simonbell Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 I`ve just been adjusting the ride height on my new Caterham. I`ve set the front to 160mm giving 90mm below the sump which sounds OK. However while giving it a bounce before measuring I was aware that when pulling upwards it almost immediately reached the limit of it`s travel and there was a clunk. I`m running protech shocks rather than the Caterham versions and I`m concerned there may be a problem with them. I suspect they may be too short, although I`m sure I ordered them based on figures for the std Caterham dampers. How much travel should I expect when lifting the car upwards before the limit of travel is experienced? Simon Bell - Caterham 7 Duratec R I`ve seen the future.....and it`s powered by duratec Check out the website here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelspeed Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 Is it wide track? If so did you specify wide track shocks? And 160mm sounds very high. But I'm more used to race and sprint cars, long time since I measured a road car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonbell Posted April 25, 2005 Author Share Posted April 25, 2005 It is wide track and I specified them longer to take into account the spacer that would normally be fitted if using the std Caterham dampers. The manual suggest 150mm with up to 190mm for road cars. I`ve got a duratec with wet sump so 160mm looks about right and the lower wishbones are still horizontal at that. Simon Bell - Caterham 7 Duratec R I`ve seen the future.....and it`s powered by duratec Check out the website here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmar Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 150 mm from where, does sound high, even at the rear I am only 130mm mine is 110 ish at the front (engine mount) how much do you have under the sump? I have 70mm under the sump (k dry sump) rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonbell Posted April 25, 2005 Author Share Posted April 25, 2005 150mm from the bototm of the chassis rail just behind the rear leg of the front wishbone. I have about 90mm under the leading edge of the sump..... Simon Bell - Caterham 7 Duratec R I`ve seen the future.....and it`s powered by duratec Check out the website here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmar Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 does sound a little high slightly different I know but th advice i got from freestyle for a K was anywhere from 65-85 under the sump (dependent on useage etc) are you lower wishbones parrallel to the ground, that was another tip they gave me as a good place to start rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonbell Posted April 25, 2005 Author Share Posted April 25, 2005 Yep, wishbones look horizontal although I haven`t measured accurately. I`m running 250lb springs so I can probably go a little lower without much fear of bottoming out......... I`ll lower it and see if it improves the situation. I`m still concerned that I may have specified the wrong length on the shocks........... Simon Bell - Caterham 7 Duratec R I`ve seen the future.....and it`s powered by duratec Check out the website here Edited by - simonbell on 25 Apr 2005 19:48:25 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmar Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 I am getting to my limited limit of knoweldeg on this subject, hopefully someone else will be able to give better advice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Area Representative Richard Price Posted April 25, 2005 Area Representative Share Posted April 25, 2005 Simon, What is the fully extened length of the dampers - from centre of the eye to centre of the eye? Standard track dampers are 355mm. Not sure, but the spacer is around 30mm, I think. So your dampers should be something like 380-385mm long at full droop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonbell Posted April 25, 2005 Author Share Posted April 25, 2005 Just measured mine approximately and they seem to be 355mm So by that they should be OK as some people are running without the spacer. However I think to do so I would need to lower the ride height and given the bumpy nature of our roads I`m not sure I`m happy about lowering it much. I`ll have a word with protech tomorrow and see if the open length can be easily lengthened. I`m presuming they would just fit a longer rod (is that what it is called). An extra 30mm would make all the difference. Simon Bell - Caterham 7 Duratec R I`ve seen the future.....and it`s powered by duratec Check out the website here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonbell Posted April 26, 2005 Author Share Posted April 26, 2005 Just spoken with protech who are really helpful as usual...... They will swap the dampers if required but I`ve asked them to supply a new topmount to start with which should hopefully give enough extra length to prevent it topping out. We`ll see how it goes Simon Bell - Caterham 7 Duratec R I`ve seen the future.....and it`s powered by duratec Check out the website here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgrigsby Posted April 26, 2005 Share Posted April 26, 2005 250lb front springs sounds quite stiff Simon? I'm running 200lb front springs on mine with Nitrons and that feels pretty stiff tbh. Certainly a lot stiffer than my old bilsteins! What are you running on the rear? I've got 175lb springs Rob G www.SpeedySeven.com Edited by - rgrigsby on 26 Apr 2005 10:36:46 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonbell Posted April 26, 2005 Author Share Posted April 26, 2005 175lb on the rear Robert. I went for 250lb on the front based on what everyone else was using. However I`ll probably end up playing around with different springs. With the bumpy roads we have over here I wanted something which didn`t dive too much under braking. They don`t feel too stiff when you bounce it up and down........we`ll have to wait until it`s on the road to see though. I was going to go for 200 at the rear but was advised to go softer. I`m a little concernec that the stiffer front will induce more understeer.......but then the 250 at the front isn`t really 250 due to the angle of the damper. It`s the first time I`ve got involved in suspension setup so it`s a bit of a learning experience. Simon Bell - Caterham 7 Duratec R I`ve seen the future.....and it`s powered by duratec Check out the website here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgrigsby Posted April 26, 2005 Share Posted April 26, 2005 It`s the first time I`ve got involved in suspension setup so it`s a bit of a learning experience. Snap!! I asked Guy at Nitron to recommend something and he said 200 front 175 rear but that is with standard track so hmm not sure how it compares. Plus with the Nitrons someone has mentioned that you need to add 10-15% to the springs rates to account for the gas or something. Cheers Rob G www.SpeedySeven.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonbell Posted April 26, 2005 Author Share Posted April 26, 2005 With widetrack the angle is increased further so they probably need to be that bit stiffer to compensate. If I was any good at maths I could probably work it all out but I`m not so I bumble along using the trial and error method 😬 Simon Bell - Caterham 7 Duratec R I`ve seen the future.....and it`s powered by duratec Check out the website here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobuy Posted April 26, 2005 Share Posted April 26, 2005 Simon, I ran 250 lbs on the front on my bilsteins, not sure what my Freestyles are, but must be close. I am running about 135mm front and 150mm rear on my SV with about 58mm under Raceline wetsump, this is for a track set-up, which means I avoid speedbumps on the way to the track Duratec Se7en SV, built in Dubai, pics here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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