failed MOT
 

well my poor car fail its MOT this year on,

the drivers balljoint (which i know was gonna come up, new one was delivered today :D)

water in the washer bottle empty

and all 4 suspension spring insecure so by the looks of it i need a std set of prings if anyone has a set kicking about, and i have till wed to get it done as that is when it runs out.

or the rears need 50mm shorter shocks. tbh, its easier to make it std for time being till i can sort it properly.

pref close to me so i can pick up. grays essex.

if u get stuck just put some big cable ties or jubilee clips round your springs and cups! not a perfect or ideal fix but good enough for MOT and will get u outta trouble!

cheers for that, on the front i may well have to, your one is lower than mine, wernt your spring loose when you put them in, at least the rear ones???

yeah front and rear are both loose! but as far as mot goes you shouldn't actually pull on the spring! its allowed to be loose as long as it doesn't fall out on its own and seats itself back in the correct position when the vehicle is lowered back down without any assistance!

the fronts do, but the rears once jacked up he saw it move, so he touched it to make sure, and then he gave it to me :( tis a bit rusty but does still have some paint on it :D, so i told him to put it back please :P it was more use under there.

he suggested maybe vauxhall shockers, mainly coz alot of them are seperate like the s12, and not a strut like the fronts.

really need ideas, coz he wont pass it without, hes ringing his rep tomoz to see how i stand on the front, but the rears he wont pass :(

silvia engineering used to use a metal strap that they screwed to the bottom arm and then to where ever was easily accessible at the top! when the car was jacked up the strap stopped the arm goin too far down and kept the spring in place!
could be done with a small chain to make ease of adjusting length but u'd prob wanna remove it after coz it'll rattle

i made 6 little Z shaped lugs from 3mm steel, 3 each side, then drill 3 holes and bolt them onto the strut cup hooking the top over the springs.then weld 2 u shaped lugs each side to the top cup and turn the spring into it.

tis back in for retest tomorrow, i changed the track rod end and filled up the water bottle, he said he will give me advise on the springs, but would like to see the rears more secure for my own safety, i did jack it up today, and they didnt just fall out, but saves me the hastle next year.

i have measured it i only need 25mm shorter, what im thinking is the lower mounting for the shock is on a bolt-on bracket, im gonna take it off, and make a new one with the bolt hole 25mm lower thus taking up the slack. just need to have a good look to make sure it wont be to low under the car to cause probs.

I also did what beany is suggesting. I just strapped the rear arms with seatbelt strap so that there fall was restricted once the car was jacked up:)

apart from the MOT, i was really also looking for a cheaper, more available rear shock, slightly shorter for lowered cars as most on here are, that we caould all use to make life easier.

off the shelf jobbies, even better if uprated as std :D

escort mk2 rally forest stage shocks fit and are shorter. Wayne from chip-wizards used these shocks + Porsche 911 shocks to i believe

funny you say that, coz i heard that somewhere before, may have been here, did ask at local spares shop, they dont stock them. but will do a little research on them.

Cheers

i think all of the escort rally shocks will be shorter the forest stage bit is for the damping tarmac stage shock will be to stiff etc

maybe just look at who sells/makes escort mk2 lowering kits

Found this place in the states for shocks, might be worth having a look at.

http://www.car-stuff.com/monroeshocks.htm


A friend of mine has bought loads of bits for his mazda's from the states as parts are available over there so work out cheaper.


I have also spotted one monroe gas shock on ebay, not much use on it's own but he did put the part number up, so find a monroe shock dealer and see if they can sort a pair out for you.

Part No. 43054 (Monroe Gas matic)

Doh, I got the wrong end of the stick! Thought you were after stock shocks! (£28.50 each plus £9 carriage from proven-products.co.uk if anyone is interested)

When I last lowered a S12 I secured the rear springs by drilling a couple of holes in the spring seat and cutting a plastic coated coat hanger up and threaded it through the hole, over the spring and twisted it up to keep it in place.