I am completely confused by all of the measurements regarding suspension, coils, dampers etc.
So to stop my car bottoming on big bumps (medium bumps with a passenger) I wound the rear springs up as high as possible to raise the ride height.
I'll need to wind them down a bit though as I think there's not enough downward travel when going over potholes or dropping off the bigger bumps.
I'm 16.5st/105Kg so from what I've read here so far I should have something like 250lbs front and 200lbs rear springs.
Mine is an early Stylus on a Fury chassis, would the new concave rear arms still fit on my car, and are they necessary?
The "before" shot
Fortunately they haven't bent.
Some more bits
Smallest fuel tank, ever! The lowest I've seen my fuel gauge is the needle under the empty mark. Sometime I'm going to take can of fuel with me and just see how far I can go on a tank
i think rob may agree with me here. i am about the same weight as you and i have got 250 lb springs at the front and 225 lb at the back. this made a world of difference to the handling of my car and it feels so much nicer to drive now. i got my springs from faulkener springs at 25 quid each. they supply the springs to protech so you could give them a call and get the springs from them.
Thanks Alec.
I know there are a lot of variations between cars but what length (front/back) and ID are your springs?
I think the only way for me to be sure is to take them off and measure them. I'll check the dampers at the same time in case I decide to replace them at some point.
I think that a lot of the little problems I'm coming across are because the previous owner only did 1000miles in the 10years since he completed the build!
drhunter wrote:Thanks Alec.
I know there are a lot of variations between cars but what length (front/back) and ID are your springs?
I think the only way for me to be sure is to take them off and measure them. I'll check the dampers at the same time in case I decide to replace them at some point.
I think that a lot of the little problems I'm coming across are because the previous owner only did 1000miles in the 10years since he completed the build!
The answer to ' dipped long travel ' arms being neccessary is very definately YES I'm a light 80kgs but still ran out of travel(piston rod in shock) The difference will be obvious in the ability of the cars handling when it's done even if you didn't think there was a 'travel' problem.
Being a FURY chassis , I'm sure the shock is mounted in a slightly more forward position on the arm otherwise it would rub the axle . So quite simply --------- measure the length of the arm --bolt centre to bolt centre and note the position of the bottom shock mount measured from the axle end bolt centre.Also measure the width of the shock mounts. Give these details to Tim and he'll make to fit. Wont be a problem because he makes them himself o.k. Your greatest expense will be the new longer shocks .
The point of this whole exersize is to have the ability to lower the car without compromising the required piston travel.Once the piston runs out of travel or has too much preload , the shock becomes a solid 'bar' and the arms will bend
I just love the Stylus but she keeps swallowing £££ ! Alfa Red 159 2.4 jtdm ti 260bhp 365lbft / BilsteinB12 + Adjustable Powerflex camber/castor bushes. Red STYLUS 2lt zetec 231bhp 185lbft Dunnell . RED 1972 Alfa 2lt GTAm replica 170bhp.
I had 13 inch shocks on the rear and found that it bottomed out at my desired ride height, by going to shorter shocks I actually got more useable travel.
This is what I did:
removed shocks and raised the wheel the mimimum gap I wanted it to travel, then measured the distance between the two mounting points, this gave me a figure of 8 .5 inches, lowering the wheel down to the maximum amount of travel I wanted and measured again and I got just under 12 inches.
So I fitted 12 inch shocks with a closed length of 8.5 and they work really well, the 13 inch had a closed length of 9inchs, while the difference is only .5inches at the shock, it actually gives about 3/4 inch at the wheel due to the pivots and prevents bottoming out.
You will need to change the springs as well due to weight, I'm running 200lbs springs which work fine upto 25 stone (me and a passanger)
I'm not convinced that concave arms are needed in every instance, while Tim has spent the time to make them exact for use with longer shocks, I see no reason that you can't get it bloody close with the right length shocks.
Alex
ps I'm using 8inch springs on my 12 inch rear shocks and 7inch on my 11inch fronts.
After sorting my radiator:
I changed the alternator belt, which seems to have stopped the bad noise that was occuring when the engine revs dropped.
I dropped the rear spring platforms from 26mm vtop) down to 22mm as is was over extending on potholes and bigger bumps.
Lastly I decided to check the damper settings... turns out the previous owner had them set to the softest ride front and back :O
(original tyre pressure was 14-16psi too, no wonder it was cornering like an american car )
I've dialled them up to 5 clicks at the front and 4 at the back.
All in all it's much better. It doesn't bottom out and I can actually keep the car in a straight line on bumpy country roads
Think I'm going to start by replacing the current shocks front & back but not the dampers or the rear arms - it's the cheaper option. If that's still not enough then I'll reconsider the dampers etc.
drhunter wrote:After sorting my radiator:
I changed the alternator belt, which seems to have stopped the bad noise that was occuring when the engine revs dropped.
I dropped the rear spring platforms from 26mm vtop) down to 22mm as is was over extending on potholes and bigger bumps.
Lastly I decided to check the damper settings... turns out the previous owner had them set to the softest ride front and back :O
(original tyre pressure was 14-16psi too, no wonder it was cornering like an american car )
I've dialled them up to 5 clicks at the front and 4 at the back.
All in all it's much better. It doesn't bottom out and I can actually keep the car in a straight line on bumpy country roads
Think I'm going to start by replacing the current shocks front & back but not the dampers or the rear arms - it's the cheaper option. If that's still not enough then I'll reconsider the dampers etc.
Evening- shocks and dampers are the same thing- guess you ment springs? if so 180-200 rear and 225-250 front seem to be the common set up for road and a bit of track use.
drhunter wrote:After sorting my radiator:
I changed the alternator belt, which seems to have stopped the bad noise that was occuring when the engine revs dropped.
I dropped the rear spring platforms from 26mm vtop) down to 22mm as is was over extending on potholes and bigger bumps.
Lastly I decided to check the damper settings... turns out the previous owner had them set to the softest ride front and back :O
(original tyre pressure was 14-16psi too, no wonder it was cornering like an american car )
I've dialled them up to 5 clicks at the front and 4 at the back.
All in all it's much better. It doesn't bottom out and I can actually keep the car in a straight line on bumpy country roads
Think I'm going to start by replacing the current shocks front & back but not the dampers or the rear arms - it's the cheaper option. If that's still not enough then I'll reconsider the dampers etc.
Evening- shocks and dampers are the same thing- guess you ment springs? if so 180-200 rear and 225-250 front seem to be the common set up for road and a bit of track use.
Alex
I'm running 205 front springs and 180 rears and its fine.
How the hell did you lose 20kgs since I saw you at Eelmoor ---------- she hasn't got you mucking out horses AND landscaping has she
I just love the Stylus but she keeps swallowing £££ ! Alfa Red 159 2.4 jtdm ti 260bhp 365lbft / BilsteinB12 + Adjustable Powerflex camber/castor bushes. Red STYLUS 2lt zetec 231bhp 185lbft Dunnell . RED 1972 Alfa 2lt GTAm replica 170bhp.
stylussprinter wrote:How the hell did you lose 20kgs since I saw you at Eelmoor ---------- she hasn't got you mucking out horses AND landscaping has she
I'm a light 80kgs but still ran out of travel(piston rod in shock) The difference will be obvious in the ability of the cars handling when it's done even if you didn't think there was a 'travel' problem.
