A long time ago we decided that the Zeemerides were not up to the task. They seemed OK at Barkston last year but I suppose that was flat and we did not know any different anyhow.
Our first actual drive on Britains roads was to get our brakes tested and it was quite scarey as the plough kept bottoming out on even the smallest of undulation on the road. We had to wind up the front springs just to lift the front end a bit. in the end as you can see in the picture the spring is very nearly coilbound. On any bumpy road we would struggle to keep up with your average tin top and were constantly bottoming out at the front and the rear.
We had a word with David Ainsworth from Dampertech at the Stafford show and shortly afterwards we took a drive up to his house in Rotherham so we could discuss what we wanted, and he could measure up the car.
David advised us to try 325lb x 8 at the front and 300lb x 13 at the back we went on the lenghts of the Zeemers and took it from there David explained to us that it was not an exact science and what is perfect on one car might not be on another, it also depends on the drivers preferences and needs, so we had to be prepared to try a few different springs on the way to getting our ideal setup.
So now we have our new babys lets get these worn out Zeemers off. Here Joey is loosening off the coilbound springs before removing the bottom bolt.
Look at the state of this bush! Thats only after less than 3 months driving, this and the fact the Zeemers were already covered in rust patches and were looking decidedly shabby made it even more exciting to get our nice shiney new Gaz's.
Check it out ! Now is that an improvement or what? We had to make a new wider bracket for the bottom and drill out the top fittings to 1/2 inch. Oh yes that reminds me we had to buy a set of 1/2 inch bolts from "Rimmer Brothers" in Lincoln as amazingly in our massive stocks of nuts and bolts none of ours were imperial sizes Arghhh!
The shockers have spring and Damping conrol, we have fitted them upside down giving the car less unsprung weight at the front (and they look pretty cool like that as well)
Now for the shabby rears! Now these were in a worse state than the fronts, look how bent this one is, this was the one that bottomed out whilst Following the Phukawi tribe's chief navigator "Tony Tank" around Wales. Because of what happened with this one we decided to change the setup and put a "U" bracket above the Trailing arm and bolted it into position, this has given us a good couple of inches more clearance in this area.
Here we can see Bracket bolted in position with the Gaz looking cool. at the moment we are running 325 springs at the front which are excellent, at the back we initially tried 300*13 which were the same as the Zeemers but the car was sitting far too high so we tried some different ones that David had in his store and are currently running 250*11 which drive really well but when the car is empty it sits too high. David has ordered in a pair of 300*10 which will lower the back and be a bit firmer so will not cause the car to bottom out. We will report on our findings when we have the new items.
