Monroe 'shocks' fitters
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• MONROE Auto Equipment is holding two-day courses on suspension technology at the AA National Training Centre at Widmerpool, near Nottingham, in order to promote higher standards of service.
The Road Transport Industry Training Board approved course covers shock absorber replacement business from design and construction to inspection, fault diagnosis and practical training to the removal and fitting of all types of shock absorber, strut and auxiliary suspension unit.
Says Peter Malby, senior executive of Monroe in the UK: "Anyone who successfully completes the course can be certain of attracting repeat business."
Monroe engineers point out that every time an undamped wheel bounces, even imperceptibly, the whole suspension system is jarred as the wheel comes to ground, leaving a microscopic trace of tyre tread on the road and passing on the shock to steering and suspension joints, and in many cases to the transmission, too. The shock waves are more severe in conditions like heavy braking.
TUV, the West German standards organisation, was commissioned by Monroe to carry out comparative braking tests on cars with and without ABS with various combinations of new and worn shock absor hers. In the most extreme case the ABS-equipped vehicle with a single faulty shock absorber, when breaking in a curve from 31mph, needed over 10% more stopping distance than one without antilock but all its shock absorbers in good condition.
The most striking feature of all the tests was the effect of just one faulty shock absorber
almost invariably more serious than having two equally worn.
"ABS is a potential lifesaver," says Monroe engineer Julien Aerts, "but the tests demonstrate it relies upon regular and conscientious maintenance of the whole suspension system — especially the shock absorbers.'' • Monroe earlier this year bought Armstrong, which is stronger in the commercial vehicle world. The Monroe Gas-matic lowpressure MacPherson strut with three-way seal excluding dirt, retaining gas, and returning to the reserve chamber any fluid seeping past the lower seal.