Autobuffers: reviews of car enthusiasts

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:41

Starting from the 90s, many manufacturers began to offer car owners to purchase autobuffers. Reviews about the usefulness of these devices to this day remain ambiguous: some talk about the undeniable benefits of such an installation, while others consider it absolutely useless, while some do not even know in principle what it is and what it is for.

History

The founder of the then unknown company TTC worked in a small shop selling all kinds of car accessories in Korea. In the process of this lesson, he came up with the idea to release new equipment, which we today know to many as autobuffers. Feedback from users satisfied with the purchase of this device was largely very positive, and therefore it began to enjoy wide popularity around the world.

Jung Soo suffered from a sore back due to osteochondrosis and pinched nerves. In the process of driving a car, every time it hit a hole or any bumps in the road, pressure was transferred to the passenger compartment through the suspension, which caused him extreme inconvenience and pain. After that he startedto think about how to make driving a car more comfortable and enjoyable, and eventually developed autobuffers. Initially, the reviews were insignificant, and with the first samples he did not get the desired results, but over the next 20 years, his development was constantly developed not only by him, but also by many other manufacturers, in connection with which new forms and materials began to be used.

Today, these devices are a modern and effective solution for any car, designed to increase comfort and make driving more enjoyable compared to driving a car with a standard suspension installed by most of the world's manufacturers. Today in many countries you can find autobuffers. Reviews of these devices in Russia began to appear relatively recently.

What materials are used to make them?

Shock-absorbing pads are made from a special transparent urethane and a special composition. Thus, a high-tech material is obtained that effectively absorbs various shocks and vibrations. It is worth noting that exactly the same material is used by Nike, a leading manufacturer of sportswear, in the manufacture of shoes. It has a kind of memory effect, due to which, after any load, it returns to its original state. TTC has a contract for the use of this material in the field of automotive components, and at the moment only car buffers are made from it. Feedback from car owners about this device speaks a lot aboutthat the innovative material really pays off, and its use can improve driving comfort.

TTS pillows can be described as the result of a lot of trial and error, discovered during twenty years of testing the product and the materials used.

How do they affect the car's suspension?

Many people believe that the spring can break if you install autobuffers on it. Feedback from car owners often indicates the opposite, and we will try to figure out why.

Most experienced drivers remember rubber inserts that were popular in their time, which were quite actively installed on their cars by the owners of Volga and Zhiguli to raise their car. These devices were the first attempts to modernize the initial characteristics of the suspension and partially solved the problem of increasing ground clearance, which for many remains relevant to this day. Indeed, with their help it was possible to raise it, but the price for this was quite high, since various performance characteristics of the car were lost, and the effect was achieved completely different compared to how autobuffers work. Mostly negative reviews: “riding like on a stool” - this is how many drivers described their trips.

Of course, in such situations, the risk of malfunctions in the springs increases significantly, because the coil into which such a piece of rubber is inserted stops working, giving up itsload on the rest, although they are not designed for it. Almost immediately after these inserts began to be distributed in our country, testers in Korea were also engaged in similar studies.

What happened in the end?

TTC has been testing, developing and testing various shapes and materials for autobuffers for 20 years. Negative reviews about already existing devices were also taken into account, and the manufacturer tried to fully satisfy the interest of consumers. It is worth noting that it is the shape and the material used that are the main differences between modern devices and the "rubber bands" that were used in Soviet times. At the same time, the auto-buffer is primarily designed to ensure safety and comfort while driving, and the fact that it allows you to slightly raise the car is already its secondary function.

Throughout the existence of such accessories in Korea, there were no cases of spring breakage due to the fact that TTS autobuffers were installed in it. Reviews about such devices were mostly left only positive, because even if you squeeze it with your hands, it will easily give in and shrink, that is, it changes its shape even under slight loads, not to mention how much the car spring compresses while driving.

If we talk about the useful properties of this equipment, it is worth noting its breakdown protection, which approximately doubles its overall service life. Thus a useful deviceprovides comfort and safety for your car, without having any negative impact on any components or assemblies.

How are they different from spacers?

Now let's look at the differences between standard spacers and what TTS autobuffers are. Reviews from motorists often include information that autobuffers are standard spring spacers, but in fact this is not entirely correct. Of course, they are inserted into springs, and many remember how various springs and balls were used for the same purposes at the dawn of perestroika, but in fact there is a rather serious difference from what the products of that time were: it is a material, technology production and main goals.

Earlier, a standard piece of rubber was used for this, which constantly burst and cracked, could harden in the cold and was used mainly to increase ground clearance. Modern autobuffers, on the other hand, are specially designed forms made of urethane, which gives the car a lot of new features. Often referred to as shock absorbers, these devices are primarily for comfort, smoothing out various bumps in the road and reducing shaking, which makes driving more enjoyable.

What do they give?

Spacers are used primarily to increase ground clearance and are placed directly under the shock mount or spring to increasethe height of the car by about 3-5 centimeters. Moreover, the cost of this pleasure is quite high, and in the end the driver gets the following:

• car rises approximately 3cm;
• the car's handling is noticeably deteriorating, and from time to time it can be "rearranged" along the way;
• driving safety is lost;
• Tampering with standard suspension geometry.

This is very different from how autobuffers (shock-absorbing pads) work. Reviews of these devices indicate that the cost of installing them is often somewhat cheaper, and as a result the following effect is achieved:

• increases driving comfort;
• improves handling as body roll and sway are reduced;
• protection of the shock absorber from breakdowns is provided, which significantly increases its service life;
• car sags less under various loads;
• clearance rises by about 1.5 cm (and in some models you can get rid of this rise altogether).

Due to the use of innovative material and a specialized shape, the user gets much more benefits by installing autobuffers. Driver reviews often indicate how much more effective these devices are compared to standard spacers.

How to install them?

The procedure for installing these cushions is quite simple, and it is not even difficult to install autobuffers onSolaris. User reviews indicate that even novice motorists do not encounter any problems, since installation is carried out in a few simple steps:

1. Prepare soap solution, jack and pillow. Soap solution is used to clean the spring from grease and dirt.
2. Raise the car and make sure the wheel is not touching any surfaces.
3. Check if your damper spring is loose.
4. Thoroughly clean the spring of grease and dirt by spraying the solution both on it and on the pillows themselves.
5. Install auto-buffers on the Hyundai Solaris on the middle spring. Driver reviews often include information that sizes may not match, so be sure to check the manufacturer's catalog beforehand or ask a consultant to help you choose the pillow model that will fit your car.
6. Make sure the coils of the spring are properly seated in the grooves.

Negative reviews

First of all, it is worth noting the fact that at the moment you can find quite conflicting responses about how useful AMT autobuffers are. The reviews of some people say that this is a waste of money, as some devices lose their shape after a few months of active driving, and also gradually begin to stick poorly, which reduces all their usefulness to zero.

Also often people say that many mechanics don'tit is advised to install something extra in the springs, since if such devices were useful, they would be used by automobile manufacturers. Obviously, many do not listen to them and still put Chinese autobuffers. The reviews of such users most often end with the fact that there is no difference, and perhaps the clearance rises a couple of centimeters, but in the end it returns to its place, and the installation of these devices does not affect the comfort at all. In such cases, you can pay attention to the fact that we are talking mainly about Chinese devices, which are cheaper, but at the same time they are not made of urethane, and this is quite important.

Some leave with specific examples of how autobuffers were used, reviews. Chevrolet Cruze, for example, is equipped with Chinese buffers, which completely lose their shape in a couple of months. After that, the Korean kit is installed, but the only change noticed is that when fully loaded, the car sags an order of magnitude less.

Positive Feedback

More positive feedback from people using urethane autobuffers. The reviews of many users, of course, are quite stereotyped, but among them there are also detailed impressions of drivers. So, many say that after the installation of these devices, the movement became much softer, any speed bumps were easily overcome, and the roll also decreased. Some separately note that in order to achieve such an effect, you need to be extremely carefulchoose the right size, place an order correctly and specifically select devices for barrel and conical springs, which, of course, many do not.

Some also note that the car starts to go much quieter after autobuffers are placed in the springs. Feedback from car owners also indicates that stability is improved, roll is eliminated and stopping distance is significantly reduced, making even an overloaded car look much safer.

Expert reviews

The main feature of a car spring is that it works as a whole, and after installing a spacer from any material (rubber or urethane), you divide it into two parts, that is, a certain coil completely stops working, and in the future, the load is already distributed unevenly. Thus, the pressure increases both on the spring itself and on the bowl. At the same time, it is worth paying tribute to the fact that urethane is indeed a fairly soft material and, unlike the same rubber, can freely absorb various vibrations, deform and return to its original shape.

The manufacturer takes into account many nuances, and the springs are designed for certain operating conditions. Experts recommend using additional spacers only when your spring starts to sag. That is, they are used as a budgetary way to return stiffness. The cost of the springs themselves is actually quite low, so you can simply replace them. Butthen you don't get any other buffs from those devices.

Thus, if you do not notice any problems with shock absorbers or springs while driving a car, and at the same time you are not one of those who prefer to fully load their car, it is quite possible to do without installing any additional components. Others will do well to use these devices, as they will really make driving more comfortable and in some ways even safer.