Baby Ruby

[taxirod]

Thanks all for the helpful advice.
Even though the IRS gives ratio to the springs, I still take that as an rough indication of the ball park I should be in.
I'll definitely try some lower poundage springs, and look out for somewhere I can weigh the back of the car.

[BadAC]

Defo try a scrappy, I did cost a tenner drink.

Sent from my moto e30 using NSRA mobile app

[ross@rmrrestorations]

You have all the info just now to get the correct spring rate......regardless of leverage ratio etc....

Measure free length of spring.....you know the poundage......fit it to the coil over with NO preload......let it take the weight......re-measure spring.

If a 160lb spring compresses an inch.....that is the correct weight.......if the 160 drops 2" then you need 320's.....if it drops a half inch then you need 80lbs.

Careful measuring will take the guesswork out of it.

[tom.marg]

True if that puts the shock at its recommended ride height

as above as already been said, east to make the mistake of not losing the weight of the axles and wheels ect been there myself.

[v8pop]

My brother in law bought 4 cheap digital bathroom scales off eBay to weigh his race car, he reckons as long as you're careful it's fine.

Cheers Tim W

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[ross@rmrrestorations]

True if that puts the shock at its recommended ride height

as above as already been said, east to make the mistake of not losing the weight of the axles and wheels ect been there myself.

Ideally the ride height would be with the spring unloaded, loading it changes the height slightly and ultimately increases the rate.......a bit.

[ross@rmrrestorations]

My brother in law bought 4 cheap digital bathroom scales off eBay to weigh his race car, he reckons as long as you're careful it's fine.

Cheers Tim W

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Kerb weight is not sprung weight though.

[Happydaze]

Isn't the sprung weight equivalent to the kerb weight less the unsprung weight? The unsprung weight could be measured, or guesstimated, or a combination, eg weigh a wheel, guestimate axle? An insightful builder might weigh stuff as they went along?

Chris

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[mygasser]

My brother in law bought 4 cheap digital bathroom scales off eBay to weigh his race car, he reckons as long as you're careful it's fine.

Cheers Tim W

Sent from my M2103K19G using NSRA mobile app

i was going to suggest that Tim, lol. the back end is so light it'd be fine.
neil.

[taxirod]

You have all the info just now to get the correct spring rate......regardless of leverage ratio etc....

Measure free length of spring.....you know the poundage......fit it to the coil over with NO preload......let it take the weight......re-measure spring.

If a 160lb spring compresses an inch.....that is the correct weight.......if the 160 drops 2" then you need 320's.....if it drops a half inch then you need 80lbs.

Careful measuring will take the guesswork out of it.

Now I like that, thanks for telling me.
Im a bit under the weather at the moment but will definitely give this a go at some point, cheers

[ross@rmrrestorations]

Isn't the sprung weight equivalent to the kerb weight less the unsprung weight? The unsprung weight could be measured, or guesstimated, or a combination, eg weigh a wheel, guestimate axle? An insightful builder might weigh stuff as they went along?

Chris

Sent from my SM-T515 using NSRA mobile app

Slightly more complicated than that......some parts have half of their value sprung and others are full weight.......wishbones/driveshafts etc.....

Only three things needed......a given spring rate, open length and loaded length. Calculate from there regardless of spring angle,leverage, axle type etc.

[taxirod]

Many thanks to everyone for their comments, especially Ross, thats a really good rule of thumb, if the spring compresses more than an inch with the weight of the vehicle, the springs are too soft.

So I switched from my Morris project to give the Ruby some attention. The 160lb springs were way too soft, and had had the spring platform wound right up to get the ride height.
I had some 300lb springs here, but they were the wrong ID, never mind, was able to fit them for the weight / spring compression check. Even the 300lb springs shrank by over an inch with the weight of the car on them, so I ordered a pair of 400lb springs, and they are fairly close to the 1" compression.

Then I went for a quick test drive (without the exhaust on, sounded quite good considering not a V8!) and the difference was very noticeable. Even just driving out of my garage, which has a 1" step to the pavement, felt very different to before.
So I bunged the exhaust back on just in time to take Wifey to Stratford. I drove along roads with huge speed humps and generally shocking road surfaces (welcome to Newham!) but instead of facing these with the usual trepidation, now I can just drive happily along!!!! It felt so good to FINALLY get this sorted, many thanks Guys.
I'm now going to redo the panhard rod, and that should be it, back onto the Morris.

[v8pop]

Glad you're all sorted Ian.

Cheers Tim W

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[ross@rmrrestorations]

Careful measurement could have got you closer to the exact rate needed rather than jump up by 25% but if it feels better then that is a result.

[Happydaze]

Cool, job done!

Bit confusing in as much as you've swapped 160 pounders which rode hard for some 400 pounders that ride nicely, which seems illogical, but the 160's being wound up tight explains it. I'm not sure what the 'rule' is on preload, but I'm sure many of us have confused ride height adjustment with preloaded adjustment, but some of one will affect the other! Strange isn't it that some coilovers are now available with 2 lots of spring adjustment, preloaded and rideheight.

We live and learn!

Chris

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[taxirod]

Thanks Tim, Ross, Happydaze.
Yes I was surprised to find that I needed much harder springs to cure a hard ride!
Today I grafted hard, got the panhard rod remounted, much closer to level now. Finished by tidying up the garage which had tools strewn everywhere after all the work.
Back to the new project now.

[taxirod]

I often find it's really a fiddle to fit those spacer washers next to your heim joints.


I weld one of the spacers to a tab of metal



I put the 1st spacer and the heim joint on



When it's at this stage and you need to insert the 2nd spacer, it can be real tricky to get it in. Especially if there is limited access (like on the panhard on my Ruby) - and if it drops it can disappear never to be seen again, depending on the type of bracket.

So the tab of metal allows you to position it and feed the bolt through easily.

I shaped the metal tab so it can swivel round and be out of the way.

[brading]

Is there no way you could make the plate longer and cut off the access when you get it in

[mygasser]

i guess what you thought before was a hard ride was the suspension bottoming out mate.
neil.

[taxirod]

Is there no way you could make the plate longer and cut off the access when you get it in

You could do that, but if you need to remove it anytime, you're back to the same struggle.