Gmax Suspension.

[NobbyClark]

Hi all.

Have any of you ever had Gmax suspension??

What are you experiences if it??

Many thanks,

Nobby!

[alecf]

Remember it from the days max power type cars they used to make springs that would pretty much render the shocks no existent

What car is it for?

[NobbyClark]

It would be for a mk5b Escort saloon.

It's only a 1.6 so it's not the fastest thing in the world but I just want it to handle better.

I've got a strut brace to fit which I bought second hand off of eBay.

I'm I'm thinking of a complete kit of sports shocks and springs!!

[ChasR]

I've owned one or two cars with GMax suspension with lowering springs and driven/been in other cars with the full suspension setups.

Pros

• They go lower off the shelf more than most other fixed platform kits.
• Until the day of JOM/TA Technix and other cheap coilovers they were the coilover set to go with
• I Think they have all of right approvals
• They feel sporty but read below

Cons

• Unlike Bilstein and others (but even they have have their limitations here) they will generally do one size to fit all. So take a Ford Mondeo. There is around a 100kg difference IIRC between a 1.8 Petrol manual and a 3.0 V6 Auto - Bilstein I think do two kits to account for the differing spring rates. GMaxx? I'm fairly sure they only did one.
• Even the springs alone tend to be firmer than a good suspension kit like Bilstein or Eibach.
• With the above decent kit will give better handling and IMO a genuine new suspension setup or carefully chosen OE stuff also would

For the record the car I owned with the Springs was a Ford Ka1, which has pretty much the same supension setup as a Fiesta which is in turn the same near enough as an Escort. I at the same time owned another Ka with Ford Racing suepension which was basically Eibach Springs and dampers. The FR Ka handled alot better everywhere, probably as good as the Clio 172 if I am being honest and it was surprisingly pliant.

The Ka1 even on 14" wheels was a firmer ride at times, make no question. I however only bought that car for a short while.

In short if you want to go low and have half decent handling for not much money it's one avenue to consider

What is wrong with your car at the minute? On both the M3 and the RST going to new tyres made the world of different. The RST didn't have illegal tyres but they were 10 years old. Even with track biased tyres the handling improved in the wet.

[NobbyClark]

Thanks for your reply Chas.

My Escort is just a little "project" although in reality it doesn't need much doing to it at all so "project" is probably the wrong term for it!!

One day she will be my daily but at the mo, is sitting on the driveway under a cover. I bought her back in February as I noticed her for sale as a 1 owner from new, with all the bills, receipts and FFSH and a genuine 43k miles on the clock.

She is in lovely condition and I'll eventually have the front and rear bumpers painted as the old boy who owned her has slightly scuffed all 4 corners.

I've already bought some wheels off of eBay as they were too cheap to let go, that'll need refurbishing. I've also bought a strut brace that I'll be repainting.

I'm in no hurry to sort the suspension as I'm not currently using the car but us blokes like to window shop in the parts and modifying section!!!

[ChasR]

It sounds like the tyres are probably too old.

This is not a dig at you but many people get very excited about low mileage cars. While there are things to get excited about including the lack of potential wear on the interior as well as potentially other places rubber bits don't stay in "as new condition". While genuine coolant hoses stay OK the cambelt won't and neither for that matter will the tyres, something which IMO is massively overlooked.

Put it this way. My RST went from a car that would wheelspin at roundabouts in the wet without every trying ; it took effort to not wheelspin it! With new tyres all round even track biased that was a thing of the past. Pulling away from a rondabout was dead easy. The handling improved massively too, to the extent the PO who I took out for a drive could not believe the difference in the car; it was far less twitchy.

My old Stag was the same and at times was stupidly drifty! I however there will hold my hands up ; I really should have changed them but I couldn't bring myself to ; I was too tight! People including the last owner would have said "Yeah but it's an old car, you don't drive fast" but there were times where I did have to think about braking as it was that easy to lockup in the wet. Yes we have insurance but why use it if you don't have to?

Both did 5,000 miles in 10 years.

It's one reason I am weary of buying secodhand tyres. Alot of unscrupulous sellers on ebay (and the seller of my car) will say the tyres are new due to the tread, but will claim they don't know how to check the dates or won't check them. I've turned down some sets of wheels due to this as in my eyes I'd want new rubber in the budget or nearly new part worns which are few and far between for sensible money.

[NobbyClark]

Cheers Chas.

I know what you're saying about tyres.

As I've bought the wheels that need refurbishing, when they are done I'll be buying a decent set of tyres. Plus I'll be splashing out on a full going over, including service, brake check, cambelt change etc etc.

[duggers]

The biggest issue with shorter springs is ensuring they work with whatever shocks you are using. IME dropping 30mm or thereabouts can be done with standard dampers although you may have to check any bump stops ( as on McPherson set ups).
Maybe sourcing GTi/XR version (not sure on escorts of that era what the hot ones were called) suspension would be a way forward.

[NobbyClark]

Cheers Duggers, that's a great idea!!

[welshpug]

I had some on a 309, hated them, fitted original dampers to it, and it was so wonderful to drive afterwards.

since the everything has been on bilstein or koni with standard or eibach springs.


(or my ZX has AST)

[Iain]

They used to be a popular choice for Novas years ago.

The general consensus was cheap and cheerful, get it lower as cheap as possible.

[astranaut]

Had some on a mk3 Astra a few years ago, looked good and on a glass like road drove really well... but man they were harsh everywhere else

[ChasR]

Jan 4, 2017 9:51:34 GMT Iain said:

They used to be a popular choice for Novas years ago.

The general consensus was cheap and cheerful, get it lower as cheap as possible.

I still remember a bodykitted Nova driving around with this kit on.

[ianperry3112]

If you are going to lower it, by whatever means, I'd recommend you have a look at the wheel alignment afterwards, to make sure the lowered suspension doesn't mess up the geometry.

Duggers' suggestion of factory suspension off the sporty version is a good call - this will definitely work well on the car, the springs and dampers will be well-matched and will suit the cat. They will almost certainly lower it a bit but also give you the right bump and rebound rates - and probably cheaper than the GMax kit :-)

I'd also endorse ChasR's suggestion of looking at the tyres before you try anything more extreme.

If you are looking at a 'proper' overhaul of the suspension, you might also want to consider the suspension bushes. These - like the tyres - deteriorate with age, and replacing with new OEM rubber will make a big difference. If the sporty version has different bushes, these will almost certainly be harder than the 'family car' version, which will also improve the handling. If you can handle the harshness you might even consider aftermarket polyurethane bushes, they transmit a lot more noise etc. into the car but give a lot more control over the way the suspension moves and therefore control the wheel angles better.

In passing, I'm not sure what benefit you'll get from the strut brace (though they do look like you mean business ;-) ) because with 'normal' suspension, the bodyshell will be so much stiffer than the suspension that it's effectively rigid already.

[NobbyClark]

Thankyou all so much for your help and comments everyone.

The suggestion of suspension from a RS2000 or XR of the same year is a great call.

Perhaps if got some OEM shocks from either of the 2 models of Escort mentioned and then got a decent brand of lowered springs that are lower than the springs of an RS or XR as these would only be a little lower than what I've already got!!??

What does everyone reckon??

Thanks again!

[ianperry3112]

Hi Nobby,

Ultimately, it all comes down to what you want to achieve. If you get a complete set of OEM sporty springs and dampers, the car will handle well but as you noted, it won't look a LOT different from standard. If you want to lower it still further, you will certainly need those heavier duty dampers, as the effective range of suspension movement will be much shorter and the springs and dampers will have to work harder to manage the same forces over shorter distances.

HOWEVER if you lower it more than the OEM sporty set-up will, you will change the suspension angles significantly - and probably they will end up outside the range that Ford intended. That might not have a significant effect if you only go slightly lower than the OEM sports suspension, but in the worst case it will cause uneven tyre wear, and wear out wheel bearings and suspension bushes faster than normal. More seriously it could create some funny handling characteristics.

Of course if you modify the car you will declare it to your insurers, 'cos you're an honest sort of bloke - though they might not notice if you use OEM items, even if they just 'happen' to be the XR/RS2000 spec ;-)