General Springs and Shocks

[Clivvy]

hey guys,

just a quick one about springs and shocks.

I need new springs for sure, they arent terribly bad but they need doing soon. Now, i have a bit of a wobbly knock on the passenger side when going over speed bumps/very rough road, perfectly find if i am going very slow.

I am going to investigate, but it cant be wishbones - they are less than a year old, might be drop links though they look ok, could it be anything else other than shocks?

if it is shocks, then i need new shocks and springs both side - is there a set with the shocks/springs pre assembled i can DIY onto the car, or is this a garage job whether i like it or not?!

many thanks for your times chaps.

 

[Yellow Peril]

Shocks and springs should be within the scope of a reasonably competent DIYer. Main issue is if you want quality dampers, I think Bilstein is one of the few manufacturers who include the Stilo in their range these days...

 

[Clivvy]

Shocks and springs should be within the scope of a reasonably competent DIYer. Main issue is if you want quality dampers, I think Bilstein is one of the few manufacturers who include the Stilo in their range these days...

cheers, yeah I can see i'd need a couple of sets of decent spring compressors, and that's about as hard as it gets. well, I'm investigating tomorrow because I may find its simply the drop links again...!

 

[Aj80]

Not sure if its a good thing but my springs aint gone yet what is the average life span for the springs

 

[Clivvy]

not sure bud, but its a fair few years.

 

[850kd]

Clivvy/Aj . Some early Stilos were prone to spring breakage and resulted in a recall to fit spring catchers . Later models came modified . I had a very early 1.2 (02) which had a broken spring due to a local pothole at 92K. I replaced both with aftermarket standard springs (not sure of manufacturer but they were in green packaging , if that helps). These springs were ok but the car did sit slightly lower, but lasted and performed well and were still on the car when I sold it at 160k.
There have been reports in this forum of wishbones failing prematurely, usually cheap unbranded ones. I have used Sutton Auto Factors (Buypartsby ) and GSF for replacements and both have lasted well. Droplinks are a favourite for knocking and I have relied on an expert mecjhanic to diagnose failures because I could never figure out when or not they were worn. Again I have used GSF who provided good quality and long lasting replacements.
As for shocks , I had my front set replaced under Fiat warranty at 59K and the replacements were going strong at 100k later.
Another point just check that the knocks are not something more simple like the plastic undershields rattling.!

 

[Clivvy]

thanks for the reply mate, much appreciated.

mine is a Sporting, so it does sit very low. In fact, i think its the lowest car ive ever had, even my old lowered MX6 had more clearance than this

anyway, I did start to wonder if it could be the wishbones, again, but i did those only last year and they weren't exactly cheap - I did inspect them last week and they looked fine, but im looking again tomorrow and im changing the drop links regardless because the noise i hear is so similar to when the links went last time (and i know ive got cheap ones on now)

I will work through your suggestions, fingers crossed its something simple

 

[850kd]

Another thought . Sometimes rear bushes gone can kid you that the noise comes from the front end of the car. I know , it doesn't sound logical.... but?

 

[Clivvy]

yup I agree, but im 99.75% sure its the passenger front end - that said, I will check!!

 

[Clivvy]

ok, quick update.


Checked over the passenger front side yesterday and fitted a new drop link - existing one seemed ok though. Bit of grease here and there and test drive seemed ok too though I think I was trying too hard to listen.


Normal drive to work tomorrow, so I should notice the knock if it is still there. I did go for a few miles drive after fitting the new drop link, over speedbumps etc and although there is still something slightly rumbling now it does seem better, so tomorrow will confirm and it could be I simply need to change the drivers side link as well...

 

[richydraper]

springs are much of a muchness. for standard road use anyway... Monroe do resonably prices shocks either their normal range or reflex range(which have higher rebound/compresson speeds to accomodate stiffer springs)

spring compressors... for the love of god dont get the £12 options on ebay the little claws with the threaded bar, those things are lethal and i personally dont trust them even half as far as i can chuck 'em. my best buy off ebay was the horse shoe type as per the link. way more solid and i didnt feel like it was gonna break my face if i gave it another 1/4 turn. plus they dont scratch the coating off whatever spring you do buy

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fork-Stru...-Garage-JAW-/261799398965?hash=item3cf475ce35 edit:- these may not be the cheapest of this kind but theyll all be around the 55-65 quid mark i think mine were about £57 delivered