SACHS DAMPERS REBUILDS

[marrow]

I get the impression reading recent posts that dampers refurbished by BG do not last very long, perhaps a year or two but many seem to fail much quicker. I am sure there will be a small number of situations when BG are not to blame, but it is worrying.

With the price of new dampers falling of late, I wonder if people are becoming more inclined to buy new rather than risk a short-lived refurbed?

 

[Luke335]

It's definitely worth considering if they are in bad shape. I'm wondering what else would be worth trying at the moment. My car is high
mileage and modified so I don't really care about resale value. If there was a decent (front only) stiff damper option for a few hundred I would be tempted. I'm currently running 182 cup fronts with MF springs and Koni revalved rears and they feel pretty soft at the front. Shame about the cup bolt spacing really.

 

[stormduck]

Just to keep this updated, I had an issue with the front springs turning in their cups, mainly on one side, and was pointed towards an issue with the top mounts. After having the sachs refurbished last May I ruled them out of having any problems, but i was getting some weird handling characteristics that I can't describe, other than a strange sensation that the car wasn't moving in the way it should when taking slow sweeping bends. Anyway, I checked everything over, even sent the top mounts back to ktec for inspection with no faults found, then decided to fit the original springs instead of the slightly shorter mark fish springs that were on there. During the refit, I had hold of the external reservoir while trying to get the bolt holes in the hub lined up, which i shouldn't have done...something gave way and the casing became loose = gas inside has gone. Yeehar.

So i sent the both back to BG, who inspected on Friday, and Ben called me today to say they're all fixed - turns out the red cap that fits at the bottom of the external reservoir had developed cracks from the centre outwards, causing the gas to escape - so it wasn't my fault all along. He's replaced the caps on both dampers, made them all good, and they're coming back to me with no cost to myself which i thought was mighty decent and honest of him. He said this part is supplied by Sachs and they just put it in place, and this is the third time he's seen it happen. So it's something to bare in mind. So now i can refit my mark fish springs

 

[Jon.G]

That's exactly what happened to mine as well mate. Mine were refurbished beginning of August last year so it seems like a faulty batch of gas seals has been sent out.

 

[stormduck]

ah ha, he said it'd happened a couple of times before, and so changed both of them. Fingers crossed eh! It's blinding Ben's doing the work with no grief or arguement or cost. Just a nuisance to have the car off the road repeatedly, but just one of those things. It's given me the chance to give her some tlc, and looking forward to getting behind the wheel as it's been off the road for a month now.

 

[Jon.G]

Totally agree with you mate. I gave mine a lot of TLC while I had the chance.

Detailed it here: http://www.cliosport.net/forum/show...-Clio-Trophy&p=8555549&viewfull=1#post8555549

 

[Jonc]

Well, checked my dampers today and it looks like the driver side front damper has started to leak oil. Could anyone remember who it was that was able to source or were selling brand new dampers?

 

[Jon.G]

Any Renault dealer can get them mate. Tom at West's Renault (on cliosport.net) will do you a great price on them though.

 

[Jonc]

Thanks Jon.G, I'll send in a PM on CS.

 

[aucky]

You just reminded me- I still haven't sent my new'uns off to get adjustable'd.

 

[Jonc]

Here's something you might find very interesting and something I found out purely by accident.

I recently ordered a pair of brand new dampers from Tom at Wests Renault. I received them yesterday, however, one of the dampers was slightly different. Tops of damper were slightly different and it took a lot more force to move the damper rod and had a part number of 77 111 67 414. Other than that, the dampers looked identical and the dimensions where the same, including the bolt spacing.

After a bit of digging around and checking on the spare parts section on the Renault-sport.fr site (http://ecatalog.renaultsport.com/rallye/TwingoR1/rst/RSentree.htm), it turns out that this damper is for a Twingo R1 race car! So there you have it, if fancy a harder riding Trophy, order 77 111 67 414 or 77 111 67 413, though as these are "proper" race dampers, not sure of the longevity of these items.

Tom has kindly agreed to re-order 8200 514 734 for me for an exchange.

Standard item on top.




I took the plasic cover off on the standard Trophy damper on the left.


The motorsport item has better machined adjusters.


Standard item on the left.
http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/p617/jonc172/P1060222.jpg

The site.
http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/p617/jonc172/SachsDamper.jpg

 

[Jon.G]

Interesting find! I wonder how much difference there really is between them...

 

[Mrpete]

Hi, I'm considering damper rebuilt / buying new. Can I be cheeky and ask how much for new ones?

 

[Sam_K]

Wow, cool find. i wonder what they are actually like with the T...

 

[italian_job]

fantastic! you can spot the Sachs in the arch gap
did they both come unpinned? what the difference in price?

 

[bearne1]

Was wondering the difference in price myself!

 

[Jon.G]

Mine actually have the better machined adjusters as well:



Looking at my project thread, They were different before they were sent off to BG. I can only assume these are revised parts direct from SACHS.

 

[BenG]

fantastic! you can spot the Sachs in the arch gap
did they both come unpinned? what the difference in price?

The reservoirs on the Trophy are on the opposite side than the ones above. They must have fitted them the wrong way around, silly motorsport mechanics

 

[Jonc]

Well the damper is definitely firmer, just did a very unscientific test with a bathroom scale to see how much weight was required before the rods moved. The scales registered around 140-150lbs of me pushing down the standard damper on the scale and it took 150-160lbs Twingo R1 item. Also it seems the Twingo damper is possibly progressive as the more I pushed the harder it got whereas the standard items are linear.

Also judging by the image of the Twingo race car, it look like the reservoir is in front of the damper instead of behind the damper. So in fact I could have 2 near side dampers!

 

[Jonc]

They were £471.56 each inc. VAT from
Thomas Parnham
Service Advisor
Wests of Cambridge
13 Swann’s Road, Cambridge, CB5 8JZ
Tel : 01223 370707

I initially contacted Tom via PM on Cliosport.net.