I got a bit behind in my digests and did not see a response from any one else.
I siphoned out about 1 oz of the shock oil and replaced with 90 wt. gear oil (my
understanding is that 50 wt motor oil has about the same viscosity as 90 wt gear
oil). This made a noticeable improvement in shock dampening - was still a bit
softer than a typical vehicle with tubular performance shocks. Hydraulic oil
(shock fluid) is typically 10 wt. My thought was that using a heavier oil could
not do any damage (other than seal degradation - and the seals would be replaced
in a shock rebuild anyway). I kept the car for 18 months and put 22,000+ miles
on it during that time including a few days of 700 to 900 miles per day. There
was no oil leakage or further shock degradation.
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 22:44:40 -0400
From: "Paul J. Burr" <tigerpb@ids.net>
Subject: 40 wt. oil in rear shocks
Whilst reading the Kastner comp. prep manual, I noticed his recommendation
for using 40 wt. racing engine oil in the rear shocks.
Anyone done this on a street driven TR6? How is the ride quality?
My rear shocks have the resistance of a marshmallow and I was hoping that
replacing the oil would be a cheap alternative to replacing them. They look
clean, no visible signs of oil leaks.
Paul Burr
'74 TR6
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