Myles Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 Right, I fitted my Leda adjustable front dampers yesterday to my widetrack suspension. At full-droop, the main steering-arm bolt (on the upright) fouls on the damper body at full lock. Bottom piccie here illustrates. I don't know if this is a real-world issue or not or if I've done something wrong (e.g. perhaps the dampers were for the earlier 'combined' upper bolt suspension...?) The car won't be on its wheels and under weight until the w/e at the earliest - it might be an issue at full-droop only (in which case it is a non-issue) Can someone with this kit please check their own installation for me? Project Scope-Creep is live... Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻™ Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com Edited by - Myles on 4 Feb 2006 18:58:59 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Day Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 Myles Had a look at your photos. Have you fitted the extensions to the track rods? It doesn't look as though you have. This might explain why the bolt head fouls the damper; too much toe-in. Edited by - Mick Day on 1 Feb 2006 22:54:39 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bricol Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 But if you fitted them the other way up for less un-sprung weight . . . Bri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted February 2, 2006 Author Share Posted February 2, 2006 Bri - but I don't think they're designed for inverted use... Mick - the kit was a complete s/h widetrack set. Rack, dampers, wishbones, ARBs - I believe the rack *is* widetrack and doesn't need extensions. I've not put wheels on the front of the car though, so will check... Thanks - keep it coming... Project Scope-Creep is live... Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻™ Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Plato Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 I think 1.9" front springs are used to allow clearance on the top wishbone It doesnt look right to me making conatct with the dampers at 2 points - the springa nd lover bolt , and that doesnt look like very much droop either 🤔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted February 2, 2006 Author Share Posted February 2, 2006 Holy cr*p! I hadn't noticed the springs... I'm getting more and more convinced that these dampers are for the '2-bolt' upper wishbones/dampers rather than my '3-bolt jobs' - this would (I guess) increas the damper angle, droop etc. etc.... Just had another quick look. The springs do not, in fact, touch the wishbones - it's close though. Also, the amount of droop *isn't* very much. Oh bunnies. Project Scope-Creep is live... Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻™ Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com Edited by - Myles on 2 Feb 2006 19:26:20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted February 2, 2006 Author Share Posted February 2, 2006 Right, I've been out in the freezing dark once again. My standard-track Billies are (near as damnit) 14" from center to center on the bolts. The Leda's are (again, near as damnit) only 14.5" from center to center. A quick trawl of TT suggests that the widetrack extensions fitted to std. track billies add 27mm to the overall length - so I am (approximately) halfway between the two as things stand. I also noticed that Mike Bees said that he ran without the spacers - but I think this was in relation to getting a sensible ride-height with 14/15" wheels (I run 13s...) Is this going to cause me a problem and do I appear to have the pre-96 dampers after all? It would cost £130 + vat and shipping to have the rods changed (a real PITA being as I'd already had the damned things rebuilt...) It would cost more than that to replace the sump... Project Scope-Creep is live... Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻™ Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com Edited by - Myles on 2 Feb 2006 20:24:39 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Williams Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 Myles, only just seen your post I'll check out mine this evening the car's on axle stands any way so I can see if it fouls on full lock. I've run them for 3 years and have never seen any signs of fouling but I'll check to be sure. I'll post something this evening. Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted February 3, 2006 Author Share Posted February 3, 2006 Thanks. I've just spoken to James Whiting and it would appear that these dampers are for the '2 bolt' (i.e. pre 96) setup. He's got some extensions that increase the length to the '3 bolt' (i.e. post 96) spec - I'm just about to remove the damper, double-check the length and that the top eyelet does indeed unscrew and can therefore be extended... No suggestion/explanation for the fouling issue though... Project Scope-Creep is live... Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻™ Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Williams Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 Myles I'm at home now and checked the clearances on my car, the bolt head on the steering arm is about 10mm shy of the damper body on full droop and full lock. As an aside I also run 2.25" x 6" 250lb springs which are OK with the top wishbone I measured my damper length hole to hole as 377mm by eye against the tape because they are on the car, that's a smidgen over the 14.5" you had but not by an amount that would make any differences. I printed your pictures and took them into the garage to compare, In general I can't see any difference in wishbone dims etc, the amount of lock you have does look excessive on the main pic of the NSF. I have an 8% rack which with the original narrow track front led to the mudguards fouling the side skins so I don't think it has any additional stops on it. I went to wide track front at the same time as buying new Leadas from James Whitting a few years ago and it all just bolted together. If you want me to check anything else call me 01753 643313 Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted February 3, 2006 Author Share Posted February 3, 2006 Adrian, Thanks for that. I've pulled my dampers off and managed to remove one of the top extensions - just swearing over the other now. With the dampers off, the bolt-bolt measurement of the *suspension* in full droop is 15 and a bit (1/4 or 1/3) inches - this corresponds to the figures James gave me for the longest extensions he has - that's more like 386mm, but it isn't the easiest thing to measure on the car. This rack is a green 22% rack - mebbe it was a flared wing rack? I dunno... Anyway, looks like I should be able to sort something out. I just hope the longer extensions don't mean excessive bump-stop use... Phew! Well, James W confirms that the top section of the damper is matches the longest he's ever sold, so I guess I just need to bolt it all back together and try it. Still can't work out why the bolt fouls on the damper body - I'll check whether this is actually restricting the lock later on. Project Scope-Creep is live... Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻™ Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com Edited by - Myles on 3 Feb 2006 13:31:19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted February 4, 2006 Author Share Posted February 4, 2006 Right, right, time for an almost-final update. Being as I had the dampers off, I was able to check how bad the fouling was. Basically, the bolt head only *just* touches the damper body and it isn't actually restricting the travel in any meaningful sense. Secondly, I've got the car back on its wheels now - albeit without an engine or box. Once the suspension is in (any) compression, the fouling stops. Basically, the fouling is only an issue if I manage to yump the car over a hump-back bridge and achieve full lock at the same time... 😬 Project Scope-Creep is live... Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻™ Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delbert Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 Wasn't that how this all started, travelling over a hump...... Freelance Ferret sexer and general sloth for hire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted February 4, 2006 Author Share Posted February 4, 2006 Yeah - but I didn't achieve sufficient altitude to safely loop-the-loop... Project Scope-Creep is live... Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻™ Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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