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Re: Bilstein Gas Shock Conversion?

To: "Blue One Hundred" <healey.nut@gmail.com>,
Subject: Re: Bilstein Gas Shock Conversion?
From: "Chris Dimmock" <cd3000@bigpond.net.au>
Date: Thu, 7 Jul 2005 21:06:24 +1000
Just wanted to clarify - "bump steer" is NOT a function of shock absorber 
brand, design or even condition.

Its a geometry issue, which causes the tyre to toe in, or toe out, as the 
wheel travels up and down - allowing the car to start steering itself.

Bump steer is generally caused by altering the ride height (usually lowering 
the car) - as you effectively 'lower' the pick up points - and the resultant 
bump steer can only be fixed/ minimised by bending the steering arm and 
idler arm to rectify the geometry changes you caused by lowering the car.

This explains the theory
http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/longtech3.htm

Best

Chris


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Blue One Hundred" <healey.nut@gmail.com>
To: "Dave & M" <rusd@velocitus.net>
Cc: "Rizzo Steven D LtCol AETC/XPRU" <Steven.Rizzo@randolph.af.mil>; 
<healeys@autox.team.net>
Sent: Wednesday, July 06, 2005 12:58 PM
Subject: Re: Bilstein Gas Shock Conversion?


> Dave -
>
> Hope I'm not opening a can a worms here, but lever shocks can't
> compare with tube shocks.  Oil filled lever shocks, by design, are
> somewhat flawed because under sharp loads, the oil will increase its
> resistance to movement (in the shock) and you get a very hard response
> from the suspension when you hit a bump... that's why healeys have
> such bad bump steer problems.... good or bad lever shocks don't make a
> difference here.  Think about pulling the trigger on a squirt gun...
> if you pull it slowly, it is easy to pull... but if you pull the
> trigger real fast, it builds pressure and the trigger becomes harder
> to pull.  The squirt gun can only let so much water through the spout
> at any given time.
>
> Gas shocks, by design, are much better set to taking sharp/shock
> loads, hence why tube shocks will have a much better ride quality than
> old-school lever shocks.  In addition they will do a much better job
> of keeping the wheels on the road, stopping bump steer.




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