Stiffer Rear

[Guest matty_t]

How can i make my rear surspention stiffer? I dont know what springs are on it now but im not the lightest person in the world!

Weres the best lace to get springs and is it just better to get a set of springs and shocks or will springs be ok?

thanks,

Matt

[DAVE CASTLE]

Have you got coil overs or the standard sierra set up if sierra use caravan spring assisters [airbags]

if coil overs get stonger springs.

Dave

[Guest Tim Norman]

If you have the Sierra set up all you need to do is introduce some preload. I had that set up and by lifting the base of the spring 3" but keeping the same ride height the springs actually worked and the ride was much firmer. Easy job and better still cost nowt.

[Guest matty_t]

thansk dave and tim!

How would i move the spring up 3"? by putting a spacer between the spring and the bottem arm? to be honest iv not had a proper look at how i can do it yet just getting some ideas on how to do it

[Guest Tim Norman]

If you are going to Donington I will take the parts you need. Springs inserts and platforms and advice. All for free.

[Guest macca]

Matt the current set up uses the front mcpherson struts from the Sierra, chopped off, turned upside down, and bolted in to bottom of the roll bar, this provides the top seat for the spring. If you whip a wheel off you will see the 8mm bolt holding it in place. Just for info its using standard Sierra springs at the moment. Not sure how to pre-load the spring but I'd be interested in seeing some pics.

 

Macca

[Guest old_timbo]

How did you manage to keep the ride height the same when putting a 3" spacer in? Doesn't it just make the car sit 3" higher . Also unless the springs are rising rate (I don't think they are), putting preload on shouldn't make any difference should it?

My 2B used to bottom out under hard acceleration even in a straight line, so I fitted rubber spring assisters between the coils. This effectively gave dual rate springs, soft to start with, so retaining ride comfort, but as the rubbers came into play, much firmer. Cured the problem completely and also had the benefit of reducing body roll etc. Guess the standard springs are too soft.

During my rebuild I have swopped to coilovers, but this was to get adjustable ride height and two-way damping. Sierra dampers are supposedly only rebound damped, although mine seemed stiff in both directions once I'd got them off.

 

Tim

[Guest Tim Norman]

The springs in their natural environment at the front of the car are under a phenomenal amount of preload. Try taking the front suspension apart without using spring clamps. All I did was replicate this at the back. The preload takes out the initial softness of the spring so they work from the off. Its is a lot easier to show rather than explain. So I will take all the bits to Donny, and hopefully someone will take them all away afterwards.

[Guest timswait]

I'm with old timbo on this. The full weight of the car is sat on the spring when it is resting, it doesn't matter how much preload you start from there will be the same amount of load in the spring with the car's weight on it, and so the force required to move the spring by an extra inch (ie it's stiffness) will be the same. Adding more preload just reduces the amount of suspension travel in the rebound direction and raises the resting height.

I'm not 100% on this, so feel free to shoot me down!

[Guest chris brown]

Me too Tim it has me confused

I would think the caravan towing spring assisters are the best bet.

[Guest salty_monk]

The only way I can see that working is by tieing the top & bottom platforms together to prevent the springs from simply lifting the car up higher. By doing that you would get rid of any negative spring though so the suspension would be compromised when dropping a wheel into a hole for example.

 

I guess it could work if the springs are very soft & you cut the mounting tube to reset the ride height. All springs are "rising rate" to a certain degree especially when they are well used.

 

The easiest solution in my opinion is the rubber spring assistors for towing. I have them but not fitted yet. They cost about 20 quid.

 

One interesting point about those rubber assistors that's not really relevant to us but was noticeable on my old Escort, the spring assistors make the back of the car sit up higher which in turn fools the brake compensator into thinking you are not as loaded as you really are. This means it doesn't switch so much braking force to the rear & in turn can overheat the front brakes. You don't really notice it unless very heavy on a long descent, most vehicles brakes have a good safety margin in them these days.

 

Dan

[Guest Tim Norman]

OK I'm talking *bleep*s my opinion is worth bugger all and it never worked on my car. I must have been halucinating. The parts are now in the bin.

 

Before the mod I too had the car bottoming. After I could accelerate as Hard as I liked over the North York Moor roads, take off and land without bottoming out, but hey what do I know.

 

The suspension was "tied" together by the damper. It worked on my car and I was prepared to bring the bits and show you how. The emphasis being on WAS!

[Guest gdc]

ohhhhh calm down , take a breath i think we need a beer induced conference based on fantasy and fueled by pure b sh t based on more fantisy and other crap

we can sort this out,

a 3.;30 finnish?

 

give me a few beers and an audience and its done.

regards graham

 

see you at donny

[Guest Tim Norman]

I've had it work too. People ask my advice, don't like, or understand it, so dismiss it out of hand. So I don't think I'll bother for a while whilst I try to calm down.

 

Beer on Saturday may help or.............................it might just rev me up a bit more.

 

Light the blue touch paper and step back at your peril

[Guest salty_monk]

I don't think anyone was dismissing it, I certainly wasn't.... I just didn't understand it. If the damper is extended to its maximum I can understand how that would fix the ride height & thus add preload to the spring. That was the "tie" in my post. You used the damper as the tie so now I understand how it works.

 

I think in theory you will have to reset height though as the dampers aren't normally at full extension under normal conditions but I'm sure experience gives you a better idea than me

 

If the damper is maxed out though it will affect negative spring as the suspension cannot extend any further to allow a wheel to drop down into a hole etc. On a stiff setup with limited travel you probably will not notice this much though, especially on a smooth road or track.

 

I should have bought you this T shirt back from Disneyland last weekend....

 

Dan