Do shocks drop with age

[Josh]

Does AVO actually have an American distributor, or are all of the vendors importing the shocks from the UK on their own behalf?

Something to consider:
We've seen past failures with the SPAX suspension. As a result, the vendors have stopped carrying them. Should one of these AVO suspension components break and cause injury as a result of a manufacturing defect, who will you sue? With no American distributor, it's unlikely you could get personal jurisdiction over UK-based AVO. Therefore, you'd be stuck suing in the UK, which means you'd have an uphill battle from the very beginning with finding a UK-based attorney, paying to lodge and fly your witnesses to the UK, and then you'd pray for justice from an unavoidably biased English jury. Good luck.

On the other hand, you could buy a USA-made suspension manufactured right here in Minnesota and with dealers located throughout the nation (http://www.qa1.net/dealers). If trouble finds you, you can almost certainly sue QA1 in your home or neighboring state based on specific jurisdiction (minimum contacts).

Note that this post is not meant to be construed as legal advice nor does it create an attorney-client relationship.

That escalated quickly lol

You crazy Americans.

[sdg3205]

That escalated quickly lol

You crazy Americans.

Lol!

[Drive Stainless]

That escalated quickly lol

You crazy Americans.

LOL, well it wasn't made to escalate anything, but it's something to consider. Terrible things happen in the world, and after about 50 credits of reading about terrible things, I've changed a lot about the way I make choices.

[DMC-81]

I did some searching and AVO Shocks were apparently designed by Ron Avon, the same guy who designed Protech shocks, so say the guys and gals on the UK automotive forums.

[dodint]

LOL, well it wasn't made to escalate anything, but it's something to consider. Terrible things happen in the world, and after about 50 credits of reading about terrible things, I've changed a lot about the way I make choices.

I'm only six weeks in and I'm seeing everything as some kind of possible tort. Hoping this sickness goes away so I can return to enjoying life.

[delo2.8]

Dana you do raise a good point, and a concern I always had with John's rear shock setup.

Perhaps the change in height is the collar letting go and sliding downwards (very scary)

You can buy NOS rear Girlings for $75 a set you know? Great deal if you ask me and properly designed for the rear "coilover" setup.

I put John's rear setup on my car. A few weeks after installation I hit a decent pot hole and the drivers side collar slipped down to the bottom of the shock, pretty scary. I talked to a mechanic friend of mine who works on a lot of aftermarket and high performance vehicles in his shop and he took one look at it and said he would never run anything like that.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Well I checked the collars on the Hervey rear shocks and both are still in the same location. But the drivers side height is a half inch lower than the passenger side. I do remember tightening the collars when I first installed the shocks.

I am going to install NOS rear shocks and see if that corrects the problem. I never noticed any ride difference when I installed the rear easy riders anyway.

[nkemp]

When I redid my frame about 27 years ago, I installed Fred Lockett's (AKA DeLorean Pilot) lowering springs as that was the only option to cut-n-swap. I have no idea what springs he used. (So much for the better has changed in the last 27+ years !!!) I also installed NOS shocks at the time.

Now my rears have a lot (LOT) of camber and I suspect that the springs are compressing. It is like the frog in water approaching boiling, it just keeps creeping up until one day you look at it (the frog or the camber) and notice how bad it looks. Plus the driver side may be lower than the passenger side. So my input is that it may be your springs compressing and as someone pointed out, after the car is on the lift, the car rides a bit high for a while which could be the springs stretching back out.

As I recall, shocks are pretty neutral relative to support. That said, when you push shocks in by hand, don't they move back out on their own? But the outward force is minimal.

So I'm now in process of researching what to do.
- New springs & shocks all around (I've wanted to get the front about an inch lower)
- Reinstall the OEM rear springs in the rear keeping the OEM shocks
- Install the OEM fronts in the rear and keep the shocks
- New Springs & shocks for the rear
- Other?

I really hate the idea of redoing the fronts. The last time the spring compressor failed while I was holding/moving it under compression. That was exciting ... and didn't cause me any harm :-)

[Bitsyncmaster]

I've got NOS rear shocks waiting for the warmer weather to replace my easy riders. Yes the NOS shocks do extend them self but like you said, it's not much force.

[David T]

I've got NOS rear shocks waiting for the warmer weather to replace my easy riders. Yes the NOS shocks do extend them self but like you said, it's not much force.

Shocks do not affect ride height. Shocks with springs on them (coil-overs) DO affect ride height. Not the shock itself but the spring around the shock. Usually with coil-over springs there is some kind of adjustment so you can change the ride height. A collar that just clamps in place is not considered "Good Practice" since it can (and often does) slip. There is a LOT of force on that spring and eventually a clamped collar will move. Good coil-overs will have threads on the outside of the shock and collars that screw on those threads. Better coil-overs will also have some external adjustment screws so you can modify the shock's control. The main function of the shock is to control the up-and-down movement of the suspension, not to lift it. It is finely tuned to the tire, the frame's resonance and stiffness, and the road surface. A properly tuned shock is akin to a tuning fork, it absorbs resonate frequencies and damps them out. You cannot throw any shock into a car and expect proper performance.