Sachs Damper - Bounce Test

Sir_Dave · May 8, 2012

How much should they bounce exactly? Has anyone done a video at all ...

Mine seem to move fairly easily - although they were only refurbed 13k ago lol (not by BG)

BenG · May 8, 2012

On the standard setting, they shouldn't bounce, you should struggle to compress them unless you are very strong and/or weigh alot.

hoolio · May 8, 2012

^This, although it's not a matter of strength as you can only apply the force of your own weight so if you are a 65kg lightweight like me and Ben you shouldn't really be able to push down the fronts at all. How are you "bouncing" yours?

Sir_Dave · May 8, 2012

BenG said:
On the standard setting, they shouldn't bounce, you should struggle to compress them unless you are very strong and/or weigh alot.

Oh. Balls. They're on the standard settings, with Sportlines.

hoolio said:
^This, although it's not a matter of strength as you can only apply the force of your own weight so if you are a 65kg lightweight like me and Ben you shouldn't really be able to push down the fronts at all. How are you "bouncing" yours?

I weigh 73kg's so not exactly a heavyweight .... but basically if i push down on the headlights/front wing they move up & down about 1-1.5 inches without much effort at all. Guess that means they're knackered then lol

hoolio · May 8, 2012

Mmmm maybe, i just went to confirm and all my weight was not really making either side budge at all, I need to push up near the A pillar to get movement and it is damped straight away.

Sir_Dave · May 8, 2012

Doh. I'll get them all stripped down at the weekend then & see how easy it is to push the piston in & out ...

hoolio · May 8, 2012

As I'm doing nothing just went and dug a spare out positioned it on a pair of scales and tried to balance on it, best i could manage was a constant 63kg and no movement. Not very scientific but.............

BenG · May 8, 2012

Bummer! When I had mine off the car after they were serviced I could hardly get the piston to move.

Jonc · May 8, 2012

I have a brand new damper and it takes about 65-70 KG to move the piston.

Sam_K · May 9, 2012

As above really, I had sport lines as well, one Side would not budge at all, the other had about 10mm movement. When I stripped the dampers I still couldn't push the good one down however the buggered one was like jelly

power ranger · May 9, 2012

I have a vid somewhere of a bounce test done on mine with a fubared sach.

italian_job · May 9, 2012

Sir_Dave said:
Oh. Balls. They're on the standard settings, with Sportlines.

I weigh 73kg's so not exactly a heavyweight .... but basically if i push down on the headlights/front wing they move up & down about 1-1.5 inches without much effort at all. Guess that means they're knackered then lol

Had that kind of play before finding out the right side was shot, damper off the car i could push the piston down with no effort

Sir_Dave · May 9, 2012

italian_job said:
Had that kind of play before finding out the right side was shot, damper off the car i could push the piston down with no effort

Looks like ill be in the same position as you then, what to do suspension wise!!

Aurok - cant get the parts anymore
BG - 430 basic, 700 with shafts, 820 with shafts & de-pinned!! ROFL.
Renault - 950 or so new

Tempted to swop over to non-cup front end setup for more choice!!

Sam_K · May 9, 2012

I must admit it is very tempting to spend £800 on a decent coilover setup compared to that of a rebuild (quite like the look of 519 spax kits @ £799 i believe).

BTW aurok rebuilt mine about 18 months ago and I have only done around 7000 miles on them, and I have just had them done by BG again

italian_job · May 9, 2012

Sir_Dave said:
Looks like ill be in the same position as you then, what to do suspension wise!!

Aurok - cant get the parts anymore
BG - 430 basic, 700 with shafts, 820 with shafts & de-pinned!! ROFL.
Renault - 950 or so new

Tempted to swop over to non-cup front end setup for more choice!!

btw I managed to get my old damaged sachs back as a cup damper let me down, ffs im so unlucky lately!!
Need to decide to do asap
I pretty sure the de-pinning is included in the 430?? and 111 + vat with shafts per side.....
Renault in Wolverhampton s selling sachs for 450 inc vat each, good price though

Sam_K · May 10, 2012

De-pinning is not included in that price...

As i understand they generally do not de-pin them anymore without replacing the whole assempbly, they said this is because its far more susceptible to damage when trying to de pin them because of the corrosion etc around the grub screw

marrow · May 10, 2012

Sam_K said:
De-pinning is not included in that price...

As i understand they generally do not de-pin them anymore without replacing the whole assempbly, they said this is because its far more susceptible to damage when trying to de pin them because of the corrosion etc around the grub screw

Mine are de-pinned but for everyday driving the standard setting seems perfect. What do you think?

Sir_Dave · May 10, 2012

Sam_K said:
De-pinning is not included in that price...

Yup, i got the following email back from Ben the other day:

There isn’t a ‘standard’ charge to re- build as such as it really depends on the condition of the struts. Most of the sets I’ve seen work out to cost around £430 per pair (Inc VAT and return carriage), this is based on the springs being removed and the dampers cleaned before they arrive here (This can be done here it just adds a little to the total cost). We are starting to see more shafts that are scored and need changing of late, If they need a new shaft/ new shafts then that will add an extra £135 each.

If it is of interest we also offer a compression adjuster upgrade. This involves removing the original adjuster assembly (They are pinned in place on the ‘Trophy’ as standard) and replacing it with a genuine Sachs Race Engineering working assembly. This allows you to adjust the level of compression adjustment either to soften it to make for a more comfortable ride on bumpy B roads or stiffen for more spirited driving conditions. The cost of this adds another £120 (per pair, inc VAT) to the bill.

Not entirely sure how they can justify still charging that when you can buy brand new shocks from Renault for £900!!

italian_job · May 10, 2012

Sir_Dave said:
Yup, i got the following email back from Ben the other day:

Not entirely sure how they can justify still charging that when you can buy brand new shocks from Renault for £900!!

that is absolutely mental! lol
however thats what Martin said to me about the adjuster:

[FONT=&quot]We can offer a service to replace the standard items with new, working compression adjusters if required, but this would require the dampers to be removed from the car and stripped down, replace all the sliding seals and bushes, remove the existing adjusters and replace with the working items, rebuild and dyno test them to ensure both dampers are working correctly. This service will cost approximately £435 + Delivery + VAT.[/FONT]

italian_job · May 10, 2012

it would absolutely idiotic getting them serviced at the same price as new ones, especially when you have 1 year warranty from Renault and if you go tracking that the icying on the cake.