430 F430 Shocks rebuilt and shortened (lowered)

Since joining the Scuderia last Sep, the FCHAT community has been incredibly helpful making F430 ownership a great adventure. Hopefully, this work will help out some others and give back. Please don't hesitate to reach out to me if I can be of assistance in any way.

So from the PPI forward, it was clear that there was some kind of issue with the shocks. When I drove the car, I noticed that it handled bumps, but there was a hard landing, almost a banging, that did not seem possible that this is how the car should drive. I've heard others say that it hits hard and that it is due to the fact that its got a hard ride, but this didn't seem right.

I looked fairly exhaustively for someone who could rebuild the shocks with everyone (but one) responding that these Sachs shocks are crimped shut and not serviceable. Essentially designed to be replaced.

I found MadenoRacing.com.

It is a racing outfit in the Netherlands. Leo, my main contact there, indicated that they could disassemble the shocks, refresh the components and fluid, and design a new sealing mechanism which is future serviceable. We talked about lowering the ride height and Leo further indicated he could shorten the inner & outer tubes, and piston, to shorten the shock without reducing dampening capacity. Meaning lower car, maximum dampening performance.

All this for about 1/4 the cost of Ferrari shocks.

Fast forward, it turned out absolutely awesome. Leo was amazing to work with, extremely helpful, answered all questions readily and thoroughly, he is extremely knowledgeable, and provided great updates all along the way. Great perk, Judith his office manager, sent me UPS shipping labels so the shipping was a fraction of what it would have otherwise cost me.

Circling back for a moment, on first inspection when I got the car, I noticed some fluid had leaked out at the seal, so knew something was wrong. After sending them to Madeno, on disassembly, he noticed pretty quickly that the rear shocks were basically doing nothing since the piston bands had come loose, and the fluid was just uck, in horrible shape. Pressure testing output was provided to me from before and after the rebuild to show the difference in performance. For the fronts, improved, for the rears, night and day difference.

I have to assume there are others out there with this issue that probably don't know it. If your car bangs hard on bumps, I would suspect this may be the cause.

Since the bands were merely thick rubber bands, he designed and built a new metal band and enclosure that should last longer than the car, and they work great.

I noticed my springs were a bit pitted at the base where they make contact, he sandblasted, primed and painted the springs (yellow to match my calipers at my request) and they look better than new.

All the work he performed was at a very reasonable rate and absolutely top notch. His shop looks surgical clean.

I HIGHLY recommend MadenoRacing.com for this work!!!

Pics included show the work they performed, the pieces they custom built, the installed shocks and ultimately the car at 20mm lower. On a side note, how is this not the factory setting, the car looks as much better!

So how does it drive? It is a HUGE improvement. The suspension before would bang on bumps and dance around on uneven pavement on curves. It was unsettling. Now its predictable, it dampens on bumpy road and the handling and suspension now feels like I suspect it should (I've only driven this one so can't say for sure). It's now confidence inspiring and pushes me to push it to the limits. It's SO great. I have yet to get it balanced properly, which will be even better yet.

I have nothing to gain by sharing this story, just had a great experience and again, hopefully others will find this useful/helpful. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

John

 

This is what I sent, 2 outer are right off the car, 2 inner are wiped down, car has 37k miles

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Beautiful set up. What was the turn around on this. Great that we are having options for our cars.

 

Thank you @clean512

agree. particularly like that it modernized the shock while maintaining OEM functionality with the Manettino.

turnaround was about a month including shipping which was only a few days each way.

Leo designed and made the new parts which was part of the time spent. I expect if he does another, now that he knows how to make the parts, could probably turn it around in less time.

 

Sounds

Sounds like a great plan for my winter project. If you don't mind how much did he charge. You can Dm me if you want

 

I will DM. You won't be disappointed. He also throws in a certificate and a couple spanner wrenches for final adjustment for good measure.

An email to Leo from their website and he will quickly respond with specifics. He is very responsive.

http://www.madenoracing.com/contact/

 

assuming we bought parts from modena racing , is there any special tool to prevent us doing this DIY?

 

@24000rpm I don't know the specific answer to your question.

Clearly they had a ton of experience and the shop and equipment, I have none of this so didn't even consider DIY.

If you do have the shop and know how and want to do it, I would suggest asking Leo (at Madeno racing, not modena - I think it's his last name) and see what you two come up with. Don't know if he'd be interested in selling a parts package.

He is pretty easy going, I would shoot him an email, tell him John Napoli shared his build (so he knows which you're talking about) and ask him if he is willing to make and sell you parts. Based on the pics, in my estimation, if you had all the parts, and could cut the tubes and piston (if you shorten), and thread the tubes, I presume you could DIY it.

 

Sounds like Modena Racing is good but at least one US company can rebuild the "not rebuildable" Ferrari shocks. Performance Shock, Inc in Sonoma did one of my 360 shocks. I raised the slammed low car and that ended all bottoming and banging problems. Seems like a lot of owners lower their cars too much to look good in pictures. The shocks and bottom of the car pay the price for a better look.

 

This is not a diy job. Shock dynos and the know how what is going on inside your shock is truly a art. I feel beyond alot of skills but would never do my own shocks.

 

er, shock dynos are expensive

 

This is the one Madeno used Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I love tools but that I'm guessing maybe 7500$ - 9500$ .for someone that does that maybe 1 ill definitely send mine out

 

Bravo on finding a solution. Thank you for the very detailed post.

 

So funny to read this. I actually want to refresh my shocks on my 70k KM’s F430 and I’m in The Netherlands. Also, Madeno Racing is very reputable and well known here in Europe. I talked to them before about my M3 tracktool. So this is a great tip!

Also: your car looks great!

 

That sounds like the perfect situation to reach out to them!

Based on how icky my shock fluid was, I suppose it's good to refresh them over time if for no other reason than to replace the fluid. With the screw tops they designed, this should now be pretty readily accomplished by most shops I'd think - though I'd probably send to them anyway since they have really built up my trust in their work.

Thank you for the additional information about them, good to know.

Thank you for the compliment on the car!

 

Not that it's critical, but I just realized I didn't post many pics of the final product with the 10 pic limit on FCHAT

Here are some after taking them out of the box and during install and one of the springs post paintwork

Sorry for gushing but these things really are just beautiful Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

That's a great outcome. I've made a note of the business name.

 

John

Is that photo of your 430 after installing the shocks?

30 mm is quite a drop.

Any issues?

 

"Know your limits and exceed them" is a fun motivational quote to yell in the gym or at brand new Basic Trainees....it's definitely not applicable when working on one's own suspension.

 

Well said

 

This brings up a question. Does the fluid go bad due to use or due to age? If its due to age buying 'new' ones might not be a viable option anymore assuming that they were manufactured over a decade ago (I have no idea if they are still being manufactured). If true this means having them rebuilt is the only option we have left.

 

20mm, not 30

I took the advice from a thread on the forum that 20 is the not to exceed number without compromise (which Madeno also recommended 20mm)

Yes that pic is post install, 20mm lowered

I think because they shortened the shocks, not tightened the springs, the only noticeable difference is improvement in handling

I was worried about scraping the driveway since I was so close before. To my amazement I still don't scrape.

Ride is great, better than before, no issues

If you have QuickJacks, you need to put hockey pucks on the rubber blocks. I lost the 1/2" or so of clearance I had there, so that was $6 I didn't plan for [emoji1]

 

I don't know for sure, but I've had similar fluid in a bottle on the shelf and over time looks same

I think its breakdown due to stress (like you'll see in any stressed fluid in your car), but others would know better than me

I don't know if they still make shocks or only what is left on shelves

Aftermarket is an option of course but they don't plug in as far as I'm aware.

I will say the fact that these can now be easily serviced, and the rebuild is a fraction of the cost of any decent new shock, and they are now better than new with the seal and cap upgrades (imo) seemed like a no brainer to me.

 

20 mm is a good amount

different springs make a world of difference in the front end

It is far more stable and does not waiver from left to right.

Of course 19" rims and tires make a huge difference in the ride and body control