Ride height

[661]

The books say 6" all along the sill.
I've adjusted my rear spring platforms for the first time in years as the rear height was 7.75 " and now I'm at 5.75 front and 6.25" rear.
Only trouble is the exhaust is grounding and I've got it about as high as it will go.
Is the 6" without driver/passenger?
I think the Koni's have 3 settlngs but I've never fiddled and can't even see a key, any ideas if stiffening them will make a difference?

[nebogipfel]

The books say 6" all along the sill.
I've adjusted my rear spring platforms for the first time in years as the rear height was 7.75 " and now I'm at 5.75 front and 6.25" rear.
Only trouble is the exhaust is grounding and I've got it about as high as it will go.
Is the 6" without driver/passenger?
I think the Koni's have 3 settlngs but I've never fiddled and can't even see a key, any ideas if stiffening them will make a difference?

Stiffening the shocks will not have any effect on ride height.

Ride height is a bit of a can of worms on Elans.......

If it's any consolation my exhaust kisses the road regularly

[Spyder fan]

Graeme,
time for new springs on the front perhaps? Most of the weight is there and gets loaded up under braking.

[661]

The front doesn't appear to be the problem, it's only after I've lowered the back that the exhaust 'kisses' on bumpy roads, of which we have many.
My thoughts on the shocks were, if firmer they are going to compress slower on bumps and dips??

[collins_dan]

John, Can you explain what you mean by "Ride height is a bit of a can of worms on Elans.......".

The reason I ask, is that I recently installed adjustable suspension in the front and rear. I basically lowered the car as much as I can based on tire clearance and trying to get the wishbones front and rear parallel the ground. I will measure tonight if that has resulted in the sills being 6" along the length of the sills. I suspect my front might be slightly lower than the rear. Handling seems unchanged, but I haven't had it on a track and really pushed it. I haven't even started to play with changing the stiffness to understand how that impacts handling. Any lessons on what works and what doesn't on setting up an elan's suspension would be great to hear.

PS. Happy to start another thread if this seems like a hijack from the original purpose, 661.

Thanks, Dan

[Spyder fan]

The front doesn't appear to be the problem, it's only after I've lowered the back that the exhaust 'kisses' on bumpy roads, of which we have many.
My thoughts on the shocks were, if firmer they are going to compress slower on bumps and dips??

Sorry,
I was assuming that the manifold end where it goes into the Y piece was hitting the road, this is where I get most of my problems around Tunbridge Wells with the +2 (luvvly roads...not), stiffening the dampers will maintain the height selected up to a point and not allow so much suspension travel under a given shock from the road, so maybe it will help a little. My S4 looks quite low, I haven't measured but it looks right and I get very few ground clearance issues, it's set up a lot stiffer than the +2 so maybe thats the answer. I can't really give you any data that's useable for the S4 because it doesn't use the original uprights or hubs.

[richboyd]

In the past, I've welded "skid plates" on low hanging exhaust bits. Sacrificial bits of steel, sort of like zinc anodes on a boat.
Elans are low cars. Something WILL drag now and then. Accept it.

[elj221c]

I would be inclined, if you will excuse the pun, to set camber angles and put up with the clearance so obtained. The angles are in the manual.

Don't forget to check the tracking afterwards.

Mine was always very low. Kissing exhaust? It was usually missing!

[UAB807F]

Do you have the rubber bump stops on the rear dampers ? I think these are meant to limit travel or at least slow things down as the spring becomes compressed, and in theory they should prevent grounding. Having said that, I fitted new dampers, springs & bump stops to my car several years ago and two-up the rear exhaust still hits the ground on bumpy roads when the suspension is working hard.

If you want to stop it entirely I think stiffer springs would be the only way with this type of suspension design, and that path is bound to change the characteristics of the original ride/handling concepts.

[elj221c]

If you want to stop it entirely I think stiffer springs would be the only way with this type of suspension design, and that path is bound to change the characteristics of the original ride/handling concepts.

It didn't work for me! My car has 200lb/" front and 120lb/" rear rates with cambers set. I still used to part the silencer/pipe junction on a regular basis.

You are right about the change in ride and handling. The handling is great (in the dry!) but you can almost feel rolling over a match stick.

[nebogipfel]

John, Can you explain what you mean by "Ride height is a bit of a can of worms on Elans.......".

Hi Dan, I was simply referring to the number of times the subject has been discussed on the forum and the seemingly endless different ride heights owners seem to experience.

On a general point my S4 has the standard twin pipe silencer box and I find the triangular yoke joining the two pipes tends to kiss the road first.

When I had the system off recently I welded a 14g skid plate onto the area

[collins_dan]

661, I measured and mine is 6" in front and 6.5" in back. I measured from the ground up to where the body shape begins, which is what I assume you mean by sill. This is about 1 1/2" above the bottom of the body just in back of and in front of the tires. To get the back down another 1/2" would be very tough and would likely require relieving the inner lip at the top of the fender to fit my tires (185/60R13). Both sides are similar heights. Dan

[Ross Robbins]

Dan,
Your 185/60 section tires (tyres) are probably 3/4" smaller in diameter than the original 155/80 tires that the manual took the settings from so the ride height will therefore be 3/8" lower just from that.

And, my interpretation of the "sill" is the straight edge along the bottom not the curved line of the bulge. Does anyone have a definitive answer?

On my car (S2) with two up and luggage, the silencer at the back can occasionally give a rather passionate "kiss" to the pavement.

[bast0n]

For those of you with bottoms that kiss - this is what I have done. On holiday with max luggage - yes, I take her along as well - it kisses, but the plate protects the delicate lower regions. Oh dear I'm getting over excited again....................

[661]

Dan,
And, my interpretation of the "sill" is the straight edge along the bottom not the curved line of the bulge.

My interpretation too