coilovers

[4jagsjohn]

I have just changed the red poly bushes on the lower end of the coilovers. The car has done 7500 miles from new and according to AVO these bushes have a short life but are better for absorbing road noise etc. If they are not checked you may find a metal to metal situation which could end up in a more expensive repair. Cheers John. One word of warning I now always use a couple of the big strong cable ties to hold the spring coils together as in the past I had a coilover come adrift suddenly and could have resulted in serious injury. AVO coilovers told me this is very rarely and only happens if the top of the unit is turned whilst the bottom is held. What had happened is the nut holding the piston to the rod had undone itself so the the piston rod shot out releasing the still under tension coil spring.. As I had not done this at any time I am unsure as to why this happened. It is better to be safe than sorry so take care when handling them.Hope this is helpful.

[NATONEIL]

Great Post John

I will take a look at mine this weekend as I have just gone over the 7500 mile mark.

[lowebird]

Neil,
Whilst I am not near your mileage yet ( only 4500) please let me know what you find as fore warned is fore armed.
Thank you

Reg

[NATONEIL]

John

Did you get the replacement bushes from AVO, I have had a look at mine and they are certainly showing wear so I will change them before the winter MOT

[ukjag]

Cable ties? why not use springs clamps? a lot safer!
We had a Suffolk in for a service recently, and when checking the ignition timing, found that the rev counter only showed 1600 RPM when the timing light showed 2000 RPM! [ 24 BTDC with the vac off worked on this car]

Ken, ukjag

[lowebird]

Chaps,
Please put my mind at rest. All this talk of failed bushes on the coil over units is a bit of a concern.
Surely on a car that uses the same suspension as many previous Jaguar cars but is a lot lighter, the wear should be minimal or am I missing something?

Reg

[4jagsjohn]

Hi Guys, can't remember where I got the bushes exactly I think it was from AVO.but they are available from Demon Tweeks as well dont think much price difference not a very expensive item anyway. Yes you can use spring clamps if you have them I just used heavy cable ties for convenience and I had a load of them,also they dont take any of the powder coating off the springs. In reply to the concern question about the suspension coilovers used on our cars they are not a jaguar component and are of a much lighter construction being used on a variety of other vehicles like Caterhams etc. If you dont keep up with them you will wear into the coilovers themselves by virtue of the steel bush cutting through the red polybush and rubbing against the coilover body. Whether there are more robust bushes out there I don't know there may be perhaps some research into it may benefit. My feelings are on such if you like specialist cars like ours in the same way the Blockley tyres only last approx 7500 to 8000 miles(depending a bit on how you drive I guess). One has to put up with a bit more maintenance to keep them up to scratch.cheers John.

[NATONEIL]

I have just ordered new ones directly from AVO by phone 01604 708101 Just tell them what colour the bushes are and they will post them out that day.

[NATONEIL]

Reg

I tried to answer your Question earlier today but the PC seems to have eaten my reply.
John has beaten me to it and I agree with him entirely. Before each MOT I jack up my car and stick it on stands, get the wheels off and then get under it to do the greasing and check all the bits for tightness. With the standard springs you can turn down the ride height adjustment and that takes all the tension out of the springs and then you can check for wear/play by hand by lifting the wishbone/back axle.
I have done quite a few miles since my last MOT and so I will check my play again and probably fit my new bushes because I have a number of longer rally trips coming up.

Of note I expect I shall have to replace my tyres soon coming up to 8000 miles. Guess that is what I shall be getting for Christmas.

[lowebird]

John and Neil,
Thank you both for the heads up on the wear rate of the bushes. I hadn't realised that they were of a lighter design than the Jag originals.
Neil, I will follow your example come winter maintenance and check them whilst doing the greasing etc.
I must now remember to get myself a "c" spanner.

Reg

[NATONEIL]

I took a look this afternoon and one bush is quite bad. I jacked up the front of the car and could see movement between the front wishbone and coilover as I took the weight off the wheel.

[NATONEIL]

I have now removed my front coilovers and given the wear I have found I would recommend all owners of Suffolk SS100s check the poly bushes at the front every 5000 miles. I will also let the factory know what I have found because this needs to be a service item to check.

I have done 7600 miles since I built my car. I have not got round to the back yet.

[lowebird]

Neil,
Thanks for taking the time to let us know about this problem. It will be very interesting what Roger ( and more importantly Mike and Philip ) have to say about this. It certainly is not on the service schedule at present.
Another question arises though and that is are the bushes that are supplied/fitted fit for purpose?
I can't imagine any other car going through bushes that quickly given that our cars are usually only driven on high days and holidays. Certainly in 45 years of motoring I have never even thought about shocker bushes let alone changed them !!!

Reg

[NATONEIL]

Reg

I have not investigated this any further, yet. They are probably too soft and I was shocked to see that I was down to a metal to metal contact. While I am happy to check things on a more frequent basis than I would with a modern runabout I think 7500 miles to a failure is not good enough and will speak to AVO to see if they have a more durable bush.

I have sent an e-mail to Phillip at Suffolk sports cars but will not hold my breath for a swift response.

[4jagsjohn]

Neil I reported this problem with the poly bushes to Suffolk a long while back only to be told they had not experienced this problem themselves!! I also spoke to AVO and they told me the red bushes were the best ones for us to use but I do think its a poor show one should have to replace them at such short intervals. It maybe to do with cost of course as there are more expensive coilover alternatives out there which may give better wear options. John.