[PHudson]

... as I've posted previously, I've got a problem with tramp when accelerating moderately hard (something well short of WOT is enough to trigger it, though).

DCA have looked for anything worn/broken in the suspension, and re-torque'd some stuff, but it's not made any noticeable difference.

It has happened before and after I replaced the tyres and before and after I replace the rear front wishbone bushes with poly ones, so it's probably nothing to do with either of those.

It's been suggested it might be the shocks, but if it isn't, I'd rather not change them pointlessly.

So, how can I test if it is or isn't the shock absorbers? If it isn't, what else could it be?

If it is, or I decide to change them anyway, what should I go for?

The usual recommendation seems to be Konis, but can I set them to be about as soft as the "stock" shocks? I'm not planning to use this car on a track, so the adjustability to harder levels isn't of much interest, but ride quality is.

Should I just replace them with the OEM (Sachs) ones? What about the Bilstein TC (aka "fairly normal" ones), the price on (say) motorsportworld isn't too bad, and the blurb on bilstein.com makes them sound good.

Any and all advice appreciated.

 

[Mark B]

How many miles have the dampers done?

 

[PHudson]

Originally posted by Mark B:
[qb]How many miles have the dampers done? [/qb][/b]

Don't know. I bought the car wih 67K, it's now done 92K, and I haven't changed them

 

[ylee coyote]

tramp is a problem with these cars
they seem to be particularily sensitive to it
I do not think it is possible to eliminate it entirely
It is caused by spring rate / damper mismatch
if it is getting worse and you have not changed anything else then it is pretty safe to assume your dampers are on the way out
however worn wishbone bushes can contribute to the effect as well

 

[PHudson]

Originally posted by ylee coyote:
[qb]It is caused by spring rate / damper mismatch
if it is getting worse and you have not changed anything else then it is pretty safe to assume your dampers are on the way out
however worn wishbone bushes can contribute to the effect as well [/qb][/b]

Ta. It's probably not the wishbones since changing them seemed to have little effect.

Any thoughts on what I should replace the dampers with?

 

[kevster]

Just me being dopy as usual...but what is 'tramp'?
Kev

 

[ylee coyote]

Rapid up and down wheel movement feels like a shudder under acceleration

 

[PHudson]

Originally posted by ylee coyote:
[qb]Rapid up and down wheel movement feels like a shudder under acceleration [/qb][/b]

Well, I think that's what I've got. It can get quite severe, and basically I have to lift of the throttle a bit because it feels like something's going to break

 

[kevster]

You should have crappy front tyres like mine (euromaster). They don't have enough grip to cause tramp (they just spin pointlessly, can't wait to wear them out and get some S03s on there )
Kev