4722 replies to this topic

[Nev]

Looking at the photo I realise that those brackets in the pics have another set of mounting holes to return them to OEM height. 2 hours more in the garage and I've relocated it. The next problem Im encountering is that the front anti roll bar is so stiff that even when the car is jacked up and the front wheel is hanging from it's own weight in mid air it isn't dropping to the coilover max droop !!! I don't like to think of the tension on the anti roll bar, but is must be in the order of 150 Lb of upward lift on each front wheel - is this normal ?! Looking at the roll bar, it has 4 settings/holes, and is currently set on the 2nd closest to the front, presumably if I adjust it to one of the more rearward holes it will reduce it's twisting effect? Can anyone confirm this pls?

Edited by Nev, 16 July 2014 - 12:43 AM.

[siztenboots]

is the arb droplink binding? , I have the 1" arb and news droplink and degree of movement is very easy and with front 2" helper springs I can use all the damper range. the only bracket on the front I changed was the arb mount for a slightly wider one supplied by Nitron.

[VXT Tim]

I've had a 1" bar fitted very recently and have noticed that the suspension hardly droops at all now compared to with the std arb.

[Exmantaa]

Looking at the photo I realise that those brackets in the pics have another set of mounting holes to return them to OEM height. 2 hours more in the garage and I've relocated it. The next problem Im encountering is that the front anti roll bar is so stiff that even when the car is jacked up and the front wheel is hanging from it's own weight in mid air it isn't dropping to the coilover max droop !!! I don't like to think of the tension on the anti roll bar, but is must be in the order of 150 Lb of upward lift on each front wheel - is this normal ?! Looking at the roll bar, it has 4 settings/holes, and is currently set on the 2nd closest to the front, presumably if I adjust it to one of the more rearward holes it will reduce it's twisting effect? Can anyone confirm this pls?

 

Are you jacking up one front wheel/side of the car? As that is what that stiffer ARB is designed to do...   

 

But if both wheels are up your ARB is sticking and needs attention at the bearing blocks.

[Nev]

 

Are you jacking up one front wheel/side of the car? As that is what that stiffer ARB is designed to do...   

 

 

Yes, exactly this (right hand side wheels on the ground, left hand side wheel in the air), I should have been more clear in my posting above. BTW it is the 1" Elise Parts ARB.

 

It's just that I hadn't expect quite so much force to be transmitted from one side to the other, it really is quite substancial. My old OEM one was desperately floppy and did virtually nothing and this one seems brutally strong.

 

Which of the set of 4 holes provides the least force - the forward-most hole or the one rearward-most hole? At the moment is it set on the 2 most forward one and I'd like to reduce it's effect. 

Edited by Nev, 16 July 2014 - 11:45 AM.

[VXT Tim]

The hole furthest away from the front of the car is the softest setting.

[Exmantaa]

 

 

Are you jacking up one front wheel/side of the car? As that is what that stiffer ARB is designed to do...   

 

 

Yes, exactly this (right hand side wheels on the ground, left hand side wheel in the air), I should have been more clear in my posting above. BTW it is the 1" Elise Parts ARB.

 

It's just that I hadn't expect quite so much force to be transmitted from one side to the other, it really is quite substancial. My old OEM one was desperately floppy and did virtually nothing and this one seems brutally strong.

 

Which of the set of 4 holes provides the least force - the forward-most hole or the one rearward-most hole? At the moment is it set on the 2 most forward one and I'd like to reduce it's effect. 

 

 

I thought you had sorted this stuff out ages ago...   

 

It's simple leverage; the longer the arm, the easier it is to twist the torsion spring. So furthest holes from the pivot point (bearing blocks) make for a lighter ARB setting...

[Nev]

I thought you had sorted this stuff out ages ago...

I had the ARB and brand new rack put in by Jimmy about 9 months ago, but at that time the geo remained the same mainly speaking. Thanks for you help BTW

[alexb]

OEM is 50 lbs/inch. 1" ARB is 250 - 200 - 165 - 140 for hole 1-4 with hole 1 closest to the bar. On it's lowest setting the 1" bar has an almost 3 times higher rating than the OEM one. Jacking up the car on one side, with the OEM bar the wheel up in the air will noticable droop. You can also quite easily move it up and down. With the 1" ARB that is very different.

 

The ARB obviously only adds to the spring force in roll, but you can compare it to the springs it's 'assisting'. In the OEM set up the 50 lbs/inch bar makes a lot of sense compared to the front spring rate. What you really should do is look at the front/back roll balance. But that involves some real calculations and in the end you still only have a starting point.

[Nev]

My homebrew geo modifications have turned out nicely, went for a 100 mile blast on familiar bumpy A/B roads and I reckon I was approx. 15 MPH more confident on them. Bump steer is considerably reduced (though still there more than I would want) but most noticable is the front end grip improvement. I have written up and posted some pics on my website here: https://sites.google...07---new-engine To fix the remaining bump steer I might end up making my own steering arms, we shall see.

Edited by Nev, 19 July 2014 - 11:25 AM.

[Nev]

Yesterday I went for a lovely drive over to the Black Mountains. Set off at 7.15am on a sunny sunday morning and got home at about 1.00pm, with several coffee/snack stops to take in the views. Traffic was really light until about 10am and I had a real blast in perfect conditions. For anyone who hasn't discovered this area it really is a great place to drive, lots of room to overtake, stunning views and quite uncongested if you go early/late.

Here is a section of the route:
https://www.google.c...2!1m0!3e0?hl=en

Some of the roads are fast, and some are wonderfully twisty with crests and dips, all with plenty of opportunity to overtake. In fact the route on the map was so good I did it 3 times in a 240 mile trip and managed to get a relatively good 25 MPG! The best road was the A4215 IMO, short but perfect for a VX, with almost no cars on it.

Edited by Nev, 21 July 2014 - 08:24 AM.

[Judderman]

Love it up there, I have the advantage of living in Llandovery so its on the doorstep.

 

Well worth a visit as Nev says if you've not driving there before.

 

Nev the cars looking awesome.

[Nev]

Yes, you are a lucky bugger, I'd love to live out there, but I'd not find a job unfortunately. Yesterday evening I gave back some karma by inviting round the son of a friend of my g/f. He is 14 and has been doing very well at karting, his team coming 3rd in the national comps, with prizes like going round the McClaren works and driving power karts. My g/f had been nagging me for about 1/2 a year to do this (after both of us watched him at Castle Coombe in the winter). Anyway his dad dropped him round and I spent an hour explaining engines, breathing, turbos, cooling, geos etc and them took him for a country road blast (driving with extra 20% safety margin). He was blown away and clearly thinking about moving up a notch from the smaller karts to bigger ones, or perhaps to something bigger once he can get his license. It felt good to pass on some knowledge and was keen to come round and help me spanner whenever I do some work, to help him learn stuff.

Edited by Nev, 21 July 2014 - 08:50 AM.

[VXT Tim]

Nice to have time for 6 odd hour blast out How are you getting on with the federals? Also I didn't realise you'd bought the EP uprights, all round or just fronts?

[Nev]

The Federals are fine IMO, not as quite as sticky as the V70s, but relatively good for the price. I only bought the front hub carriers as my wallet spider nearly died from shock at the price

[Nev]

Bloody hell, went to try and adjust my toe in on one of the rear wheels and one of the lock nuts is jammed like a jammy thing. I've sprayed with penetrating fluid, tapped it with a hammer but it still wont budge (using my longest spanner and wrench for leverage), any ideas anyone ?

Edited by Nev, 21 July 2014 - 04:51 PM.

[VXT Tim]

Got a blow torch?

[Nev]

I've bought an extra long set of spanners off SwindleBay, maybe the extra leverage will be enough to crack it...

[siztenboots]

brake disk in the way?

[Nev]

brake disk in the way?

 

Strangely, the one under the brake disc was easy enough to crack open, its the one at the other end that is stuck fast.