dampers advice required

[nanardos]

Hi Everyone,

I need to replace both the front and rear dampers on my 78 Elite.

Which brand would you recommend ?

 

 

 

[soldave]

I've got the Gaz shocks at the rear along with some springs from SJ.  I like them, although I have to have them fairly soft (6 turns of the dial) - any more has me bouncing down anything but the smoothest of roads.

[Dunc]

I use Spax adjustables.

Also a little on the firm side.

D

[rjwooll]

Someone has observed that, at least on the Excel, dampers are very soft on compression with a 1:6 ratio to rebound (1:4 is typical for a road car.) I can't verify this, but it is consistent with what I know about Lotus suspension design and probably also applies to the Elite. There's a company in Weymouth that I've spoken to who may be able to produce dual adjustable dampers (compression and rebound) for the Elite - you'd need to provide them with the originals. They indicated about £100 per corner which isn't bad for dual adjustables. Also note that the bumpstops incorporated into the damper are quite big and contribute to suspension control, effectively giving a progressive rate spring close to full compression. They are Shocktec at http://www.shocktec.co.uk/

If you decide to try them, let us know the results!

ATB Richard

[rjwooll]

Sorry Bernard, I just saw that you're in the USA - so there should be a better choice of places you can get custom dampers made to your specification.

[nanardos]

Hi Richard,

I am actually back in France now , with the Esprit and the Elite I just bought.

Thanks for the infos.

[oilmagnet477]

Bernard

Piccies please!!