8 replies to this topic

[sam27]

i have fitted lowered gaz shocks all round and hi los i dont have it that low but when i have peole in the back it scraps so was wondering which way do i turn the gaz shocks to harden them up do i turn it + or - and will this stop the scraping at all? thanks sam

[Skortchio]

Clockwise or + is to stiffen the rate of the damper.

BUT! And it's a big one (hence capitals), the damper isn't what governs the movement of your supension, the shock does that. In the case of Mini's the rubber donut or coil spring. The damper is there to provide consistent rate of movement, to stop pogo like behaviour

If you're getting scraping then raise your ride height or take lighter passengers, binding up the damper may lessen it but at the cost of reducing the shocks' effectiveness and that's a bad thing! Also once the weight is applied to the rear when your passengers get in, having the damper stiff will stop the suspension being able to uncompress. It won't solve the issue.

On the rear you probably don't need more than 14 max on the gaz dampers from fully soft (assuming 40point version) because there's no weight on the back end. Too much damping and you basically lose your suspensions function.

[cradley-heathen]

i agree with the above, i have lost count of the amount of time i have tried to explain to some people that the damper/shocker doesnt affect ride height. the length of the trumpet does that.

if you make the rear end too stiff it with be very skittish on the road too, a bump or rut on a corner can result in the rear end letting go, which wont be fun. the other thing is, if you rn your dampers adjusted up too stiff, you can damage the tops of the rear wheel arches, and infact the edge of the boot floor where that meets the inner arch, believe me, i have had it happen!

lift the car up a bit, it might look "cool" how low it is, but its not going to drive well.

[sam27]

thanks for the replies it does look pretty cool though ;)

[Skortchio]

Yes, yes it does

Tubbed wing with overhanging arche - looks and full suspension travel.

[sam27]

wow what arches are they? so you have them set just right so you dont have any scrape? what setup do you have?

[Skortchio]

They're Miglia arches, the wing is actually just below the top of the arch so they give a false impression of how slammed the car looks.

I'm using gaz dampers, hi-lo's and Minitastic springs (for my poor back), with rubber donuts you could probably run lower and have no scrape as the springs are a bit softer.

[blacktulip]

from experience, minis that are too low handle really bad. you will be suprised how much difference for the better they handle by raising it a tad. i usually use a 3 finger gap between the tyre and arch on the rear and two finger gap on the front. my gaz lowered dampers set at 10 clicks + on front and 8 clicks + on rear.

[sam27]

thanks for your help, i am going to rase it a little as i do have people in tieback quite often but im gonna try and find some nice arches that make it look abit lower;)