[TR] Armstrong shock oil - follow up

[Tony Gordon]

I did get some 60wt Harley racing shock oil for my rear shocks at the 
massive Harley place in Dayton Beach a few years ago (and it is Harley 
Racing Oil badged too): it pours like treacle ... it took ages to get the 
oil in the shocks (had to warm it) and they were as stiff as hell ... for 
regular driving, really firm and much better than standard (no squat at the 
rear).  But when we autox'd the car, after one lap, it was like a kangaroo 
at the rear ... the shocks had no resistance at all, so I'm guessing that 
the oil was totally aerated ... this is the problem that plagued Armstrong 
shocks from day one ... really heavy loads leads to loss of shock 
effectiveness with oils weight other than standard, and the standard shocks 
are naff to say the least ....

You can revalve the Armstrong's, but they are a very poor high performance 
shock design from the outset.  The 2000 saloon never used Armstrong's:  it 
used tubular shocks and was a superb rally car with good high perf. shocks 
... I'd go for a tube shock conversion and add some adjustable Bilsteins if 
I was you ... (I have them on the front, and will add them to the rear at 
some point soon).

**************************************
Tony Gordon
72 TR6
**************************************
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <PeterSchop at aol.com>
To: <triumphs at autox.team.net>
Cc: <6pack at autox.team.net>
Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2008 7:44 PM
Subject: [TR] Armstrong shock oil - follow up


> In an earlier post looking for oil for the lever shocks, some of the
> suggestions were to use 20W hydraulic oil, motorcycle racing shock oil 
> and Harley
> Hydraulic Fork Oil Type "B." What I ended up using was Screamin'  Eagle
> Performance Heavy Oil from my local Harley dealer for $4.
>
> After doing a little research, I found that the Harley type "B" is 10 wt,
> Screamin' Eagle Performance Fork Oil is 15wt, Screamin' Eagle Racing Fork 
> Oil is
> 20wt. I also found Bel-Ray has fork oil available in 5wt, 7wt, 10wt, 15wt,
> 20wt and 30wt.
>
> When I drained the oil in the Armstrong shock, I had to use a 13mm wrench 
> to
> remove the plug on the top of the shock. After I poured the old oil out, I
> used a turkey baster as a funnel to refill. Slow job as the oil has to 
> pass
> thru  the valve in the shock displacing the air inside. I used less than 
> half of
> the  pint bottle.
>
> Peter Schoppelry