Glanza rear suspension - questions (and pictures)

andyseadog

So in June when i lowered the car, i got a complete (second hand) set of shocks with lowering springs fitted. they were a good price, so i wasn't expecting much from them. had them fitted a while and they are very firm but i expected this, but they did make an awful clicking/ twitching sound in the rear over bumps or uneven surfaces.

had a look under the back arch to reveal this



the first 6 or 7 coils are all in constant contact and "grinding" off of each other. its the same on both sides.

this is a bit of a novice question but does that mean that the shock is knackered? or could the spring have lost its "springyness" over time so to speak? or a combination of both? they were originally fitted into an ep82 starlet but they are the same as an ep91 as far as i know.

here's a picture of them before i fitted them, next to the old standard shock.



any help greatly appreciated. would like to get back running right on them.

hrcbob

From what i can see i think they are whats known as progressive springs.. As in the more they compress the harder they get as opposed to a fixed rate spring that has a constant rate of increase as they are compressed,.
Basically the closer together coils compress quicker than the more open coils,,
They are used so as to try maintain ride comfort over the small bumps but be hard enough when you get into the big stuff or hard cornering,,,

If its just noise comin from the coils themselves then a spray of some decent tacky oil should stop it,, if that doesnt cure it id be lookin at the top mount or maybe suspension bushes..

might also be worth checking if the anti roll bar is hitting anything as its gonna be in a different position due to the lowering,,

andyseadog

Indeed they are progressively wound, but is the purpose of them being progressively wound not being defeated by the fact that they are always in constant contact, thes making them "solid" and in effect not a spring at all.

that first photo is taken when the car is stationary with no weight in the rear at all. surely even the tight coils should have some gap between them?

the car never made this noise with the old shock and spring setup and i'm very confident its the close coils clicking off of each other over a bump.

i think my question really is, should those coils be touching in that situation or should there be a gap? and if there should be a gap, how do i achieve it?

hrcbob

Its true there shoud be some gap in them... Because they are easily compressed thou it could just be that they are for a slightly lighter car.. Maybe 50-60 kilos could make that difference,, Its not a shock problem either way,, you could consider changing the springs to a set of fixed rate ones and live with the harshness.. pesronally id try jacking them up and gettin some heavy tacky oil on it to see if it would stop the creaking,, atleast it wont cost a bomb if it doesnt work out,

andyseadog

hrcbob wrote: »

Its true there shoud be some gap in them... Because they are easily compressed thou it could just be that they are for a slightly lighter car.. Maybe 50-60 kilos could make that difference,, Its not a shock problem either way,, you could consider changing the springs to a set of fixed rate ones and live with the harshness.. pesronally id try jacking them up and gettin some heavy tacky oil on it to see if it would stop the creaking,, atleast it wont cost a bomb if it doesnt work out,

i see, the harshness nor the noise at the moment doesn't really bother me at all, if anything i kind of enjoy it, the harshness anyway.

its just the noise that drew my attention to the "problem" and my NCT is up in a fortnight and i'm trying to get the car right for it. do you reckon this will be a fail item?

i'l jack the car up and grease the coils and see does it silence them either way, just to see does it stop. that'l at least clear up whether its the coils clicking or the shock tops.

hrcbob

I cant see why it would fail on them but nct testers are a funny breed,,
If there are no broken coils and the bushes are all ok id say it shoukd be ok that way.. That being said im no expert on ncts..

andyseadog

hrcbob wrote: »

I cant see why it would fail on them but nct testers are a funny breed,,
If there are no broken coils and the bushes are all ok id say it shoukd be ok that way.. That being said im no expert on ncts..

i'l leave them in perhaps and see then

thanks!