Has anybody had any experince with Carrera coilovers in the rearend of their rods? I have a pair in the back of my roadster, one leaks like the Exxon Valdez and the other is questionable. They both compress too easily and fight to return extended. It rides rock hard too. Should I have them rebuilt or dump them for some Aldens or something else? The car is a lightweight highboy with a s.b.c. and a 350 T.H. The rear coil springs have 200 stamped on them. The car has only 3,000 miles on it. Is Carrera still in business or are they gone now? Someone thought QA1 bought them. I duuno!
Carrera is now part of QA1. Had Carrera's on my A pickup for 3 years and no problems. Call and see if they can troubleshoot/rebuild tehm. Aldan's are quality stuff too. Shane T.
Had a set under my old A coupe for 16 years. The only problem was the rubber bushings in the mounting eyes were worn out.
If you have to get new shocks anyway, Aldan is guaranteed for life. I've had my Aldans go out and they've rebuild them, no problems.
Call the tech guys at QA - they are usually very helpful. IMO Aldans are cheaply built, masquerading as a quality shock. They use hollow rods and I have heard of a couple of incidents of collapsed Aldans because of this cheapass corner cutting. I had two brand new leaking right out of the box. I would think you would be jumping out of the frying pan into the fire if you went to Aldan. Just fitted Bilsteins to the rear of a Willys which had cheap coilovers. The Bilsteins are expensive but absolutely transformed the car - worth every penny to me. For an economy shock I have had great results from KYB Gas Adjust. My $0.02 based on real world experience.
I'd call QA1 concerning the leak problem, but as for the rough ride, I'd say you have way too much spring on your car. My coupe is about 2500#, and I started with 200# springs also. They were way too stiff, and I now have 95# ones on. They could still be a bit lighter, and I'm considering 80 pounders. Good luck..................Woody
Today I called QA1's tech line. Very helpful people. He suggested I ditch the 200 springs and go with a pair of 150's to soften up the ride. The old shocks are throwaways. I guess they dont rebuild that style.
you mlght find that 150 is too stiff but you have to consider the mounting angle but I usually install 85 or 90 long shocks and springs.
I have a set on both ends my car and they work well, no leaks at 23k miles. FWIW they are well regarded in the Lotus Seven world, generally considered one of the best brands...
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