Jigglypuff
Member
If I wanted comfort, I'd go for Redwood in the GT line or the MPP. The RT Ohlins are going to be stiff.
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Vendor Redwood Motorsports Model Y - Ohlins DFV (Performance and Grand Touring Specs) - RE-STOCKED
- Thread starter RedwoodMotors
- Start date
I agree with @Jigglypuff , get the Redwood GT kit for max comfort. I'm sure Redwood will give the same advice. When I asked about their different kits, they said the GT was all about comfort and ride quality. I'm 100% sure even the GT kits are a handling upgrade too vs the stock dampers, but Redwood's goal for the GT kit was ride quality first.
Öhlins Road & Track kits are just that - aimed at a mix of road and track driving. For example, the Öhlins R&T spring rates are between Redwood's "Performance Sport" and "Race/HPDE" kits (at least for a Model 3), with a somewhat different front:rear balance. So R&T is going to feel pretty firm for sure. My guess is it'll still ride pretty decent thanks to the good Öhlins DFV dampers, heck it'll probably handle rough stuff better than stock thanks to the vastly better damping, but definitely NOT a "maximum comfort" setup...just too firm for that.
Definitely the redwood ohlins GT. I have them installed now for over 6 months and it's night and day. Freeway rides are nice and smooth and on crappy LA freeways. It took a while to dial mine in for my driving style. 21 of 31 up front and 20 in the rear. One being the stiffest and 31 the softest. You just rotate the dial to just. The front ones are super simple to adjust with the hood up right next to the washer fluid. The rear ones I can do by just reaching behind the wheel and sitting on my butt on the ground It takes a few seconds
yes, harder to hear and feel the clicks after 10 turns from softest to stiff. Mine also has this clunking sound in front as if the spring is binding when going over dip/bump or driveway with an angle at a faster than very slow speed. I'm having EAS check it out Monday again to see what it might be.
@ntpphong I've no added sounds at all in the front on mine, for what that's worth. That's even with the pillowball top hats. Hopefully EAS can get what you're hearing sorted out.
From my rear dampers (not springs) I do have occasional soft squeak from large shaft movements. I'm told it's rare but happens on some new DFV dampers and it usually goes away as the seals and everything wear in. Öhlins recommends WD-40 on the shaft (*not* any kind of long-lasting grease!) to quiet it down temporarily until the wearing in happens, and that did help, now I only hear it under very long travel (extension or compression), e.g. angling up a steeply sloped driveway entrance, or a big pothole/dip where you're going to hear a big tire impact anyways in a Model 3. Still I am hoping it truly goes away entirely.
One of my rear pillowball top hats was a little clattery at first, that was fixed by disassembly and reassembly of the top hat itself, the clatter is all gone now. The car feels and handles awesome now. I wrote up my early impressions in the Model 3 Redwood Öhlins thread.
thesmokingman
Active Member
^^I would not use WD40!!! Use Maxima SC1 on the stanchions instead. It works great as a cleaner on the main seals and its really slick so it will ease stiction when the seals are new. And you can coat the whole coilover in SC1 to prevent gunk from sticking to them.
@thesmokingman The WD-40 recommendation is straight from Öhlins themselves, per Redwood. I'll probably check in with Öhlins directly at some point to understand if/when they expect the squeaks might disappear entirely.
Personally I'm not comfortable applying anything to the damper shaft itself without either Redwood or Öhlins okaying it...don't want to risk messing up anything that would take a rebuild to clean out. I do appreciate the recommendation though, I'll look at it more closely and ask them about it when I have a chance, if the squeaks don't just disappear on their own soon.
Btw the kit comes with dust boots so it should stay pretty clean in there. I was looking at full damper covers but haven't pulled the trigger on any or asked Redwood what their take is on them yet. I worry a little about trapping heat but not sure if that would actually be an issue in a road car application.
Last edited:
thesmokingman
Active Member
Don't care what they suggest, WD40 is a solvent not a lubricant.
Scratches head... it's kinda insane that they suggest WD40, insano. The solvent will break down the seals and the shock oils, insano!
Maxima SC1 — 12oz
Fork wiper seals, Stanchions, Rear shocks , damper bodies, any plastic you want to look nice and shiney. Last but not least, the stuff smells fantastic, even so that the guys at Maxima made air fresheners out of it!
www.dirtlabs.com
Last edited:
Right...the point was to *not* apply any actual lubricant there. I was surprised too but I do trust them about their own dampers.
thesmokingman
Active Member
Wait what? You're saying you put a solvent on the stanchions on purpose? You know what a solvent is?
@thesmokingman That's what Öhlins recommends for this situation, per Redwood. Don't shoot the messenger!
@thesmokingman WD-40 is even recommended in the Öhlins R&T manual for cleaning the shock absorber, see the attachment. I trust that Öhlins would only recommend it if it's safe. I doubt much or any really gets past the outer seals into the damper internals...I think if a light application did that, it would mean you're in need of new seals / rebuild anyways, no?
(Yes I have Redwood's custom kit but the damper itself is DFV series as used in R&T kits.)
(Yes I have Redwood's custom kit but the damper itself is DFV series as used in R&T kits.)
thesmokingman
Active Member
That says to clean. CLEAN, not to lube the stanchions with WD40. It's fine to use WD40 to clean with because its a solvent. It's technical purpose is a cleaner not a lube. In any case you don't lubricate the seals with a SOLVENT, but a lubricant. Notice it warns to wipe off excess.
You mentioned noises on new dampers due to new seals, that's called stiction. You use a lubricant for that like SC1, not a solvent like WD40.
@thesmokingman Nobody is claiming that WD-40 is a lubricant. The recommendation wasn't to apply a lubricant, it was to apply WD-40. Which yes is basically just going to help clean it, and temporarily lubricate, but certainly won't last long for that purpose like an actual lubricant could.
You are recommending to apply a lubricant. That is also what I would've assumed on my own for damper shaft squeal, I was surprised at first by the WD-40 too. I'll not go back and forth on this anymore for now as I'm pretty sure I've said everything I can on the matter and I don't want to just repeat myself.
If I do call up Öhlins sometime I'll ask for more detail about possible damper shaft movement squeaks and their WD-40 recommendation, and I'll post anything I learn here.
I can second the differences outlined by gadgetfreaky, who today spent a stupid amount of time with me, letting me drive his Redwood-Ohlins suspension upgraded MY around Manhattan Beach area on rough local roads, main thoroughfares and over RR tracks to experience what the Ohlins bring to the party.
You cannot overcome the fundamental limits of a heavy, medium wheelbase vehicle, but the ride qualities are more refined, definitely smoothing both rough / repaired pavement, manhole covers, and RR tracks at low and high speeds. Car is more stable, cornering body roll, nose rise on acceleration, etc reduced, everything is just more posied. It's just more sophisticated chassis management.
Mind you, it's not a dream ride. The tight characteristics of a nimble performance car remain, and again, the wheelbase isn't long so certain dimensions of swales and ruts will be evidenced by expected behavior, but the jumps, bounces and jolts are gone. You may hear the suspension doing it's work, but you will not feel any serious jolts like the stock suspension exhibits too often.
We did not go out on the highway, but we agreed on shared experience with a section of the 405 just south of the I-10 intersection that the stock suspension really fails on.
MY description: it feels like a blowout has occurred. The pavement sets up a perfect harmonic in the chassis.
He says the suspension has cured that. I believe it, given the roads we tested on today.
Also, we ran FSD Beta thru Manhattan Beach - tight roads, cluster intersections, double-parked vehicles, construction signs and roadworks, ALL HANDLED WITH APLOMB.
There are no standard straight roads or intersections in MB. It's a high-density population center on hilly terrain.
There was one 'T' intersection that FSD failed. But FSD gave the car on the RHS stop sign some 15 seconds time to proceed, they didn't and FSD began to enter the intersection - just as the other car tried too. So we had to take over.
FSD appeared to offer the correct priority (RHS driver) time to move. When they didn't it entered the space, just as the opposing driver decided too as well, but FSD didn't back off.
Many thanks for your very generous spending of your time testing with me on setup. Kudos !!
thesmokingman
Active Member
It's really not a big deal. As I wrote above for stiction something like SC1 is gravy. I wouldn't use WD40 for that purpose. In moto and mtb scenes we use SC1 for this purpose but it's used to clean and shine plastics because its safe on coatings, etc like kashima for ex. Ironically it's marketed as a plastics cleaner and prevents gunk from sticking but it turns out its awesome for seals. WD40 while being a solvent does have a minor lubricant in it and so for decades ppl thought it was a lube. WD40 is like one of the worst things you can spray on a chain btw, as the lubricant will not last under rapid use and dries up leaving metal on metal friction in your drivetrain, bad stuff.
Similar threads
- Marketplace listing
- Locked
- Marketplace listing
