MK IV Astra Suspension woes

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HaX

HaX

HaX

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Hello,

I bought a W plate Astra Sport 3 dr about 3 years ago. The previous owner had lowered it with a 3rd party (Spax I think?) lowering kit.

Recently I've found that when going over severe bumps, the suspension actually sounds as if it is bottoming out. I took it to a local kwik fit garage who advised me that one of the front shocks had actually gone, and the other was leaking oil.

Kwikfit have advised me that they are unable to supply 3rd party parts, and that I will need to procure these myself. Even then, they may not be prepared to fit them.

What is the cheapest and most effective way to proceed here? Will I need to renew the shocks at the back to make sure they match?

More importantly, will the car still be safe to drive. It spends most of its time on motorways and seems fine. It is only when hooning down country roads/going over speed bumps that I've heard it bottom out.

Cheers

HaX
 
Either replace like for like and get an independent garage to fit them or replace all round with the proper ones.

How low is it? Presumably its shocks and springs that have been replaced?
 
Shocks and springs have been replaced. I don't know much about about cars or suspension, however the shocks painted yellow and the coils are painted red, though the red paint is flaking off.

I don't know the make/model of the shocks (kwikfit think they're spax), or how much the car is lowered from standard.
This is literally all I know about it :(

I contacted a local Vauxhall dealership who quoted me £800 to replace all four shocks and springs back to factory standards. I believe my car was already lower than most Astras on the basis that it had the sport trim level.

Regards

HaX
 
Last edited:
800 quid :eek:

Well here's what a quick search found for a complete set using my old reg for my 1.8sxi which has the same suspension as yours:

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/V...81&1&b7faf07977d8bfdae8ca69e880550a0b75602e41

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/V...71&1&cdaade4fe8589f0018006623ad4d1ff3dac66628

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/V...61&1&85a76b7d63da5dc66d75cffd9bbb5a6e49c7ed63

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/V...70&1&e954fd4bf42ed7d3e23903bb06f6633c6e3cecef

So going off those prices, though with more looking you could probably get them cheaper, it would cost you £208 for a full set of standard springs and shocks, then fitting on top of that which shouldn't cost too much from a local garage.
 
I doubt the car is worth more than about £500-£600 though, might be worth just scrapping it and getting something else.
 
Moeks said:
I doubt the car is worth more than about £500-£600 though, might be worth just scrapping it and getting something else.
Click to expand...

:confused:

Well I sold my W reg sxi to a mate on the cheap when I got my CTR 2 months ago and he paid £1750 for it so it's not quite worth scrapping just yet ;)
 
dale1uk said:
800 quid :eek:

Well here's what a quick search found for a complete set using my old reg for my 1.8sxi which has the same suspension as yours:

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/V...81&1&b7faf07977d8bfdae8ca69e880550a0b75602e41

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/V...71&1&cdaade4fe8589f0018006623ad4d1ff3dac66628

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/V...61&1&85a76b7d63da5dc66d75cffd9bbb5a6e49c7ed63

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/V...70&1&e954fd4bf42ed7d3e23903bb06f6633c6e3cecef

So going off those prices, though with more looking you could probably get them cheaper, it would cost you £208 for a full set of standard springs and shocks, then fitting on top of that which shouldn't cost too much from a local garage.
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Thanks for that, would those springs be specifically for the sports trim level? Some of the Astra Clubs I see kicking around have very high suspension, look as though they're on stilts.
 
why not get down yopur local breakers yard and see what they have in stock. you could probably pick up four struts and springs for £200 quid.
 
dale1uk said:
:confused:

Well I sold my W reg sxi to a mate on the cheap when I got my CTR 2 months ago and he paid £1750 for it so it's not quite worth scrapping just yet ;)
Click to expand...

Oh hang on, is a W plate a MK4? ...I was thinking of MK3's ...which are worth next to nothing now.
 
Lowering cars will cause the shocks to wear overtime as it pushes them harder than they were designed to work. Presumably you have got used to and like the benefits offered from the sports springs? I think you would be amased how saggy the car would feel if you went back to standard.

Why not get some uprated shocks to compliment the springs that are there? 3 years is pretty good for standard shocks on short springs and uprated shorter shocks wouldn't have this problem whilst improving your handling even more.

You could get some Apex shocks for around £150 for the fronts, and £100 for the rears. Much cheaper than coilys or going back to standard.

Obviously fitting would be on top of this but any good garage should be able to do it for you.
 
HaX said:
Thanks for that, would those springs be specifically for the sports trim level? Some of the Astra Clubs I see kicking around have very high suspension, look as though they're on stilts.
Click to expand...

Well I used my old car reg from my sxi so they should be but I'd call to check first as you're right, the sport/sxi/sri/gsi have different suspension than the standard models.

Moeks said:
Oh hang on, is a W plate a MK4? ...I was thinking of MK3's ...which are worth next to nothing now.
Click to expand...

Mk4s came in an 98 so yep it is. Oh and the clue is in the thread title ;) :p

BinnsY said:
Lowering cars will cause the shocks to wear overtime as it pushes them harder than they were designed to work. Presumably you have got used to and like the benefits offered from the sports springs? I think you would be amased how saggy the car would feel if you went back to standard.

Why not get some uprated shocks to compliment the springs that are there? 3 years is pretty good for standard shocks on short springs and uprated shorter shocks wouldn't have this problem whilst improving your handling even more.
Click to expand...

If you read back through the posts you'll see that there are already uprated shocks on the car, it's had a full kit put on it.

If you wanted to go down the road of putting uprated suspension back on it the a lot of the members on the owners clubs use Raceland Coilovers (sure these are the ones). How good they are I don't know, they do seem too cheap for my liking, but feedback on the owners clubs seems good.
 
Some "interesting" advice in this thread :p

I'd be tempted the change the front and back shocks, if they are indeed Spax you can buy the full Spax kits for around £400 anyways, might be best to do that or simply buy the Spax dampers without the springs.

Failing that do as Matt82 says.
 
It takes about an hour per side to fit front struts and springs with failry common tools and maybe a good breaker bar.

The front shocks themselves can be had for £80 each
 
nokinidea said:
What a croc of ****
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Care to elaborate as to why?

It all depends how much you lower by, I can't say for all cars but very generally if your lowering more than 40mm you need uprated shorter shocks.

I'm not sure why you think its rubbish, if you lower the car 40mm then the shocks are always compressed 40mm further than they were designed to be which is obvisouly going to have an effect on there lifespan............

If you have some kind of reason as to why this is rubbish I would love to hear it, as it seems to be a pretty well known piece of information and even mentions it on several of the sites you can buy the springs from.

In regards to the rest of it I must have missed that he already had uprated shocks, thought it was just the springs so my bad.
 
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