GSF spheres for Hydractive Xantia ?

This is the Forum for all your Citroen Technical Questions, Problems or Advice.

Moderator: RichardW

Post Reply
User avatar
Mandrake
Posts: 8615
Joined: 10 Apr 2005, 17:23
Location: North Lanarkshire, UK
My Cars:
x 664

GSF spheres for Hydractive Xantia ?

Post by Mandrake »

Hi All,
Just after some feedback from anyone that might have fitted some of the GSF front Hydractive spheres on a Xantia, as to how they found the ride quality/damping etc compared to the genuine spheres ? (Which they don't seem to list in their catalogue, only for the non-hydractive)
Over here in NZ spheres are incredibly highly priced, and even allowing for a shipping cost estimate I can get them at less than 1/3 the price from GSF than buying them here.
However my VSX currently has the 450cc 45 bar front spheres with 0.7mm damper holes and multilayer membrane (has the 3 dimples) part number 96238949, and the GSF spheres are 400cc, 50 bars, with 0.6mm holes, and (presumably) a standard diaphram.
How is this going to affect the ride and handling ? Or will the difference not really be noticable ? How about sphere life ? How long are they likely to last compared to the originals ?
Has anyone ordered spheres from GSF and had them shipped overseas ? No hassles ?
Is there anyone else with good prices that will ship internationally that stock genuine Citroen spheres for the Hydractive model ?
Thanks all [:D]
One other question - at the moment the rear corner spheres on my car (which seem to be ok) are a different part number than the ones I expected to be there based on a table of info I have.
The ones on the car are: 96194435, while the table I have says they should be either 96238951 or 96238950. The table I'm going by is the scanned pages linked from one of the threads on this forum from a Citroen manual written in some scandinavian language, not the GSF sphere table pdf, which doesn't match ANY of the sphere codes on my car [:D]
Anyone know what the difference between the rear spheres that are actually on my car, and the ones listed in the scanned table ? Are they just an equivilent ?
Regards,
Simon
xantiav6
Posts: 121
Joined: 06 Jun 2004, 22:31
Location:
My Cars:
x 3

Post by xantiav6 »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">How is this going to affect the ride and handling ? Or will the difference not really be noticable ? How about sphere life ? How long are they likely to last compared to the originals ?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
400/50/0.6 is correct for a Xantia with HA pre-1996. It will give slightly softer springing and firmer damping, I don't know how noticable. According to experts I have talked to, the multilayer spheres last at 3 times as long. The multlayer spheres on my V6 were all OK when tested after 3 years.
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">The ones on the car are: 96194435, while the table I have says they should be either 96238951 or 96238950.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
961944435 is the correct rear sphere for a Xantia with HA pre-1996. It is 400/30/0.5
User avatar
Mandrake
Posts: 8615
Joined: 10 Apr 2005, 17:23
Location: North Lanarkshire, UK
My Cars:
x 664

Post by Mandrake »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by xantiav6</i>

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">How is this going to affect the ride and handling ? Or will the difference not really be noticable ? How about sphere life ? How long are they likely to last compared to the originals ?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
400/50/0.6 is correct for a Xantia with HA pre-1996. It will give slightly softer springing and firmer damping, I don't know how noticable. According to experts I have talked to, the multilayer spheres last at 3 times as long. The multlayer spheres on my V6 were all OK when tested after 3 years.
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">The ones on the car are: 96194435, while the table I have says they should be either 96238951 or 96238950.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
961944435 is the correct rear sphere for a Xantia with HA pre-1996. It is 400/30/0.5
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Ah ok, thanks for the info. I forgot to mention that its a 1997 2.0i 8 valve auto VSX, so it looks like the rear spheres fitted are those of a pre-1996 ? And that the two suggested numbers listed in the data I have are for 1997 on ?
They seem good enough that I'm not going to worry about them at the moment - at the moment the rear hydractive centre sphere is (presumably) faulty, as there is no noticable difference between soft and hard mode at the back (checked by removing the HA computer fuse to force it into hard mode during testing) the damping is very slow and restricted especially in the extension stroke, and yet my weight sitting on the boot in hard mode displaces it by about 3 inches which is exactly what I'd expect of the hard mode. (Medium springing, very firm damping)
Hmm, if the multilayer spheres can last up to 3 times longer, and considering that the car previously had them, I'd really like to try and replace them with the same type... pity that GSF don't seem to stock them...
Regards,
Simon
Peter.N.
Moderating Team
Posts: 11563
Joined: 02 Apr 2005, 16:11
Location: Charmouth,Dorset
My Cars: Currently:

C5 X7 VTR + Satnav Hdi estate Silver
C5 X7 VTR + Hdi Estate 2008 Red

In the past: 3, CX td Safaris and about 7, XM td estates. Lovely cars.
x 1199

Post by Peter.N. »

I have used GSF spheres for many years although not on a Xantia, and have never had a problem with them. I have just fitted their 'comfort' spheres to my XM estate, same pressure but slightly larger hole, they have softened the suspension up nicely without affecting the handling.
User avatar
Mandrake
Posts: 8615
Joined: 10 Apr 2005, 17:23
Location: North Lanarkshire, UK
My Cars:
x 664

Post by Mandrake »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Peter.N.</i>

I have used GSF spheres for many years although not on a Xantia, and have never had a problem with them. I have just fitted their 'comfort' spheres to my XM estate, same pressure but slightly larger hole, they have softened the suspension up nicely without affecting the handling.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Hi Peter,
What kind of lifetime do you get out of them before you feel they need regassing ? Front ones in particular.
Regards,
Simon
Post Reply