Jono.C Posted October 3, 2012 Report Posted October 3, 2012 G'day guys. I've got a pair of Excel G Rear shocks here, 344223. Which suggests Mitsubishi. They look practically new, i bought them off a mate of mine who had them in his 3tgte T18. No i know Excel G's are stiff, but i'm beginning to think these are fubar.. Pushing down on them neither me, or any of my mates can get them past about 10mm compression, and it's a bloody stiff 10mm.. Been pulling all kinds of Hulk moves on these bad boys and can't figure it out. They've been in his car and he reckoned they haven't been laying down.. So is it likely these are Fubar'd? Or need to be used to soften up? Quote
rian Posted October 3, 2012 Report Posted October 3, 2012 Excel G dampers are not usually stiff, they are just standard replacement dampers. AGXs on the other hand... Quote
GJM85 Posted October 3, 2012 Report Posted October 3, 2012 They've been stored for some time at full extension. New shocks come strapped for a reason. Quote
styler Posted October 3, 2012 Report Posted October 3, 2012 (edited) Might be bent shafts... Edited October 3, 2012 by styler Quote
altezzaclub Posted October 3, 2012 Report Posted October 3, 2012 They could be fine- Twin-tube gas shocks for a Pajero, they ahve to control more weight than a T18. I had Atsugi on the rally car and I couldn't compress them with my weight. Quote
Jono.C Posted October 3, 2012 Author Report Posted October 3, 2012 So you reckon if i put them in and drive for a week or so they may soften up a bit? Quote
parrot Posted October 3, 2012 Report Posted October 3, 2012 Why would you want these in your car? Stiff isn't necessarily good Quote
altezzaclub Posted October 3, 2012 Report Posted October 3, 2012 All we are talking about here is the gas pressure, which is not related to the "shock absorbing" properties due to valves inside. The gas pressure stops the oil from foaming and adds to the load-carrying capacity or ride height. So you can run lower springs to maintain the same ride height, or fit those shocks on stock springs and raise the ride height. However, how "stiff" they are to ride on is entirely different. Measuring the shock piston speed, there are 'slow speed' valves for resisting droop and lift in cornering, and there are "high-speed" valves for resistance to movement over bumps and potholes. I'm about to try and find a shock absorber testing machine around Orange, as I want the shocks on the RA40 rally car measured, then I can look for better ones. They seem too soft when going down (compression) and too slow in going up (extension). In other words they are road shocks and designed to keep the car low, while in rallying you want to keep the car high. In the end you have to drive on them and try them. Quote
ke70dave Posted October 3, 2012 Report Posted October 3, 2012 yeah i tend to agree with altezza. i replaced a set of shocks in a N14 pulsar and even they were quite difficult to push down. Felt like jelly on the road though. But i think thats just pulsars in general.. do both shocks feel the same? both uber stiff? Throw them in give them a go, you will know pretty quick if they are rooted. On an old corolla rear shocks are uber quick to change anyway! A patrol is designed for 4wding so i reckon they will be simliar to installing 40mm steel pipe between your shock mounts. Quote
Jono.C Posted October 4, 2012 Author Report Posted October 4, 2012 (edited) Yeah they're both the same.. They're not for my Corolla, They're to go in the back of my Celica which is considerably heavier, so maybe it'll loosen them up a bit and they'll free up a bit.. Here's hoping anyway! Why would you want these in your car? Stiff isn't necessarily good Well they're not supposed to be as stiff as they are.. They're just Excel G's Edited October 4, 2012 by Jono.C Quote
philbey Posted October 4, 2012 Report Posted October 4, 2012 Dude, they'll be fine; better off being hard to compress than not. My porsche bilsteins are for a 1200kg car with a very light front end with a low unsprung mass and they're almost impossible to compress. I've been observing a bunch of posts on here, not just this one but other ones over a few months; I get the feeling that people don't actually understand shock damping theory very well? Nobody EVER seems to talk about how their shocks match up to their spring rate (and unsprung mass for that matter)? I did some digging, although this is very wordy with minimal diagrams, there is some good theory on shocks vs springs. http://www.theoryinpracticeengineering.com/drift_mag/basic_damper.pdf Anyway; altezzaclub is right, there's different valving, one for the very high speed, low movement bumps and the other for the slower, high movement, cornering and braking loads etc. The article above explains this quite well, 3rd page, second paragraph. Shocks apply a reaction force based on how fast you squish them. Push them faster, they provide a greater resistance. Stare at the graph in that article a while, you'll see this. is clear. They don't provide any resistance force when they're not being compressed. (chart starts at the Zero line) Gas shocks are slightly different; they do add a little bit of spring rate because the gas is compressible. They should have marginal influence on ride height, they don't actually 'hold the car up', the springs do. Gas shocks will extend on their own as you've probably seen due to the gas displacing the fluid in one side of the shock. That force may be enough to lift the car, but it would be marginal. A straight OEM replacement should account for that I would have thought. Your shocks arent stuffed, they're fine. When a gas shock is easy to compress, then they're stuffed. Although I've not bought gas shocks that were strapped while packed, that's probably more to do with shipping economics than anything else. Quote
parrot Posted October 4, 2012 Report Posted October 4, 2012 That's my point. I find it hard to believe something valved for a Pajero will suit the spring rates in a celica. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.