my rear end is a little soft

[grumpy2]

thinking about making some improvements now the nights are drawing in. One think I've been thinking about is a rear telescopic conversion. I've seen two sets that bolt only to the chassis. One from TR Bits that uses Spax at £285 and another from TR Shop London using KYB at £144.

 

does anyone have experience of changing from lever arms to either of these kits?

 

do the KYB gas struts make the rear even higher (my car already sits a little high and on my stag KYBs increased the height by about an inch)

 

is there a significant improvement after fitting 'proper' dampers (very noticeable improvement on my MGBs also with lever arms as standard)

 

thanks

 

Gary

[RobinTR6]

In terms of quality I think the order is Koni, Spax, KYB. The brackets need to mount to the chassis not body and you'll pay more for Ali brackets than steel. I've had a few 6's with various conversions and can't really claim much noticeable improvement over a properly setup lever arm etc. My current car came with the Remington coil over conversion, harder springs all round, much better in the corners less roll etc, however very harsh over imperfect surfaces so back to original for me. BTW this is on standard tyres.

[simonjrwinter]

You'll probably have read that a few people are ditching their telescopic shocks and going back to lever arms..

If you stick with the conversion, also read up on which conversions (brackets) to avoid.

Simon

[RogerH]

Hi Gary,

the struts shouldn't make a difference to the ride height - that is a function of the springs.

You can get lower springs but you must ensure that the strut still works properly.

It is possible for the strut to bottom before the rubber bump stops on the body/TA and this could snap the TA.

 

Also the stiffness of the struts shouldn't affect softness of the ride - this is a combination of spring and strut.

 

Roger

[Denis]

Dunno about the rears...but I just changed my fronts to KYB Gas Dampers, and they are better than the old hydraulic ones over speed humps.

[Tony Millward]

Koni on the front, Spax on the rear. If you fit telescopics on the rear you really should beef up the mounting points on the Trailing Arm.

 

Cheers

 

Tony

 

[grumpy2]

Thanks gents

 

Gas struts do make a little difference as the gas gives an amount of additional springing as it were. Really noticeable and frequently reported in stags where the ride height can increase by as much as 2 inches. Try compressing a gas strut -you'll notice it's springing effect

 

Interesting comments about the lever arms

 

Where can I find a comparison of different types of strut brackets?

 

 

Cheers

 

Gary

[Goswell]

I fitted the conversion supplied by CTM Engineering with adjustable Koni's.

They work very well as you can play with the settings to find your personal preference.

Only issue I had was that my car had been fitted with uprated springs, driving on a minor bumpy road could start an oscillation that was not comfortable.

Changed the springs for standard ones and everything fine.

[Clarkey]

I opted for the Raceterations conversion as it bolts on to the chassis at the same point as the leaver arms so there is no need to weld any extra points on the chassis.

I have standard hight springs( uprated) and adjustable spax all round, very happy

Edited October 10, 2014 by Clarkey

[Guest ntc]

I opted for the Raceterations conversion as it bolts on to the chassis at the same point as the leaver arms so there is no need to weld any extra points on the chassis.

I have standard hight springs( uprated) and adjustable spas all round, very happy

You get what you pay for Martin it is the best imho