Extremely crashy rear suspension - please help!

[rs-ross]

Hi guys, got an issue with the rear suspension on my 172 cup. Basically whenever I go over speed bumps or any other bump in the road, the front goes over fine and the damping works as it should, then the rear seems to just crash over and thud back down. Is there any easy ways to diagnose what could be causing the issue? Thanks

 

[hilldawg172]

Shocks have gone by sounds of it, look for leaking oil or ideally whip one off and try to compress it. A correctly working shock will compress in then slowly come back out. Knackered one will be more like a pogo stick lol.

 

[ahiggins_1]

As above, check for fluid leaks on your shocks, seems a common fault. Check the springs whilst you're at it also. Both shocks on my 172 cup have gone, as more fluid comes out it will gradually get worse. I got a pair from Renault Wolverhampton on here, £80 a pair delivered!

 

[rs-ross]

Yeah I've had a quick look underneath and they are both leaking

Gonna order a pair and try to fit next weekend. Is it an easy job?

 

[ahiggins_1]

Yeah pretty straight forward, do a search and you will find a variety of guides. Minimal tools required, about 30 minutes each side.

 

[hilldawg172]

2 spanners for the top, one to hold one to loosen, 17mm socket for bottom. Its a absolute breeze both sides can easily be done in 15mins.

 

[rs-ross]

excellent, thanks for the help guys. Do these need to be torqued up or can I just tighten them f**kin tight lol?

 

[hilldawg172]

I've never bothered torquing them tbh just get them nice and tight.

 

[hilldawg172]

1 thing to note though, if you remove both bottom bolts the rear beam will be free to drop so either lower is slowly with a jack or support it with a axle stand or do 1 side at a time lol.

 

[Amberlamps]

Put some copper grease on the lower bolts also, makes them easier to remove in the future.

 

[Djw John]

2 spanners for the top, one to hold one to loosen, 18mm socket for bottom. Its a absolute breeze both sides can easily be done in 15mins.

EFA.

It can be done without jacking the car up at all mate, so long as you can fit underneath!

 

[rs-ross]

haha sweet. The car is pretty low so I may need to raise it just to get under to be honest.

I'm guessing the best way would be jack it up on the rear beam (is this ok as I've seen people say it's a no no before?), then put axle stands on sills and keep jack holding the weight of the beam so when I remove the bottom bolts it doesn't all fall down... will this work?

 

[hilldawg172]

That will work fine mate, its the way I've always done it.