Front coilover / shock questions!

[darrell]

My Westfield Seven has coilover / Spax adjustable shocks. The car sits a bit too low in the front and I want to raise it up a bit. I noticed the threaded collar rings ( I don't know what they are called ) on the lower threaded part of the shocks are all the way at the bottom. Also, If I push down on the front it will go down but not come back up..unless I pull it back up!

 

I was thinking to raise them up around an inch, would this be a good starting point?

 

Thanks, Darrell

[lancylad]

Hi Darrell, I have the same set up on my Westy. I have the collars you mention, wound to the point where the lower wishbone(suspension arm) is roughly parallel to the ground. Hope that helps.

[MHKflyer52]

Not a Westfield but a Clone 7 (AKA Locost) with Spax adjustable shocks with 300lb springs on the front and 250lb springs on the rear. As you can see in this photo I also have the lower A-arm just slightly downward and yes the right wheel is sitting in a slight depression so it looks as if it is lower than the left but when on a level surface they are the same.

 

 

My suspension dose not move all that much so it is a ruff ride on most public streets mainly do to the stiffness of the springs that I have I do believe.

Hope this helps.

[notakit]

Just my two cents; IF your car has been built to original Lotus 7 specs, you'll have metalastic bushes where the lower a-arm and upper arm mount to the frame. These provide some suspension and damping when they are properly tightened while the car is at "ride height." In other words they are self-centering. If your's were tightened while the front suspension was compressed they will try to return to that position. Again, this is on the assumption you have this type of mounting AND your coils aren't simply worn out thus sagging.

[darrell]

Thanks guys!

[The Stig]

Adjusting the ride height also has an impact on other geometry items such as tracking, camber and bump steer. Unless you are doing track work, you may not notice but generally should all be checked after setting the ride height.

 

I remember from my Westfield, the ride height was set so the bottom wishbones parallel with the ground.

[darrell]

This car was way too low. I just got it not too long ago and am still going through it one repair at a time. The other night I took the radiator off to clean the front area up. I noticed that the steering rack was loose inside the two U clamps ( rubber bushings worn out ) ...Also noticed that when I pushed the front end down it did not spring back up at all.....not good. Last night I removed the front shock/springs, the height adjustment was set all the way at the bottom. Also the shocks were set 15 clicks up, I backed them down to 5.

 

I will re install them tonight and see what happens. Much easier working in that area while I have the radiator out!

[danilo]

I remember from my Westfield, the ride height was set so the bottom wishbones parallel with the ground.

 

Preferably set thusly with the driver in the car :-)

[pureadrenalin]

When adjusting a coilover such as this...there are things you need to know. If there is only one adjustment knob, it's for both rebound, and compression. You need to balance this with the spring rates on the car for the bst overall ride, and performance. A 300/250 may be the most comfortable for street, or too heavy. If the ride is still too harsh after softenting up the damping, then you need to switch to a lower spring rate. But..be warned, go too soft or too hard and you can blow out the valving in the coilover.

 

Adjusting these is super easy as long as you have a pair of shock wrenches. https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/group.asp?GroupID=SPRINGWRENCH

 

Without being able to see how these are attached, I can't comment on the ride-height adjustment. Most coilovers like this do it one of two ways, either by adjusting the collar touching the spring up or down the shock body, or having a separate collar that attaches to the car itself threaded over the shock body.

 

As for having to lift the car back up after you pushed it down leads me to belive that you may already have a blown shock, with a dead spring. Contact Spax directly to figure that out. If you desire, you can measure the spring after you have it off the car for overall length, and I.D. and replace them with ones from Eibach, H&R, or Hypercoil. Hypercoils tend to be the least expensive, but perform just as well as the others.

 

Make sure you set things so the car is level with the car fully wet, and the driver, or equivalent in weight in the drivers seat, then, get it aligned properly, fully wet and with weight in the drivers seat to equal yours. Make sure that everything is as close to perfect as you can for the most neutral handling, and I like to set my toe to zero degrees if possible, makes for a balanced car. Another really nice idea is to get it corner weighted/banaced if you have a shop around you that can do it. Makes the car even that much closer to perfect.

Edited October 25, 2011 by pureadrenalin

[MBEARDEN]

Looking for a rattle in the left rear of my 03 Birkin this weekend..,pulled the wheel and noticed that with the Carrera shock extended the coil was loose by at least an inch....the lock rings were loose...turn by hand...i snugged them up to the coils.

 

This doesn't look correct.