Many people fit uprated shocks
some time after they have fitted their springs while others
will go the whole hogg and fit a full suspension kit complete
with dampers and springs. While fitting springs on their own
is OK you certainly don't get the best out of the suspension
because uprated springs do make the suspension work harder.
Forces are higher and the speed of oscillation goes up just
like tightening up a guitar string. In some circumstances
standard shocks are fine - for instance its quite common for
BMW owners to fit Eibach springs with standard dampers.
Shock absorbers are basically
a plunger in an oil-filled tube with holes in the plunger
to let the oil through. The 'rate' of the shock absorber is
related to the size of these holes - obviously the smaller
these holes, the higher the rating and the harder it is to
move the plunger. There's obviously more to it than that but
its the basics. You will also hear of gas-filled shocks. This
does not mean it is only gas inside - they are still mostly
oil but the unit is pressurised with gas. Companies who produce
gas shocks say the gas takes away some of the harshness sometimes
associated with uprated shock absorbers.
The two biggest names in the
shock absorber market are Bilstein
and Koni, both with a
long heritage in racing and rallying, especially Bilstein.
Both do two ranges of shock absorber for the road. Bilstein
do a very large range of OE shocks which are popular with
people wanting to firm up their suspension a little bit by
replacing worn out shocks with the high quality Bilsteins.
Bilstein also do a range of uprated sports shocks which are
around 25% uprated. They are not adjustable - Bilstein say
they know what rating the car needs (they are from Germany!).
Konis on the other hand are adjustable and their two ranges
are 'Special' and 'Sports'. The Special range adjusts from
standard to approx. 30% uprated and the Sports range adjust
from approx. 20% uprated to very hard. Bilstein and Koni shocks
tend to be around the same price - a rough average is around
£100 per shock absorber.
There is then a second ream of
shock absorber suppliers who are all around the same price
but are cheaper than Bilstein and Koni. The main brands that
we sell are AVO and Spax.
All AVO dampers are adjustable while Spax has two ranges of
shocks - one adjustable and one non-adjustable. All AVO and
Spax shocks are adjustable on the car (Konis are also adjustable
on the car where the adjustment can be made at the top of
the shock but their other shocks need to be adjusted off the
car). Some of the spring manufacturers also sell full kits
of springs and shocks but don't sell shocks on their own.
Among these we have Apex,
Eibach, Jamex
and PI.
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