Exhause hitting axle on corsa 1.0. Help,please

[Djtemeka]

I changed the mid section on the corsa and it's rattling on the axle when I go over bumps or the rear squats under acceleration. I know I need to twist it to make it fit a bit better. it was cold and dark when I did it outside last time but it did this before only MUCH less.

The exhaust goes over the rear axle and there is a 1cm gap. If I push upwards on the rear bumper a little the gap increases so...
Is there a cheap way to lift the rear suspension around an inch to give more clearance?
The car is a corsa 1.0 1999. The suspension is original but the shocks are very rusted. Springs look fine.
Mileage is only 50k.
Handling is awful though! Not sure if the basic corsa was st to begin with and I don't expect sport car handling but when my van comfortably takes a twisty on ramp at 40mph the corsa's rear wants to slide around at 25mph.

Could the shocks be on their way out and dropping slightly?

Thanks
Jaime

[Djtemeka]

no one?

[imagineifyeswill]

I think you could be right that the shocks are past there sell by date

[Dave Brand]

Why do you want to mess about with the suspension when it's obvious that the problem is caused by the exhaust? Irrespective of the condition of the suspension there should be enough clearance to allow it to hit the bump stops without the exhaust fouling.

Changing dampers ("shocks") will have no effect on ride height - they just damp out spring oscillations, they do not support the car.

[cambiker71]

Turn the U clamp so that the threaded parts point upwards away from the axle NOT downwards like most people fit them, failing that make sure the two rubber mounts at the rear are not catching the rear valence, both are common fitting problems!

[Djtemeka]

Thanks cambiker.

I fitted new rubbers to the rear exhaust but not to the centre section as they only had two.
I've ordered a new silencer and two more rubbers.

I do find that the tail piece rubs the bumper as you mention but the two rubbers are on the lower setting. (Oval shaped with 4 holes).
Is that right?

[cambiker71]

Djtemeka said:

Thanks cambiker.

I fitted new rubbers to the rear exhaust but not to the centre section as they only had two.
I've ordered a new silencer and two more rubbers.

I do find that the tail piece rubs the bumper as you mention but the two rubbers are on the lower setting. (Oval shaped with 4 holes).
Is that right?

Yes that sounds right, once you've fitted the centre mounts, loosen the rear clamp and turn it upright like I mentioned before, just twisting the rear silencer a little one way or the other will usually get it hanging correctly.
Do make sure the middle part is fitted properly and far enough forwards too, the centre section is often a repair section, This means that you cut the original to fit the replacement parts from about the middle of the car backwards,without replacing the underfloor catalyst, it's not unknown for it to be cut too long so you can't fit any of the system far enough forwards to clear the rear valence/bumper area.

[Djtemeka]

Haven't driven it yet since the missus collected it yesterday. It seems the shocks were fubarred!
£350 fitted for 4 new shocks and tweeking the exhaust has fixed it.
Apparently 4 bounces after 1 push on each corner is rather too many
Car feels rock solid now no rattles apparently either
Didn't think it was the shocks as it was passed at the mot station 4k miles ago. No advisories.

[BritishRacinGrin]

Dave Brand said:

Changing dampers ("shocks") will have no effect on ride height - they just damp out spring oscillations, they do not support the car.

This is spot on, if four new shocks and a tweak of the exhaust fixed the problem then I guarantee that just a tweak of the exhaust would've solved the rattling issue. However if you genuinely needed new shocks at 50k then it's worthwhile. Personally I've never known any car to need four new shocks at 50k.

[Djtemeka]

It is 15 years old and rocked like a kids playground. It did need shocks but I did measure the gap between the wheel arch and there is a small difference in height. The problem was that the car was almost bottoming out over bumps. The exhaust goes over the solid axle and everytime the car hit a small bump it hit the exhaust.
Part of my problem was the VERY poor handling. Low speed going around a roundabout, the car would buck and rock and felt like the rear wanted to skid out.

[andyiley]

The only difference in the ride height will be down to where the shocks settled when the ride height was measured.

With stuffed shocks you could have lifted a wheel arch & got a very different measurement.

Personally, I find it hard to believe you didn't realise the shocks were that badly stuffed before-hand.

Having said this, as has been stated above, your original issue was your exhaust, which was badly fitted, and that was all that was the actual problem.

[Djtemeka]

Either way. 2 problems fixed

[Djtemeka]

andyiley said:

The only difference in the ride height will be down to where the shocks settled when the ride height was measured.

With stuffed shocks you could have lifted a wheel arch & got a very different measurement.

Personally, I find it hard to believe you didn't realise the shocks were that badly stuffed before-hand.

Having said this, as has been stated above, your original issue was your exhaust, which was badly fitted, and that was all that was the actual problem.

I thought the shocks were fked but as it pases an mot with no advisories only 4k miles ago and it was doing that before then, I just put it down to a crappy handling car.
I'm no mechanic