Which Brand Shocks?

[Spinal]

Looking at new shocks for the mongol car... and have a few choices (all prices without springs... :s but for a pair. The plan is to fit diesel springs to get a little more out of the ride height):

Front:
Monroe: £120 (gas)
KYB: £100 (gas)
Sachs: £100
GH: £50

Rear:
Bilsten: £40
KYB: £40
Monroe: £100 (gas)
KYB: £100 (gas)

I've never heard of GH... does anyone have any experience? I'm tempted to fit the KYB's to the front and rear... advice?

M.

 

[def90cars]

Would it be too simply to go cheapest and take a couple of spares?

 

[Spinal]

Would it be too simply to go cheapest and take a couple of spares?

I did consider that, but I'm worried that 10k miles of cr@p roads and corrugate will blow any non-gas shocks very early. On the W202, I blew both rear (non gas) shocks within 1k miles on the sand.

Changing the shocks 10 times en route will be a time consuming process.... not to mention expensive!

M.

 

[markjay]

If you are adamant that you want gas shocks, then this leaves only KYB and Monroe?

Both are 'middle of the road' brands, I would go for Monroe simply because as a young man I remember that drivers of American pick-up trucks use to fit them...

 

[BlackC55]

KYB are terrible.

I would go Sachs or Bilstein.

 

[Spinal]

If you are adamant that you want gas shocks, then this leaves only KYB and Monroe?

Both are 'middle of the road' brands, I would go for Monroe simply because as a young man I remember that drivers of American pick-up trucks use to fit them...

Sorry - just realised that! The unknown brands are advertised as gas shocks too...
2x GAS - Print - Shock Front Nissan Micra II 2 (K11) Front Axle | eBay
but £66 and not £40

KYB are terrible.

I would go Sachs or Bilstein.

Really? Sachs over KYB? The sachs ones I can find (ECP) are not pressurised... oil only... and cost £100...

M

 

[markjay]

If we eliminate the unknown brand GH... and KYB which BlackC55 ruled-out... then I think that the question you are actually asking us is whether to opt for Monroe gas, or go for Sachs+Bilstein non-gas...

 

[grober]

Consider an air inflation jack
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or at minimum a high lift jack
[YOUTUBE]nakSPmLpWsI[/YOUTUBE]

 

[johnsco]

I hesitate to contradict BlackC55's very-superior knowledge ...
BUT
I have used KYBs on the E-Class and they have performed OK for me.

 

[ray_hennig]

KYB are terrible.

I would go Sachs or Bilstein.

Me too.

RayH

 

[Giantvanman]

I did consider that, but I'm worried that 10k miles of cr@p roads and corrugate will blow any non-gas shocks very early. On the W202, I blew both rear (non gas) shocks within 1k miles on the sand.

Changing the shocks 10 times en route will be a time consuming process.... not to mention expensive!M.

Quite a bit of difference in weight between a W202 and a Micra though.

 

[Will]

Without sounding silly, are all those parts and prices from Euro C** Parts? Because there's got to be better alternatives out there

There's got to be a Nissan/micra forum who must know about these bits too

 

[grober]

Consider an air inflation jack
[YOUTUBE]airjack[/YOUTUBE]
or at minimum a high lift jack
[YOUTUBE]high lift[/YOUTUBE]

By rights this post should be in the RALLY THREAD rather than here. Bit of brain fade sorry

 

[hotrodder]

Without sounding silly, are all those parts and prices from Euro C** Parts? Because there's got to be better alternatives out there

^^ This. If the regular price for Sachs from ECP is around £100ea it shouldn't be hard to find them for nearly half that without needing to buy them using the right "forum discount" or "sale" for example

Sachs Mercedes-Benz | Euro Car Parts UK?s No.1 Car Parts Retailer £130 reduced to £84 in the "sale" or the exact same Sachs part for £64.56 inc VAT from 115 070|Sachs Shock Absorber|Sachs Shock Absorber uk|115070 To be fair unlike ECP they don't include postage so they're only about £30 cheaper than ECP "sale" price for a pair of the same dampers delivered to your door

 

[John Jones Jr]

I think premium brand oil filled shocks rather than gas filled maybe the way to go. You'd end up with a good shock & more comfort.

 

[Spinal]

Grober: Thanks - already have a high lift jack that I use on the shogun... that said, I doubt I can get it under the micra May look into the airlift thing... looks ideal for lifting on sand...

Without sounding silly, are all those parts and prices from Euro C** Parts? Because there's got to be better alternatives out there

There's got to be a Nissan/micra forum who must know about these bits too

There is - I'm a member of that too That said, there are three main categories of drivers there, the "keep it as stock as possible, concourse" people, the "rally-race stage" and the "modifiers". The rally race guys have some great input, but budgets that far exceed mine

Quite a bit of difference in weight between a W202 and a Micra though.

Indeed - but surely the shocks are specced relative to the weight?

^^ This. If the regular price for Sachs from ECP is around £100ea it shouldn't be hard to find them for nearly half that without needing to buy them using the right "forum discount" or "sale" for example

Sachs Mercedes-Benz | Euro Car Parts UK?s No.1 Car Parts Retailer £130 reduced to £84 in the "sale" or the exact same Sachs part for £64.56 inc VAT from 115 070|Sachs Shock Absorber|Sachs Shock Absorber uk|115070 To be fair unlike ECP they don't include postage so they're only about £30 cheaper than ECP "sale" price for a pair of the same dampers delivered to your door

Thanks - prices were a mix from ebay and ECP; must admit I don't shop around much as ECP with the forum discount tends to be only a little bit more than ordering online, and the advantage of being able to pick stuff up is great when I need to return things. (Ordered form GSF a while ago, and as much as I like their prices, returning a set of 16" brake disks when I ordered the non-abs ones by mistake proved uneconomical). Lesson learnt - I'll do some shopping around!

I think premium brand oil filled shocks rather than gas filled maybe the way to go. You'd end up with a good shock & more comfort.

Starting to be convinced...

Correct me where I'm wrong. Aren't oil filled shocks designed to take longer to overheat due to the anti-foaming value of pressuring the oil? In which case, wouldn't I want these when driving on corrugate?

M.

 

[John Jones Jr]

Starting to be convinced...

Correct me where I'm wrong. Aren't oil filled shocks designed to take longer to overheat due to the anti-foaming value of pressuring the oil? In which case, wouldn't I want these when driving on corrugate?

M.

No, my understanding is oil filled shocks will overheat quicker. I honestly don't know how corrugate would adversely affect them as I was thinking more about comfort. And speaking about comfort, I'd look for a better drivers seat than the standard one, worth considering and you might get something cheap from the breakers yard.

 

[Spinal]

No, my understanding is oil filled shocks will overheat quicker. I honestly don't know how corrugate would adversely affect them as I was thinking more about comfort. And speaking about comfort, I'd look for a better drivers seat than the standard one, worth considering and you might get something cheap from the breakers yard.

Sorry! I meant oil-filled and gas-pressurized... feels like Monday morning all over again!

Seat - I was considering putting a set of e-class seats in... and still am... just worried that I don't know how to security fit them!

M.

 

[John Jones Jr]

E-Class seats I suspect would be a tight fit, possibly carrying a weight penalty you don't require. As for fitting different seats, the last time I did it (many moons ago) it was only a matter of fitting fitting bars in a 'H' or a # pattern, bolting the seat runners to the bars & the bars to the floor. Sounds easy, I know but getting the right size seat especially around the base area (one with a height adjuster would be good too) is the most difficult part.

 

[Spinal]

Would W202 seats fit you reckon? (I'm in Holland at the moment, no access to any cars to measure!)

If not - I'm not sure I want to change the seats... the aftermarket bucket things tend to be ridiculously uncomfortable (and there's about a foot of height difference between myself and my copilot, so the seat will really need to be adjustable!)

M.