front shock absorber

[Grumpy21]

Quick question, can a front righthand shock absorber be fitted to the other side by swapping the arm over? Either by removing it and putting it back on rotated 180 degrees or swapping the arm completely for one from the correct side.

ta

[simmitc]

I like the idea, but on the left hand one, the upward stroke will rotate the shaft anti-clockwise, whereas on the right hand one the shaft will rotate clockwise; so my gut reaction is that they cannot be swapped, quite apart from the difference in shape. So much for gut reaction, I'm going to have to find the drawing for the damper and see what the internals actually do; and I am open to other points of view.

[geoberni]

My engineering opinion, without looking at the internals, is no they can't.

Although we are talking the engineering of a bygone era in many ways, I'm sure that even back then, if it was practical to use common components, the manufacturer would. Manufacturing costs mattered so why would Armstrong go to the expense of handed castings?
If you compare a LH and RH front Damper, the body casings are handed.

It wouldn't matter to Armstrong, or Morris, that the Bottom Plug pointed at the wing on one side of the vehicle and the opposite way on the other side. Neither company would envisage an engineer requiring access to the plug in-situ.

Damper..JPG (18.86 KiB) Viewed 8837 times

[Grumpy21]

thanks chaps - obvious really when you look at the pic above, different castings so the valve will operate differently!

cheers

[Sleeper]

I like the idea, but on the left hand one, the upward stroke will rotate the shaft anti-clockwise, whereas on the right hand one the shaft will rotate clockwise; so my gut reaction is that they cannot be swapped, quite apart from the difference in shape. So much for gut reaction, I'm going to have to find the drawing for the damper and see what the internals actually do; and I am open to other points of view.

armstrong sectioned.JPG (50.41 KiB) Viewed 8442 times

John ;-)

[Peted7202]

The damper operating principal consists of dual pistons connected to a common rocker arm (the lever). It does not matter which way round they are fitted provided the levers are symmetrical and fitted accordingly.

[Sleeper]

The damper operating principal consists of dual pistons connected to a common rocker arm (the lever). It does not matter which way round they are fitted provided the levers are symmetrical and fitted accordingly.

... until one takes the valve into consideration.. ( bump and rebound reversed? )

John ;-)

[Classiccars]

Look at that.Dont you just love a bit of engineering.Facinates me anyway.

[jaekl]

It's possible that the pistons are different. The drawing shows some extra features on the right piston. There has to be a check valve or something on one of the pistons to allow oil to fill the working chamber.

[Peted7202]

How they work

[Classiccars]

Many thanks.

[Sleeper]

Nice one...

John ;-)