Robert1234 Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 Just need to know your opinions on the full suspension kit. May buy some next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
399Road Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 Just need to know your opinions on the full suspension kit. May buy some next week. Robert, I bought a set of AVO's adjustable shockers for my Manta and found that the lower rear shocker's lower bushes were the wrong size, all the top bushes were also wrong, and had to be turned down in a lathe (by me) to fit through the Manta's inner wheelarches and that the front shocker's lower mounts can move forwards and backwards by about 25mm when mounted on the car. They also have no primer under their black painted bodies and started to go rusty after about three weeks. I bought them because they came with poly bushes and have nice looking, anodised adjusters and I thought they would look good on my show car. I'm probably going to end up with these rusty AVO's on my daily driver and buy Bilsteins for the Manta like I should have done in the first place. I've still not driven the Manta with these AVO's on yet, but I'd say don't waste your money,,,,, Fit Bilsteins instead. ...Luke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opel2000 Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 Last springs I fitted were bought off of TJM on here when he did a group buy, AVO Lowered Coils (not ridiculously low) and they were possibly the best springs I'd ever fitted, absolutely spot on ride height, comfort, handling. Next best were Jamex 75mm lowered coils, For the dramatic drop in ride height there was no coil binding on these progressive rate springs and a lot of people in the know commented on the ride comfort of such a lowered Car. I bought these in 1995 and they are still on a car I sold and going strong. Spax Springs..... Weren't brilliant, I removed the Jamex coils due to struggling with the chuffing stupid speed ramps and crap in Leicester, and needed to raise the car. 2 years after fitting the Spax coils and hardly any use these gave me an MOT failure due to being broken on the rear. 2nd best springs were 1" lowered Jamex coils on my 1.8 hatch way back in 1992 and I fitted new Monroe oil shocks at the time too. Car drove absolutely wonderful, was so spot on and comfy with limited body roll, but perhaps a bit too much daylight between the wheels and arches for my liking. On my first GTE coupe I fitted some Chassis Dynamics lowered springs and Monroe Gas Shocks all round, Springs were coil bound to hell, car was low and ride was shockingly hard, but heck it handled like a Go Kart, really was fun to drive, but lacking in comfort at low speed. Whatever advice anyone gives on here for shocks and springs, there is generally a trade off between ride height and comfort, and what someone will find as good handling others will not. Bilsteins are the tool of choice in the Shock Absorber/Damper area and there are various Bilsteins available with various damping rates, and Bilsteins were original equipment on the GTE's but possibly of different valving/damping properties to the aftermarket Bilsteins. If I were to go and buy a complete set up (shocks and springs from one manufacturer) I would possibly go for an AVO set, never used AVO Dampers/shocks but was dead impressed with their springs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert1234 Posted November 20, 2011 Author Share Posted November 20, 2011 (edited) ah fair enough guys. What should I go for then? I'd like the car to be a bit lower say 30mm? And stiffer. Adjustable damping would be nice but if not I can deal with a hard ride :s Edited November 20, 2011 by Robert1234 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monzta Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 You should go for SPAX. Those are about the only ones left that does some really splendid shocks. You can actually find used ones that are 6-7 years old for sale on ebay.de and they are still very nice to look at (no rust). They are powder coated and can be adjusted from outside the car (not like KONI that needs to be dismounted on the Manta to be adjusted). They also have a "click" system for adjusting so adjusting all shocks the same is easy. Don´t know much about Bilstein. I bought some replacement shocks from them years back (12 years ago or such) and they where utter crap. The top nuts didn´t have the same threading as the shocks so i had to find new bolts for them... They worked fine once fitted, but i didn´t think too much of them. SPAX is the only way i will go now, i know they are good, and i know they will keep looking and driving good for many years to come.. Not too expensive either. They are 80£ a piece for the front and 85£ a piece for the rear at silverstonetuning.co.uk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert1234 Posted November 22, 2011 Author Share Posted November 22, 2011 After a bit of thinking and research I've decided to go for the spax set up (40mm). Should be ordered soon and on the car in a few weeks! Thanks again Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mantasrme Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 Well i've run AVO dampers on 2 manta's, and their springs and dampers on my old sierra 4x4 and really liked them I thought they were very good quality and they certainly lasted well on my road rally car even with the abuse it got regularly. Not tried the manta springs yet but if clive liked them they will be good gear. They're also very popular with the rally boys as AVO have a very good customer service and quick turnaround for repairs and re-valving. Normally i run Bilsteins all round but AVO's are less than half the price of new Billies and are nearly as good so makes a lot of sense the way cash is nowadays as second hand billies are getting harder to find. Oh and i bought a car that had spax fitted a few years back, they lasted a day before being thrown in the bin as i thought they were crap 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert1234 Posted November 23, 2011 Author Share Posted November 23, 2011 This makes the decision so hard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamchop77 Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 Robert Have to agree with Mantasrme, AVO stuff is good. Got a set of coilovers for the moggy minor i'm doing and they are a nice piece of kit. I know 399road said that he had probs with them but they come with a 2 year warranty so i don't get why he just didn't get back in touch with them. Lots of the autograss lads use them and they haven't had issues with rusting as far as i know and from what i've seen. I've used SPAX on my road and grasser cars and they are pretty good in my opinion, had a set of Bilsteins which leaked after a short space of time. Admittedly they were second hand, but so were the spax ones as i bought everything off one guy. The billys had been bought to replace the spax as they were allegedly better. The spax are still on the car!!!! Think that you will get good and bad views for every make. Give Avo a ring and have a chat with them as they can supply a custom setup with different valving if you want plus you can ask about the rusting issue. I found them very helpful. HTH Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hesus2003 Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 ive avos shocks and springs on my manta and they are spot on,cudnt praise them enough Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davep Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 I use AVO shocks on my hillclimb / sprint car, They work really well, are easy to adjust and the factory service is very good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane P Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 Any links to any suppliers lads? Wouldnt mind pricing a set! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamchop77 Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 Shanep Just ring AVO themselves number i have for them is 01604 708101or e-mail sales@avouk.com. Cheers Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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