56 replies to this topic

[cheshirevx]

if any of you have read my previous posts about my car being extremely low at the front - this is for you..

when i first bought it - i was assured it was standard suspension-shocks and springs , and upon inspection clearly was- but my car was 60/70mm lower than any other vx i had looked at

eventually today, after 4 hrs graft and can show you the reason why!!? the brackets in which the shock sits has been modified by welding on a a washer!!! on the top so it sits higher up ,so th the body and whole chassis of the car sits a lot lower to the ground - been driving around like this for 6 months!!!

cheap mod??

need to get a decent geo set up now...

[JimH]

Errr, the spring must have been changed as well, surely? The location of the damper mounting wouldn't make any difference to the ride height - or have I missed something? Looking at the quality job the previous owner may just have hacksawed a coil off the OE ones.

[Pidgeon]

Is that really as it appears with steel (rusting) extensions welded to an alloy bracket? Is it possible to weld steel to aluminium? If so, whoever did that should be shot. Bloody dangerous. Jim, if the top shock mount goes up, the car comes down.

[JimH]

Why?

[christurbo]

If you have an Elise you can buy brackets to make your Liz sit either 15mm or 25mm lower. HTH's

[cheshirevx]

Why?

try coming down 50mm!! - thats the difference.

the whole shock is sat higher ,so obviously the lower end that is connected to the wishbone is higher also as when there is no shock attached - the hub is moveable on the 'steering rod' (name ?) aint it

yep, its exactly how it looks- small steel 12 mm washers horrendously welded on to top of the shock bracket

[Jase_MK]

Why?

Jim

If instead of mounting it here you mounted the tops of the shocks to the bottomf of the undertray, the car would sit about 2 feet in the air. Imagine if you mounted a washer lower instead of higher. Imagine if in fact you mounted a washer a metre lower on the end of a long pole and mounted the the top of the shock to that.

[JimH]

Still not following. I'm at a loss as to understand what difference the location of the damper has to do with ride height (assuming that the damper hasn't reached the full extent of its travel).

[cheshirevx]

Why?

didnt really explain very well!

that bracket bolts to the chassis - if i drilled 2 more holes in the chassis and moved the bracket up - it would of had exactly the same effect - rather than the washer mod.

[JimH]

So what would happen if I removed the damper altogether? To the ride height, that is. Ignore me - I'm being a twat. The spring and the damper is one unit on these things. What a doodah.

[cheshirevx]

So what would happen if I removed the damper altogether? To the ride height, that is.

the car would be on the floor!

remember, when the shock is not attached - the hub (caliper, discs etc..) is flexible on the steering rod

[JimH]

See above.

[cheshirevx]

If you have an Elise you can buy brackets to make your Liz sit either 15mm or 25mm lower.

HTH's

drilling 2 more holes in these brackets would have exactly the same effect

a possible money spinner for anyone!

[Jase_MK]

Ignore me - I'm being a twat. The spring and the damper is one unit on these things.

What a doodah.

lol, Monday morning mate. Have a coffee

[christurbo]

If you have an Elise you can buy brackets to make your Liz sit either 15mm or 25mm lower.

HTH's

drilling 2 more holes in these brackets would have exactly the same effect

a possible money spinner for anyone!

No - you could only increase ride height with the std brackets as the holes are right at the top of the bracket therefore no room for extra holes.

SteveB on Seloc sells them - also Eliseparts.

They are longer than std brackets with holes further up into the clam - thus making things lower when the damper is mounted!

Edited by christurbo, 07 August 2006 - 08:41 AM.

[Richy]

cheap mod??

Deadly mod!

That has to be the dangerous thing ive ever seen done to the vx. The amount of stress on that component is immense, the welding is shite and there is no strengthening brackets/plates.

Mad totally mad

[cheshirevx]

''No - you could only increase ride height with the std brackets as the holes are right at the top of the bracket therefore no room for extra holes. '' if the holes are at the top, then.. you drill holes lower down on the bracket - so when bracket is bolted to car - bracket sits higher if you look at my pics , you can move holes down 20mm to adjust ride height very easily.

Edited by cheshirevx, 07 August 2006 - 09:09 AM.

[cheshirevx]

for your info - the bracket pictured is passenger side - 15.41 plus Vat drivers side has an extra bracket plate on top (approx 20 mm square) - that some wiring is bolted to... the cost - 45.63 ?? so if anyone is replacing these brackets - 2 passenger side brackets will do. 100%. (and a zip tie! )

Edited by cheshirevx, 07 August 2006 - 09:21 AM.

[Anarchy]

You mean like this, I think it could work:  brackets.jpg   108.78KB   1 downloads images never work for me, hopefully its above?

[MEAGY]

but doesnt that pust the shock into the car because of the angle of the shocks on the front?

Edited by Foxy, 23 August 2006 - 03:25 PM.