[AVO]

Steve,

A couple of other points to consider when selecting a replacement shock.

1 Length. Make sure that the extended and collapsed length suits your suspension. The only way to do this is to measure it on the car. Remove the shock and spring, and measure the minimum and maximum distance travel between the upper and lower mounts. Do not use the existing shock to confirm size. I have seen many shocks of the wrong size fitted to low volume production cars.

If it's too long, you will not get the required travel, and will pound out the bump stops, internal parts and or mounts. And handling will not be good.

If too short, you may lift a wheel when cornering. You have four wheels, best to keep them on the road at all times.

2 Spring length. Ensure that the spring free length is recommended by the manufacturer. If too short, it may come off its mount at full rebound, and when cornering, that wheel won't be giving much traction. If too long, it may become coil bound at full bump.

3 Travel. Make sure that your shock travel and the spring travel are compatible. If you have a shock with 3" of travel, make sure that your spring has more than 3" of travel. If it does not, you will get coil bind, and two things will happen. There will be a rapid loss of tyre compliance, and bad handling, and all load will transmitted through the shock and its mounts, which will contribute to a rapid deterioration of both.

All reputable spring suppliers can advise the minimum compressed length of their spring.

4 Mounts. While not really a shock related matter, ensure that the mounts are appropriate. They need to be parallel, and also 90 degrees to the shock. If not, the shock will work in a bind, and will flog out mounts and prematurely wear out internal bushes.

5 Spring rates. If you are running high spring rates (more than 600 lbs/inch), tell the supplier. While there are many other considerations to valving, the valving required for a 350 lb spring, is often different to a 1000 lb spring.