hydra gas suspension

[ACourtney]

Hello Barry,

As you may have noticed, this is a contentious issue amongst some members!

I have driven Golds with both combinations - hydragas front and coilover rear or hydragas all round - and would say that either combination can be made to work well. However, they can both also be mediocre.

The one common factor with the better handling ones is that they all have the additional, adjustable telescopic, front dampers and standard MG Metro (not Turbo) hydragas units on the front. I suspect that the additional damping is required as the Midas, with its lower centre of gravity, naturally rolls less than a Metro so the internal damping in the hydragas unit is less effective. All dampers need to move a reasonable volume of fluid to control the flow effectively and thereby "damp" the wheel movement. The telescopic dampers, being mounted further out on the upper suspension arm, will see more travel and thereby provide sharper damping.

The main problem with hydragas units, whether they are used just at the front or both front and rear, is that over time they lose the nitrogen gas from their upper spheres. The upper section acts as a gas spring, but as the miles (and bumps) take their toll, the gas escapes by osmosis through the rubber membrane of the hydragas unit. After a while, the owner notices that the car is sitting lower, assumes that the car has lost fluid and has the hydragas pumped up to the original ride height. But now the gas spring is more compressed, has less travel (as Alan mentioned above) and the car rides harder.

There are two answers:
The first answer is to find some unused hydragas units and replace the old ones. This is now easier and cheaper than it used to be thanks to ebay and the fact that Rover went bust. In the old days, Rover dealers used to sell the hydragas units at anything from £200 to £300, but every now and then they clear out their stock and tranches of unused hydragas units appear on ebay at a fraction of the original price. I have managed to pick some up over the years and have a small stock, some still in their original boxes.

The second answer is to fit the upper section of the sphere with a valve and refill the nitrogen gas. This is explained in detail here http://www.aronline.co.uk/index.htm?ado14hydragasf.htm
This is actually a lot easier than it sounds and has the advantage of allowing you to adjust the spring rates just by varying the gas pressure, which is a lot cheaper than buying new sets of sprngs. This mod was essential for MG Metro racers, back when I was a lad......

I hope that this is of some help or even interest.
My suggestion for your car would be to keep the coilovers on the rear, unless they are totally shot. If you have the Gaz coilovers on the rear then Dampertech in Rotherham can refurbish them for a lot less than the cost of new ones talk to David Ainsworth ther on 01709 703992.

Best regards,

Alistair

[b1zbaz]

alistar your a star man because my rear coilovers are knackered and in need of alot of tlc i will phone your contact for a bit of advice and a quote i am very grateful for your time

barry