Fitting Gaz Shocks

[steve in stockport]

After going out with Big Jim and the NW gang and bottoming out too many times i've decided to upgrade to gaz shockers all round.

Heres how i did the back ones without having to redrill the mounts for 1/2 inch bolts.

 

heres the original 1600 mile zimmer in situ

and this shows the difference between the eyes on the zimmers and the gaz's

as you can see theres quite a jump in size from the 3/8 inch bolt that are used

 

I tried a 12mm bolt in the gaz and it was loose- hole is drilled to 1/2 inch so it was either fit with loose 12 bolt, get some 1/2 inch bolts or come up with another solution.

i hit upon the idea of taking the sleeve from the zimmer and trying to fit it in the eye of the gaz, so i drilled the rubber bush

to relieve the pressure and pushed the sleeve out with a bolt

the sleeve was a fraction to big so i decided to polish it up with some emery cloth.

Did this by putting it on a bolt with some suitable packing and nut to hold it, then into a drill mounted in a vice, started the drill up and held the emery cloth around the sleeve while the drill spun it round

once i had polished the sleeve it could be carefully pressed into the gaz eye with the jaws of the vice

as you can see it fits nicely and allows the retention of the original bolts and no drilling of the mounts

 

The gaz eyes are wider than the mounts so they needed to be spread slightly to let them fit,easily done with a lever and a pair of pliers to get the right shape.

And here's the gaz shock in position, takes about 45 minutes a corner.

 

Thats the back all done just the fronts to fit now

 

Steve

[Guest Battery Bill]

Nice one Steve

Have you tried them yet?

[Grim]

i'll be replacing the coilovers a the rear of mine this week, if they get delivered (AVO to GAZ). I presume the metal insert into the rubber should be solid in the mountings, and the bush deforms slightly with suspension travel. Is that correct?

[steve in stockport]

Bill

no not tried them yet, have been doing a corner at a time between coats of emulsion, going to get the front done tomorrow ready for the weekend.

 

Grim

as far as i know everything is just pressed into the eye, don't think the rubber is supposed to deform that much as that is one of the faults on the zimmers. If you're worried about deformation you could always remove the rubber bushes altogether and put polyurethane items in.

 

Steve

[Grim]

I'm trying to work out why my existing units have failed. Whilst it's possible AVO coilovers are crap, i suspect misinstallation is more likely.

 

I'm not worried about deformation of the bushes, i'm just wondering if the metal insert in the bush should be either

1) bolted hard onto the bracket and the bush takes up slight rotational movement due to the small changes in forward / backward position of the lower mounting as the trailing arm moves.... or

2) the bolt in the bracket should act as a bearing with the insert rotating over it, and the bush is merely present to take up shocks.

 

The fact you suggested replacing them with polyurethane items suggest they should be mounted as 2).

 

Does anyone have any manufacturer information for the installation of coilovers?

[steve in stockport]

Ok fitted the front shocks today, here's the zimmer in situ, still wrapped in self amalgamating tape from the SVA

 

I dropped the bottom wishbone to give a bit more clearance to get the shockers in and out. Loosen the nut on the bottom balljoint then give it a clout with a lump hammer and bar to jar the joint loose, then remove the nut and the joint will come apart without damaging the rubber cover.

once the shock was out the procedure was the same as for the rears to fit the bush sleeves.

Then it just needs refitting, the top mounts are ok and need no work and the bottoms need spreading as for the rears.

Don't forget to replace any nyloc nuts that you take off, it's false economy and not safe to re-use the old ones.

And here's the new gaz shock in place, nice isn't it?

Just need to touch up the paint on the mountings and test drive.

 

Steve

[Guest docter fox]

looks good , have you been for a test drive?

 

andy, how many days?

[Grim]

how many days since i ordered my shocks? 7 now, quoted 2 to 5 for delivery, so will be ringing tomorrow!

[Guest graham dockerill]

Steve, what length, poundage, springs etc are your Gaz shocks as I want to get some at Detling for my 2B but hav'nt a clue as to dimensions of front/rear etc,

 

Graham

[Longboarder]

have been doing a corner at a time between coats of emulsion

Interesting, a magnolia Hood. How many coats are you putting on? Is there a problem when it rains?

 

Grim, I have always thought that if it has a rubber, poly or other compliant bush you bolt up hard to the centre sleeve and leave the compliant part to take up small rotational and non axial movement. This is also so for rose joints. If there is significant rotation on the mount then this may change.

 

Nigel

[Grim]

Cheers.

 

I rang rally design today... apparently it'll be 3 or 4 weeks+ before delivery, which seems a bit more than the 2 to 5 days they quoted last week. I wish they'd told me last week instead of leaving me here with my mot running out!

So much for their poncy 'doctrine' on their website:

 

1. Keep the stocks high - you cannot sell a product if you do not have it in stock.

2. Never lie to a customer - if supply is going to be six weeks then be honest and tell them so.

3. Try to get every order out on the same day it is ordered.

4. Keep the customer informed

 

:gdit: :gdit: :gdit: :gdit: :gdit: :gdit: :gdit: :gdit: :gdit: :gdit: :gdit: :gdit:

[stevedohc2b]

Avo sent me some 3/8 inserts to replace the 1/2" supplied for free so used one to press out the other ask the supplier as I think Gaz will do the same.

 

Then you can sell zimmers on.

 

Stephen

[Guest chris brown]

I think Gaz will do the same

Gaz supply free (well they did for me and I bought my shocks on eBay) 3/8 inserts that push into the 1/2" ones so you end up with two steel bushes in each end.

[Guest salty_monk]

Then you can sell zimmers on.

Looks a bit late for that now...

 

That picture of a drill & a wrecked Zimmer being drilled gave it away...

 

 

 

Guess someone keen could make up some new bushes or get some from Polybush or something to fit...

[steve in stockport]

Graham

the shockers are 13 inch fully open all round, but apparently most 2B drivers that David Ainsworth at Dampertech sells to have 17's for the rear and 13's for the front.

I have just replaced like for like in terms of the length, springs are 9inch by 300 lbs at the rear and 8 inch by 325lbs at the front.

 

maybe the smaller shocks on the back account for the lower wheel to arch clearance at the back

 

have not had a chance for a decent drive to try and get the damping dialled in yet, but hope to get this done soon.

 

best advice i can give you is to measure your existing ones then talk to the seller and follow their advice.

 

as for the bushes David didn't offer any smaller bushes, just pointed out that the eyes on the shockers were larger than the zimmers, so i came up with the solution in this thread.

if i decide to sell the zimmers on or reuse them else where i'll get some new bushes from minisport or similar £2 per unit for std or £4 for poly

 

Steve