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Bottoming


John E

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AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHH it is touching the deck. The manifold pipes dont allow for much raising of the silencer it seems. Ive moved the silencer mounting to the inner hole on the bracket but its pretty close to the body now. Surley the bloody thing shudnt sink so low on corners. The passenger is only 14 so weight isnt a problem. HELP HELP HELP

 

Edited by - John E on 15 Jul 2000 19:52:49

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I had the same problemIt all depends on which part of the 'can' is decking out. On my 'K' series I found it was the end of the tail pipe that was touching.I could feel the burrs on it! I therefore had to undo the clamp at the 4-1 section and adjust the bracket (with the rubber bobbin on it) to raise the pipe to a more horizontal position. Worked fine for me; result- no more grinding. Adjustment of the bracket angle was with careful use of a rubber faced mallet!!!
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It seems that the exhaust is ok but the clearance height is to low. Caterham recommend 155mm just in front of the rear wheel arch measured from the base of the chassis to ground. I've got the grand total of 135mm, so 70 profile tyres will help but it may be that the shockers are goosed allowing the car to roll. More expense.
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I had four aluminium spacers made up 'cos my 1990 xflow live axel rode low too. These were inserted at the base of the shocks and springs which are ok and voila less frequent grinding noise and all for £12.00 for the ali discs. Ride unaltered so far as I can tell, camber and toe in all ok too.

 

Brian

 

brianfyfe@ema.org.uk

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I thought even non-adjustable platformed springs had some crude adjustment. Something about a pin that can be removed and moved upwards...?

 

Anyway, it's not the shocks that are goosed... it's the springs are either too short, too soft or a combination of both.

 

Have you got a rear ARB? That would help reduce leaning....

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I'm not sure about adjustment, I will have an idea tonight cos the bloody thing are coming off. There isnt a rear anti roll bar and I dont know about the length of the springs or stiffness. Is there a standard that I should measure against.

Caterham want to sell me a set of adjustable Bilsteins but the two fron shockers have just been replaced so Im not keen to go down that route.

 

Brian, Ive sent you an e mail

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  • Leadership Team

Hi John, just worth checking, have you mounted the silencer on top of the rubber "bobbin", on top of the bracket? (if that makes any sence?).

 

My exhaust was originally hanging from the bobbin, which was obviously in turn mounted hanging from the bracket. I had problems with the back end of the silencer grounding on bumps. Reversing the lot solved the problem, even with 185/60-13s.

 

If memory serves me right your car sits guite low anyway?

 

Stu.

 

 

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Hi Stu, yep all the bits are on ok, but the ground clearance aint good enuff. Taken the shockers off and they look and feel knacked. I also have 60 profile tyres which is a prob it seems. Next step is to replace the shockers and then look at the ride height. Going to try Brians suggestion first with some aley spacers and then lastly the tyres.

When did you see the car last Stu.

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I know that the 60 profile tyres do obviously reduce the ride height by a fraction but it really shouldn't be that marginal and I would suspect that after replacing the shockers and adjusting the ride height, the problem should be resolved.Tyre profile seems a very expensive route to attempt to cure this problem. I have always used 185/60x13 A021R's on my car which up until quite recently was set very low indeed and I only ever grounded the silencer on sleeping policemen and the rumble strip on the outside of Quarry Hairpin at Harewood,when I spun the car! What diameter silencer are you using? They range from 5" upto 7"? Could that be a factor?

 

If you are replacing the rear shockers why not fit adjustable platform units and play with the ride height. My car is running at about 150mm from memory...and no grounding ( well, except for the sump!) Make sure the rear is higher than the front...

 

Andrew.

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John,

 

Got a superb view at Portsmouth, although the ride height could have been be affected by all the confused 7ers stareing at the engine?

 

Yours sits lower than mine, but not too low. If you're not having problems bottoming anywhere else ie. the sump, then why raise it?

 

Try playing around with the silencer a little more? Surely you didn't have any problems with the old system? It may just be the combination of silencer, brackets, etc, etc.

 

Have a good run in the Dales,

 

 

Stu.

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The original rear exit had a 4inch box whereas the new beastie is 5inches. Amazing isnt it that just one silly little inch makes all the difference. Anna take note. Two new shockers en the way and expect to be fitted tonight. Stu send me your home number.
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Anna,

Glad to see your still with us.

 

Surely if you have sufficient "friction" then the issue of "quantity" doesn't arise. If however you have "friction" and "quantity" and of course "quality", you should be constantly smiling !!!

Enjoy "Le Sept", I'm really sad I can't join you guys but I'm Ferrari'ing at Zolder & Zandvoort then Nordschleiffe, Monday to Wednesday, and picking up my R500 from Hyperion, at Spa on Wednesday night. -It won't be the same however without you !

LOL,

Jules

 

 

 

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