Ideal Ride Height....?

[bales 1]

I have decided recently for whatever reasons my car handles a bit crap and it annoys me!

 

I was wondering whether there is a generally accepted ride heigh that people tend to go for in mm for a specific datum point...

 

I think that mine is probably too low at the moment.

 

As for spec, mine is on GAZ coilovers, stripped out, battery in boot, standard rear tb's and lowered 1 spline....yes I know it is supposed to be a bodge but I don't know this infinitely adjustable method of lowering the rear beam! I pretty much set the front to match the back.

 

I am not 100% sure what rate the front springs are, but they are probably too stiff, they are what come as standard with the GAZ's so I suspect 275/300lb maybe...

 

Anyway below is a pic, is it too low?

 

Edited June 2, 2009 by bales

[Baz 421]

Doesn't look as bad as some, i personally like them high, although not quite std, 20mm down or so is a nice height, althopugh finding springs etc to do that is a problem, setting the beam isn't of course, and with coilovers it's easy!

[James_R 3]

Height looks about the same as mine used to, the ride height isn't the issue the difference between front and rear is. about 180 on the fornt woudl match the rear, or look at a 24mm ARB on the tail to make it stiffer and match the front better.

[Tom Fenton 1,562]

Uprating the rear spring and roll bar rates makes the biggest difference I have found, 24mm ARB is definitely a good start to go with front coilovers. If it is on 275 or 300 lb springs then these are probably too hard for the road, I have 225lb on my car and am quite happy with them. The track car we use either 250 or 300lb. I would say raising it a touch wouldn't hurt either.

 

Adjusting the rear beam height is simple- the torsion bars have a different number of splines each end, so by rotating the bar round you can get to pretty much any relationship you want between the splines at one end and the other. The key part is releasing both ends of the torsion bar from the housing on the beam and in the trailing arm. In practise then you can set the distance between damper bolts, and then offer the torsion bar up, and rotate it until it will slide home (with hand pressure if the splines are clean and greased).

On standard bars something around 310mm between centres tends to match -40mm lowering springs for example. Of course if it turns out too low or too high providing you have greased the bars well it is a simple job to alter it to alter your ride height. The main thing is to make sure both sides are the same though.

Edited June 2, 2009 by Tom Fenton

[Rippthrough 98]

Sounds like your rear spring rate compared to the front is the problem rather than the ride height, go with some thicker torsion bars.

[205turbo 32 2 Cars]

are you sure of the rates of the springs, i just bought 2 sets of coilovers off Gaz and order 285 lbs springs, both sets turned up with the standard 185 lbs in there as well.

[bales 1]

are you sure of the rates of the springs, i just bought 2 sets of coilovers off Gaz and order 285 lbs springs, both sets turned up with the standard 185 lbs in there as well.

 

To be honest I am not sure, but I know that it is bloody stiff! If you bounce on the front corner it hardly moves.

 

Will it have it written on the springs?

 

Where can you buy uprated torsion bars and how much are they generally? Do they come on any other cars that could be used?

 

Thanks for your help so far.

 

Also whilst i'm here lol my brakes are also scary, they brake well, but they back end is all over the place under any decent braking force! Is there a compensator valve or something that needs adjusting to suit the fact that there is no weight in the back of the car?

 

Cheers

 

Alex

[Rich_p 23]

I have the same problem with the brakes and am loosing the standard valves in the engine bay and running an adjustable valve instead so I can turn them down.

[TT205 42]

Alex

 

If you are on standard rear ARB and torsion bars and you have upped the front spring rate it will understeer like hell

 

As a minimum you want solid rear beam mounts (~removes LOO) and a thicker rear arb to induce the rear to move (even 23mm will make a HUGE difference to standard), ideally you do want thicker torsion bars too, 21-23mm on road tyres is quite sufficient - maybe thicker if you have grippy rubber

 

Wiith the front - the idea is to run it as soft as the rear set up will allow for your driving style, so try it with your current springs and if it's still understeery soften the front

 

If I'm teaching grandma to suck eggs - my apologies

 

There were arb's and tb's in the group buy section

Dave

[kyepan 291]

you had the same setup as me,

 

Mine would plough around the place understeering uncontrollably, it would also go coil bound on bumpy surfaces with the standard gaz 6 inch springs.

 

As previously mentioned, the front is too stiff the back is too soft, either go back to standard dampers and springs, or fork out for the items below.

 

Get some 200lbs 8 inch springs in the front (they only cost about 40 quid) and up rate the rear torsion bars to 22mm ish.

 

Cheers

 

J

[skeggyrik 3]

http://forum.205gtidrivers.com/index.php?s...=105816&hl=

 

if you decide you want to try softer springs......