Spheres, Genuine or Generic.

Quackers · Unread post by **Quackers** » 27 Aug 2006, 23:19

My suspention spheres need changing and i'd like some other peoples thought.

Are the genuine citroen spheres any better then say the ones of GSF?

On my last 2 Xantia's i've replaced them with GSF. Both times the ride quality seemed to degrade very quickly.

I got a quote of over £1000 for the spheres from Citroen parts (Its an Activa so has 10 of them)

I want to know if its worth paying the extra or if GSF ones give an IDENTICAL ride quality and last just as long?

JohnD · Unread post by **JohnD** » 28 Aug 2006, 09:06

I've used spheres from GSF since I first got a BX in 1990 and I've always found them as good as the originals.

Unread post by **xantia_v6** » 28 Aug 2006, 09:20

Some (but not all) of the spheres from citroen will have long life multilayer diaphragms, so will last much longer. If you are keeping the car long term, I think worth the money.

GSF do not do any multilayer spheres.

For that matter, you car may already have some multi-layer spheres fitted (I think that citroen started fitting them to the front struts of HA2 in about 1997), if so, those should not need replacing yet.

Multilayer spheres on a Xantia can be recognised by 3 dimples around the top of the sphere, and by part number.

Unread post by **Peter.N.** » 28 Aug 2006, 09:28

For conventional spheres you can't do better than GSF. I've been using them for as long as they have been selling them!

Mandrake · Unread post by **Mandrake** » 28 Aug 2006, 10:53

xantia_v6 wrote:Some (but not all) of the spheres from citroen will have long life multilayer diaphragms, so will last much longer. If you are keeping the car long term, I think worth the money.

GSF do not do any multilayer spheres.

For that matter, you car may already have some multi-layer spheres fitted (I think that citroen started fitting them to the front struts of HA2 in about 1997), if so, those should not need replacing yet.

Multilayer spheres on a Xantia can be recognised by 3 dimples around the top of the sphere, and by part number.

The multilayer front spheres have been available on the Xantia since release in 1993, on both Hydractive and non-Hydractive models, but don't appear to have been sold in all markets or were possibly optional spec in some markets...

Datasheets show both multilayer and two types of conventional single layer spheres (urepan and desmopan) as alternatives for most of the Xantia models/years for front spheres.

And I agree, they seem to last a long time, about 3 times the lifespan of "normal" spheres, but they can't (or aren't supposed to be) regassed.

Typical lifespan of the multilayer spheres seems to be around 10 years before significant loss in ride quality is noticed...

In my opinion the good thing about long life spheres is you get a lot more useful life out of them where the gas pressure is near normal - only near the end of 10 years or so would you start to notice poor ride, whereas if you go through 3 standard sets of spheres in that time you're going through 3 cycles of the ride deteriorating and suddenly getting better again after they're replaced each time.

Regards,
Simon

howiedean · Unread post by **howiedean** » 28 Aug 2006, 13:08

Quackers wrote:My suspention spheres need changing and i'd like some other peoples thought.

Are the genuine citroen spheres any better then say the ones of GSF?

On my last 2 Xantia's i've replaced them with GSF. Both times the ride quality seemed to degrade very quickly.

I got a quote of over £1000 for the spheres from Citroen parts (Its an Activa so has 10 of them)

I want to know if its worth paying the extra or if GSF ones give an IDENTICAL ride quality and last just as long?

I'm happy with my GSF spheres although I've noticed that the ones on the rear of the car have rusted very quickly.
I've had them a year and I've done about 18000 and the car is very smooth (not as smooth as the Westroen spheres on my last Xantia though).

Regards

KP · Unread post by KP » 28 Aug 2006, 14:50

Id paint the rear ones with some kind of wax or such like if your keeping teh car long term as well, specially to protect them from the high water exposure they get at the rear.

I head mention of someone using a thick plastic bag, cut down over each one and over the threads and held on with a tie wrap to keep the corrossion down to a minimum on the threads as well

not heard of it being used since though and this was a few years ago when i had only started driving

AndersDK · Unread post by **AndersDK** » 28 Aug 2006, 20:15

KP wrote: I head mention of someone using a thick plastic bag, cut down over each one and over the threads and held on with a tie wrap to keep the corrossion down to a minimum on the threads as well not heard of it being used since though and this was a few years ago when i had only started driving

Keeping outdoor use steel - even painted - in plastic bags will dead sure make it rust 10 times faster

Rostami · Unread post by **Rostami** » 28 Aug 2006, 22:56

Hi!
1000 quid seems an awful lot for 10 spheres. Did the quotation include labour?
In Portugal, 8 of the 10 spheres cost around 40 pounds each, and the remaining two cost 80 pounds each, so all in all the cost of replacing all spheres is around 550 pound!

Kursaal Flyer · Unread post by **Kursaal Flyer** » 29 Aug 2006, 09:03

I always used the GSF spheres on my BX's and found that some were great, but some became harsh after only a short while. Maybe something to do with shelf-life? Or maybe different batches had variable quality.

Also, I'm surprised at the lifespans being quoted on here for multi-layer diaphragmed spheres, up to 10 years?
My car is a 2001 C5 and I reckon the rear ones have had it. If I bounce the corners I can move the front by about 4" but the rear only an inch or so. Unless something else is wrong

The rear rides much harder than the front to the point of being quite uncomfortable and making the car very 'lively' on a road it should float over on the level. It does seem funny for the rears to go before the fronts, unless they were changed by a previous owner.
Regards
John J.

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Spheres, Genuine or Generic.

Spheres, Genuine or Generic.

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