Larry Herman

I posted an article HERE on what shocks do and it should answer your question. Go over that & get back to me with any more questions.

onefastviking

They go up, then come back down, what else is there to know ?

Larry Herman

Depends on how they are mounted. Some just hang there while the rod goes in and out.

onefastviking

Good one Larry. I like it that I am not the only one with a sense of humor.

SG_M3

I just have my pro coach set them...

Veloce Raptor

LOL! She must really know her stuff!

KaiB

Thank you...

KaiB

At the risk of seeming obtuse the question revolved around the statement regarding over damping and "most drivers don't know"...as well as an interesting comment regarding a fellow who was faster with a looser suspension tune (the implication there being that he lost a bit of comfortable understeer with the looser suspension).

I read this as follows: Suspension over damped = overreaction to surface undulations = looser grip. Proper damping for that particular surface might be a bit looser, but then allows greater grip.

Was the understeer in the case above a function of overdamping and loss of front grip?

Beat me all you like, my shoulders are broad and fingernails greasy. K

Larry Herman

Actually it should read "Suspension over damped = inability to react to surface undulations = looser grip". Too much rebound will keep the suspension from extending fast enough to allow the tires to follow the undulations in the track. Too much compression can cause the body to raise over more severe bumps, once again causing a loss of grip over the back side of the bump.

You'd have to ask the poster on that one. Could be shock settings, but more likely swaybars as they are a more overall adjustment for balance.

No one gets beaten here for asking novice questions, only leading and trolling ones.

KaiB

Thanks again Larry.

I've been farking around with cars my entire life; sold and driven some of the best, but as I begin to get really serious about driving, I realize how very little I truly know.

Hope to meet some of you at Hallet this year. K

Matt Romanowski

Think of it this way, if it's a problem when the car is doing something dynamic (i.e. turn in, track out, etc) then it can be fixed with shocks. If it's a steady state issue (mid corner when the car is comressed and not changing) it's not a shock issue. If it's bumps and other stuff, then it's a shock issue.

Thinking this out, this isn't quite right. The tire always comes down, it just bring the rest of the chassis with it. That is what happens with jacking down. Things get a little fuzzier when you include anti-sway bars, bucuase they don't allow one wheel to do what it really wants.

Larry Herman

Look at it this way Matt, on the backside of a bump, the suspension has to extend in order to keep the tire pressured against the track. If you have too much damping on the rebound side, the suspension will not extend as easily, and momentarily the tire pressure against the track (grip) will be reduced. Once the suspension finally extends and/or the body falls a little, that pressure will be re-established. In an extreme case, continual small compressions of the suspension will not allow enough time for the suspension to extend between those compressions because of high rebound damping, and the car body will "jack down".

mark kibort

I have a question about my set up, especially being 15 years old and never being rebuilt. (shocks are Koni double adjustable)
the car feels good, but there could be some truth that im just driving around its deficiencies. its realitvely softly sprung, and maxed out on the bump and compression settings because it was too soft up until that point and got better all the way to max setting.
folks that see my video say that i shouldnt feel the exit birms as much as I do. they really rattle the car (high speed bump i guess), but since the tracks I visit are releatively smooth, maybe the compression setting is ok and doesnt hurt anything . the rebound doesnt jack the car down, and doesnt bounce.
Is there any crude tests to see if my suspension is really cooked, instead of the common push on the fender techniques? I have some side camera shots of the wheels and tires over rough terrain and it seems to be working. maybe Ill just bite the bullet, get them rebuilt and then have them set up so that my current settings are the mid range.

mark kibort

see anything obvious here?
http://www.youtube.com/user/zanick#p/u/18/dhKVQHZHyfA

or on the street with a big bump at 60mph

http://www.youtube.com/user/zanick#p/u/24/shNwdGBorlk

smlporsche

Larry-
Another novice question about the dark science...
If the above bold print is correct (and i follow the logic) would it make sense to usually have as little rebound as possible to allow the wheel to maintain its maximum pressure on the back side of the bump?