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MG MGB Technical - Symptoms of worn out shocks?

I don't have much MGB driving experience, and nothing to compare ride quality to. I've driven the car a little over 600 miles, starting last spring or summer.

Before driving it, I replaced all bushings with Energy Suspension parts and drained/flushed/bled/filled the shocks with 40W fork oil.

Since coming here I've read that the 40W was a bad move and plan on switching to 20W.

The ride now is pretty firm, almost so firm I have to wonder if the shocks are really doing anything.

The only on car test I'm aware of is the bounce the fenders routine, which indicates that they're ok.

Is there any other way to tell if the shocks need replacement?
Glenn

Glen - If the ride is "pretty firm" (as in jar your teeth) with 40W oil in them, I would say that they are doing their job just fine. Switching to 20W should eas things considerably. I think that I am running 10W fork oil in mine and they work fine. The main thing to watch for is leakage around the shaft seals. Good luck - Dave
David DuBois

The only other way of determining that they need replacement is if they are leaking oil from the shaft bushes. Factory specs were light hydraulic jack oil, or SAE20 except in cold climates. If the ride is hard then they are certainly damping ... unless they are seized altogether! You can also get a non-damped area about the centre of the travel if the valve is faulty, but this is really only detectable when moving them gently by hand off-car. They should exhibit a constant resistance to movement through the full range of movement in both directions, and negligible undamped movement when changing direction anywhere in the range of travel.
Paul Hunt

Thanks for the replies.

I know the front ones are shot - they leak when full, but when bleeding had very strong resistance. I'll replace them with rebuilt ones.

I'll put 20W in the rear shocks and see if that makes a difference. They show no signs of leaking.

I don't object to the firmness at all since it's driven about 95% for fun on country roads and 5% for errands when the weather's nice.

Come to think of it, I guess if the shocks where ineffective the car would continue to bounce like crazy.
Glenn

Glen - You can get your leaking shocks rebuilt at World Wide Auto Parts of Madison. Their web site is at the following link: http://www.mailbag.com/users/nosimport/
Good luck - Dave
David DuBois

Thanks Dave.

I remember reading about them here - everything very positive.

That's where I'll send the front shocks.
Glenn

Beware of heavy oil combined with rough roads or aggressive driving. Back in my youth, in order to increase performance I added a heavy oil and within a couple months had stripped out the splines on one of the front shocks.
R. L Carleen

This thread was discussed between 05/01/2004 and 06/01/2004

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