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MG MGB Technical - lever arm shock absorbers


Have a leaking shock on rear of my '72 B, quite happy with the ride so don't want to fit tubes. Is it worth going for uprated lever arms or is that just going to make the ride harder ?

Thanks guys

ken
k proud

I'd just get rebuilt stock setting shocks.
Bill Spohn

Ken-
Uprated lever arm dampers on the front will improve handling a bit, but there's no point in going for uprated units on the rear unless you're going racing on a track. Uprated rear units can make the rear end of the car a bit fidgety on rough roads.
Stephen Strange

The car is supposed to be quite soft at the rear. That's what gives it such forgiving handling. As cornering speed increases the soft rear allows it to roll and this induces gentle and controllable oversteer, so it doesn't plough straight on like a front-drive car, and it doesn't snap into a sudden tail slide either. Good fun. For road use keep the dampers standard is my advice.
Mike Howlett

Ditto. Rebuilt exchange units are very reasonable, and although they are only as good as the previously returned unit I've only had one what I would call premature failure on two cars over 25 years and 180k miles.
Paul Hunt

Thanks guys,
Think I will take your advice.

ken
k proud

Am very dubious about, so called, "uprated". It's not a black art, it's merely adding a shim or two and adjusting a nut. Most purchased, rebuilt dampers, are set by rule of thumb, feel, but mostly subjective judgement. Whenever i have bought 2 dampers I've always had to "play" with then to even get them to match. AND always use synthetic, motor cycle fork oil.
Stiffish front, compliant rear is the order of the day, and incidentally, the reason why most tube rear dampers are a failure, they're too stiff/hard.
Allan Reeling

I purchased 4 rebuilt lever arms about 5/6 years ago, after a year one was found to be leaking and it was replaced. last week on the MOT another was found to be leaking. My question is how difficult would it be to rebuild by the owner, are the parts available.
Trev
Trevor Harvey

Poor damping is often caused by lack of oil.

Many 'reconditioned' dampers have just had the oil topped up and a coat of paint. After all, how much of a rebuild do you think they get for the price they are charging? While this will restore the damping, it doesn't address the issue of why the oil was lost.

Some reconditioners will dismantle the dampers, address any worn parts and replace the seals. This is a more expensive route, but is worthwhile, in my view.
Dave O'Neill 2

Personally I wouldn't replace a damper just because the oil was low, only if it was leaking, which is very obvious. A little dampness just around the shaft isn't a problem, dripping off the bottom is. If I fitted a rebuilt unit, level checked, and it immediately started leaking it would go back. I can't imagine any damper rebuilder assuming a unit they had received as simply having low oil, and so just topping it up and painting it, neither would I expect them to do a leak test before deciding whether it needed new seals or not. That leaves seal replacement as a matter of course, unless you are buying from an unknown source.

Apart from opening one up just for the hell of it, I can't imagine bothering to research rebuilding one, as they are so cheap. If you are concerned about the quality of rebuilt units, you can buy new (fronts at least) but at much greater cost. But given the quality and longevity of so many new parts these days, it wouldn't surprise me if they suffered premature failure occasionally as well.
Paul Hunt

Peter Caldwell, at World Wide Auto, rebuilds the lever action Armstrong shocks to a better than new new standard. He machines the bores and installs seals on the shafts, something that Armstrong never did. His uprated shocks include an adjustable setting so you can fine tune the shocks to your car's needs. RAY
rjm RAY

A quick poll of some retailers returned the following prices for recon shock absorbers...

Moss £30
MGB Hive £27.95
MGOC £25.75

Assuming that the retailers are making a profit of at least £10 per unit, how much work do you think goes into 'reconditioning' them, bearing in mind that the reconditioner also has to make a profit/living?

Ray, how much are Peter Caldwell's rebuilt dampers?
Dave O'Neill 2

Depends on how much time it takes. Obviously not much, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. I've replaced maybe six over two cars in 25 years including replacing tubular rears on the V8 with lever-arm, and only had one what I would call premature failure and had to replace again. Compare that with so-called new heater valves, clutch slaves and rear slaves which are now on their second or third replacement.

Incidentally I see Leacy have recon rear dampers at £21, with new at £134. Not worth it in my book.
Paul Hunt

Dave, Peter Caldwell
peter@nosimport.com
www.worldwideimportautoparts.com
RAY
rjm RAY

This thread was discussed between 30/10/2014 and 11/11/2014

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