I had found a thread about this (without any posted outcome), but seems to have since disappeared so I'm starting another.

Had my MOT done last week, sailed through but got an advisory on the front shocks - in the tester's words (rather poetic I thought) "a light misting of oil" on both. I realise my next question is probably akin to asking the length of a piece of string, but what more can I reasonably expect from them? Once they start to leak is that it, or maybe XXXX more miles? My poor vrs has to limp along crap roads every day, so I suspect not very long, but just wondered if it's a case of getting them replaced asap or if I have a month or so's grace.

I'd dearly love to use it as an excuse to put the much fabled FSDs on all round, but in a space of 6 weeks it's already seeing 2 new tyres, front and rear wishbone bushes (had to pay for fitting), MOT, tax AND insurance... I can put up with a poor ride (nothing new on OEM suspension anyway) but I don't want to knacker anything else by riding on overly tired shocks. Really don't want to waste a smaller amount of money on two new OEM shocks, but very hard to justify £500 odd for fitted FSDs right now :(

Basically am I ruining anything apart from my ride quality by running leaking shocks for a spell? Any experience gratefully received.

Cheers

Sam

It normally means "they'll fail the next MOT"

Thanks, sounds like I have some grace then. Could well be FSDs after all!

Really came at the wrong time though - in the middle of a tour, so still 3 separate gigs travelling from London to Wales, Devon and IOW and back. All loaded up with double bass, amp and drumkit :eek: Thankfully myself and the drummer are beanpoles

I had the same advisory last week when mine went in for it's MOT, I took my car back to the garage that supplied and fitted my suspension as they are still under warranty and now I am awaiting the phone call to say the replacements are in stock.

I had a similar issue with a Fiat some years ago and before the following MOT they didn't appear to be any worse and it passed, however by the next MOT they were weeping enough for a fail. I think it will depend on the mileage and condition on the roads as to how long they last.

Ultimately it's not just ride comfort, shocks keep your tyres in contact with the road.

Worn shocks will dramatically effect braking distances as well as cornering and overall vehicle control. I was following someone on the motorway who clearly had a worn rear shock and I was horrified the way the wheels was bouncing 2 - 3 inches of the ground and was barely in contact with the road at any point at all, it would bounce up immediately on contact with the road.

Obviously they are not at that point yet or they would have failed the MOT.

I would imagine you are safe at the moment to wait until you can afford FSD's.

Ian

Thanks everyone. I've had it at motorway speeds since the mot, fully loaded as well. Ride definitely suffering more than usual, but it's still holding its line and pretty sure I'd have noticed wheels on and off the road to that degree. I know what you mean, so often I see cars in such a condition that they seem to be defying logic by merely going in a straight line! Saw one bloke hooning it around town with a flat tyre - I genuinely think he hadn't noticed... Anyway, thanks for the advice. I'll put money away in the FSD pot and monitor the roadholding closely. Not that I don't normally! Just realised that sounds awful...

If funds are tight just now, clean off the dampers, and check again in a week or so. The greater the amount of oil on them then, the higher the urgency of replacing them!

Cheers everyone for the advice. I think I'm beginning to answer my own question though - ride and handling definitely suffering, especially under load. :( I'll just have to bite the bullet and get them done. Awful timing but such is life. Just a thought - given similar driving conditions that led to my shocks going at 43k, might the Konis perish at a similar age? Sorry if this seems a stupid question, please ignore/berate me as appropriate! Not sure how Koni compare to Sachs (as I understand are fitted as OEM) in terms of durability. Just don't fancy forking out 500 quid every 2 and a half years, or maybe that's all part and parcel of the extra costs of driving in London (cheers Ken - Livingstone, not O'Neill!) There's almost always a load in the boot as well - seem to remember reading somewhere that the octy estate has special shocks to deal with heavy loads, I presume these (or the FSD equivalent) can't be fitted on the hatch?

If the standard units actually are Sachs, then they're on a par with the plain oil-filled Konis, but I'd rate a gas pressurised damper like the FSD (there's some other trickery in FSDs as well) as a cut above anyway.

Changing the damper rates at one end relative to the other will affect the handling. That may or may not be a good thing, but that depends partly on your tastes. For myself, I'm happy with the stock handling of the Elegance, partly because you're falling off the seats before the understeer gets intrusive!

Cheers Ken, might get on to Koni for extra info about the difference between the shocks for estate and hatch. Although to be honest, thinking about it my music gear probably equates to less than having 2 passengers in the back, and the heaviest bit (speaker cab) sits on a folded seat. Also it's the fronts that have worn - I read somehwere here that the vrs has 1000kg over the front axle alone, probably engine weight combined with poor roads led to their early (well, I reckon 44k is early for a shock absorber) demise.

@ cheezemonkhai, :confused: not sure what you're referring to. Sorry if my ignorance offends, I'll just keep quiet and buy the FSDs!

Working with a nominal car mass of 1500kg kerbweight, and 66/34 front/rear, you get 990kg on the front axle with no driver, so a tonne 1-up won't be far off.

CM said something, changed his mind, and wants the message deleting I think.

Ah I see, no worries

I suspect that's the cause then, that much weight over poor surfacing - I really wouldn't mind paying £8 a day to get to gigs and north of £200 vehicle license if the roads didn't kill my suspension... Anyway it seems common knowledge that it's under-damped from the factory, so just a bit more saving to do (thanks to a switch to Adrian Flux, this has been made easier ) and I should be on the Konis before long. Hopefully that'll keep it riding nicely for a while - ARB, ARB bushes and wishbone bushes have all been done so fingers crossed that's the last of the octy weak points to iron out for a while at least!