As with the driveshafts, welcome to another 'can of worms'. Multiple options from completely standard lever arms to gas shocks and coil springs all round, with again, many differing opinions. I definitely wanted the car to handle better than she used to as to me, this is more important than loads of power. So with this in mind, I decided that I was going for shocks all round. I had the choice of 3 different systems (well 4 if you count the Revington TR 'inside the spring' shock absorber arrangement).
Type 1 – Seems very flimsy and doesn't seem to provide enough support for the shock absorber in my opinion. I wouldn't have thought anyone would recommend using these unless cost was an issue.
Type 2 – Comes in TUV approved and non TUV. I went for the TUV approved ones, a little more expensive, but they seem stronger and more sturdily built.
Type 3 – Here's where it gets interesting. Many people on forums say that this is the one to go for as they mount up through the bodyshell and therefore tie it down more, making it stronger and stiffer with less flex. My problem with this is that I'm not sure that tying the bodyshell down this securely is a good idea in the TR6. The car was designed to flex, and I think taking a significant amount of the flex out in this area will transfer the strains to other areas which may not necessarily be designed to take it. My twopenny-worth, and probably complete rubbish since I'm not a suspension expert… but my thoughts all the same until such time as I meet a TR6 suspension expert who can persuade me otherwise.
Revington TR – Seems like a good idea.. those that have it, swear by it.. I'm just not convinced.
As far as shock absorbers go, there seem to be 4 options (all telescopic and adjustable), Gaz, Spax, Koni or custom-made ones through someone like Bilstein or Sachs. Again, you'll find everyone has their favourite and I don't think there is a right or wrong way to go here… I went for the Konis. What I do like about the Spax though, is that they are adjustable on the car, unlike the Konis which have to be removed in order to adjust them. I'd really like to go for some custom-made ones by Bilstein at some point, but I need to find a good suspension expert who can guide me through this minefield.
With regards to coil springs, I didn't want the ride to be too rough, but I didn't want the body to roll too much through the bends either. I ended up going for standard length and poundage springs rather than uprated ones. At least this way, I figured that if I didn't like the ride, I had a starting point from which to work and I hadn't made too many changes all at the same time.
I decided not to fit a rear anti-roll bar, for similar reasons as to why I didn't fit the Type 3 suspension conversion brackets. I didn't want to stiffen the rear end too much at the start and find that the car was too tail-happy. I stuck with a standard front anti-roll bar too but depending upon how things develop on the handling front, I might uprate this at some point in the future and may even consider fitting a rear anti-roll bar.
I renewed all the bushes with Superflex blue polybushes and also fitted uprated front stub-axles and hubs.
The jury is still out as far as the suspension set up on the car is concerned. She certainly rides well, isn't too hard, but probably doesn't handle as well through the bends as I would like (still understeers a bit too much for my taste I think). I'm going to revisit the suspension settings again once all the other snagging is done to see how I can improve the handling, but for the moment, I'm happy enough with it and there are a number of other things which need sorting first.
