AGXs (for a 91 Nissan Sentra (George Roffe)

[Glen Ho]

It's probably been about 2 yrs since I've read or wrote anything to this
mailing list, but I had to chime in on this AGX adjustability issue.

1. I recall the shock dyno posted by Kyle comparing the GAB vs. AGX struts.
They clearly showed that BOTH the GAB and AGX were adjustable only in rebound -
NOT compression.  See the link Scott Higashi recently posted.  You will see
that there are noticeable differences in the positive axis and tiny differences
in the negative axis.

2. Scott, the positive axis shows REBOUND dampening and the negative axis is
COMPRESSION.  Think about it.  When a shock rebounds, you are pulling the
piston out of the shock body.  Thus, you measure rebound on the *upward* stroke
(how much force does it take to pull the shock piston up and away from the
shock body) as seen on the shock dyno that you posted.  When a shock
compresses, you are pushing the shock piston *down* into the shock body.  That
is why compression is measured on the negative axis (how much DOWNWARD force
does it take to compress the shock).  As you can see in the image you posted,
regardless of the setting, there is little if any difference in the downward
force required to compress the shock.

3. Regardless of what the KYB person states, I'd like to ask why ANYONE would
produce a shock that adjusts BOTH rebound and compression in the same
direction.  The reason why one increases rebound dampening is to control a
stiffer spring, ie. slow down the rebound stroke of the stiffer spring.  Now,
since you're already making the suspension harder to compress w/ the stiffer
spring, why would you want to increase compression dampening at the same time?
It makes no sense.  If one wants adjustability of rebound and compression, they
should be independently adjustable.  Otherwise, IMO, it is pretty useless.

Back to lurker mode.

Glen