Re: [T3] another question about shocks

["Steve Jackson" <stevejax61@hotmail.com>]

Hey Jim--I always heard those Gas Shocks were filled with Nitrogen...kinda
hard to put that back isn't it?  I would be interested in seeing the inside
of one myself...never heard of rebuilding a shock!  You're ingenious!
Steve J.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Adney" <jadney@vwtype3.org>
To: <type3@vwtype3.org>
Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2005 10:25 PM
Subject: Re: [T3] another question about shocks


> On 27 Oct 2005 at 10:56, fess wrote:
>
> > from this list, I've gotten the impression that the stock shocks have
> > often lasted and are still good.   So, what makes some actually go bad
> > and some not go bad?
>
> You're right, most of the OE shocks are still good, but there's
> always a failure rate, even if it is small. I've never taken a failed
> one apart, but in general I see one failure mode. That is failure to
> damp when moving in one direction. Occasionally, I've seen ones that
> didn't damp in either direction.
>
> From what I've seen in the two non-VW shocks that I DID take apart,
> my guess is that there are some sort of leaf springs on the piston
> which serve as valves to let oil pass thru the piston. The strength
> of this spring determines how hard it is for the oil to get thru, so
> this sets the damping. There are different springs for up and down,
> so either one could fail.
>
> The one I took apart was a Bilstein from a Mercedes. I was surprised
> to see mention of rebuilding them in my Haynes manual, so I decided
> to take a failed one apart. I damaged that one in the process, but
> learned how to do it. So I took its mate apart. I've still got the
> parts for that one if anyone needs them. It was interesting to see
> how they could be made to be disassembled and restored.
>
> It was also an education to find out exactly what was meant by "gas
> shock."
>
> --
> *******************************
> Jim Adney, jadney@vwtype3.org
> Madison, Wisconsin, USA
> *******************************
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>