Rear suspension Droop limiting devices.

PostPost by: normand » Sun Jan 04, 2015 11:27 am

Can anyone point me in the direction of a picture or sketch of a sucessfull droop limiting cable (or other device) for use on my S4 when I fit solid drive shafts, Lots of discussion but I cannot find any pictures on the Forum Thanks ,Norman
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PostPost by: rgh0 » Sun Jan 04, 2015 11:39 am

This is what I used when I had spax rear shocks. I found I did not need it when I fitted TTR Koni's The cable connects at the top end with a tab welded to the front bottom of the rear strut tower. The cable took little load as the spring load and weight combined at full droop was only a maybe 20 Kg

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PostPost by: stevebroad » Sun Jan 04, 2015 12:40 pm

These are mine:

They have gone through a few design changes :-)

Image

Image

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PostPost by: Certified Lotus » Sun Jan 04, 2015 12:51 pm

Got to love all the engineering in those photo's Steve. I didn't know where to look first.
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PostPost by: RichardHawkins » Sun Jan 04, 2015 7:47 pm

Norman,

I shortened the piston rod of the strut. You have to be careful though, as having shortened the rod, that rod can then drop into the damper body, probably damaging the seal.

Happy New Year.

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PostPost by: stevebroad » Sun Jan 04, 2015 8:47 pm

RichardHawkins wrote:Norman,

I shortened the piston rod of the strut. You have to be careful though, as having shortened the rod, that rod can then drop into the damper body, probably damaging the seal.

Happy New Year.

Richard Hawkins


If I understand you correctly, you use the rod hitting the top of the inside of the damper casing as your droop limiter?
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PostPost by: RichardHawkins » Mon Jan 05, 2015 7:16 pm

Steve,

Yes that is correct. If I understand correctly it is the rod hitting the inside of the top of the damper that limits the droop of the original design using rotaflex joints. By shortening the rod at the top end I am actually removing motion from the bottom of the suspension travel. I did this once before for a friend who was using universal joint drive shafts. He wanted 2" removed. I presume he was happy, as he has never mentioned it since.

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PostPost by: billwill » Mon Jan 05, 2015 7:40 pm

RichardHawkins wrote:Steve,

Yes that is correct. If I understand correctly it is the rod hitting the inside of the top of the damper that limits the droop of the original design using rotaflex joints. By shortening the rod at the top end I am actually removing motion from the bottom of the suspension travel. I did this once before for a friend who was using universal joint drive shafts. He wanted 2" removed. I presume he was happy, as he has never mentioned it since.

Richard Hawkins



Can you describe the procedure for shortening the damper shafts?
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PostPost by: quaybook » Mon Jan 05, 2015 9:44 pm

My solution is very Heath Robinson but has worked well on my car for years and many miles. Sorry no pics to hand but it is very simple.
I loop a length of 1" wide nylon webbing (luggage strap in fact) over the top of the suspension tower and then clamp each end to the suspension upright with a pair of good quality hose clips. It is easy then to adjust to the maximum safe droop, simply jack up the rear of the car under the upright, put a support under the body (with proper load spreading), then lower the jack to get appropriate maximum droop, checking for free rotation of the CV joints as you go, then jack up a little to allow for take up in the webbing, pull the strap tight both sides and tighten the hose clamps. Finally lower the jack and check free rotation of the shaft and you are all done. The advertised max load of the webbing luggage straps I use is 225k, so a looped strap gives plenty of strength for the load imposed by the drooping suspension bearing in mind that the dampers prevent shock loading.

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PostPost by: crypto » Mon Jan 05, 2015 9:49 pm

stevebroad wrote:These are mine:

They have gone through a few design changes :-)


Oh dear, how much weight did you loose/save by making all these chassis holes ?
Sorry, I mean the chassis of course, and not you :oops:

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PostPost by: stevebroad » Mon Jan 05, 2015 10:31 pm

[/quote]Oh dear, how much weight did you loose/save by making all these chassis holes ?
Sorry, I mean the chassis of course, and not you :oops:

Peter[/quote]

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PostPost by: types26/36 » Tue Jan 06, 2015 4:53 pm

quaybook wrote:My solution is very Heath Robinson but has worked well on my car for years and many miles. Sorry no pics to hand but it is very simple.
I loop a length of 1" wide nylon webbing (luggage strap in fact) over the top of the suspension tower and then clamp each end to the suspension upright with a pair of good quality hose clips Vernon


Much the same here although fitted as a temporary measure I may refine or alter when I get the time.
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DROOP STRAPS 001.JPG and
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PostPost by: normand » Fri Jan 16, 2015 12:20 pm

Thanks for all the pictures, heres what I have come up with, made from parts from B&Q (Hardware Shop) bottom end is attatched to spring platform via welded on nut and bit of strenthening plate. Have reduced droop by 2" .
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droop strap 001.JPG and
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