Shock Dyno Data Anyone?
Posted: Sat Feb 29, 2020 6:30 am
So, I'm sitting here bullsh*tting at work and just thought of something that would be kind of cool, if anyone here is a nerd like I am. Would there be any interest in measuring various aftermarket shocks and comparing their compression/rebound data?
I'm a Production Engineer at Hitachi Automotive Systems building monotube shocks. The plant I work at used to be Tokico. My "section" is shock assembly, so basically we get all the components (tubes, rods, free piston, piston valve, etc) and assemble the shocks before they get moduled and sent to the customer. The majority of shocks I produce are for Ford. Like the Ford F150, Mustang, Ranger, etc.
With that being said ... I have access to "Damping Force Tester" machines which measure a shocks compression, rebound, and gas reaction specs. We also use them to verify a correct piston valve stackup is being used. All my lines have them. And the QC labs have them. Theoretically I can put any shock I want to in there, run the machine, and it will spit out its compression/rebound and gas reaction data. For example the fancy graph Fortune Auto advertises on their website for their 500 series coilovers:
I stare at these type of graphs all day/everyday.
I think it'd be cool to gather various aftermarket shocks like TRD Blues, Bilsteins, KYBs, Annex, Fortune Auto, etc. and run them all against eachother, compare the data, and see how they differ. What do you all think?
Now i just need shocks ....
I'm a Production Engineer at Hitachi Automotive Systems building monotube shocks. The plant I work at used to be Tokico. My "section" is shock assembly, so basically we get all the components (tubes, rods, free piston, piston valve, etc) and assemble the shocks before they get moduled and sent to the customer. The majority of shocks I produce are for Ford. Like the Ford F150, Mustang, Ranger, etc.
With that being said ... I have access to "Damping Force Tester" machines which measure a shocks compression, rebound, and gas reaction specs. We also use them to verify a correct piston valve stackup is being used. All my lines have them. And the QC labs have them. Theoretically I can put any shock I want to in there, run the machine, and it will spit out its compression/rebound and gas reaction data. For example the fancy graph Fortune Auto advertises on their website for their 500 series coilovers:
I stare at these type of graphs all day/everyday.
I think it'd be cool to gather various aftermarket shocks like TRD Blues, Bilsteins, KYBs, Annex, Fortune Auto, etc. and run them all against eachother, compare the data, and see how they differ. What do you all think?
Now i just need shocks ....