampers too hard on a Mini as that prevents the suspension working as intended, i.e. to keep the tyres in contact with the road. Too hard and the car bounces from bump to bump.

GAZ are a good choice and you will love them when they are set a bit softer.

[mini-fvr]

trying to figure out a good starting point for my new gas adjustables and i know this is an old thread but mine only has 19 or 20 clicks on them. Everyone else is saying 36 clicks? been searching and searching..... 

rt now they are set at 8 up front and 4 in the rear, she's a bit bouncy, going to stiffen her up and try again. stiffer in front and softer in rear???

[paulrockliffe]

Mini bump as I'm considering adjustable shocks for my Minus, it's quite bouncy on bumpy roads and feels like it would benefit from the rebound damping fine tuning a bit.

 

Are Gaz the best option?  This might sound like a daft question, but my suspension background is mountain bikes, where you can usually adjust both rebound and compression damping.  I presume the dampers adjustment is rebound and the compression damping is controlled by the characteristics of the rubber donuts, is that right?

[tiger99]

Not as simple as that, unfortunately, but you are close. The rubber cone does have inherent hysteresis, which creates a damping effect, sort of. You always need more damping on rebound than bump on any car (except in the USA apparently...),,so it does follow that you rely more on the rubber cone in bump and the damper in rebound. However if you do a full analysis, they are both approximately equal in importance.

It is preferable, on any vehicle if the budget allows, to get dampers with seperate adjustment of bump and rebound. If they are calibrated identically, a starting point might be to have the rebound twice as stiff as the bump.

I don't know if a single damping control sets the rate on bump, rebound or both. Probably both, but it may vary between manufacturers.

There is also the correction for non - linearities to consider. An ideal damper produces an opposing force linearly proportional to damper linear speed. In practice the pressure drop through a small orifice behaves badly and you get square law effects which are partially linearised by secondary spring loaded valves, so at high linear speed a second orifice, and maybe even a third, are opened. This is all very mediocre at getting the intended result, and not all that great if the adjustment knob only controls the lowest speed orifice, which for practical reasons is most likely the case.

The only way that I know of getting true linear damping is to do it electromagnetic ally, but there are complications and limitations. Maybe for another time....

Meanwhile the best thing to do seems to be to fit dampers from a reputable manufacturer with seperate bump and rebound settings, and take some time to get a good feel for how the adjustments affect the car. But first ensure that the cones, bump stops and all other parts are in good order so you don't have to do it all twice.

[paulrockliffe]

Ha ha, thanks, I think you might have gone into a little more detail than strictly necessary, but it's all useful info!

 

I was starting from the idea that the consensus seems to be that adjustable should allow me to reduce bounce over bumps and that most shocks only have one adjuster.  I wasn't sure if it was compression or rebound, but rebound makes more sense.

 

I did notice that Gaz do adjustables with both, but they're way too much money!  I'm not after the last work in performance, just a comfortable but quick ride that deals well with the sort of bumpy roads that are out of my front door.  Sounds like I just want some normal adjustables, from either Gaz, Spax or Koni.  Car is a Minus, so the weight is different to standard, so that might be a factor in why it's bouncing more than feels right.

 

I suppose my starting point would be to check what's on the car, if I'm lucky they might be adjustable anyway!  And I need to get the ride height set as it's too high at the back.  Just trying to work out what I'm aiming for damper-wise.

[Scousemouse]

trying to figure out a good starting point for my new gas adjustables and i know this is an old thread but mine only has 19 or 20 clicks on them. Everyone else is saying 36 clicks? been searching and searching..... 

rt now they are set at 8 up front and 4 in the rear, she's a bit bouncy, going to stiffen her up and try again. stiffer in front and softer in rear???

My rear GAZ shocks only go up to 20 clicks from o, they are STANDARD spec,think there are 3 different types of GAZ Dampers.Depends what you use the for ...track/road etc.

I've got my rears set on 4,with a rear coil spring set up.

My fronts are rubber cones with sachs run of the mill gas dampers.

Edited by Scousemouse, 07 November 2016 - 03:02 PM.

[tiger99]

From what you describe you may actually like Moulton smoothride cones, and dampers just a little bit stiffer than standard on rebound. Spax would do. You really do not want dampers that are too soft on rebound, which on any car has an immediate bad effect on the handling,  but a bit softer on bump may be acceptable if the bump stops are in good condition.

 

So I think that the more progressive cones, and dampers set only a few clicks up from normal, would do what you wish. No need to go extreme.