have I got a faulty shocker?

[marc69]

Hi,

On Friday when i went to drive my nova, the handling didn't feel right. The symtons are
slight vibration which is accentuated at 55mph
basically unstable feeling, especially at speed
the right hand side of the car "skitters" after going through a pothole
the car feels bouncy

I have done the shock absorber push down and check bounces but, the suspension is lowered with an after market lowered springs so I can't really tell the difference although, when getting into the car, it bounces.

Is this probably a shocker (the rear of the car seems softer than the front)?
Can I put 2 rear corsa b shockers on or will this not be safe?

I don't want to put out much money as the car runs out of test in 8 weeks and is so rotten I won't be putting it back on the road.

Thanks

[swedge]

jack the car up at the front and give the wheel a wiggle at the 12 and 6 oclock position same with 9 and 3 oclock position, check for any movement that shouldnt be there

does the suspension bounce straight back up and stay there?

nova and corsa suspension are the same so you can use either

[marc69]

the rear bounces once, but both sides are the same, i thought it would be unlikely for both rear shocks to go at the same time.

The front is far firmer again, both sides feel the same.

Although the car has been lowered, the shockers should be standard then? I have never lowered a car myself so please excuse the ignorance

[swedge]

have you checked for movement in the wheel like i said?

take a pic of your struts and ill tell you if thier standard or not, if thier standard which they probably are they wont handle the best anyway with lowereing springs

you can pick up a pair of aftermarket shocks for £20-£40 from here or ebay which will be miles better than standard shocks

is the the back or front you dont think is right?

is the rear lowered?

[marc69]

just going out now to check the front

had a look at the struts and i think they are standard but with red springs (aftermarket)
the rear shockers look standard, but will inspect and check against the pair of corsa ones I will probably fit this evening.

the back is on lower springs too, they are just about the same as a standard sr

It feels as though it is the back if the car which wiggles and bounces and cetrtainly on the "bounce check" the back is far softer on both sides than the front.




have you checked for movement in the wheel like i said?

take a pic of your struts and ill tell you if thier standard or not, if thier standard which they probably are they wont handle the best anyway with lowereing springs

you can pick up a pair of aftermarket shocks for £20-£40 from here or ebay which will be miles better than standard shocks

is the the back or front you dont think is right?

is the rear lowered?

[swedge]

best bet would be to get aftermarket shocks to go with your springs

put a wanted ad up im sure you will get some easy enough

[marc69]

just checked the front wheels very slight movement on the passenger wheel, 3 to 9 o clock but, otrherwise they are both ok

not really wanting to upgrade the handling as only keeping the nova for 2 months before breaking it (knackered chasis with rust) so just want it to be safe as it was before.

[swedge]

if your only keeping it for a couple months like you said i wouldnt bother changing anything then

i dont think theres anything actualy "wrong" its just not set up right :)

[moffat]

should be fine is it very bouncy to drive? my last novas rear shockers went and was undrivable on a back road, back end was bouncing all over the road so that indiacates shock failure, also any leaks from shocks?

[marc69]

Just back from trying to change the rear shockers.

The bolts were well seized, why is evrything on mk2 more rusty......?
Anyway, changed the drivers one, the old shocker was shot with no resistance at all, couldn;'t get the passenger bottom bolt off even with an extension for removing struts! Covered it with wd40, attemnpt tomorrow.

put all back together with the replacement drivers shocker, pressed rear of car down....no bounce at all.

Looks like it's a lot better, obviously I will have to make it a matching pair tomorrow after a test drive, too fed up of it tonight to bother testdriving jsut now.

Thanks swedge and moffat for your advice/help and will update tomorrow after work.

[marc69]

Car drove as normal today, very relieved.

Have had faulty oil filled shockers on my 1984 Nova before and never felt as unsafe as this, I assume it is because this car is on lower springs? Just pleased it is safe to drive again!

[moffat]

might be mate, when lowering a car its meant to be uprated shocks and springs imo glad to hear you got it sorted