I know solid camber plates are not necessary on an FD. I have a set of Aragosta coil overs coming on Monday which have camber plates. I'll be switching over from Tein HA's which use the stock top mounts. I think it'll be necessary to run the camber plates on the Aragostas as they're designed that way. I suppose I could switch to the stock upper mounts. Should I consider doing that or perhaps put some shock absorption material in between the top mount and the shock towers? I'd prefer to not transfer more noise into the cabin. Advice appreciated.
Michel

 

Are they for an FD? I would be concerned that they are the wrong shocks if they have camber plates on them. Maybe they have upper mounts, but they aren't adjustable.

No matter I guess. As long as they fit, the camber plate won't hurt anything. It adds a little weight, but having some mass in the top of the shock is probably a good thing if you are concerned about transmitting vibration to the chassis.

I'm not sure what you could put in there. I remember discarding some thin white-plastic stuff from the top of my rear shocks once. I always regretted that, thinking it might have reduced the amount of noise transmitted. I doubt it would have made a lot of difference, however. I suppose if the nuts are self-locking you could put some hard rubber sheet or something like that in there. I don't know how much it would help, but it migth be worth a shot. I'd like the try that on my car, too.

I bet you can get some suitable material from McMaster-Carr. It is really going to take a beating, though, so it might be hard to find something that will survive the abuse.

-Max

 

Holy crap, go to mcmaster.com and search for rubber sheet. We're going to need some help choosing.

Anyone know what kind of rubber would survive and help reduce the mount of noise transmitted as a thin (1/8") sheet sandwiched between the upper shock mount and the body?
Buna-N
Butyl
EPDM
NBR
Neoprene
Nitrile
PVC
SBR
Silicone
Vinyl
Viton
ECH
EVA
Flourosilicone
Gum
Hypalon
...

I can't believe there are so many options!

-Max

 

McMaster also has some good material property charts about the different types of rubber available.

You might need something under the nuts on the other side to avoid a bang after a squish-unsquish sequence of events.

-Max

 

I would be extremely worried that you got coilovers for the wrong car....how can you adjust camber at the shock tower with a double-wishbone suspension?

 

It's just a solid top mount, not a camber plate. My bad. I'll have to get them on somewhat and then see what I can stick in there. I'd imagine some sort of compressible material (closed cell) would work well. I'm no rubber expert though.
Michel

 

a pic

 

nice suspension. where'd you get them? how do they compare price and quality wise to more popular ones such as tein or jic's? how much adjustability?

 

I'll know today when they arrive. I believe they're 12 way adjustable. Going by the RX7 track junkies in Japan, they love the Aragostas, more so than even the Ohlins. A "shootout" in RX7 magazine also gave these shocks 5 out of 5 stars.

 

http://www.aragosta-suspension.com/

Many options, but not a lot of specific info.

 

I would go with EPDM or Buna-N they are solvent resistant. Mind you the durometer on those types of rubbers are quite soft. Most likely the 1/8" sheet will compress flat with the weight of the car on teh top fo the suspension. I would suggest rather you get a sheet of 1/8" delrin and cut it to shape. It should dampen out vibration, be hard enough to resist compressing flat. And have just enough give to prevent it from cracking under severe shock loads

 

Excellent info! Thanks! As of right now I have them installed and the noise isn't obtrusive at all. Not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I may try something in the near future however just to see if the noises could be completely eliminated.
Michel