Hi Robert ,
I must disagree with you on this one (probably the first time ever :-)
). I made the choice to upgrade to the Victoria British one piece tube
shock conversion w/the KYB gas shocks. I could not even compare the two
in every day driving as well as more aggressive romps. The KYB shocks
are a good choice for a daily driver/street racer. Not overly stiff but
still offers a more aggressive ride. The shocks could be replace with
Koni's or others. The bracket mounts to the original lever holes in the
chassis. I have heard stories of increased leverage tearing the
mountings but I attribute this to weak or rotted metal in the area. I
see no reason for this mounting to be any more stressful to the car. I
would never use the brackets that mount to the inner wheel arch. As far
as wheel clearance, I am using Pirelli P6000 P215 65 on Pannasport 15x6
rims with no clearance problems.
I don't think sprung or unsprung weight is an issue here because it's
minimal. The weight of the tube shock is supported by the bracket as
with the lever shock and controls the movement of the trailing arm. No
additional weight is added to the suspension. As a matter of fact the
combined weight of the tube shock conversion is probably 2-3lbs lighter
than the old levers. The lever shock vertical links don't thrill me
either. The are prone to wear and failure. When they wear & become
sloppy you loose important wheel control. Even a little wear on this
design can affect the dampening effect greatly.
An adjustable tube shock is infinitely more adjustable & more precise
than the levers. I can not find any down side to this for any intended
use. This set up has been on the car for over a year with no problems
only improvements.
--
Mitch Seff
Oceanside, N.Y.
75 TR6
http://www.angelfire.com/ny4/triumph5/
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