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S7 Rear Suspension


Guest 19chandler74

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Guest 19chandler74

I've recently purchased my 1st RH. It has had new wheels fitted that I'm assured are well suited to the car. However, the outer edge of the tyres are rubbing quite badly on the edge of the wheel arches when travelling over bumpy ground. I'm told the rear springs are original mk4 cortina and are likely to be tired. The shocks have been renewed recently, any suggestions on what springs I should fit? Bearing in mind I'm a 15 stone novice, exact measurements etc. would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, Matt

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Guest 19chandler74

Thanks Snapperpaul, think I'll have to try just the springs for now (cashflow). Any idea which pound rating I could try?

 

Cheers. :rolleyes:

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I expect that it's not the springs that are the problem but the offset of the wheels. I believe that Ford had their own particular offset, the original wheels being used by RH in the "design" etc of the rear wings, and should tuck up inside the arches on full travel. Now if after-market wheels have been used, the offset will be close, but not the same, and the wheels probably sticking out a little further than originally designed.

 

If on the other hand you do have the original Ford steel wheels still fitted and they're catching, first check that no wheel spacers are fitted, if none and it's still a problem then maybe your springs have gone weak, a new set of standard springs would bring things back to the correct height, or heavier duty ones from an estate model.(Not recommended as the suspension is on the hard side as it is)

 

As Snapperpaul says, an alternative solution is to go with coil-over shockers, but then you may need to experiment with spring poundage to get a comfortable ride.

Also remember that anyone giving you details of what they have fitted to a 2B is irrelevant to your car.

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I had a Cortina based S7 and the rear springs were silly soft. I suspect that they were actually progressive and that the low weight of the Hood meant they were only ever working in the soft area that would normally be compressed just by the weight of the Cortina at rest.

 

I bought a set of coilovers from a Locost place and used the open and closed lengths recommended for the rear of a Locost but the spring lengths and weights recommended for the front. Sorry - can't give exact details as I just don't remember them.

 

The coilovers were attached from memory where the bottom of the original Cortina shock went (think I needed a longer HT bolt). Instead of inclining inwards like the original Cortina shocks I made a re-inforcing piece that went all the way across the boot floor and picked up on some original members and the original upper shock mounts. The new coilovers now had something to attach to when they were set vertically.

 

With the spring seats of the coilovers wound all the way out and the original Cortina springs left in place as well I found it just about perfect.

 

Iain

 

Edit to add - the donor for my car was an estate as I had an MOT for a white Cortina estate with the same reg number as the S7 amongst the paperwork that came with the car so I'd guess that they were estate springs.

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