45 replies to this topic

[MartinS]

Had my suspension refurbed and they sent them back with loose springs so had to work out ride height. Put them on and pretty good but wanted to raise each end up a bit more.

To do this assumed raise the top collars up the correct amount, the spring then would expand to fill that and voila new ride height, but, did that on the front and it went up. Did that on the back and it went down?????

So to confirm, do you raise the collars to expand the springs to raise ride height?

 

Does this not also have the effect of softening the spring effect as well as its less compressed?

 

Martin S

Not done this before but still have no idea why the front would go up and the back down, and yes they were both turned the same wayanti clockwise which moved tye collars upwards on the damper units.

 

 

[Crabash]

It works the other way. Up for lower. Or should I say away from the spring allowing it to expand more gives lower ride.

Edited by Crabash, 17 September 2014 - 09:21 AM.

[siztenboots]

depends on the spring preload

[MartinS]

Thanks. After posting (I always do things the wrong way round it seems) I found videos etc showing that. Still unsure why the front went up though as I really did do it the same way as the rear.

Oh well, am fitting new discs and pads today so will sort this out at the same time.

 

Martin S

ps This my first time adjusting ride heights as you can tell!!

Edited by MartinS, 17 September 2014 - 09:28 AM.

[Nev]

o.o

[siztenboots]

Still unsure why the front went up though as I really did do it the same way as the rear. ps This my first time adjusting ride heights as you can tell!!

as you adjust the force on each corner, the weight dynamically shifts , this is what corner weighting is trying to achieve, balancing the forces on each tyre. if you adjust ride height , then you also alter the positions of the tie/track rod , which in turn adjusts geo.

[MartinS]

Most annoyed with myself that I didn't record the ride heights when the shocks went back to be fixed. They had promised to keep the heights as they were and didn't, but ultimately my fault for not measuring.

Will get them checked professionally as soon as I can but I got the car to look exactly the way it did and using the correct measuring points had it so that there was a 10mm difference between the rear and front ride heights on a flat surface. Was just raising it up a bit was it was running 92mm and 102mm.

 

Martin S

PS what doe o.o mean?

[myles]

I'll be interested to see what you do to sort this Martin (geo or just fit etc.) as I will soon have a set of adjustable shocks that have never been fitted to the car, returning from being rebuilt. I'll keep an eye on this.

[Andrew aka Stuwy]

just take it to BoT

[siztenboots]

remembers the spax which got installed with 1 or 2 installed upside down

[alexb]

Adjusting ride height can be quite annoying. What helped me:

- make up some small blocks of wood at the ride height you're aiming for. Makes measuring much easier

- every time you adjust, don't forget to 'set the springs'. Best is to drive a bit.

- make sure you have a flat surface. My garage floor isn't for example and only found that out because of setting the ride height

- use a factor of 1.45 for the front and 1.3 at the back. Meaning 1 mm at the damper is 1.45 mm in ride height at the front and 1.3 mm at the back

- only do a geo once you're sure about your ride height

- in case of wishbone bushes used in sheer, ideally they should be tightened at ride height. Not much of a difference when the changes in ride height are small, but going from OEM to much lower, this should be done (now runs to his car, as I remember I never did this)

[MartinS]

Set both sides up exactly the same now at 96 front 106 rear (Looks a bit high on my car, no idea how people run 120 130!). Initially the left side was 1cm higher than the other (weird) but after a short test drive the ride height has come down .5mm on the left side now, so hopefully will end up settling the same as the right side. If not I will be very confused as the units were millimetre accurate in the thread visible at the top.

Seems no jobs are as simple as you think on these things, always some quirk.

 

Martin S

 

[siztenboots]

numbers look wrong, or measure point is wrong. check tyre pressures as well

[oakmere]

numbers look wrong, or measure point is wrong. check tyre pressures as well

This ^ 96mm front would be almost scraping the ground on the front splitter and the handling would be fooked.

[CHILL Gone DUTCH]

Mine is setup as following Front passenger 110 Front driver 110 Rear passenger 125 Rear driver 128 All in mm

[Kieran McC]

Recomended is 120mm front, 130mm rear

[MartinS]

Measured from the points defined on the site. Main chassis rail under the car inside of the front wheel and rear measure just by the jacking point on the main chassis rail.

Measured on a flat floored garage.

 

Martin S

 

 

[CHILL Gone DUTCH]

I measured rear from just in front of the back wheel where you would normally put axle stands

[mbes2]

96mm front?? What was mikes race car? That's crazy low don't go speed bump hunting

[MartinS]

Its 4mm higher than it has been all most of its life as previous notes showed it as 92 fr 102 rear.

 

Martin