MGB & GT Forum

My drivers side front Armstrong shock gave up a few months ago, it has absolutely no resistance, I pulled it off and refilled with hydraulic oil and cycled the piston but I guess the seals are bad. So my question is, do shocks have to be replaced in pairs? i.e. even though the passenger side seems to be operating fine, should I go ahead and purchase both fronts?

Many thanks!

Daniel

In principle yes, but if the shock feels quite resistant when taken loose the same way you may continue using it. You did not mention if the Amstrongs were 25% uprated or not..

BTW I myself have a drivers side "gold refurbished" Amstrong which looses a few cc of oil over 3000 miles, so I asked my parts provider for a new one. I will leave the non-leaking passenger side one in place. It seems difficult to find dependable refurbishing companies, so probably I will choose a new one instead. The other one is a normal, not gold painted original so I feel these are better...

PS Once you renew the shock it is a good moment to put new top trunnion rubber bushes in, a complete set with bushes, bolt, castellated nut and even a splitpin is in the MOSS catalogue



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-03-24 11:04 AM by Donthuis.

Most smart people will always replace things like shocks and brakes in pairs, unless you just replaced a set recently.
If one side has failed, how long do you think the other side will last until it fails?

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Early 1974 MGB with OD, SU HIF's, 72 spoke chrome WW's, Schlemmer distributor, DuBois fuel pump, Limey's relays, Gerry's column kit.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-03-24 06:53 AM by Jim Gevay.

Replace in pairs
Order a set replace them
Send your cores
http://www.nosimport.com
The best rebilder and Owner Peter is an MGE forum member

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LNDRVR4X4.COM
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1957 Series 1 Land Rover electric VEHICLE CONVERSION

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The passenger side seems to be perfect, i.e. when bounced it will return to ride height without bouncing a few times. My apologies but i'm quite new to car maintenance, particularly MG's so i'm not quite sure what you mean "you did not mention if the Armstrongs were 25% uprated or not". So far as i can tell the shocks are all original equipment that would of been stock on a 75 roadster.

Thanks for your input Don



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-03-24 12:14 PM by Leyland75.

When I first bought my car 7 years ago, the right front shock behaved as you describe yours. Not being "smart" I replaced just the failed shock.

I never noticed any difference between the two shocks and the older shock was still working several years later when I decided to put Peter Caldwell refurbished shocks on all 4 corners.

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“Ideological certainty easily degenerates into an insistence upon ignorance". Daniel Patrick Moynihan

In any debate, the side which strays from civil discussion is usually the side that lacks confidence in its debate position or in the merit of their arguments. Making personal attacks on the opponents instead of staying on the subject is also a sign of weakness.

Anyone who feels compelled to respond in kind to any perceived slight is often suffering from narcissism.

Understood, both look to be in the same visual condition so probably the same age. I will most likely have both serviced/replaced just incase the other decides to fail and more importantly to put myself in the 'smart' people category

Cheers Jim

Rob, I'll reach out to Peter based on your recommendation

Cheers

Daniel

ok
And when you replace things like rotors,pads,wheel bearings, flex hoses ,etc
Replace in pairs.

---

LNDRVR4X4.COM
Home of Project "INCARN8'


1957 Series 1 Land Rover electric VEHICLE CONVERSION

FIXITUPCHAP.COM
FIXITUPCHAP INCORPORATED

RD3 Radar/ Electronic Warfare Technician
VIETNAM 1969-1972

As with a lot of MG parts there is a diversion in properties, called normal or uprated. I.c. on front shocks MOSS offers reconditioned and new shocks, both on normal specs. And a third category reconditioned in high quality, which in most cases means they put another valve system in claiming 25% better working. My last MOSS catalogue says NCA on this last one though. Some small companies which are in the business of shock refurbishing may also offer you the choice for normal or uprated in their own rebuilding action

Remember: a non bouncing corner shockm, which does not leak oil is still working. Renewing in pairs is a bit like renewing bulbs: as one goes maybe the other will go soon as well. But if you check all your shocks on regular maintenance intervals, i.c. 6000 miles max or 3000miles if you so wish you will detect a leaking one soon enough

To sum up: IF you let one shock be refurbished or renewed I would suggest to stick to normal ones, if you do both it is up to you to choose the setting symmetrically.
Personnaly I never found anything wrong with the standard performance of those Amstrongs, the suspension of the B is much more supple than most people realize

If you order shocks from a rebuilder, you may be expected to return your failed shocks to the rebuilder so they will have more to rebuild. Usually this means you will be charged a "core" charge that will be refunded when they receive your old shocks. You may be expected to pay the shipping cost for the old shocks as well as the new ones. In this case, it may result in some savings if you combine the shipment of a pair of shocks rather than purchasing them separately at different times.

"Uprated" is a marketing term used to make an item sound more desirable than the stock item. If you have a reason to change from a stock item to a part with different characteristics, then possibly an "uprated" part will suit your requirements. If you have no idea what the difference is, then you probably don't need the uprated part. With shock absorbers, "uprated" often means an internal valve has been changed to make the shock more resistant to motion, that is, harder. The 25% in this case refers to an approximation of the increase in resistance to motion.

There is nothing wrong with replacing a single shock absorber as long as you're fairly sure that the corresponding shock on the other side of the car has the same valve. Even if it's 25% harder, it might be difficult for the average driver to tell.