Leda Shocks- Help!

Anyone know anything about charging Leda shocks?

These have remote fluid reservoirs, with adjusters on both the reservoir and the shock body, and an air (nitrogen?) valve stem on the bottom of the reservoir.

They lost some fluid, and I am trying to learn how to recharge them.

There are no part numbers on these units at all. Just stickers that say "Leda Suspension".

I'd also like to know typical mounting positions for the reservoir. Wheel well seems like the easy button, but the hoses are long enough that I could put them in the engine bay (but I will loose more fluid when I disconnect the hoses to thread through the hole).

Thanks!

Pixors:

You might have to contact the manufacturer or maybe you can find some info online about how much fluid they take. Its a total amount, not like a diff where you fill it until it pours out the fill. Also knowing the correct weight to replace it with is important. Best worse case senario one hasnt lost any fluid and you drain it into a graduated container to know how much it takes. Im sure you already found this but http://www.leda.com/our-services

I'm working with Paul on this. Leda specific information is fairly hard to find online. So far I am finding a tiny bit of Leda info and fair amount of other info I can average for an educated guess. I'm not even having that much luck in regards to shock oil weights or volumes. This car is going to the Mitty in a week. Any thoughts on a least harmful approach?

Any shop that deals with rebuilding motorcycle shocks can help you. As for volume as much as you can fit in but as you know its very hard to get all the air out as there is normaly a "top" out spring that hold a small pocket of air you can't just pump out with out pulling hard on the shock rod. depending on the bladder type you may need to manually push it back or just put a mitey-vac on it. As Oil viscosity well good question...likely a 5-10wt modern oils really are great they can be thinner and react like a thicker when moved fast. The N2 charge should be in the range of 50-250lbs, really any bottled gas will do, as your not going to see any real pressure growth due to heat in such a small volume you just want dry and that bottled gas (I've used my mig welder bottle in a pinch). I'd worn you not to route the hose where you need to disconnect just due to the mess and time. grab a hole saw and make the hole to pass the reservoir through.

http://www.caferacer.net/forum/tips-tricks/24204-rebuilding-rfy-cheap-shocks.html and http://www.caferacer.net/forum/technical/22408-cheap-e-bay-shocks.html and shop around for prices on Silkolene Pro racing suspension stuff works great.

Heres a pdf. link to a basic instruction sheet. Note: your has a few extra manual valves so you need to stroke to make sure to pump out the air and or pull a light vacuum on the res to help the air move out. http://www.worksperformance.com/pdf/instructions/sb_reservoir_service.pdf

In reply to 44Dwarf:

Very cool! Thanks.

In reply to 44Dwarf:

Excellent info. Thanks.

That is unfortunately more than I will be able to accomplish this week.

The car is headed to the Skidpad Challenge next weekend.

So, give me some opinions...

It will be driving around in circles for a few minutes, on a presumably reasonably level surface. Spring rates are heavy (800#).

Which would you do?

• Option# 1- Use as-is, and live with the fact that the charges are low and probably mis-matched.

• Option #2- Charge nitrogen to a known pressure, even though the 2 shocks likely have differing fluid charges.

• Option #3- Remove struts and springs, and re-install old ones (which are a much lower spring rate- 500#)

• Option #4- Don't go to the Skidpad Challenge.

Struts will be properly charged after the Skidpad, before autocrossing.

What would GRM Do?

In reply to SVreX:

From a purely theoretical standpoint, presuming a smooth surface and steady-state cornering, the shocks could be completely removed from the vehicle with no discernible difference. Unfortunately reality is often ignorant of these theories. Still, I'd say run them as-is, as long as they have enough damping to prevent oscillation and the surface is pretty smooth it shouldn't be a problem.

Oh, and if we go with:

• Option #3- Remove struts and springs, and re-install old ones (which are a much lower spring rate- 500#)

....we will be in a constant drift state with full opposite lock and throttle modulation being our best steering option.

In reply to MrJoshua:

Right.

Number 2, remember the N2 only keep the oil from caveating. Think of it like a radiator, water with it open boils at 210f add a 14psi cap it boils at much higher temp. the N@ does basically the same thing as the shaft speed of the shock goes up and the oil is forced through the valve plate it find local low pressure spots and forms bubbles the n2 keep the pressure higher to fight this. BUT remember there are billions of non charge shocks out there!

how did my last post turn red and big letters?

had to ask for help on the red letters

Hi Tony, I had actually never seen that before. But I played around with it and it turns out the # mark at the beginning of the post made everything angry and loud. I replaced it with the word “number“ and all was right with the world. Now we know!

Best,

Ed Higginbotham Editorial Assistant Grassroots Motorsports

In reply to 44Dwarf:

Ask me not to explain depths of the mysteries of the inner sanctum of GRM.

In reply to 44Dwarf:

But what were you referring to with your "billions of non-charge shocks" comment? Were you saying, "Just go buy something that will work better?"

Yeah, not gonna happen. This is GRM. Doing things the hard way is the only way.

In reply to SVreX:

I think he was saying billions out there don't come with gas charge and are fine, so we will be fine without one in the Ledas.

44Dwarf wrote: how did my last post turn red and big letters?

I just thought you were really mad!

MrJoshua wrote: In reply to SVreX: I think he was saying billions out there don't come with gas charge and are fine, so we will be fine without one in the Ledas.

bingo! not just varying charges but varying oil levels as well heck I bet if we took 75% of the car in your own driveway you'd find both.