Ride height V level arms
Discussion
I’m off to get my car set up on one of those Hunter machines on Friday, but want to get it all ready before so it’s just geo setting on the day.
I’ve seen before and been told that it’s best to have the geo done with the arms level instead of a given ride height but obviously adjusting ride height afterwards will in turn change the geo,,,
So the question is, with the arms set level, what ride height does this give you (std wheels and tyres) and is this high enough not to have to jack it up at some future date? My car is sat high at the moment and it clears everything.. don’t want to start pulling splitters off etc
I’ve seen before and been told that it’s best to have the geo done with the arms level instead of a given ride height but obviously adjusting ride height afterwards will in turn change the geo,,,
So the question is, with the arms set level, what ride height does this give you (std wheels and tyres) and is this high enough not to have to jack it up at some future date? My car is sat high at the moment and it clears everything.. don’t want to start pulling splitters off etc
FWIW, my TVR guy sets the ride height before he does the geo for the reason you state.
He adjusts the rings on the rear dampers until the lower rear wishbones are parallel to the ground, ie level. Then he measures the height they are above the ground and sets the front ones 15-20 mm lower.
He showed me that if you try to get all 4 level, you can mess up the front ride height, and you cannot measure from the outriggers to the ground as they might not be even.
On the geo, do tell the guy what you do with the car, as if you track it you will need more camber.
He adjusts the rings on the rear dampers until the lower rear wishbones are parallel to the ground, ie level. Then he measures the height they are above the ground and sets the front ones 15-20 mm lower.
He showed me that if you try to get all 4 level, you can mess up the front ride height, and you cannot measure from the outriggers to the ground as they might not be even.
On the geo, do tell the guy what you do with the car, as if you track it you will need more camber.
TVR Beaver said:
Thanks for that.. will be intersting to see what he says.. 
is he someone who sets up a lot of TVR's?
Its his business...he's one of the well known TVR specialists...almost all of his work is on TVRs, rest is things like setting up race cars, building an Ultima and servicing other sports cars. He has set mine up brilliantly, it handled superbly on the track on Monday at Cadwell. is he someone who sets up a lot of TVR's? I watched him do some of it, including the ride height, standing under the car with him, and remember that he doesn't use the outriggers for measuring, as they can be uneven. He showed me the rear wishbones and adjusted the ride height on the dampers using the G spanners (he had just put new dampers on for me) so that he got the arms parallel to a strip of steel he placed across the 4 post lift. He then measured the ride height well under the car, (had his reply - he now tells me on the chassis rail in line with the axle), and then adjusted the front ride height to 15-20mm lower than the rear, measuring to the same place on the chassis rail at the front. He then commented to me that while the front wishbone arms should also be parallel to the ground, they weren't always, and that it was the ride height that mattered more.
He then did a 4 wheel geo, setting it up for the track with a bit more toe and an extra degree of camber out, as he had noticed at Snetterton about three weeks previously that when I came back to the pits the outside edges of my 888s were hot but the inside edges were cold.
You can actually see this camber - if you look on the TVRCC Cadwell thread, on the last of about 6 or 7 pages ShiDevil has last night or this morning posted a link to some photos. Mine is the navy blue Chim with no number plate, us with no helmets on, coming down the hill to the paddock - the camber is clearly visible - the front wheels are sloping outwards.
When I tested the car on track on Monday the tyres were evenly hot, which suggests that he got the extra camber right. Car certainly handled the best I can remember, predictable and I could feel every movement at the limit of adhesion. A joy to drive.
what makes you think it's high at the front? is it a handling based reason or aesthetics? If you can drive it into the pub / shop / golf course / work car park without bottoming out then the basic height is fine, then you need to refine/fine tune that height and rake depending on what handling characteristics you want. If you then end up with bottom arms (or more realistically the arm pivot points) level it is purely co-incidental. When race teams area adjusting the suspension do you think their primary reason for adjusting is to make the arms level? No, they're adjusting so their driver is as fast and consistent as possible .. it doesn't matter if all the arms are at different angles, if your driver is fastest and wins that's all that matters ..
Looking back to your original post, you said you wanted to avoid taking the splitter off, or bottoming out the exhaust and rear ARB on bumps and speed humps (I have edited there, as those were the bits of my car that used to bottom out).
Mine was doing this for months and was also a bit nose up, which helped the bonnet to fly open at 135mph on one memorable occasion.
When I read up about it I realised that my rear ride height might be low, and a PH post confirmed this. I had been thinking my dampers must be shot. I raised the rear ride height and it seemed to solve everything in one go.
FWIW, which is not very much, my rear height both sides from both rear outrigger triangles to the ground before I changed it was 135mm. After the adjustment it was 160mm.
As I have had a change of suspension last week I don't know what my ride height is now. I can check at the weekend if you are interested. I did actually think it looked a bit low again on Monday - there's a pic of my car at Cadwell on one of the TVRCC Cadwell Thread, third pic down on page 6, sitting on its own with no-one in it and SP12 wheels on - but it drove so well that i won't be fiddling with it, which rather backs up Spitfire's point about setting it up to drive well.
Mine was doing this for months and was also a bit nose up, which helped the bonnet to fly open at 135mph on one memorable occasion.
When I read up about it I realised that my rear ride height might be low, and a PH post confirmed this. I had been thinking my dampers must be shot. I raised the rear ride height and it seemed to solve everything in one go.
FWIW, which is not very much, my rear height both sides from both rear outrigger triangles to the ground before I changed it was 135mm. After the adjustment it was 160mm.
As I have had a change of suspension last week I don't know what my ride height is now. I can check at the weekend if you are interested. I did actually think it looked a bit low again on Monday - there's a pic of my car at Cadwell on one of the TVRCC Cadwell Thread, third pic down on page 6, sitting on its own with no-one in it and SP12 wheels on - but it drove so well that i won't be fiddling with it, which rather backs up Spitfire's point about setting it up to drive well.
I don't want it to bottom out, but as the speed goes up it get's a tad light on the front at 70 ish so I'm thinking it's may be lifting.. then over 100 it does get better?..
I know my front arms are are pointing down so I'm sure it's up there at the front... and the higher you go the more unstable it will get I guess. I don't want it like you see some, flat to the floor but may pull her down 10mm or so......
I'll see where I am first... I was told to get the arms level to set up the geo.. and then adjust the height from there...
I know my front arms are are pointing down so I'm sure it's up there at the front... and the higher you go the more unstable it will get I guess. I don't want it like you see some, flat to the floor but may pull her down 10mm or so......
I'll see where I am first... I was told to get the arms level to set up the geo.. and then adjust the height from there...
One side up + one side down will bias the thrust angle, which is what you are trying to ensure is correct...
AIUI you have had experts setting the geo already & your car doesn't go in a straight line. If you get everything set up square then you can use your string & tape measure to adjust later. Don't confuse fine tuning the suspension with getting it straight to start with (which yours seems to be way out on the thrust...)?
AIUI you have had experts setting the geo already & your car doesn't go in a straight line. If you get everything set up square then you can use your string & tape measure to adjust later. Don't confuse fine tuning the suspension with getting it straight to start with (which yours seems to be way out on the thrust...)?
it wants to go left a tad but it's the turning into right handers that I want to improve...
TBH when you say 'way out'.. I think the drivers side rear needs pushing out 1mm but we'll see what the machine says is that way out?
TBH it will be all over at the moment as I've been adjusting everything so need to start again
TBH when you say 'way out'.. I think the drivers side rear needs pushing out 1mm but we'll see what the machine says
is that way out?TBH it will be all over at the moment as I've been adjusting everything so need to start again
well, got it set up today... looked at the arms on the ramp and teh rears are level the front a tad up so TBH I left it alone... they took a reading following the settings I gave and it was out in a couple of areas.. so we adjusted it within limits.. It was not far out and the guy said he didn't think it would change much....
But it has.. totaly nice to drive now, arrow straight and goes left / right with the same amount of effort...
May be I should have set the camber on the rears to 1.5-2 deg as pushing it on long bends it can squeel a bit... but I guess everything is a compramise... for normal fast running it's set great
these are thr charts:--
But it has.. totaly nice to drive now, arrow straight and goes left / right with the same amount of effort...
May be I should have set the camber on the rears to 1.5-2 deg as pushing it on long bends it can squeel a bit... but I guess everything is a compramise... for normal fast running it's set great
these are thr charts:--
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