Girling Shock Absorbers

[Spider]

OR:-

Maybe it's none of those reasons / causes.

I'll post some info / background up when I get some more time!

[Spider]

Actually, I thought the problem was reasonably well known?

Anyways, to be a bit more specific as to when the longer rear shocks are needed is when the Big Flange Trumpets (as fitted to Vans, Pick-ups, Estate, and BW Mokes),



These are longer and combined with the bigger flange, if standard Mini Shocks are fitted, it will let the Rubber Cone bottom out on the Subframe, you can see it on the Rubber Cone when it's been removed;



That pin I posted up was a factory original, never been out before. They were very good quality pins and that is certainly not what's at fault here.

Keep in mind too that the rear (dry) trailing arm ratio is 5:1, so putting say 100 kg in the back of the Van, put 500 kg of load on the Pin

So, if the Cone Bottoms out, then something's gotta give,,,,,,,,,

[ianh1968]

... still confused...


The cone bottoming out is not the same thing as the damper
bottoming out, obviously. It's also something that I'd not given
much thought to, my cars are road cars, Spider's Mokes aren't,
and are subjected to much more abuse of the suspension,
I suspect...

"Damper bottoming out" vs. "Cone bottoming out"...

If the damper bottoms out, the load will be rigidly transferred
from the arm to the body via the 3/8" shock mount and the
wheel arch. In the event that this is happening, there should
be some kind of visible evidence of stress in these areas.
(Or a bent rod in the damper).

BUT:
Let's say we take off the damper completely: The arm will now be
free to move up and down as much as it can until it is limited by
"some other factor". This will be the cone running out of movement
at full crush...

In this instance, the damper has not punched itself through the
wheel arch or broken the bottom mount off, so by definition,
there must be "enough" movement in this part of the suspension...

The problem that caused the distress is therefore most likely
TOO MUCH MOVEMENT, thus allowing the cone to bottom out
before the damper does. And if the cone does bottom out,
this may well be the cause of the pivot pin distress.

I don't think that this will be made worse by fitting dampers which
are too short, as these would allow LESS movement.

The rear suspension does not have separate "bump-stops"
as standard, perhaps this is the answer?

Ian

[Toby]

Can anyone confirm that the '4535' shocks are van rear ones please

Andrew, am sorry made a mistake with checking my numbers. The 4535 should indeed be the ones for the van etc. Sorry about that mate
Compared to the 4526 they ought to be about an inch longer. Will you be running 10" wheels or 12"? Otherwise you will be able to get away with the later type of struts and shocks. Because when all minis were being built with 12" wheels the shocks all became one size fits all.

[Andrew1967]

Can anyone confirm that the '4535' shocks are van rear ones please

Andrew, am sorry made a mistake with checking my numbers. The 4535 should indeed be the ones for the van etc. Sorry about that mate
Compared to the 4526 they ought to be about an inch longer. Will you be running 10" wheels or 12"? Otherwise you will be able to get away with the later type of struts and shocks. Because when all minis were being built with 12" wheels the shocks all became one size fits all.

Thats great Toby, I'm pleased to hear that and no worries for your mistake, we all make 'em

I have seen that '84 on cars used the longer strut but didn't connect it to the 12" wheel changeover.

I'll be running standard 10" wheels on the pick up with pick up struts, so its the 4535 type I need. They are indeed about 1" longer than the 4526's

Cheers

Andrew

[Spider]

(Apologies to Andrew for the OT discussion)

Ian, yes, most of the load does transfer to the Shocker and it's mounts. When all parts are new (and right ) the shocker and the cone bottom out about the same point, so some load sharing happens. Yes, the bottom shocker Pins bend and eventually break. I think it's KAD (?) or one of the other guys who offer rear stub axles that take an up-rated bolt. On our Mokes, they have a separate 3/8" stud for the shocker (because the arms are longer) and these shear off every other day. We drill them and fit 1/2" Bolts.

The reason the trailing arm pin get bent and then eventually breaks is the loading on it is ~5 times higher than the shocker stud, so while the shocker stud is only 3/8", with 100 kg in the back, it only see 100 kg, while in regards the trailing arm pin, with the same weight in the back will see 500 kg.

I've not seen this problem on a saloon. I also took the time a while back t look at it all and take some measurements to better understand the problem.

[Andrew1967]

(Apologies to Andrew for the OT discussion)

No worries Spider

I think my question is sorted now so please feel free to carry on

[Chewie Baker]

Hello chaps
Hope you don't mind me jumping on this thread, but I'm looking for a pair of good original girling front shocks (saloon model)
Can anyone help please?
Thank you
Martin

[Andrew1967]

Next question about the original Girling shock absorbers.

Does anyone know what colour grey they were painted or the closest that anyone has come across ?

[mellowyellow]

Hi Andrew, The Bible states nearest colour as ICI Graphite Grey 7024, although I have no experience of the colour match, cheers Tim

[Andrew1967]

Thanks Tim, should have thought about The Bible myself, especially at this time of year

[Andrew1967]

For anyone interested, I have posted up a thread on a supplier for paint for these shock absorbers in the recommended suppliers section.

[Chewie Baker]

Had a look at the rear shocks - I have 7 NOS ones

5 have '----4535' and 2 have '----4526' numbers on them. Someone has written Mini Van on on of the 4535 numbered ones.

I also have one that looks like a Mini rear one numbered 70052977B

Can anyone confirm that the '4535' shocks are van rear ones please

Cheers

Andrew

resurrecting an old thread as i have got a NOS girlingshock numbered 70056609A - does anyone know what this is from?