Ohlins Shock Absorber for Automotive, TTX36 Manual
Congratulations! You are now the owner of an Öhlins product. More than hundred and fifty World Championships and other major world titles are definitive proof that Öhlins products offer outstanding performance and reliability. Every product has gone through rigorous testing and engineers have spent thousands of hours, doing their very best to use every possible experience from more than 40 years within the racing sport.
Ohlins TTX36 Manual Table of CONTENTS
1 Design................................................................. 5
2 Function............................................................... 6
3 Spring preload....................................................... 7
4 Compression and Rebound, 2-Way......................... 8
5 Compression and Rebound, 4-Way (Low speed)...... 9
6 Compression and Rebound, 4-Way (High speed)..... 10
7 Adjustment & set-up............................................. 11
8 Inspection and maintenance.................................. 12
Ohlins TTX36 DESIGN
Congratulations on choosing the Öhlins TTX shock absorber - the most unique and powerful racing shock absorber available today. The TTX36 shock absorber design is the culmination of five decades of Öhlins successful participation in World Championship events. This shock absorber draws on all the expertise developed by Öhlins while winning more than 350 World championship titles. The Öhlins TTX36 features a patented concept with a unique concentric twin tube design, together with a solid main piston, that allows for the gas pressure to always back-up the lowpressure side of the main piston. This design creates positive pressure build up on both compression and rebound stroke. As a result the TTX36 has a more direct damping response, less risk for cavitation and works with lower gas pressure.
Compared to a regular piggy back single tube shock absorber, that has positive pressure build up only on rebound stroke and relies on compression valve resistance together with gas pressure to avoid cavitation on compression stroke, the TTX36 design is superior.
Also the twin tube design with separate channels connecting the compression valve to the compression side of the main piston and the rebound valve to the rebound side of the main piston, gives the possibility to have completely separated adjusters for compression and rebound damping. The whole system is pressurized by nitrogen gas behind a floating piston to ensure separation of the gas and fluid.
The Öhlins shim system offers infinite combinations of shim stacks with a wide spectrum of different character. The Öhlins TTX36 shock absorber is a user friendly shock absorber, easy to set up, dial in and rebuild. Support is always available from the Öhlins distributors worldwide.
Ohlins TTX36 FUNCTION
When the shock absorber moves, the fluid inside is forced to flow through either the compression valve or rebound valve first (depending on direction of movement) ; followed by going through either the rebound check valve or compression check valve and on to the other side of the main piston. The fluid displaced by the piston rod is directed either into or out of the reservoir. The reservoir is connected to the system so, regardless of direction of movement, it will be in contact with the low pressure side of the main piston.
The compression and the rebound valve are both of the same design. The valve has three flow paths for the fluid.Bleed valve, a small orifice that creates a flow restriction simply by being small. Shim valve, fluid pressure has to deflect thin steel washers (shims) to open up an orifice and allow fluid to flow through it. Check valve: a spring pre-loaded shim that opens easily, for return flow of fluid when the direction of movement of the shock absorber changes. The bleed valve and shim valve are used to build up damping force. At slow stroke speeds the percentage going through the bleed valve is higher and at fast strokes the shim valve takes care of most of the flow.
The check valve, together with the bleed valve (since it can flow both directions), handle return flow. To control damping force the bleed valve can be changed in size by the external adjuster, compression and rebound. By altering the stiffness of the shim stack (number, thickness, diameter and shape) on the shim valve the characteristics of the damping action can be changed. This should only be done by an authorized Öhlins service workshop.
Compression Damping
When movement of the vehicle causes compression of the shock absorber the fluid above the main piston is pressurized (more than the set gas pressure) and goes through the:
- compression adjuster bleed valve
- compression adjuster shim valve
- channel connected to the reservoir
- rebound adjuster check valve
...and between the outer and inner tube to the under side of the main piston.
During compression stroke, the piston rod is entering the main body and the correspondingly displaced volume of damper fluid has to flow into the reservoir; the separating piston moves accordingly.
Rebound Damping
When the spring forces the shock absorber to extend again, the fluid below the piston is pressurized (more than the set gas pressure) and has to move. In a similar pattern the flow goes through the:
- rebound adjuster bleed valve
- rebound adjuster shim valve
- channel connected to the reservoir
- compression adjuster check valve
...and into the inner tube to the upper side of the main piston.
The fluid that was displaced into the reservoir during compression stroke, is now pushed back into the main body by the pressure of the gas; the separating piston moves accordingly.
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