Jump to content

Chassis Height


Guest MartinP

Recommended Posts

Guest MartinP

I am having a problem getting the front of the car at a height that will get the wishbones looking right and the engine at least 4" off the floor.

 

I have gaz shocks fitted, 14" open length, 10.5" closed with 9" 350lb springs

 

This is the near side with the GBS supplied mountings, top wishbone is miles to low & the engine is only 2" off the floor.

 

DSCF1972.jpg

 

 

On the off side, I have fitted a temp bracket with the wishbone mounting point 1" higher, this has lifted the wishbone closer to an acceptable position.

 

DSCF1973.jpg

 

 

I can move the top shock mounting out further from the chassis tube but this would mean that the direction of the forces through the shock absorber will be moved to the flanged headlight plate rather than into the tube section.

 

I have distance of 165mm from the floor to the underside of the chassis tube at the engine mounting postion, in order to have an acceptable stance I need 200mm at this point on the chassis.

 

thoughts & comments appreciated.

 

Martin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest old_timbo

Can't work out what engine you are using. Do you have a shortened sump? Think the bottom wishbones should be about parallel to the ground. You also need to check that the dummy strut out of the hub is the right way round - think in the top picture it may not be. Trial fit the shock without the spring and check suspension travel is limited by the stops in the shock + a safety margin, and not by the ball joints etc. running out of travel.

Have you checked the alignment of the engine/gearbox with the diff.? The centre line through the diff. and the gearbox should be parallel in both plan and side views to avoid propshaft vibes. This often involves shuffling both the diff and the engine about until its right and will influence both the height and angle that the engine has to sit at.

 

Tim

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Noddy006

Hi Martin

As they say 'it don't look right' but can't see why. Have you tried email photos to GBS and asked for comments. Initial thoughts say what about spring lengths but that is a pure guess. Hope somebody out ther can really help.

 

Ian H

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Martin,

 

Something looks a miss to me but what i ask myself, i would block the chassis up to the correct/required ride height and then look at how the front wishbones look with the steering rack connected as it should be near enough straight and parallel with the wishbones , as this would be the approximate centre point of your shocks travel.

 

Are the bottom wishbones supposed to kickup at the end, as this will not help as it will in effect lower the ride/chassis ground clearance height.

 

As Ian H has mentioned a few words with GBS certainly wouldnt go a mis here at least you should get the right answer.

 

Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As a start, can't you bolt the lower ball joint underneath the wishbone rather than on top.

 

Also not a great help now but the lower wishbone mounting channel looks like it would have been better off fitted on top of the chassis tubes rather than underneath which would allow the wishbones to angle down at normal ride height, the damper to be closer to the right length and would save all the packers under the rack.

 

How thick is the ball joint mounting plate in the lower wishbone - I'd be concerned that it might bend further if you hit a pot hole without having some webs welded across the folded part.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

might be a dumb suggestion but are your bottom wishbones on the correct sides? If they were on opposite sides the end flange where the balljoint is would point downwards not upwards and would lift the car higher off the ground.

 

HTH

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest MartinP

Thanks for the suggestions,

 

I am sure that the wishbones are fitted the correct way round, I will get a look at the setup on Gaz0571's car as it has the same GBS wishbone conversion.

 

The engine is an Ecotec V6 and it has a flat sump. The engine height can still be moved on the brackets so I'm not too worried about that as long as I can get the wishbones right.

 

Tim,

 

regarding the 10" springs, is that 10" and still 350lb, or are they stronger?

 

The Ecotec is only about 15-20Kgs heavier than a Pinto.

 

Martin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have you tried undoing the grub screw on the bottom spring ajusting collar and then wind them up, I have a 2b with a cossy engine in it I was hitting cats eyes. I screwed up mine and the ride hight came up, my wishbones went down towards the car like yours do but now are slightly sloped down towards the wheel. hope this helps

Paul.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Martin, just a thought, with the standard wishbones on a 2B the shockers are usually 13" open length, I'm pretty certain that the track on the wishbone conversion is wider than the wishbone 2B, and looking at your pics the shocks are mounted much further outboard and yet only an inch longer. Have a chat with GBS it may be that longer shocks and springs will sort you out, this basically what you've done with your 1" bracket in the second picture.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest MartinP
Have you tried undoing the grub screw on the bottom spring ajusting collar and then wind them up, I have a 2b with a cossy engine in it I was hitting cats eyes. I screwed up mine and the ride hight came up, my wishbones went down towards the car like yours do but now are slightly sloped down towards the wheel. hope this helps

Paul.

 

I have had the adjusters screwed right up, it does lift the chassis and straighten the wishbones ( not quite enough) but the front end is then hard against the stops, if I bounced on the front end it banged on the stops.

 

Gary, who has the same wishbones has confirmed that he also has 10" springs on his setup, I will take one of the shocks into work and knock up a 1" spacer to fit at the bottom of the spring. I will see how that looks when setup.

 

Martin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest MartinP
Martin, just a thought, with the standard wishbones on a 2B the shockers are usually 13" open length, I'm pretty certain that the track on the wishbone conversion is wider than the wishbone 2B, and looking at your pics the shocks are mounted much further outboard and yet only an inch longer. Have a chat with GBS it may be that longer shocks and springs will sort you out, this basically what you've done with your 1" bracket in the second picture.

 

I was suprised when the wishbones were supplied, a large area of the webbing between the bottom struts is cut away. This effectively removes the ability to move the bottom fixing inboard to reduce the angle and gain height.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...