Suspension fitting questions ?

[luddites7]

Hi

 

I have finally got round to fitting bilstein adjustable springs to my std 96 1600K dedion and have notice a few possible issues with the front setup.

 

Firstly when comparing the old bilstiens with the new at the top of the damper (gold end with bump stop) the new adjustable setup has a 1-1.5 inch spacer between the damper end and spring retainer. I have swapped over the damper ends - but in doing this the spring is now much closer to the body panel - will this be OK or should i try and fit the damper with the spacer end on.

 

Secondly the springs on the new adjustable setup are larger diameter than the original non-adjustable setup and with the car on axel stands (no wheels) the springs are touching the top wishbone (front section) is this also caused be the spacer removal above, or do the race springs and adjustable bilstiens need different wishbones !!

 

Any help will be very much appreciated.

 

Many Thanks

 

Jason

[garyedwardc]

I don't understand why people are fitting the larger diameter springs with the adjustable platforms. Presumably if everything else is equal larger diameter springs are superior, although this is just a guess and I'm not sure of the technicalities. I think it's possible to fit the platforms with the existing springs or different strength springs of the same size which would get around the wishbone fouling problems. The hex extender on the top of the damper is only used with widetrack and even then the benefits are debatable. There are no big spring wishbones but there are several generations of wishbone depending on the vintage, wide or non widetrack and lastly the oval ones.

[luddites7]

Gary

 

I did think about changing to the smaller diameter springs the problem is the adjustable platform only seems to accept the large diameter ones, therefore the smaller diameter will not be correctly seated.

 

I have been looking through the Low flying mag and it seems different cars have the dampers fitted in different ways. I am looking at inverting the damper so the spring section is nearer the wheel end - therefore the reservior on the damper should then provide the correct clearance - well thats a job for today.

 

If the spacer is for the wide track (Which I dont have) then I willl put std damper heads on both adjustable setups.

 

Thanks

 

Jason

[garyedwardc]

The adjuatables accept both sizes, the two locking rings have different size collars for this very reason.