Gaz Gha Coilovers Adjustment (+)

[Sergio205 0]

Hi, there!

I bought a set of GAZ GHA coilovers from a project car (as it was stated by the seller) on ebay and finally got them at my home place in Russia They have 0 miles and were only installed and then removed from a car.

I don't have a users’ guide on how to adjust/install them. What puzzles me know is that I can move up and down the rod of the shock easily by hand - is it normal? I think I should feel resistance, shouldn't I?

From the other hand they are height and rebound adjustable - may be they are designed this way and I have to release/tighten a nut on the rod - I don' t know but would like to get an advice if possible about the coilovers adjustment.

Thanks in advance!

[Rippthrough 98]

The fronts adjust using the little 6 sided hex on the top of the damper rod, the rears with the knob on the shocks, clockwise for stiffer, anti-clockwise for softer.

[Sergio205 0]

The fronts adjust using the little 6 sided hex on the top of the damper rod, the rears with the knob on the shocks, clockwise for stiffer, anti-clockwise for softer.

 

I guessed it but what I can not understand at the moment is that once I have the shaft extended full way up and get the spring assembly installed and height adjusted - how can I fix the shaft at the selected height and make it resisting the load of the car weight. I mean if I can move it down by a hand how will it hold a car.

Hope I put it clear in English.

[Tom Fenton 1,536]

It is the springs that hold the car up. The dampers react to acceleration of the suspension, i.e. Bumps.

[Rippthrough 98]

The damper doesn't hold the car, the spring does, the damper just controls the spring.

[Sergio205 0]

The damper doesn't hold the car, the spring does, the damper just controls the spring.

 

 

Will the damper control the spring if I can control damper by hand? I've never had coilovers and can compare them only with a regular dampers - it seemed to me it was hard to push the shaft down by hands.

Any way - thank you guys - I’ll try to put everything together and make a test drive - hope everything will work fine for me.

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

They are the basic coilover's from Gaz (Rebound I think they are), So it is right you have nothing acting .. on them on the compression stroke.

I know from driving on them around my way (Bad roads) they don;t provide much control at all

Edited November 24, 2009 by Miles

[Rippthrough 98]

They are the basic coilover's from Gaz (Rebound I think they are), So it is right you have nothing acting on them on the compression stroke.

 

The do have compression damping, for the umpteenth time, they just don't extend on their own as they're twin-tube.

 

Comp. Damping to Rebound is 1:1 ratio when set softest, 1:3.5 on the hardest @ 10inch/s.

That works out at roughly 125lb of force at 10inch per second - i.e, put your weight on them and they should shut within half a second.

 

The reason that feels softer than something like a Bilstien is because of the gas pressure in a Billy - somewhere around 200psi for a front strut - on a 22mm rod = 0.6inch^2 rod area = 120lb of force needed just to overcome the preload.

 

So Bilsteins will feel twice as strong in compression by hand, even if they are the same damping setting.

Edited November 24, 2009 by Rippthrough

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

Ok, I'm wrong , But they do feel like that out of the box,

[Rippthrough 98]

Ok, I'm wrong , But they do feel like that out of the box,

 

Sorry Miles, didn't mean that as an attack on you

Someone started the rumour about them having no compression damping at all and it hasn't stopped since. Anyone that's took a damper apart would know that would be a ludricous thing to do - it'd cost more to have no compression damping than it would to set it properly.

 

They are low on the slow-speed bump but that's mainly because of the piston size and leakage around the seals - any small twin-tube will get that.

 

Incidentally, if anyone is still reading, that preload is part of the reason why high pressure gas dampers feel slightly more fidgety than twin tubes.

 

My Gaz's on the front are quite heavily modified, so I've got the dyno sheets from before I started, hence the comp. figures.

Edited November 24, 2009 by Rippthrough

[Sergio205 0]

Sorry Miles, didn't mean that as an attack on you

Someone started the rumour about them having no compression damping at all and it hasn't stopped since. Anyone that's took a damper apart would know that would be a ludricous thing to do - it'd cost more to have no compression damping than it would to set it properly.

 

They are low on the slow-speed bump but that's mainly because of the piston size and leakage around the seals - any small twin-tube will get that.

 

Incidentally, if anyone is still reading, that preload is part of the reason why high pressure gas dampers feel slightly more fidgety than twin tubes.

 

My Gaz's on the front are quite heavily modified, so I've got the dyno sheets from before I started, hence the comp. figures.

 

 

Thank you! Now I understand how they work. it's now time to test them on a car!