VR Acclaim 6 - a strange tale of new struts...

[Dunlop]

Last week I finally managed to have four new struts fitted to my VR. Months ago I'd looked around and found that Aunger - now owned by Cooldrive - had bought out a new series of OEM front and rear struts with high quality NOK seals at a really affordable price, so I ended up buying new front and rears. For a couple of months I'd been getting a knocking noise from the rear when pulling out of my uneven driveway and from the front when doing U turns. The local Holden service agent had checked the ball joints etc but found nothing worn - they said the struts looked like the originals...(at 250,000kms?). I didn't have the energy to put them in so I got a reputable mechanic in the area to fit them plus a new rear muffler plus a wheel alignment. Hmmm... Aunger had advertised that new struts would 'restore the ride and handling' - I found nothing wrong with car's handling - and I've driven local winding mountain roads with the original worn struts. I thought the ride would be better with the new struts - WRONG - it's firmer and it feels 'thumpy'. When the original struts were taken off, I found that when I pushed the rods down on the front and rear, they just stayed down. If you try to push the front corner down of most new cars, it's usually so stiff you can hardly move it. But when I had the new struts fitted, I found it not only seemed the same (softer than most) as before, but pushing down the rear feels softer than when the worn struts were on...

Some years ago I had an Alfasud TI - the handling was brilliant and the ride was unbelievably good - one of the best riding cars I've ever been in. Try to push the front down and it was solid as a rock. Rudy Hrushka did an amazing job.

I know many cars now have multi valve struts and that struts have evolved since 1993. Is the car supposed to ride like this, as I live in north east Vic and there are plenty of rough roads around here including the main road with broken bitumen due to the heavy rain? Since fitting the struts I checked out Monroe GT Reflexes which are suppose to have variable valving - would the ride be any better with these I wonder? Thanks.

 

[_R_J_K_]

When the original struts were taken off, I found that when I pushed the rods down on the front and rear, they just stayed down.

That generally means they're stuffed. They're supposed to extend out by themselves in the rebound direction.

Monroe are generally regarded to be pretty overpriced for what they are, they'll do the job but they're expensive and IMHO were pretty overrated in the past. Most here have had pretty good experiences with KYB. As for Aunger, I've never seen even a cheap shock absorber from them, so Cooldrive must be trying to penetrate the budget segment of the market with their name which generally means they've slapped the Aunger sticker on something generic. Nothing to say they won't improve in the future, but generally the first gen stuff of a brand - particularly one that caters for so many makes and models up front on it's first release in however long - usually doesn't have much in the way of R&D, they might only start doing that if they make inroads.

Having said all that, generally shock absorbers alone are not designed to cater for pot holes and abnormal roads like we've been seeing long term - i.e. it's not just the shock that's supposed to take that load. It's why 4x4s have softer springs and bigger sidewalls. Can tell you now that Alfasud wouldn't be much chop on busted roads either.

 

[Dunlop]

That generally means they're stuffed. They're supposed to extend out by themselves in the rebound direction.

Monroe are generally regarded to be pretty overpriced for what they are, they'll do the job but they're expensive and IMHO were pretty overrated in the past. Most here have had pretty good experiences with KYB. As for Aunger, I've never seen even a cheap shock absorber from them, so Cooldrive must be trying to penetrate the budget segment of the market with their name which generally means they've slapped the Aunger sticker on something generic. Nothing to say they won't improve in the future, but generally the first gen stuff of a brand - particularly one that caters for so many makes and models up front on it's first release in however long - usually doesn't have much in the way of R&D, they might only start doing that if they make inroads.

Having said all that, generally shock absorbers alone are not designed to cater for pot holes and abnormal roads like we've been seeing long term - i.e. it's not just the shock that's supposed to take that load. It's why 4x4s have softer springs and bigger sidewalls. Can tell you now that Alfasud wouldn't be much chop on busted roads either.

Thanks for the prompt reply! Prior to buyng the Aunger struts, I watched a helpful video on how to fit them - the person pushed the old (Monroe OEM?) struts down at the top after removing them to demonstrate the difference, then pushed the new Monroe strut top down. The resistance he encountered on the new Monroe and the time the piston rod came up again was pretty much the same as when I tried this with the Aungers..

Here is the ad for the Aungers::
https://ishop.cooldrive.com.au/blog...launches-affordable-shock-absorbers-cooldrive
https://ishop.cooldrive.com.au/blogs/news/2019/Apr/11/aunger-launches-affordable-shock-absorbers-cooldrive

Repco had Monroe Reflexes on sale but it looks like that's ended - they have KYB's though at a slightly cheaper price - these have been highly recommended on this site. The question is of course should I spend another $500 plus on changing the ones I have?

As to the Alfasud being driven over broken bitumen, you'd be surprised at how well the suspension would cope - seriously I've driven some pretty rough roads with the one I had and it was unbelievable.

 

[RWD4ever]

Were the Cooldrive struts the correct model? Putting FE2 dampers into an Acclaim might feel thumpy.

 

[Dunlop]

Were the Cooldrive struts the correct model? Putting FE2 dampers into an Acclaim might feel thumpy.

Good point - no they are definately Fe1's - if they were Fe2 or higher, Aunger would have labelled them at that level. As it turns out, the struts seem to be wearing in as the ride feels a bit softer now thank goodness, and I'm hoping they might get a little better in the next two weeks. The Monroe Reflexes that Repco had on special are now at the normal price and I didn't want to shell out more money for alternative dampers. I've been reading a few posts on sites - mainly Toyota - where owners have fitted new struts to their cars and found them stiffer than they expected until they wore in. Seems manufacturers don't like telling buyers that their new struts might ride like a Panzer tank in the first week (or more) until they loosen up a bit - not surprising as they want to give the impression they are fine just out of the box...

 

[knos]

lowered springs will mean a firmer ride too.. also did u replace the upper strut bush/bearing?

 

[Dunlop]

lowered springs will mean a firmer ride too.. also did u replace the upper strut bush/bearing?

You bet they would - no - mine are completely stock. I don't like lowered suspension - looks like the suspension has collapsed...! Also as I live in a rural area a lot of the road aren't very smooth and the stock tuning works well to say the least. The stock setup on the VR Acclaim is very good - good ride and excellent handling - Holden and Ford etc spent a LOT of money on their suspension development after 1978. The bushes could do with replacing but the mechanics didn't advise me they were that bad so to contain costs they weren't replaced - yet. As it happens, the struts have become a lot more compliant since they were put in - it took about 5 - 7 days for them to become softer, so they are now up to expectations.