[DeTomaso] What I have for Shocks

[Asa Jay Laughton]

Yes, the stock spring spacers were removed when I had the shocks out 
originally and waiting for the a-arms to return.

I had the front end up in the air half a dozen times today.  I have 
evaluated everything I possibly can.  The bushing in the steering rack 
is in place, I even slid the boot down to check visually.  I moved the 
tires from the right to the left and watched what happened.  The bushing 
stays in place.  The rack does not move (outside its normal travel) 
either by trying to flex the wheel or by hand, either with the wheel on 
the ground (suspension loaded) or off the ground (suspension unloaded).  
All the a-arm connections appear to be tight.  All joints at the body 
appear to be good, no cracks that I could find.  New ball joints, again, 
tight.

I even checked the spindle to the steering arm bolts (three of them) and 
they were tight.  I've checked pretty much every suggestion that has 
come my way and I still have this noise.  It really does sound like the 
steering rack but the rack isn't it that I can diagnose.

The -only- thing not replaced on the front end are the coil-over 
shocks.  I can't get this noise to replicate in the garage on the 
floor.  I even took an eight foot 2x4 under the wheel and tried to 
leverage the wheel to get the noise, still no-go.  I seem to get it 
readily if I'm driving it over small bumps.

My last ditch is the shocks.  I can't cough up the money for new ones at 
the moment, though I'd dearly love to.  One forum member thought he had 
some extra originals but now can't find them.  If anyone else has a 
front set laying around, I'd greatly appreciate even just borrowing them 
for a short while to troubleshoot this noise.

I'm guessing at this point there is something wrong internally with the 
shock that manifests itself over bumps, but again I can't be sure.  The 
car seems to drive fine, track fine on the road and it performed well at 
the autocross.  It's just driving me crazy.

Asa Jay

Asa Jay Laughton, MSgt, USAFR, Retired
&  Shelley Marie
Spokane, WA
******************************
http://www.asajay.com   ***   http://www.teampanteraracing.com
   


On 3/28/2010 8:00 PM, MikeLDrew at aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 3/28/10 13 56 15, asajay at asajay.com writes:
>
>
>    
>> Okay, I just came from inspecting the brake pads and front wheel
>> bearings.  While there, I tried to see what I had for shocks.
>>
>> This is what I can barely make out:
>>
>> Telcar  (Large T tapering down to a small R)
>> 7214
>> S032005
>>
>> The body of the shock is Black, not blue as I had earlier surmised. 
>> This is on the Front only, not the rear.
>>
>> Can anyone tell me more about these shocks?
>>
>>      
> Sure, they are stock L-model shocks, cheap, serviceable when new, not bad,
> not particularly great.   You can either evaluate them yourself, or take
> them somewhere and have them checked by somebody who knows what a proper shock
> should feel like.   I'd definitely do that before I spent dime one on
> replacement bushings for them!
>
> Do you still have the stock spring spacers?   If so this would be the
> perfect opportunity to remove them.
>
> Mike
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