Elan frame-to-body relationship

[Chrisrich]

Well, I'm now suspecting that the body on my S4 is not positioned properly on the frame:

Here's why:
-My front wheels occasionally hit the inner wells.
-I've dialup up the spring preload on the suspension as high as possible, but I think I've only managed to take the play out of the shocks. When I lift the suspension up with a floorjack, I cannot get the lower wishbones anywhere near horizontal -- the car raises immediately.
-the top of the shock is penetrating through the bodywork into the engine bay.
-the body is pinching the steering rack gaiter on the right side (same with the left -- but I already removed that one).
-finally, I have Strombergs with a Power Blister and K&N filters. I had to trim down the forward air filter housing so that it wouldn't hit the bottom of the bonnet.

Everything seems to point to a body riding too low on the frame, no? Are there supposed to be any shims at the mounting points? I have none. It just looks like it wants to be 1/2, 3/4" higher. Am I imagining things?

Thanks in advance guys- Chris

[lotusfan]

Chris

It may be an optical illusion but are the steering rack brackets bent? They should be horizontal and the one nearest the camera looks like it is bent upwards.

[gjz30075]

My Sprint has shims at all the horizontal mounting points, and that's factory, because all my vertical mounting points align properly.

Is it possible a frame replacement was done in the past and an S1/S2 frame was used?

Greg Z

[paddy]

Your dampers are yellow - does that mean they are Spax replacements?

The fact that your wishbones always point down indicates that you have a ride height issue which has nothing at all to do with the body to frame relationship. I had a very similar issue where a previous owner had fitted Spax replacements and the spring was far too long so it was always too high.

Paddy

[Chrisrich]

Thanks folks.
Paddy: yes, they are spax, from RD. Fwiw, they do measure 13.5" off the car (equivalent of full-droop, I guess) which I believe is spec. I have the preloads dialed up pretty far, and I suppose I should unwind that.

Mike: yes, it looks bent, but luckily, it's not.

Greg: I'm pretty sure it's the original frame, but I've been wrong about these things before. Not sure how to confirm that.

This idea of raising the body a bit is going to be tough now that I see there are horizontal points that come off the shock towers. So it's not just fitting shims.

[69S4]

As Paddy says, your wishbone angles are governed by the relationship between the spring / damper units and the "chassis". At first glance the coils on your springs look a lot thicker and quite a bit longer than mine. A longer spring and a higher rate would give the symptoms you've got.

Regarding the body fit, the pic that shows the top of the spring units coming through a hole in the bodywork is exactly the same as on mine. The gaps around the chassis tower look similar as well.

[paddy]

I was told that the problem with my Spax was that the stock springs were fitted to dampers which, being adjustable, had a much higher spring perch than the originals. I never verified whether or not that was true - but the spring length being standard doesn't necessarily mean it's OK.

Paddy

[Chrisrich]

Thanks guys, and thanks Stuart: that spacing info is exactly what I was looking for.
I'll try to reassemble one side with the new arms and dial back the spring preload and see if I can get everything to sit right.

Thanks -- Chris

[nebogipfel]

I'm like a broken record on this one but when I tried spax adjustables on the front of my S4 it screwed the geometry up completely.

Give them flying lessons out of the nearest window and fit OE specification shocks (and springs)

[Chrisrich]

Hard to find on this side, I think.
I'll try Bean.
Anyone know of a place in the states that has them?

Chris

[lotocone]

Chris,

I was shopping for front shocks this summer and Dave Bean Engrg told me they only sell AVO now. I got a pair, which are adjustable, with the recommended springs (12" long x 115 lb/in). My ride height and the position of the suspension arms are okay now. It took some adjusting with one of those shock wrenches. I would try to adjust the springs that you have first. Move the ring downward and see if that helps. Mine are screwed down near the bottom of the threads.

I had a pair of what I thought were original shocks and springs, but they made the front of the car way too high. Can't even remember where they came from, other than probably a private owner. Maybe they belong on a Plus 2.

By the way, since we have sibling cars (made in the same month) our frame numbers should be in the same place. Mine is on the top flange of the frame next to the oil pump. Have a look there to see if you can find 459780.

[elancoupe]

I ran the Spax adjutables on the front of mine for some time, never was really happy with the ride height, even with shorter springs. I opted for the TTR fast road shock/spring setup ( rear as well) last fall. The handling of the car was dramatically transformed, and ride height is now easily adjustable. The difference was amazing.

I am here in the States as well. It won't be cheap, but if you call TTR on Monday, they will most likely be on your porch on Tuesday.

I gave the Spax flying lessons too.

[aratchet]

From what I can see the fender wells have been damaged and pieced back together. There is evidence of a splice/repair just on the line where the coil mounting bolts are. The rack mount brackets are way off and have unusual and or incorrect mounting to the steering rack. There is also an unusual treatment of the body where it mounts to the rack mount brackets. Any of these may cause the tires to hit the body, but more importantly will greatly affect the handling. The frame looks a little wrinkled at the turrets too. Most likely it was involved in a shunt and not repaired correctly. I would look at some unscathed Elans and compare. More pics here would help. I wouldn't waste my money/time on shocks/springs without addressing the frame issues. Good luck.

[jkolb]

I would suggest that you need to set ride height and do a full alignment check. These cars do not respond well to even small variations from spec and the droop in the wishbones would indicate that it is not in spec. From the looks of things it must also be bump steering badly.

Jerry

[collins_dan]

Chris, For what its worth, Ray carries the TTR fast road front and rear. I don't remember exact prices, but I think front was around $400 and rear around $600. The other option is to go direct to TTR and have it shipped. Dan