Support Team Shaun_E Posted March 20, 2006 Support Team Share Posted March 20, 2006 Fitted Nitron dampers at the weekend with 250lbft front and 150lbft rear springs and the ride is now very firm to the point of being uncomfortable for the passenger and making throttle control on bumpy B roads difficult. The dampers are set at 14 clicks from hard both front and rear, the rear (over the diff) ARB on second softest setting and the front (Freestyle) on softest. This week I will move the rear ARB to the softest setting and set the rear dampers to their softest but am I likely to see an improvement? This could have been an expensive mistake as, if I can't improve things, my wife isn't going to want to travel in or drive the car - and I'm not sure I like it that much. Will the old progressive springs fit the Nitrons or would it be worth moving to a slightly softer rear spring? How do you other Nitron users get on with them for road use? Could the rake of the car affect the ride? It wasn't that easy to set and I will probably get it professionally setup as soon as I can. Yellow SL #32 Edited by - Shaun_E on 21 Mar 2006 18:35:32 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFA Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 Something is wrong. If you have a throttle contorl issue its likely the rear sproings, but 150lbs/in is about as soft as you can go without getting bottoming out issues. Check your springs are what you think they are..... K2 RUM - The 7 in front of you is a DIESEL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevefoster Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 "The dampers are set at 14 clicks from hard both front and rear, the rear (over the diff) ARB on second softest setting and the front (Freestyle) on softest" Can't quite follow what you say... is 14 clicks from hard, fully soft? If not try the dampers on full soft on the rear? I run 150lb rear springs and use my Avo dampers set pretty soft on the road. Hants (north) / Berkshire club here Area meeting pics here My Racing here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgrigsby Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 Shaun I run 250 fronts and 175 rears on my 7, for road use i'd wind the dampers to full soft generally. I've also found that having covered 4k+ miles things have settled down quite a bit. Like you at first I thought the ride was a bit stiff, I'd wind the dampers down and cover a few miles to see what it's like. Also if you have two people in the car it helps quite a bit as well. Rob G www.SpeedySeven.com Edited by - rgrigsby on 20 Mar 2006 09:51:30 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Support Team Shaun_E Posted March 20, 2006 Author Support Team Share Posted March 20, 2006 Steve - there are 24 clicks available and I understand that you need to set them to full hard and then count the clicks from there. I have set them at 14 clicks from hard as per a suggestion I read which is close to half way. 24 would be fully soft. I think Arnie could be right - it doesn't feel right although the springs are labelled 150. I'll try setting them to full soft and see if that makes a difference. Yellow SL #32 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Support Team Shaun_E Posted March 20, 2006 Author Support Team Share Posted March 20, 2006 Rob - thanks, I'll try full soft. We were 2 up yesterday and covered a wide variety of roads from bumpy twisty backroads to motorway and to be honest it wasn't very comfortable on anything other than very smooth surfaces. I could feel every ridge in the road and even on the motorway a few bumps caught me out. I did wonder whether the dampers would bed in a bit. The front actually seems very good though - a bit more confidence inspiring than the old setup as it seems to give more feedback. With the old springs and green ARB it would grip quite well but you couldn't actually feel what it was doing so ultimately corner speeds were lower. Yellow SL #32 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinwhitcher Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 don't forget these are rose jointed so you are getting direct feedback rather than bushes, I agree with others that they will run-in as such, this is what i have found with mine. It is generally a harder ride than the billies, but a much improved feel. I'm afraid that you always have a trade off though. Martin MW 51 CAT Superlight No.171 now known as:Superlight DVA 207 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgrigsby Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 I'll 2nd Martins comments the feel/response is hugely improved of billies, in terms of ride I'd say over small ridges it is slightly harder but the better body control over all means that in general it seems better. Rob G www.SpeedySeven.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caterhamnut Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 As has been said Shaun, that set up isn't particularly hard at the back - I think we have 170, but we do have our (Freestyle) dampers set at full soft - try that - amazing what a difference a few clicks make. Maybe the '14 clicks back from hard' is for track work? www.mycaterham.com here 91,000 miles -1st 1.6k Supersport, '95 Motor Show car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgrigsby Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 I think with the Nitrons it's about 24 clicks from hard to soft so 14 is just passed half way. It should make a difference going full soft. Rob G www.SpeedySeven.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Support Team Shaun_E Posted March 20, 2006 Author Support Team Share Posted March 20, 2006 Sounds like I just need to play with the adjustment then. I will try it at full soft and see how we go. I guess I just wasn't prepared for how much difference the damper setting could make. Thanks. Yellow SL #32 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevefoster Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 However, the Caterham progressive spring is softer at first compression than a 150 so you will be feeling it a bit but not that much. Try dampers full soft first then suspect the springs. No you can't run the prog springs on the Nitrons unless you are using a long damper that bolts into the tack on welded bush on the De dion tube = yuck avoid. Hants (north) / Berkshire club here Area meeting pics here My Racing here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgrigsby Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 The Nitrons also run wider springs than the standard billies so they wouldn't fit anyway! Rob G www.SpeedySeven.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david nelson Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 On the road I have them set at the softist. I run 220 front and 140 rear on a K. It is imposible to drive quickly on the road if they are set to hard, the car goes all over he place and your fillings drop out 😬 David SL #146 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Durrant Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 Shaun I have Nitorns fitted with 150lb springs on the rear and they are currently on the softest setting and are very comfortable. For road use I recommend you start with them set at fully soft, drive a set route then change the settings by two clicks and drive the same route again. Repeat this until you find the optimum setting. I always run my car with harder damper settings for trackdays and if I forget to wind them off I soon remember after driving a few hundred yards at which point I get out of the car to soften them up Mark D Comp Sec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Support Team Shaun_E Posted March 20, 2006 Author Support Team Share Posted March 20, 2006 Didn't find time to play tonight but should be able to try a softer setting tomorrow. Will let you know how I get on. Thanks for all the information so far. Shaun Yellow SL #32 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain A Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 Hi I run 250 Lb front and 150 Lb rears with Leda dampers and the ride is very comfortable - if anything a little on the soft side. i suggest that the problem with the settings is with the dampers and not the springs. My dampers run about 4 clicks from softest... not sure how many clicks there are to choose from though. Suggest you go a load softer on the Nitrons and then balance things up again on the road, or better still on the track. It will take a while but the results are worth the patience One of the Duratectives Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Support Team Shaun_E Posted March 21, 2006 Author Support Team Share Posted March 21, 2006 Tonight I set the dampers to their softest setting at the rear and things have dramatically improved . I just wasn't expecting the huge range of adjustability achievable - so much more than I thought possible. It is now much better over big bumps and the smaller ones almost disappear . Have softened the front a little bit and may soften it further for the road. I'm very pleased with the damping control - crests and dips are dealt with much better than with the (admittedly old) Bilsteins. Now just have to get a few more miles in and play with the settings. Llandow will be an interesting day. Yellow SL #32 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caterhamnut Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 excellent - I too was amazed at the difference in settings. When I first fitted our new adjustables over a year ago I thought I would see what it was like at full settings (soft and hard!) set them all to hard and set off - blimey - may as well have taken the springs out altogether!! www.mycaterham.com here 91,000 miles -1st 1.6k Supersport, '95 Motor Show car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Support Team Shaun_E Posted March 21, 2006 Author Support Team Share Posted March 21, 2006 I did wonder whether I'd been sent some flashy steel rods instead of the dampers I ordered . I just thought that a middle setting would be a good point to start from . Soft is fine - I drove the road from Burnham to Beaconsfield and was able to use full throttle on even the bumpiest sections. I am now a happy chappy 😬. Yellow SL #32 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caterhamnut Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 And lord knows the roads are bumpy around here Shaun!! www.mycaterham.com here 91,000 miles -1st 1.6k Supersport, '95 Motor Show car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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