Re: Upside down shocks

[Carscribe@domain.elided]

In a message dated 9/8/01 10:40:29 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
papajam1@domain.elided writes:
> 
>    Oh, yes it does! Dampers (the proper term; thank you England) work on the
> principle of a piston moving a fluid thru tiny holes which slows down the
> velocity of the piston. If any air is in the piston's cylinder, then no
> damping action can take place. Air is introduced into the cylinder by 
> storing
> the dampers horizontally and upside down installation. This is why new off 
> the
> shelf shocks(I'll give in to the majority's term of the things)  must be 
> bled
> before installation. Never heard of bleeding the shocks? Most mechanics
> haven't either. The term bleed as it applies to automotive stuff means to
> remove something (usually air) from an unwanted location. While hydraulic
> brake and clutch systems have bleed screws, shocks don't. To bleed a shock,
> hold it rightside up and expand it all the way. Then turn it upside down and
> push it together. You can hear and feel the air being purged from the fluid
> reservoir. Repeat 2 or 3 more times and then install it. Makes a world of
> difference.
> 
> Shocked at the thought of upside down shocks,
> 
> Jim
> 

Jim makes an excellent point about bleeding shocks; many have never heard of 
the need, much less the process and so miss out on some of the benefit of 
fitting new shocks. I'm surprised that no one has yet mentioned that many of 
the shocks fitted at the factory on late Giulias and most Alfettas and some 
GTV-6s were Alinquant shocks which were installed "upside-down" in the front. 
I can't remember which orientation they were in the rear. I've had a number 
of these cars that still had the factory shocks after 15-20 years, and they 
were of remarkable quality. Same was true of the shocks fitted to Lancia 
Fulvias and Flavias, which were gas pressurized and upside-down front and 
rear, and this was in the mid-sixties. BTW, most Bilsteins can be mounted 
upside down due the fact that they are a high pressure gas shock and designed 
to function either way with no possibility for bubbles or aeration as stated 
in their literature. Unfortunately, this doesn't work on Konis, which I 
prefer for street/light sport use.
Cheers,
Paul Mitchell

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