Front shock absorbers.

[Hugo]

I am about to order some front shock absorbers. SNGB list two types of GAZ, one black & one gold. Mindful of the importance of limiting the suspension travel to prevent my tie rods from snapping off, I enquired A) what the difference was between the two, and B) what the extended length was. The answers I was given were A) one is black and one is gold, and B) 412mm and 394mm respectively (but they had to go and measure them & get back to me with that information).
Either of those lengths should be ok, but surely there has to be more to the difference between them than just the colour & a four quid price difference? Especially since the gold one is the cheaper one?
Anybody know any more about this?

[mgcjag]

Try looking at tbe specs on the Gaz website or call there technical support....as i mentioned previously SNG also had a special slightly shorted Gaz adjustable made to prevent the tension on the steering rack when suspension is on full drop....however this shorter one is not required if you fit the correct track rod ends with the wider angular movement.... Steve

[Hugo]

Ah - I knew someone had mentioned this but could not remember who it was! SNGB don't seem to know anything about it though! The gold shock absorbers did come out half an inch shorter than the black, but that only came to light after I asked them to measure both sets.
My issue is not with the track-rod ends - it is with the inner ball joints. The front suspension hangs on the tie rods in the absence of shock absorbers, so I obviously want to ensure that doesn't happen!
I was more interested in the difference in specification between the 'black' and 'gold' shock absorbers. It has to be more than just the colour, surely? I will see what the GAZ website has to say about it.

[Hugo]

Ok, I looked on the GAZ website. They list only one front shock for the E Type. But Barrats sell two. Now I'm even more confused.

[mgcjag]

Hi Hugo....standard Boge come at approx 406mm.... with the wrong 115deg of angle track rod end the steering rack will be pulled down with the suspension on full drop.....the shorter Gaz shock that SNG had made was 390mm...so with this the rack dosnt pull even with tne wrong 115deg Tre,s....however with the wider angle correct 124deg track rod end and Boge 406mm there is no stress on the Tre,s or the inner ball joint of the rack
It should be noted that in the service manual it does say that to fit the Tre,s into the steering arm the suspension should be on full drop.....with the 115deg tre,s this was impossible so the Tre,s were fitted with the suspension compressed...therefore resulting in the necking issues when the car was jacked up......Steve

[Hugo]

That would explain it - strange that the guy at SNGB didn't know about any of this though. All he could tell me was that 'one is black and one is gold'. I asked him te measure them both & the measurements came back same as yours (as indeed they ought to!). I thought the measurements were incidental to some other difference, not that they had specifically been made shorter. Odd that the modified ones should come out cheaper though.
I am in the happy position of having all my front suspension in bits, so I can carefully check what hits what on the way down - on my car the first thing to hit (or neck, I should say) is the inner rack ball joint, which runs out of travel at about 16.25" at the shock absorber, or about 410 mm if you work in foreign.
So it looks as though we're all good
All I need now is a 5 speed gearbox & I can think about putting the engine back in.

[christopher storey]

Yes, the track rod end problem and the inner ball joint necking are two different problems. At 412mm full extension it is very marginal , ( because as you have measured necking starts at 406 on your car ) but with 394 I foresee no problems at all

[caveman]

An update as to my recent woes with looking into front shock absorber replacement and after reading the extensive information within the forum, particularly with Christopher’s initial safety critical post in mind, I thought it best to highlight again.

I have had GAZ adjustable fitted all round for a little under 20yrs. These were fitted during restoration and after the NSF started to squeak I looked into service costs vs replacement and then after removal found that they both independently measured 414mm / 410mm (fully extended) which was worrying when compared to 390-400mm recommendations from original design specs etc. I set about contacting the usual UK outlets, to confirm extended length foremost and prior to handing over payment, but some refused to measure and one merely replied with ‘they’re listed for your car so they will fit’ reply. Two measurements were obtained though, one at 440mm (Girling) and another at 403mm (GAZ) both from sellers that also utilise a well known auction site as well as their own main websites.

I contacted GAZ (UK) direct and they couldn’t have been more helpful offering service at £31.50 + carriage + VAT and replacement New for £63.72 each plus VAT. No brainer really. The great thing is they will adjust max extended length to your own individual requirements as part of the service and they also offer Black Zinc to match the Black top covers (Blue now gone thankfully). This is a little extra at £3.50 + VAT each damper. Turnaround is 7-10 days for service including resizing, and New orders approx 4-6 weeks.

What is worrying in this whole week long saga of email tennis, is that years after this safety critical issue was raised and discussed in length here within, shock absorbers are still being advertised (for S1 E type in this case) that are too long/near limit and many sellers are a little blasé in their understanding of the problem. Buyer be very aware.

[mgcjag]

Hi Steve...re the shock length info on the forum and the association with the trackrod end(tre,s) angulation causing problems.....prior to SNGB remanufacturing the track rod ends with more angulation they had shorter Gaz shocks manufactures..as you can see from the above posts.....i fitted set on my front to trial them.......later when they had the extra angulation tre,s i fitted these and swapped the shorter gaz shocks for the standard spec length Boge.....so i assume that SNGB could still sell the shorter Gaz......do you now have the correct tre,s fitted as this was the main issue.......im not sure what the max length a shock can extend to with the correct tre,s.....Steve

[caveman]

Hi Steve,
I could only reference what others have already commented on here and previously.
I wanted to ensure I had shock absorbers with OEM max extended length so I wouldn’t have to worry about TRE exact angle, so long as it is as near to the ideal 125degree angle.
As with the shock absorbers, I have checked a few sets of TRE’s I have lying around, and all differ but they are close enough for use with revised shockers. I think the original issue was a combination of both excess shock length and not enough movement on the TRE to compensate. The shocks I have removed differ in length leading me to believe that there’s maybe a small amount of age related compression of the inner ‘bump stop’ which extends the shock length further albeit marginal. With shorter length new shocks, any future play can be allowed and still be inside the ‘safe’ full extension rather than potentially over extension stressing other parts of the steering.
As Boges aren’t available, I had looked into the Girling option but didn’t see much feedback and the adjustment on GAZ is handy, at times. They also match the rears and I’m a little OCD about that! I was also quoted 440mm on a pair of Girling which seems way off the mark for S1/2 setup. I also took into consideration Highland postal charges for potential returns and as I couldn’t be certain sellers items were always going to measure up to expectations, the made to measure option from GAZ was the perfect option for me.