Hi Guys - question about FL1 shock absorbers............

I always understood that when depressing the suspension of a car the body should rise, peak, drop then be stable - ie one bounce.

When i stop my Td4 kind of sharpish there are at least 2 or 3 bounces before the front suspension comes to a rest. There are no oil leaks by the way.

Now - is this a feature of the Td4 or are my shocks dead ??

They look sort of rusty and old but i cant tell if they are the originals - however after 12 years and 115,000 kms they should be dead if they are the originals.........

Funny enough the French version of the MOT doesn't tell you if they absorb or not - the test only measures the side to side variation so even if both are completely knackered the car will pass

Thanks for your help

Digby

The bounce test doesnt really tell you much - it was introduced to the UK mot decades ago when cars had trunnions and lever arm shocks. - On a Mac strut car it gives a vague impression at best.


Mine is pretty tired I think - Shocks look old, possibly original, so I would like to change them. It passes the CT every time without comment though, but as you say its a ****-take anyway - waste of time and money......Structural rot holes you can fit your arm through? yeah fine. Slightly different size of tyres from manufacturers originals? FAIL!.

As usual its cheapest to order from UK no matter what brand you go for - I will get a full polybush set at the same time and do the whole lot. Just need the time, money and motivation....all of which are lacking at the moment.

Take it over a speedbump a little too quickly, if you get a structural thump through the frame of the car as you come off the other side... the shocks are dead

Thanks for the relplies guys

re the speed bump - its easy to get the thump during lift off by going a bit too fast over a bump
when landing its bouncy time .....

Sachs shocks are around €uro 112 for the rear and €uro 127 for the fronts (each) from piecesetpneus.com - i didnt really look at UK prices yet - maybe its time to check

do these shocks have top mounts with bearings as BMW's do ??