Gas or oil shock absorbers - advantages, disadvantages, opinions, prices. Guide
Most tuning enthusiasts, modifying the suspension of their car, replace oil shock absorbers with gas shock absorbers. And rightly so, because their performance characteristics are better.
Many drivers believe that shock absorbers are car parts that only affect driving comfort. Meanwhile, driving safety also depends on these elements. In addition to tires, shock absorbers are critical to a vehicle's grip on the road.
In turn, poor tire grip causes problems with ABS and ESP operation. For these systems to work properly, the wheels of the vehicle must always be in contact with the ground.
Except in the event of an oil leak or sudden oil failure, shock absorber wear occurs gradually, often without the driver noticing it. Meanwhile, due to worn shock absorbers, the weight of the car when braking can shift from the rear to the front. This weight shift can significantly reduce the effectiveness of the brakes on the rear axle. In addition, tire grip is reduced, which increases the braking distance.
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A failed shock absorber means longer braking distances, accelerated wear on suspension components, and incorrect headlight settings.
Typical signs of faulty shock absorbers are: wheels off the ground and bouncing when braking hard, significant body roll when cornering, the effect of “floating” and “swinging” of the car when overcoming, for example, glue paths, transverse faults, uneven tire wear, oil leakage from the shock absorber.
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Oil shock absorbers
There are two main types of shock absorbers: oil and gas / oil. The latter are simply gaseous in circulation. Another division is used: into two-tube and one-tube shock absorbers. The first ones are oil shock absorbers, in which the second one with a piston and valves is placed in one pipe (body).
The body is only a reservoir for hydraulic oil, which is a damping factor. The valves allow oil to flow between both pipes. All the work is done by an oil damper in the inner tube.
The advantage of oil-filled shock absorbers is their simple design (resulting in a moderate price) and relatively high durability. And if there is damage, then in addition to extreme situations (for example, when a wheel hits a transverse obstacle at high speed), oil shock absorbers slowly lose their effectiveness.
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The advantage of these shock absorbers is that they can be regenerated. However, such repairs were carried out by a small number of factories over several years. The reason is that the price of shock absorbers has fallen sharply, and regeneration is not always profitable.
But there are also disadvantages. Most importantly, oil-filled shock absorbers are heavy and have a constant, linear damping force. Therefore, in tuning they are not welcome.
Gas shock absorbers
Of course, we are talking about oil-gas shock absorbers. In this case, the design consists of only one pipe in which the piston is installed. In addition to oil, the damping factor is also compressed gas (nitrogen), which is packed in the lower part of the pipe and separated from the oil by a movable baffle.
In this case, the shock absorber remains under the control of the wheel all the time, because the gas "works" faster than the oil. Therefore, the gas shock absorber responds faster to surface irregularities and makes the wheel better grip on it.
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The characteristics of oil-gas shock absorbers are more rigid than those of oil-filled shock absorbers. For this reason, they are recommended to drivers who have fast cars and drive dynamically, as well as to those who want to tune their cars.
The disadvantage of gas shock absorbers is their delicate design. If the seal is damaged, even if it is minor, it can quickly lose its properties due to gas leakage.
The rather complex design of such shock absorbers also contributes to their higher price than the oil shock absorber, although there are no significant differences.
Check shock absorber prices at shoppie.regiomoto.pl
Prices for oil shock absorbers start from PLN 20 (front/rear), and for gas shock absorbers from PLN 50 (front) or from PLN 45 (rear). But branded products - both the original and substitutes - are many times more expensive. And this is even the case with cars of popular brands.
Oil shock absorbers
Pros
simple construction
high strength
reasonable price
Cons
slow mass
slow reaction to inequality
Oil-gas shock absorbers
Pros
fast response to irregularities
light weight
the best traction qualities of the car
Cons
susceptibility to sudden damage
higher price
According to the expert
Jan Nagengast, head of the Nagengast Gdańsk service, which specializes in suspension repairs.
- The shock absorber loses its characteristics after 80-100 thousand kilometers and must be replaced. Of course, it also depends on the driving style of the driver. There are cases when we get cars with not replaced shock absorbers for 150-20 km or more, and their condition is still satisfactory. As a rule, every XNUMX thousand km, check the condition of the shock absorbers on a special tester. But that's not all, because in addition to a mechanical test, you need to inspect the shock absorbers, for example, for leaks or other damage. A very important thing is the rubber casing of the shock absorber. It protects this component from water, dirt and other contaminants. When replacing the shock absorber, you must also remember to replace the bumper that protects against the so-called shock absorber tapping. Shock absorbers should be replaced in pairs per axle. The idea is to keep the same characteristics. However, sometimes it is acceptable to leave the old one. damper on another wheel of the same axle, if the difference in performance with the new damper does not exceed 15 percent.
Wojciech Frölichowski
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