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the things I really need to prioritise is the suspension settings. Although it handles great on a good smooth road, as soon as you get any undulations on less maintained B roads, the back end grounds out with a spine shattering jolt and steering and back end get very skittish.
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Hi Ian
I had the same problem with my back end bottoming out. I took out the 'top hat' rear ride height adjuster and took about 30mm off the skirt. I then replaced my 6" springs with 7", refitted the adjusters, backed them right off and have never bottomed out since. It was a bit of a pain to do but certainly solved the problem.
Nigel, yep, that was my next plan. 30mm? I think mine are only ~40mm in length anyway. Were yours extra long or were you left with just a coil's worth of material? I suppose the 7" springs let you raise the adjustable part of the spring seat further up the thread and still achieve the same overall ride height. I'll try trimming the top hats first before investing in new springs though. I had wondered if it was actually the springs binding rather than the top hats touching as looking at them there appears to be no marks or damage
Ian,
I had more than a coils worth of skirt remaining. Perhaps it wasn't quite 30mm. But I remember that I had to drop the front of the trailing arm to get sufficient movement on the lower wishbone to get the 7" springs in so now, even at full downward travel of the rear suspension, the coils are under slight compression.
Interesting comment about there being no witness marks on the skirts. Mine were the same. Probably the only bit of decent powder coating on the whole car.
I've taken some photos of my springs and think i can see the issue. The first is with the car off the ground and the spring at its fullest extension. you can see the damage on the coil's powder coat so the springs must be binding together. There's no feasible way for the mounts ever to come in contact (hence lack of damage)
With the car back on the ground you can see the coils are very close so it's inevitable that they will come into contact.
So I have to decide whether to go with longer springs as you did or just go for a higher spring rate. The current ones are 400lb. I seem to remember you saying you tried 600lb and they were too hard? maybe 500lb with 7" would be the compromise as I actually find the back end too soft ( I lift out of my seat going over cattle grids fast, which bearing in mind I weigh over 17 stone...)
So I have to decide whether to go with longer springs as you did or just go for a higher spring rate. The current ones are 400lb. I seem to remember you saying you tried 600lb and they were too hard? maybe 500lb with 7" would be the compromise as I actually find the back end too soft ( I lift out of my seat going over cattle grids fast, which bearing in mind I weigh over 17 stone...)
Ian,
I've never tried anything more than 400lbs and I've settled on 400lbs 7" springs. They are a good compromise between comfort and stability and I'm only a couple of stone lighter (at least I was when I last weighed myself 3 or 4 years ago..........!!) than you.
If you're bouncing out your seat is there anything you can do with your shocks??
