Nissan Micra 1.0 - Advice on Rear Shocks please.

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Sat 5 May 2012 09:43
Nissan Micra 1.0 - Advice on Rear Shocks please. - Nismicbiker

OK well it's an old one 2002 but it was a gift ! MOT yesterday showed signs of oil leaks around rear shocks. I'm wondering if it's feasible if I do have the shocks changed, how sensible it would be to have adjustable ride shock absorbers fitted to render the suspension a bit more like a Citroen so that it rides a bit more smoothly over bumps.

My reason for asking is that this is a local used car and here in S.Devon the state of the local roads is getting so bad that bumpy car ride is affecting my back injury.

I managed to have fitted a smooth adjustable rear shock (Nitron) to my Yamaha 850 Motorcycle which works a miracle but is there anything like that available for the Nissan Micra? I'd be glad of some expert advice.

Thanks

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Sat 5 May 2012 13:44
Nissan Micra 1.0 - Advice on Rear Shocks please. - Peter.N.

The roads are very similar here in West Dorset which is one reason I run hydropnumatic Citroens but probably a bit to big for you. Most modern cars have a dreadful ride and there is not a lot you can do about it, the manufacturers seem to think that everyone wants to corner at 60 mph

A recent Which? magazine did a survey of car ride comfort, something I have not seen anyone else do and the results are very interesting. If you can manage with a Citroen C5 they give a superb ride and you can get them for next to nothing, but there are other smaller cars that are quite good.

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Sun 6 May 2012 13:15
Nissan Micra 1.0 - Advice on Rear Shocks please. - Nismicbiker

Many thanks for that advice. Excellent and you could have saved me £300 or more of wasted money.

I think I will just have the shocks replaced if they ever do leak badly enough to stop working or fail MOT. They seem OK at the moment, ie no bounce or rebound rubber-ball effect so far. The car has only done 30k miles since new so I think they should be in fairly usable condition. Replacement standard shocks are about 40 quid each. No need to put new springs in as that might make it even more bumpy.

I like your thinking on the Citroen C5. I wish my local Citroen dealership was a better one.

I've owned 2CVs Dyanes ZX and Xantia Citroens in the past and not had very good experiences with Servicing. But I will look into the C5 idea, as it's good to know that you have given the testimonial to it being the smoothest ride of the small cars in that category so we may consider changing to that in about 2 years or when the Micra gets unbearable.

Currently we have two gel pads in the seats to absorb some of the brutality!

Thanks again for you very useful help.

Edited by Nismicbiker on 06/05/2012 at 13:16

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