First time down a BOAT !

[Trigger]

After checking a few tracks near us - I finally braved an attempt - brief edited video attached. It was great fun and i'll be out on others tomorrow / next weekend. Car seemed to take it in it's stride. A bit of clonking from the suspension though ! Not sure yet if helper springs or main spring - I have the Bilsteins. Slightly wet feet with the water splash but all the fun !



Trigger

[Hedge]

That’s a lot of suspension noise; is it meant to be like that?

Cheers,
Hedge

[John Scherrer]

KarlV reported the same problem, Henry advised him to ask Steve Rooke to check it out on its first service - not sure what the outcome was?

viewtopic.php?f=54&t=17119

see Mon Jul 30th 7:41

[Trigger]

I'm pretty sure its the helper springs compressing - just a factor on the Bilsteins tbh - I wish I could have afforded the Ohlins but hey........!!

I will discuss with Henry though.

T

[Karl V]

That's the noise I get just going over speed bumps or through a pothole - drives me crazy!

There was no outcome; other than shelling out £5k for Foxes or more for Ohlins - without being 100% sure this will even fix the problem.

I'm convinced it's the tender springs too. Very annoying but glad (in the nicest possible way) someone else has this issue.

So far, I seem to be the only one who finds this unacceptable, especially on a £50/£60k car :-(

[phil4]

Is this not the thing you need just need some of these for on each coil: https://www.amazon.co.uk/CLEAR-KITCHEN- ... B00P11D4VK

[Trigger]

The noise doesnt bother me - so if its not damaging anything I dont care too much. But a constant impact may not be the best for it. I am not planning on doing thousands of miles off road though which is why I got the Bilsteins - so it may really not be an issue. If the noise irritates on the road then maybe more of a solution is needed.

[Karl V]

So you're not getting suspension crashing / 'spring slap' on speed bumps or potholes Trigger?

Are you running the standard Billys or adjustable? I guess with adjustable at least you could firm up the movement a bit.

I'm on standard, thinking they would be ok for everyday roads. Probably didn't take into account how shite the everyday roads were. No wonder everyone round my way drives Range Rovers ;-)

[John Scherrer]

Helper Spring collisions click - that's a serious clonk ..

[Trigger]

Mine are adjustable- I wanted the flexibility to firm for track and soften for roads and off-road. On the road I don’t notice at all so I imagine it’s better. It was just very noticeable off road. Not had a chance to talk to Henry yet - will report back.

[Trigger]

Just wanted to fill in a few gaps here in case anybody cares !

The Tender spring bang/thump etc is common to almost all the suspension options. The standard unadjustable Bilsteins are worst it would seem but only marginally. My adjustable Bilsteins are better but mainly coz you can adjust the damping to minimise it.
The Ohlins have slightly larger diameter tender springs but are designed to bottom out too in order to put the force into the larger springs. They would perhaps do it less on the roads though. The Ohlins overall are firmer throughout compared to Bilsteins.
The Fox suspension wouldnt compress quite the same as there is much more travel but even with those you set a limit on the tenders so they will compress and a similar noise would come - again just after a fair bit more travel.

Now, I am not trying to get into a full on suspension discussion (although I seem to be doing exactly that) - but there seem to be compromises whatever you do. If you want the best road/off road setup and more off road biased then Fox. For road/Track and minimal off road Ohlins. But Ohlins although perhaps 'the best' are more awkward to adjust.
So I went adjustable Bilsteins as they saved some £2k, but they are a better overall compromise for somebody like me doing Road/Track and some off road. They are softer for offroad and only marginally softer at their firmest for Track. But I can stop after a trackday and 1 minute and i am at road settings - and same I can go off road and 1 minute and back to road settings.

The noise wont damage the suspension Henry assures me - so I can live with that.


Just my musings - and maybe if I tried Ohlins I would prefer them !! But I cant see you will ever get the perfect mix.

T

[Karl V]

Thanks Trigger.

The Fox and Ohlin tender springs do seem to have more travel in them, so probably less likely to 'slap'.

I think it's because the tender springs on the Bilstein are wound quite tight, causing them to slap almost constantly.

Shoving cupboard door rubber knobblies in there can only mess up the suspension travel and potentially unsettle the car - especially as there are 5 or 6 winds on the coil. That would be about 3cm of 'packing', essentially turning the tender into a helper.

https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showth ... p?t=840524

Interestingly, the Bilstein springs on an Atom seem to be more of a helper spring rather than tender spring. I wonder if that would be an option for the Nomad? I suspect it would firm up the ride quite considerably.

Must find something else to obsess over...

Good thread! I'm sure it'll prove useful to someone somewhere.

Sorry it was hijacked