Chas Guirey Posted November 20, 2002 Share Posted November 20, 2002 Dear All I have got a 100bhp 7 whiich I find is just about quick enough but the handling with a live axle stops me from using the available power. On anything less than a smooth road the car seems to spend a lot of time in low flying mode which I admit to finding rather alarming at times. I feel safer at 120 on my bike than at 90 in the car Anyone any idea what the cost of converting to dedion would cost and whether the benfit would justify the expense. I had thought of getting Caterham to uprate the engine to 120 BHP but cant see the point with the current handling. regards Chas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinwhitcher Posted November 20, 2002 Share Posted November 20, 2002 sound's like you have some hard spring's on there! Look at changing to different spring's! Martin MW 51 CAT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHRIS CLARK Posted November 20, 2002 Share Posted November 20, 2002 Some adjustable dampers (Avo's etc) may be the answer. I had terrible handling problems due to a worn set of Bilsteins. Avo's sorted that! Clamshell Club Founder Member and stationary engine enthusiast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captainbilos Posted November 22, 2002 Share Posted November 22, 2002 Continuing this thread - has anyone tried the Leda dampers on a live axle car, are they any good? Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Septimus Posted November 22, 2002 Share Posted November 22, 2002 Try the cheap route first and lower the tire pressures. The tyres are lightly loaded and you can go down to 14 psi which helps if your tyres have stiff sidewalls. Don't forget to pump them up before track use! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian balson Posted November 22, 2002 Share Posted November 22, 2002 Paul, Re Leda's on a live axle, Casbar has made this mod and he's very pleased with them I believe. I'm seeing him on Sunday, so I'll mention this thread. Rgds Ian HPC150 ian_balson@yahoo.co.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edward Guest Posted November 22, 2002 Share Posted November 22, 2002 I am looking to change the rears on my live axial to Leda having done the fronts, any recomendations on the spring rates ?? Thanks Eddie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjc Posted November 22, 2002 Share Posted November 22, 2002 Live axle handling can vary greatly depending on the state of the bushes, particularly the 'A' frame bush that locates the A frame to the bottom of the axle. Change this bush for new, drop the tyre pressures and if you have Spax adjustable dampers click them off a few clicks (it's easy to get the adjustment the wrong way round at first). My first Caterham was a live axle and these simple changes transformed the car. I ended up changing out the A frame bush every 500 miles, such was the stick it gets. Regards Rowland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chas Guirey Posted November 22, 2002 Author Share Posted November 22, 2002 Dear All thanks for your advice - I will change the a frame bush. I have also checked the rear springs and they are wound more than half way up so I will slacken them off this weelend and see how that effects the handling regards Chas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooby dooby doo Posted November 22, 2002 Share Posted November 22, 2002 "slackening" off the springs will just lower the rear ride height - it won't make the springs softer. It will, however, change the amount of passive rear wheel steer you get. (well it does on a dedion - the geometry is similar enough an a live axle isn't it chap 🤔) HOOPY 500 kg R706KGU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul.davis Posted November 22, 2002 Share Posted November 22, 2002 De Dion conversion a big deal - chassis change etc - not really doable, Live axle still preferred by many with less than 150 bhp including the Fireblade guys as it is lighter than de Dion by a wide margin so keep experimenting with set up ! Paul Zeeeeeeetec . . . . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casbar Posted November 23, 2002 Share Posted November 23, 2002 Changed my front wishbones on a live axle to the de-dion adjust, changed to a 5/8 roll bar. I have a 160 bhp xflow and have no problems with the handling. I have Leda's front and back, run 300 springs on the front and 110 on the rear. The car handles brilliantly. Also have 1.5 degs neg camber and tracking set to neutral. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjc Posted November 23, 2002 Share Posted November 23, 2002 One note of caution !!! 😳 😳 😳 Live axles had Spax adjustable DAMPERS - thats the cylindrical tube that goes up the middle of the spring. It has a small slotted adjuster that clicks round and adjusts the stiffness of the suspension. Some cars are fitted with adjustable SPRING PLATFORMS in the form of a screw threaded seat on which the spring sits. Adjusting this up and down alters the ride hight of the car and just about every other suspension setting into the bargain. To make the car handle better and stop boucing around soften the DAMPERS a few clicks. Adjusting the ride height at the rear without compensating at the front and re-aligning the steering geometry could make the handling very interesting indeed. Let us know how you get on ! Good luck Regards Rowland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chas Guirey Posted November 23, 2002 Author Share Posted November 23, 2002 Rowland - I wound the springs out on the back of the car and in the process spotted the damper adjustment screws so I unscrewed those a couple of clicks. The ride is definetly much softer which is nice. However the car now has this interesting habit of wanting to go back the way I have just come! Its a sort of bollocks I have had enough of this - about turn. Particularly coming out of roundabouts! My son seemed to sum things up by commenting "I think any more power in this car would be unnecessary" Not quite sure if I have got it right yet but will keep twiddling !! Regards Chas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C7JFM Posted November 23, 2002 Share Posted November 23, 2002 😳 😳 Chas...the car was corner weighted only 6 months ago for a 74kg driver.It has adjustable AVO's which are less than 12 months old. I quite liked the firmer ride and had the dampers set quite firm. The springs are 110's on the back i think. Sounds as if you have altered the ride height at the back as well as softening the ride. I assume this is why the handling has become 'interesting'. Hope you manage to sort it out to suit your preferences. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-B Posted November 24, 2002 Share Posted November 24, 2002 Chas Bring your car up the street to my house sometime this week (not Monday) and we'll take a look at it. Could be something very simple...I'm home during the days.... Steve Steve SV VHPD click here to see our 7 and rallye pictures.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooby dooby doo Posted November 24, 2002 Share Posted November 24, 2002 the loose rear end sounds like its due to a ride height change. softening the dampers will probably increase grip at the rear but the ride height has changed the balance too much towards oversteer. HOOPY 500 kg R706KGU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjc Posted November 24, 2002 Share Posted November 24, 2002 Chris It sounds like you made too big a change to the rear of the car. You don't want to imbalance the car front to rear so big changes to one end of the car won't help. Adjust all four corners a little bit a a time until it feels better and then experiment with small differences between front and back. I would recommend a good book on suspension set up for Christmas. I use Carrol Smiths 'Tune To Win !!' which I got from Demon Tweaks. If you adjusted the height of the rear spring platforms then they should be put back to where they were. Lowering the rear of the car affects the handling quite significantly and affects the front suspension settings too. The golden rule of setting up a car is to change one thing a liitle bit at a time (E.g. drop tyre pressures all round by 2 psi) and to note what you change and by how much. Then you can always put it back as it was if it doesn't work. Regards Rowland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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