More Seveducation Please

[Paul Mason]

So, having checked today, fronts are 225lb Eibach 7inch long, 2.25 inch inner and rear 140lb Eibach 9 inch long 2.25 inch inners. 1 way adjustable Nitrons, 25 click settings on rear, 23 on front. I have set rears to 12 (were 6 of 25 on drivers side and 8 on passenger) fronts now at 11 (were at 8 out of 23). I am now wondering whether they were a little too soft and the hard crashing ride was due to the springs doing more of the work than the dampers? (that's a wholly uneducated guess mind as suspension is not my strong suit). Will drive when the roads are next dry and see how it feels and go from there having set everything to the middle now

[Golf Juliet Tango]

Wasn't Chapmans principal to have soft springing and firm damping? 

Yes, Paul that is certainly my understanding too. 

[Wrightpayne]

Wide track easy to identify - front wheels stick out same distance as back wheels. Std track fronts are 1 1/2" inboard of the rears each side (or was it 2"??). Anyway you get the idea.

Ian

[Paul Mason]

In that case it's a wide track as the front wheels are 175 and the rears 235 they stick out the same

[Strangely]

Paul, don't be afraid to play with the damper settings, they make a HUGE difference to the car. I only had lowly Avos, but I methodically adjusted them to find a setting that was ideal for me. There is a full write up here:

http://strangely.org/diary/200208/Freestylehandingkit-fitte.html

Basically, I adjusted all 4 dampers to be fully soft, then added 2 clicks to the front, drove it, then the back, drove it, and kept going like that until I found that it had got too stiff, then I wound it back a click or two.

Have fun. I'd love some Nitrons (I'm back to non-adjustable Bilsteins at the moment).

Jason.

[Ivaan]

Paul J. Probably the original springs are too hard, so making them harder still had little effect. I'll hunt out the spring rates for my car to give you some comparison.

 

( Sorry for the hijack )

[Paul Mason]

Thanks Jason and I'll have a good read of your update - my plan is on a dry day to go for a drive in the middle setting, then again 2 "clicks" softer and then again 2 harder (than the original) so I've got a like for like feeling of the difference and then go from there. I'll need a little trial and error to find a setting that I'm comfortable with (suspect it won't necessarily be the best set up, possibly just one that feels right to me)

[Grim Reaper]

I have Nitron shocks on my 2003 superlight, out of the factory they were extremely over damped for the road going seven.

Peter 'Petrolhead' Ellis had Nitron revalve his shocks a couple of times as he had a bad back that was being worsened by their effects, once he was happy with them I had mine revalved to the same settings and they made the world of difference.

I currently run in the lower (under 10 clicks) range and have no issues with the damping on standard Nitron springs (can't remember the spring rates at the moment but 225/140 comes to mind)

I'm in Teesside too and have a flat floor setup rig in the garage if you feel the need to check and adjust anything.

[Paul Mason]

Sounds like you have a very similar set up to me Grim Reaper, Nitrons and 225/140 lb springs. I'll have a drive now I've adjusted all the dampers to what I believe is the middle settings and see how it is. I think now I know you are local to me, I'll lean on you for some advice, as this is not an area I'm particularly experienced in. Really appreciate the offer of help.