Alston Vari Shock Help

[John S]

While changing the springs on ALston coil overs that I installed last summer I found one of the shocks was leaking and the top cap was loose. Alston's website says the shocks are rebuildable but I could not find any information on kits.
Does anyone have any information in rebuilding these shocks? Rebound dampiong seems to be fine but there is no compression at all. Is it too much to ask that I may only need to put the specified fluid back in the shock? I've only got about 800 miles on them.
Thanks

[firebird96ta]

pm sent

[Jeremy]

If anyone has info on this please forward it to me as well. One of my varishocks is leaking although I haven't noticed a change in damping yet.

[John S]

Fist off thanks for the great email Amber (firbird96ta) great information and I will be getting in touch with you soon.

Jeremy, Amber sent me a very detailed email on rebuilding the the Alston shocks. If she does not mind I can post the information here. In the meantime I suggest dropping her a PM and I am sure she would be more than willing to help you out as well.

have you disassembled the shocks yet? Do you know where the leak is coming from? In my case it was from the top gland nut and caused by improper assembly from a disgruntled (now ex) employee. Once I got on the phone and did some checking I found that Alston knew of the problem and was centered around shocks built early last year. They did offer to send a shipping tag for me to return them for rebuild but I do not have the time to deal with shipping the shocks back, having them repaired and shipped back to me. It took about 30 minutes for me to rebuild each shock. but again there was no damage to my shocks other then the gland nut was not properly tightened down.

[firebird96ta]

No problemo, John. Glad you got them back together okay. Nice Monte, BTW; I'm hopelessly addicted to my f-bodies but if I were forced to drive something else, an SS is definitely what I'd have

I don't get to check these forums much so if anyone else has any issues or questions, feel free to email me. It would probably be easier to forward the email rather than post it here; it's rather long for a post (besides, I don't know for sure if CAC wants that info posted per se, but I'm perfectly willing to share it on a one-on-one basis). Or if anyone will be at the Year One Experience next month, you can look me up at the air ride autocross and we'll chat.

[Jeremy]

I haven't pulled the leaking one yet, but the entire shock body was coated in oil when I looked things over to confirm it was the shock leaking.

I checked my records and I installed the shocks last April. I'll give Amber an email for sure.

[John S]

Last April puts you right in the same time frame as me and probably the same production problems. I'll PM you a copy of what Amber sent.

Thanks for the help Amber

[buddyholly]

I found both my fronts were leaking from the same thing, loose caps. No damage so I took them apart and refilled them myself. I would like to hear what you used for fluid. I had enough fluid in both shocks left to calculate the viscosity of the original and used fork oil that was almost identical. Please post it here for everyone else later who may need the info. If not, please send me a copy if it is not too much trouble.

[firebird96ta]

buddyholly, not sure what oil CAC's guy used...in our units, we're running Tellus T22 which also may change very soon.
<---saw this smiley and just had to use it

[buddyholly]

Thats interesting. I calculated the Varishock to be right at 22cts @40C so that is very close. Locally the closest I could find was around 26cts@40 so it moved my shock stiffness up the scale a bit but still works fine. Just for those who are interested in shock oil
http://www.pvdwiki.com/index.php?title=Suspension_Fluid

[protour_chevelle]

I had to get all of mine rebuilt due to this issue, 2 out of my 4 shocks leaked, so I had them all redone because the car had to come half apart anyways

[SicMonte]

I had the same problem about 1.5 years ago...all four of mine were messed up. They fixed all of them but I haven't installed them yet b/c I am scared they will leak again.

[firebird96ta]

Sheesh, how many wiki's are there, anyway? Good link.
Yeah, there's a lot more to shock oil than most people realize. Paraffinic bases, Naphthenic bases, additives, viscosities, thermal expansion, etc.

SicMonte, heads up for a PM.

[buddyholly]

Yea, it is very interesting how many "knowledgeable" people only deal with the weight of shock/fork oils with no idea of how inconsistant that method is. Years ago when I ran a motorcycle shop we had one road race team who always complained about how inconsistent their shocks were. Come to find out they were mixing and matching different bottles of fork oil but all had the same SAE weight. Sadly for them the Cts ratings were all over the place, so one fork would behave very differently than the one mounted on the other side. What was funny was how many other pro teams were making similar mistakes and it took a while before they all caught on to the "trick" the team we helped out was using.

[firebird96ta]

That's funny.
Everybody's got to learn somehow, though.

[shmoov69]

I will bring up an old one!
Ok, one of my Varishocks has dumped all the oil out of it a couple weeks after the MMCC and a road trip and a few dragstrip passes!
So, what do I need to do?
Thanks!

[John S]

OK, here are the directions for rebuilding that I got from Amber (Firebird96TA). I am not sure if she is still very active here but if so I am sure she will chime in. She's been a great help to me.

As far as assembly, here's what to do. Have plenty of shop rags handy to catch the overflow. I have a special "cup" that goes around the shock to catch the drips, but you'll be able to get by with wrapping a rag around the body above the knobs. It's going to be a slightly messy job, but it's very important to get the air out and the mess is somewhat necessary to do so.

1. Make sure adjustment knobs are set all the way back to negative. With shock upright in vise and knobs facing you, insert the thin tube into position, making sure bottom o-ring stays in place (if it comes off, it will lodge in the valving and the shock will be very weak on compression).

2. Fill the shock with oil to within about a half-inch of the top of the small tube.

3. Wrap gas bag around larger tube and insert into shock body, making sure the bag stays around the tube; if it slips too low it will get caught under the tube foot and could cut the plastic, if it stays too high it may get pinched by the gland and could get cut there as well). Make sure tube foot seats in place, top of large tube should be level with ledge on thin tube. Make sure o-ring on top of thin tube is still in place. At this point, the oil should just about be level with the top of shock (may overflow, depending on length of shock/displacement of oil). It would be a good idea to "wiggle" the large tube a little and make sure there are no air bubbles trapped around the gas bag. Add oil if needed so that oil level covers top of thin tube (you may see air bubbles trapped in thin tube, most of these will be released during the next steps. If in doubt, you can fill to the top and let it set for awhile to make sure all air is released).

4. Hold the piston rod in one hand, keeping gland/o-ring/closure nut together towards top end of shaft. I like to grip in this area in my right hand (taking care not to let the threads on the closure nut cut you, they can be very sharp) with my thumb on the end of the shaft to keep everything from sliding off. With the other hand, use a finger to hold the big tube in place. Slip the piston into the large tube just until piston is fully inserted in tube, taking care not to pinch/tear the brown Teflon band around the piston. While still holding the tube with one hand and the piston rod with the other, gently stroke the piston up and down not more than 2" deep several times, you'll feel the air bubbles coming through the piston. Keep an eye on the oil level during this time, making sure the oil level doesn't fall below the opening in the thin tube, which will cause it to suck air. When it feels completely smooth (sometimes this takes as many as 10-15 strokes), return the piston to the upper end of the tube (still completely inserted) and hold for 30 seconds or so, until air bubbles stop rising to the oil surface.

5. Push piston down about 1/2". Take care not to let it slip much further down while you slide the gland down, turn so the hole in the gland lines up with the thin tube. (If this is a double adjustable, there may be another hole with a small spring and steel ball in it. The hole with the ball is not the hole the thin tube goes in. Some double adjustables do not have this configuration). Once the gland is down, if it does not seat properly, slide it around a bit and you should soon feel it drop into place. Beware a squirt of oil that tends to come straight towards your face during this step.

6. Once the gland is seated, keep your hold on the shaft and use the other hand to seat the o-ring. Then carefully slide the closure nut down. Once it's down you should be able to let go of the shaft; the seal will keep the shaft up for you. Start threading the closure nut by hand (again taking care not to cut yourself on the threads), and finish tightening with a spanner. There's not a specific torque to tighen to, just make sure it's tight but don't go Hulk Hogan on it or use a cheater bar, overtightening could tear the o-ring or warp the thin tube. I know that's not a very technical answer right there, but you'll feel it when you're there.

7. After everything's tight, remove the rag and wipe off any excess oil. Remove the shock from the vise and stroke the rod a few times. You may hear some small gurgles from tiny trapped air bubbles; if so, stroke the rod a few more times and see if it smooths out. If it does, you're good to go. A *very* slight amount of air is okay as it will get passed to the outer tube and get trapped out of the way. Too much air (when the gurgling doesn't go away within about five strokes or when you feel a "hitch" in the travel, especially at the beginning of the compression stroke) is a bad thing, it will either cause the oil to foam and result in heat fade or cause a "dead spot" in the valving. If there's too much air, you'll have to start over. If you do have to start over you may run into a problem when you're loosening the closure nut because of the type of loctite used on the older models to secure the body to the base. If you try and loosen the closure nut and the shock starts turning at the base, you'll have to find a way to hold the body still. I use a small oil filter strap wrench with a piece of rubber to keep from scratching the body, making sure to use a degreaser on the shock body first to prevent the wrench from slipping.

8. If everything is smooth, it's a good idea to take a small flat screwdriver and stake the closure nut slightly to help prevent any further problems with the nut backing out. Take care not to stake too hard and cut through the body, just hard enough to keep things together so it marks both the nut and the body. I stake every unit I produce just as a precaution, staking two spots opposite each other. If nothing else, it will help you to be able to see at a glance if the marks are misaligned and it's happening again in the future.

[shmoov69]

Wow, that is a lot of stuff! Gas bags, thin tubes, tube feet, glands, big tubes and closure nuts..... And I ain't got a clue what any of them are! Lol

so, this sounds good to refill the shock, but how do I find out where it is leaking from and why? Also, is there a diagram of all these parts you speak of?

Thanks for the quick response and the info!

[dhutton]

You can send them back for rebuild and repair. Given the complexity of the above procedure it might be worth the money. Depending on how old it is and how many miles are on it you might be able to schmooze them into a warranty repair. It is worth a shot.

[Bow Tie 67]

I had a similar problem, call them up and complain. The closure nut should not come loose, they had a run of shocks that had this problem. The shop that repairs them is in WI, they will give you a rma number to send for rebuild and should cover the cost. The only thing I was out of pocket was shipping the shocks out. Oh, and ask if you can ship them direct to the repair place, it will save alot of down time.