[ROVERNET - UK] Question on SD1 rear shocks

[Magnet]

Many if not all SD-1s sent to North America had Boge "Nivomat" 
self-levelling rear shocks.  Apart from whatever other qualities these 
may have had, they incorporated a pretty substantial internal spring, 
and the car's rear springs were rated to take this into account.  If one 
simply replaced the Nivomats with conventional shocks, you lost a fair 
amount of your rear springing.  This had been done on my son's first 
SD-1 before he got it, with the result that the back end was about 2 
inches lower than it should have been, and the car would bottom out on 
the slightest provocation.  We were very lucky to be able to find a set 
of SD-1 replacement springs that were intended for the conversion to 
normal shocks.  These were visibly more robust than the originals, and 
corrected the problem.

The most recent addition to his SD-1 stable has the very wimpy rear 
springs that went with the Nivomats, but the (aftermarket) shocks 
incorporate a hefty external spring.

If you do replace the shocks on your car, I hope this information is 
helpful.

It's interesting to note that some of the Rover 825s had Nivomat type 
self-levelling shocks as well.  When I replaced the rear shocks on my 
825 with the non-self-levelling items (which were all I could get), I 
lost about an inch of ride height.  I experimented with one of the 
shocks I took off, and it took more than 150 pounds to push the piston 
rod in to the point where it would normally sit with the shock installed 
in the car.

Carter, Jonathan L., M.D. wrote:
> I ended up just replacing mine because my mechanic didn't think it was
> worth trying to free them up. I would wonder how good the shocks would
> be anyway after sitting for that long, even if you were successful in
> freeing them up.
> Thanks, Jonathan 
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: rovernet-bounces at lyris.ccdata.com
> [mailto:rovernet-bounces at lyris.ccdata.com] On Behalf Of David Sheuring
> Sent: Monday, April 21, 2008 1:32 PM
> To: rovernet at lyris.ccdata.com
> Subject: Re: [ROVERNET - UK] Question on SD1
>
> Interesting, this car sat up for 14 years. Wonder if the shock is
> frozen. I wonder if they can be removed and worked on?
> David
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: "Carter, Jonathan L., M.D." <carter.jonathan at mayo.edu>
> To: rovernet at lyris.ccdata.com
> Sent: Monday, April 21, 2008 4:27:04 PM
> Subject: Re: [ROVERNET - UK] Question on SD1
>
> I had a similar experience with another make of car where the shocks
> were rock-hard because the car had sat for a long time. When I had the
> shocks replaced, the stiff ride problem disappeared completely!
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: rovernet-bounces at lyris.ccdata.com
> [mailto:rovernet-bounces at lyris.ccdata.com] On Behalf Of David Sheuring
> Sent: Monday, April 21, 2008 1:14 PM
> To: rovernet at lyris.ccdata.com
> Subject: [ROVERNET - UK] Question on SD1
>
> Hello all,
> I hope all is well with everyone.
> I have my SD1 on the road and noticed that the rear ofthe car is stiffer
> than a buck board. I noticed that when I had the tires replaced that it
> had very small diameter coil springs with the white, yellow, yellow
> markings on the spring and a huge white, close to 3 inch diameter
> shocks.
> I am open for suggestions.
> Thanks
> David
>
>
>
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