Sorting Out My Ride Height

[AJPMIKE 0]

Hi all,this is my first proper post on here,so please dont flame me if i'm being a little tiresome for the experienced among you! I'm very new to the 205(last Saturday) and i'd like to get my 1.9 GTi up to scratch.

I find the steering on my car to be a little varied,sometimes feels loaded up,and sometimes feels light and precise.I've had the basics of the steering itself checked out,and all is fine with the rack etc,but i know the ride height isnt std and i'd like to get it back to std before investigating geometry further.The rear seems very low when compared to the front,but i have no reference as to what the std ride height is.Lots of topics on here regarding ride height,but i couldnt find a std reference for wheel arch height above wheel center/rim or somesuch.

Also,this torsion bar set up is completely new to me,and it seems that adjusting the height using the 'splines method' is not really the thing to do,judging by some old posts i've read.

Can someone give me a std ride height(including front as well as rear)d to set up to,how to measure this,and how to adjust this correctly please(in laymans terms if possible).

For reference,my car is an '89 model,and has koni's all round,with adjustable fronts.

Many thanks,Mike

[dirtdog 4]

I don't know the measurement but a lot of people use "dummy shocks". There are torsion bar pulling tools for sale on this forum also which you will need to reset the height(you may need a few more posts before you can post in the sale section)

 

This has probably been covered before somewhere. I've got a number im my head but i'm not sure....

 

I also know a few people who really don't like koni but it's all down to personal preferance I guess. I've never used them.

 

Prehaps you could put up a picture?

[philfingers 5]

322mm centre to centre rings a bell with me, I think the figure in the book is 315mm but the bars 'settle' over time and 315mm was too low for me. Drop me a PM with your email address and I'll send you the PDF of the rally build book which explains matters further. The ref points for the rear ride height is wheel centre to underside of the arch moulding, mine came out at about 330mm.

The issue with the front steering sounds very much like the lower U/J in the column (it's engine side just above the rack) is seizing up. You need to jack the whole of the front of the car off the ground and move the wheels left to right, best by hand (hold the wheel at 1/4 to 3). If it's on the way out it will go tight, loose, tight, loose. PAS ones are different to non-PAS ones.

Edited January 16, 2009 by philfingers

[large 33]

Hight on jacking points

 

Front=171mm

Rear=157mm

 

That is for a 1.6 89 onwards, may not be spot on but its a starting point.

[AJPMIKE 0]

Thanks for all the replies,really helpfull I'll try and take a pic of the car to post up on here.I'll take some measurements for a start point,and also have a look at that u/j on the steering.

I found it interesting to read on one of the stickies,that someone who appears very knowlegable(ADI i think it was) advocates lowering the rear height in relation to the front.It surprised me to find out that the rear is normally lower on these cars,as everything i'm used to in rwd land is either level or higher at the rear.Fwd is pretty alien to me,so i'm on a bit of a steep learning curve at the moment!

[philfingers 5]

it's quite normal for rallying to run the front higher than the back. It makes them a bit more stable.