Suffolk Ride height

[NATONEIL]

Reg,

I had the two tags welded back on last week. The exhaust mounts are fine, but I think I will avoid the rutted track up to Ettore's Field in future!

Taking a (very) rough measurement from the ground to the bottom of the outer flange of the wings, mine is approx 32ins at the front and 31ins at the rear. I will probably slightly lower the front and raise the rear.

The AVO Spring/Damper units (2 at the front and 4 at the rear) are height adjustable via the lower rings (using a C-spanner), which are held by small locking screws. Suspension Setting is chapter 12.2 in the Build Manual.

Roy

Roy,
Using the same ( very ) rough measurements, I have 32inch at the rear and 32.5inch at the front.
I have put an extra click on all 4 rear dampers which I hope will go some way to stopping the grounding on the exhaust.
If I remember, I will measure Neil's car on Sunday and let you know.

Reg

Roy and Reg

Beware of measuring floor to wheel arch. If the car has been sitting for a few days the tyres flatten and the suspension squats.

I have suffered from grounding and have jacked up the rear I now have 25 threads below the adjustment ring on the rear and 10 on the front. I think the front could do with raising an extra 5 -10 extra turns to balance everything out. I would be wary of lowering the front because the sump is quite low.

I have not had a exhaust tab breakage yet, but my exhaust fitment design is probably different to yours because I fitted them myself. I have a T bracket holding the rear with a single bobbin mount at the front between the bracket and the IRS lower plate under the Differential and also a bobbin between the bracket and the exhaust on each side.

[RoyC]

Neil,

Thanks for moving the thread, it was getting way off topic.

I only used the wing height as a rough guide. I've found that pumping a few extra pounds in the tyres (when not using the car for a while) helps avoid the threepenny bit effect. For adjustment, I measure from the lower surface of the adjustment ring to the last thread with a vernier caliper.

I've just lowered the front by 12mm (6 turns) and will investigate raising the rear next week.

Roy

[lowebird]

Neil, Roy,

Thanks for all the info, one thing, where do you get the "C" spanner to adjust the springs ?
Reg

[NATONEIL]

Reg

The best place for them is a good motor bike shop.

[RoyC]

...or eBay. I use a 1¼"-3" (32mm-76mm) adjustable C-spanner.

Don't forget to jack up the car and clean & lubricate the threads first!

Roy

[RoyC]

I've just raised the rear ride height, which involves removing the wheels to get to the dampers.
I've gone up 4 turns on each of the 4 rear dampers (8mm), plus I've gone up to 10 clicks on the rear (was 8 clicks).
[N.B. since lowered by 2 turns / 4mm, as it was too high, and back to 8 clicks as 10 was too hard]

Have fun at Thoresby Hall this weekend.
I'm off to Zolder to play with the TVR people.

Roy

[lowebird]

Roy,
Do have a good time playing with "The noisy ones", hope the weather is kind to you, it's been dire here in the Broads for the last few days.

Reg

[4jagsjohn]

As a point of interest with regards to the ride height and indeed quality of ride on our ss100s. I found the springs on the coilovers supplied by Suffolk when I had built my car to be rather to hard. On speaking with a friend with a Suffolk he told me to change them for softer coils,this I did ( you can get a range on different springs from DemonTweeks) and what difference to the ride and to the comfort they make. Since doing this my car has not, up to now, bottomed out over the last two years. John.

[NATONEIL]

John

I put two friends in my car to look at how much the suspension moves with the car fully loaded and there was almost no movement. What springs did you fit to yours because I will probably go softer and also get longer dampers to allow more travel.

[4jagsjohn]

Hello Neil, you will have to give me a bit of time to find out which springs I obtained from DemonTweeks it was about 4 years ago now. I am glad I changed my springs as the ride in my car is much nicer than with the Suffolk ones. I am hoping to get to the Snetterton do on Sunday next, if you are there you could check my cars ride quality if you like. Cheers John.

[4jagsjohn]

Neil just rang Deemon Tweeks to see if they had record of my purchase. They did. The springs I bought were 9 inch.
2.25. dia. 225lbs rating. Present cost £24.88+vat. I did not change my AVO dampers just the springs. I can give you the height setting on mine of the retaining ring if you would like. John.

[NATONEIL]

John

Thanks, did you fit those all round? I hope to be at Snetterton and would be pleased to take a look.

[4jagsjohn]

On reflection Neil I'm not sure I'll check with a friend of mine who changed his and get back to you. J.

[4jagsjohn]

Neil. The old grey matter is beginning to fail me. Me friend informs me we only changed the front coils and when I checked with Demon Tweeks they tell me I only purchased 2 coils of the spec I have given you. I have to say with the settings I have my car is riding well and comfortably. Hope this helps you. I do remember that the front suspension used to bottom out quite a lot and no longer does. John.

[NATONEIL]

Thanks John