Suspension torquing V8V
Discussion
One for the more knowledgeable amongst us...
Having rebuilt my front and rear suspension, I'm almost at the stage of getting a full Hunter alignment done. Fortunately the place that does it is only 5 miles or so away and the owner has a 2014 V8VS, so hopefully knows what he's doing.
All the bolts that can be torqued up with the car in the air have been, however, there are a number of bolts where the procedure is to apply the 2 x 37.5kg weights etc before correct torque is applied, so effectively the car is fully laden.
Question is - am I going to be ok tightening these bolts but not torqued fully with the car in the air and driving the 4 miles, then getting them to torque according to spec, or do I need to get the car fully laden and do it first ?
The only issue with the latter option is getting the car in the air on its wheels. I have a couple of ramps, but can't get them under the wheels when the car is in the air as they hang down.
Advice and pointers most welcome !
Having rebuilt my front and rear suspension, I'm almost at the stage of getting a full Hunter alignment done. Fortunately the place that does it is only 5 miles or so away and the owner has a 2014 V8VS, so hopefully knows what he's doing.
All the bolts that can be torqued up with the car in the air have been, however, there are a number of bolts where the procedure is to apply the 2 x 37.5kg weights etc before correct torque is applied, so effectively the car is fully laden.
Question is - am I going to be ok tightening these bolts but not torqued fully with the car in the air and driving the 4 miles, then getting them to torque according to spec, or do I need to get the car fully laden and do it first ?
The only issue with the latter option is getting the car in the air on its wheels. I have a couple of ramps, but can't get them under the wheels when the car is in the air as they hang down.
Advice and pointers most welcome !
InitialDave said:
What I've done in such situations is use the jack to raise the suspension to roughly where it should be at normal ride height and tighten then.
This - without wheels its much easier to reach the bolts.Did that recently when renewing the upper arms.
Of course you need to know the wheel-center-to-fender distance to do that precise.
I would not feel confortable driving without tightening.
Did you take photos of the concentric bolts before you removed them? If so i would torque them up at home in their original positions so the tracking should be roughly correct.
Plus great idea about jacking up each side to roughly ride height and then torque up.
This will be my problem this winter when i remove the rear subframe to refurb.
Plus great idea about jacking up each side to roughly ride height and then torque up.
This will be my problem this winter when i remove the rear subframe to refurb.
All you need to do is preload the suspension to its normal ride height. If you removed the wheels and supported the car under the outside end of the lower arms, the discs or the hubs, then you can fully tighten the mountings and then refit the wheels.
All you are doing is clamping the rubber mounts in a neutral load position. If you tightened them with the wheels hanging, then when the car is lowered, the bushes twist and there is a permanent twisting load on the bush. Further suspension travel under load will then possibly over stress the bush, causing it to tear.
This is not the case with spherical joints or "Powerflex" type bushes which have free rotation around the pivot point.
In your case, being so close to your aligner, you could just nip all the bolts and let the alignment guy know they will all need tightening when loaded after setting.
All you are doing is clamping the rubber mounts in a neutral load position. If you tightened them with the wheels hanging, then when the car is lowered, the bushes twist and there is a permanent twisting load on the bush. Further suspension travel under load will then possibly over stress the bush, causing it to tear.
This is not the case with spherical joints or "Powerflex" type bushes which have free rotation around the pivot point.
In your case, being so close to your aligner, you could just nip all the bolts and let the alignment guy know they will all need tightening when loaded after setting.
Just finished the rears.
Definitely go with the wheel on and handbrake on. It’s by far the safest way. It is fiddly getting to the bolts, but not difficult.
Also have the jack positioned centrally under the tyre - I used a 6x6 piece of 1/2” ply to spread the weight and had the jack at 90 degrees to the body rather than in line.
If you don’t do the above, prepare to use some choice language as you find out the best way to do it.
Loosen everything off before you Jack the wheel up and then tighten. I haven’t torqued, but sufficiently tight enough that I know it’s safe and will get everything double checked when they do the alignment.
One of the upper wishbone to subframe nuts is tricky to get to. An 18mm offset ring spanner will sort you out here. It’s very close to the springs so you can’t get a ratchet on it.
Fronts next....
Definitely go with the wheel on and handbrake on. It’s by far the safest way. It is fiddly getting to the bolts, but not difficult.
Also have the jack positioned centrally under the tyre - I used a 6x6 piece of 1/2” ply to spread the weight and had the jack at 90 degrees to the body rather than in line.
If you don’t do the above, prepare to use some choice language as you find out the best way to do it.
Loosen everything off before you Jack the wheel up and then tighten. I haven’t torqued, but sufficiently tight enough that I know it’s safe and will get everything double checked when they do the alignment.
One of the upper wishbone to subframe nuts is tricky to get to. An 18mm offset ring spanner will sort you out here. It’s very close to the springs so you can’t get a ratchet on it.
Fronts next....
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