109 replies to this topic

[jules_s]

Jules, i would tend to agree with you, but if you think of how many people have the same shocks, why is it that there are no other problems with other peoples setups?

Most likely nobody else has found the problem you have, there may well be other people in the same situation.

two possibilities that i can think of are running too low or possibly the dampers set too soft

I dont think thats our problem either, a combination of bad spring ratings and bump design is the suspension/damper design fault...not the people who buy them.

so because i know that i wasnt running too low, and that the dampers were infact set quite hard i have to rule this out, so i have to investigate other means, it must be something thats happened to my car that is out of the ordinary, and the only thing to spring to mind is a pothole i hit a couple weeks back.

For clarity (not taking the p*ss here) I think you need to define 'too low' I got my Gaz via Joes group buy and set the ride height standard (no pre tension or lowering) and Ive felt mine bottom out whilst set with relatively 'hard' rebound.

i think the pothole i hit was on this video, just after overtaking the van... so i was accelerating down a hill and just as i get to the bottom i hit the pothole, whether its has something to do with the force of the sudden uphil (forcing the car down) and hitting the pothole at the same time i dont know..

I cant see a situation where hitting a single pothole will damage OS & NS wishbones at the same time, the car would have to be either airbourne or compressed equally to do that.

For Gaz to offer you a couple of higher load springs is a compromise IMO, you need new wishbones (if you can prove it) and this thread alone is going to see lots of people questioning whether the Gaz option is worthwhile.

[Retset]

I am reading with interest as I hit the mother of all potholes in a tiny lane I used on satnav to avoid a jam. It was enough for me to stop as I thought I'd bust something. I am running almost on the deck. I will be taking the wheels off this week to renew my ATE fluid and have a good check over, esp wishbones. I'll report back. Pothole was filled with water, BTW, so I didn't realise how deep it was

[southpaw]

I cant see a situation where hitting a single pothole will damage OS & NS wishbones at the same time, the car would have to be either airbourne or compressed equally to do that.

just what I've been thinking reading through this, something is definately not right.

[chris_uk]

i can not realistically think of another situation that could cause it? i do agree with what you guys are saying tho.. but atm there is only mine which has been a problem, which leads me to believe that its a freak accident. from earlier pictures alanoo had the very same problem as me but he was using nitrons.. does this mean people will question whether or not nitron design team did a propper job? i think questions would be asked about how they have been setup rather than the company designing them wrong, but is that because they are expensive and as such people assume that they have all been designed correctly and no chance of a mistake? i think its unfair to judge gaz on this one instance.. but if it turns out that everyone gets the same problem then fine, there is obvisouly a design flaw but atm i wouldn't be put off by this. i still believe it was a combination of the uphill section and the pothole but obviously i cant prove this.. i just know that i havet been anywhere else or even been over rough ground.. i will run the new shocks with 2" stops and the tougher springs and will monitor it closley, if it happens again of cause i will look into getting them to replace the damaged wishbones.

[alanoo]

I am almost sure this is again due to a VX subframe specificity, where there should be much more clearance on a S2 Elise/Exige

But as our designs are basically copies from aftermarket Lotus designs, it is very possibly not 100% optimised for the VX regarding these clearances.

As an example, I remember when talking to Guy at Nitron about the issue I got which was the same one (pic on first page), he replied he checked that with Thorney on its race cars and Lotus trophy/LoT cars/drivers which I don't think are driving VX's too.
Another example should be that my new Hofmann's/Randy/Nitron setup is not 100% tailored to the VX too, and it shows some clearance issues between the helper spring and the subframe too. I'll check how it behaves regarding the subframe/bump stops stuff next weekend, even if it is very unlikely I could hit them with the 725lbs rear springs

Should be good to have a suspension guru look at this thread btw

[M3KDJ]

I have GAZ's on mine running near to standard ride height at the rear with the 375lb springs. I checked earlier in the week when I saw this thread.. My N/S top arm had a very small dent in exactly the same place. I fitted some 425/475 springs this weekend which will hopefully stop this happening again. Will have to speak to them tomorrow to sort some bigger bump stops out. BTW the ride is vastly improved with the stiffer springs - guess GAZ have got it wrong with the 325/375 set up?

[chris_uk]

yea i also think the ride quality is much better on the stiffer springs.. i need to get my fronts to match the backs now

[Freedo]

I have / had this on my wishbones! I too have Nitron 1-way coilovers...

[severnless]

I have / had this on my wishbones! I too have Nitron 1-way coilovers...

Freedo, looks like you also need to look at the drive shaft gaiter!

it sounds like it's a nitron problem as well then (bump stop clearance)

would it be worth (upon fitting new shocks) trying the system (with a jack) without any spring on then see if the wishbones are touching the tub??

then commenting back to the manufacture that there IS a problem??

[Freedo]

Good spot buddy. I took this picture when I was reparing the whole car (cat D). I have sorted the gaitor and replaced the wishbone. I don't want this to happen again to the wishbone though! Have any other Nitron people got the same problem?

[Richy]

Is that tyre rub on the chassis?

[Freedo]

It sure looks like it...

[Retset]

I will be taking the wheels off this week to renew my ATE fluid and have a good check over, esp wishbones. I'll report back.

Done today - no dinks - phew! Rear on 120mm with 550lb springs.

[Freedo]

I've sent Nitron an email tonight to see what they say about my problem. I shall report back with what they've got to say. Any other people with the same problem running Nitrons?

[Sutol]

I've sent Nitron an email tonight to see what they say about my problem.

I shall report back with what they've got to say. Any other people with the same problem running Nitrons?

I'll check tomorrow

[alanoo]

I've sent Nitron an email tonight to see what they say about my problem.

I shall report back with what they've got to say. Any other people with the same problem running Nitrons?

I do, look at first page...

[chris_uk]

just an update,

i got the new shocks from gaz, but ive held off fitting them until it was a semi nice day, which it was today

do, i stripped the oldones down, making a note of the gap between the adjuster and the coilring and knew to make that gap a tiny big smaller to get my prefered ride height, and make them as close to the originals when the geo was done as to keep it the same.

so i put it all back together and noticed that the seat ring where the spring sits just fell out.. and im pretty sure that this wasnt the case when i originally installed my first set.

so i took them off and put them next to the old ones and they seemed the same apart from one thing which was the bottom part of the coilover, i checked the other one and found this..



now im not sure if they are meant to be like this, but the old ones are identical, i have installed my originals a tiny bit lower than before just to get a decent height and i will call gaz back monday and see what they say

here are some more shots.





after measuring the overall length of these shocks they were actually longer than the old ones.

Edited by chris_uk, 07 March 2009 - 01:30 PM.

[mandarinvx]

I presume you'll have to set the spring seat a couple of mm higher on one side; can't see it being much of an issue other than that tho

[chris_uk]

well ideally they should be identical.. and with the overall length of them being alot more the same setting on the both (bottom of adjsuter to top of coilring) the new set would give a higher ride height.. and if i take the new ones low enough for my prefered setting the spring seat thing is just loose and falls out.

[Retset]

When I did my ride heights, I had to have quite different settings side to side. I haven't checked but think Hofmann's had to do the same. Everything else in my suspension is fine so I wonder if my Gaz were also of differing length?