Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I have an 1969 Elan S4 and plan to renew all the shock absorbers.

Can anyone recommend from their experience the brand and model to use.

Thank you
Tony

I use Protech from Tony Thompson on the front and Spax at the rear. I find having the fronts set harder than the rear a good starting point for adjustment then a bit of testing on an uphill set of s-bends will tell you what needs tweaking! You may need to modify the rear strut tops slightly to accommodate the narrower Spax rod.

What Shocks you fit seem to be a personal choice.
For me i would fit Konis on the rear BUT there are many choices. For sure with Konis it's not a quick job to adjust them. The Protechs look very nice and easy to adjust to suit your driving style.
Alan

I have Spax front and rear, although fitted a few years apart. I can't fault either of them (that's front coilovers and rear inserts) other than awkward adjustment on the rears on my FHC, but I'd probably go with Koni rears (they're not available for two seater fronts) if I was doing it again if for no other reason than good experience with them over many years on motorcycles.

I've got spax in front and konis in back on my S4 fhc. My konis are the old ones that require the shaft be depressed into a detent and then rotated to adjust. It's a tedious job that has to be done a number of times unless you know just what you are after or you're willing to settle for pretty good.
Also, if you switch to cv joints, the old konis I have allow so much droop that the boots can tear if you rotate them while the car is jacked up.
I believe there is a new koni insert that is externally adjustable with shorter shafts. I would go that route for the rears.