Shock Dyno

#1

All:

A few of our drivers have mentioned shops and individuals who have offered re-valving in an attempt to gain an illegal advantage. I want everyone to know that if a driver is caught with an illegal damper(s), the penalty will be very severe. And it will not matter if you built the car, a shop built the car, or you bought the car. As the driver, you are responsible.

I have recently contacted Bilstein about ways to check shocks. Right now, we’re possibly going to have a control shock that one driver will use over the weekend. His shock will be shipped to Bilstein for evaluation.

While this is an easy way to check the legality of our dampers, does anyone have any other ideas? I was considering building a rig to check them ourselves. Something as simple as a slider that checks the time taken to move a set amount of weight, when a shock is bolted into the rig.

Any suggestions from the group?

Carter

#2

Carter,
Cheating is cheating…

Maybe NASA and yourself can come up with penalty levels for these kinds of things.
Maybe then they will out weigh the slight advantage the cheater gains.
Just my 2 cents

#3

Carter wrote:

[quote]All:

A few of our drivers have mentioned shops and individuals who have offered re-valving in an attempt to gain an illegal advantage. I want everyone to know that if a driver is caught with an illegal damper(s), the penalty will be very severe. And it will not matter if you built the car, a shop built the car, or you bought the car. As the driver, you are responsible.

I have recently contacted Bilstein about ways to check shocks. Right now, we’re possibly going to have a control shock that one driver will use over the weekend. His shock will be shipped to Bilstein for evaluation.

While this is an easy way to check the legality of our dampers, does anyone have any other ideas? I was considering building a rig to check them ourselves. Something as simple as a slider that checks the time taken to move a set amount of weight, when a shock is bolted into the rig.

Any suggestions from the group?

Carter[/quote] Carter,

I know who to ask.

#4

In a meeting for truck shocks here at Geno’s the Bilstein rep said the same thing.But I wonder…

An employee, who races SCCA stuff, brought to my attention all of the rampant cheating in Spec E30. "where did you hear that?", I questioned. Response, "On the meassage boards."

After further questioning I found that it was the scca-type boards where he got his internet gospel.

With that in mind, I will assume that Bilstein’s rep( SM) is hearing the same gibberish.

Having driven specially-valved Bilsteins with J Stock springs I really doubt that there is any advantage in the hoopla surrounding shock valving. Perhaps I should quiz SM? He certainly knows more than I do about shocks.

Shock testing…just make it easy to administer in the field.

Regards, Robert Patton 800-755-1715

#5

A shock dyno won’t give you definitive results on a shocks valving… two shocks with the same valving may dyno differently.

#6

A shock dyno won’t give you definitive results on a shocks valving… two shocks with the same valving may dyno differently.

#7

I would check to see if the struts are bent. That would seem like more of an advantage on these cars.

#8

We will definitely be checking front camber in the Mid Atlantic this season. My Smart Camber makes it quick and easy.

If a car measures higher than what we feel is about the maximum, we’ll check the struts. If they are bent…

Carter

#9

Carter,

What is the estimated max front camber you would expect on a legitimate car using adjustable camber plates?

Have you considered that maybe someone struck a curb and the strut is bent that way? Oh wait that would bend in the wrong direction!

#10

MikeD wrote:

wow… that’s I trick I hadn’t though of.

#11

Sure it will.

Just make everybody bring a rear shock to the drivers meeting and trade. 1 stock stock with revalved shocks on the other corners would suck to drive.

#12

Yea, but that would suck for the cheater and the guy who ended up with his other shock as well!

#13

Exactly why it’s a good deterent. And it only takes 10 minutes at most to remove a rear shock on one of these cars.

#14

How is penalizing an innocent party a "good deterent"?

#15

robweenerpi wrote:

With air tools, it took me close to 30 minutes. I’m not an F1 mechanic, and it would suck to work at the track.

#16

I haven’t looked at the shocks closely, but is there actually a way to open them without cutting them apart and re-welding? I would think that kind of work would be detectable. Seem hard to match the factory paint back up in both thickness and smoothness.

#17

BETO wrote:

[quote]robweenerpi wrote:

With air tools, it took me close to 30 minutes. I’m not an F1 mechanic, and it would suck to work at the track.[/quote] It gets easier with practice