Parabolics (again)

Looked inti the british springs, they are still made in the UK. Talked 2 a few guys at the series II stand at eastnor castle LRO show, rocky mountain or british springs was the popular view, but at 50 quid less the british springs take it. most thought standard shocks would be ok, the guy selling rocky mountain said you need new shocks but his own landrover had para springs and standard shocks so .....
The Sii club let me jump up and down on a SII wi para and a sII with standard springs in good nick, very different feel, para much softer and they all said better off road.

£ in my hand, british springs it will be

Softer springs means faster and more movement, it's why they hold the road more. Therefore you have more heat and need firmer damping to get rid of low frequency wallow. The std shocks will work, but you won't get the full benefit of the Parabolics with them and when you use them for a serious long session at speed (30+) along a mud track for example, you could boil the oil in the std shocks.

They also don't have the full potential travel of parabolics. Std springs have a limited movement, as they are stiffer. Parabolics give you more articulation for off-road but only if the shocks are long enough to extend their reach too. Std shocks are a bit short to get the full benefit.

No reason std won't be road worthy, you just won't get full benefit.

No reason std won't be road worthy, you just won't get full benefit. [/quote]



Put on a set of paras with std shocks......so is it right i'd be better of with longer shocks.......how much longer?

Yup that's right, and the ProComp shocks, for example, are designed to take more heat from the added movement of the softer springs. They are also stiffer to compensate for the softer spring. The proper name for a shock absorber in mechanical and engineering terms is a "damper", the damper of any given suspension setup is chosen to be the compliment of the spring. It's a tuned system, so if you change the spring in most circumstances the damper will need changed too, certainly if you change the spring substantially as with parabolics. Take advice from your spring manufacturer as each spring will be designed to work with a preferred damper. This damper will resist with X Newtons of force when moved, preventing movement, to "damp down" the natural oscillation of the spring. Thats why places like :

EXPLORER UK Land Rover

Sell the springs with dampers, because they are designed to be stabalised by a given damper.

You may be lucky that your spring was designed to use std shocks, but with most parabolics they are softer and the std shocks have a design limitation by their use of oil. For light use, you may never hit this... equally if all you do is trialling, low speed.

They have a few cm extra travel too. Not sure the precise measurement... This would make more difference for trialling.

Performance shocks may use oil too, but it will be a more temperature stable one... They will also be designed to cool down more under high use.