Oil type

[Classiccars]

Can ì get an idea of oils I can put in here please.

20250202_131407.jpg (1.07 MiB) Viewed 11749 times

[svenedin]

A search will get you many answers and many opinions.......

There's this: https://www.dynolite.com/product/dynoli ... orber-oil/

or this: https://penriteclassicoils.co.uk/product/shocker-oil-1/

Some people use motorcycle fork oil and the late Roy (BMCEcosse) advocated using heavier oil for more damping effect.



Stephen

[philthehill]

You can fill the dampers with the oils in the links above but quite honestly you can fill the dampers with a straight 30 grade oil and they will be perfect.
I ran my dampers with a straight 30 grade oil for many years without problem.
You may get an improvement in damping quality/effectiveness.
I would advise that you drain the dampers of the old oil and refill with a straight 30 grade oil.
Straight 30 grade oil can be obtained from most garden machinery centres or on line.
The oil in the body of the damper is not under pressure so there is little fear of the seals blowing out. If you have oil leaking out of the damper then the damper needs either replacing or overhaul.

[svenedin]

Be careful if draining the old oil. It may be very smelly. There are small parts (taper screw valve) behind the bottom nut (where you can drain the old oil) that are easily lost and they must go back in the right order. Don't do what I did which is to over tighten the nut and strip the thread. The alloy is easily damaged. Clean the top of the damper before removing the filling plug as you don't want muck falling in to the damper (yours look very clean though).

Stephen

[Classiccars]

Thanks for the useful advice gang.

[simmitc]

"Back in the day", new dampers had Armstrong SAE30 Super Thin Damper Oil. Worn ones had 20/50 engine oil. Very worn ones had EP90 or whatever else was lying around. The thicker the oil, the less got past the worn seals. Finally we gave up and replaced the damper, but only as a last resort. I never got as far as putting in grease! You have to remember that they were just old cars being run on a shoestring.

[Classiccars]

Being tight or sensible I could get away with engine oil then?

[svenedin]

Being tight or sensible I could get away with engine oil then?

Yes you could. They are empty for a reason. They must be leaking a bit.....

It's a faff but it would be advisable to check the back ones too. It makes a huge difference to the car's handling having 4 dampers that are working! If the front ones are bad, the back ones are usually worse because they have to be taken off the car to be checked and filled.

Stephen

[simmitc]

Stephen is right, yes, you can still do as we used to, but I am not recommending it, just saying how it used to be. It is also correct to say what a difference four properly working dampers make. It is really a matter of safety, if they are worn, then they should be replaced; that's why they are checked as part of an MOT.

[Classiccars]

Have not checked the levels yet.Not aware of any issues but thought if they need oil best to check thanks again.