156 suspension
Discussion
Hi just wonderded if anybody had any thoughts or comments. My 156 (2.5 v6) has the sport pack "3" option fitted. Bushes have started to squeak on the front now after 96k, so as i may soon have the thing in bits i was thinking about replacing springs and dampers to try and smooth things out and get rid of the crashing that you get on some road surfaces and pot holes. Any recomendations or thoughts please.
OK. All Sportpack cars have the same suspension. The 1,2 or 3 just refers to the trim level of your car - 3 being the super spangly top dog Momo leather version.
The usual things that wear are bushes, so a full suspension replacement is probably not necessary. You can upgrade to polybushes if you want. Alfman can supply arms with them already installed:
www.alfamanservices.co.uk/suspensionarms.htm
If not somewhere like Alfa Shop, Shop4Parts or EB Spares will sort you out with standard items.
If you want the full kit, the EB Spares kit comes well recommended:
www.ebspares.co.uk/news35.htm but obviously all your bushes and other things will need to be in good nick.
One last thing - a strut brace makes a big difference to the heavier engined 156s. It prevents some of the crashing and surprisingly some of the diving under braking. They are £100 from your dealer, but about £60 from the aftermarket. The AR approved one is actually a Momo item, with the Momo sticker taken off. Well worth it.
The usual things that wear are bushes, so a full suspension replacement is probably not necessary. You can upgrade to polybushes if you want. Alfman can supply arms with them already installed:
www.alfamanservices.co.uk/suspensionarms.htm
If not somewhere like Alfa Shop, Shop4Parts or EB Spares will sort you out with standard items.
If you want the full kit, the EB Spares kit comes well recommended:
www.ebspares.co.uk/news35.htm but obviously all your bushes and other things will need to be in good nick.
One last thing - a strut brace makes a big difference to the heavier engined 156s. It prevents some of the crashing and surprisingly some of the diving under braking. They are £100 from your dealer, but about £60 from the aftermarket. The AR approved one is actually a Momo item, with the Momo sticker taken off. Well worth it.
One of the first things i did was to fit the strut brace after i bought the car off of my brother. I am of the opinion that this has helped to reduce tyre wear on the front end, as i now can get 20 to 22k out of a set SO3's and 2's, whereas 12 to 15 was the norm before, as well as going to a different dealer to have the geometory set after the original said "nothing wrong".
comdiver said:
I am of the opinion that this has helped to reduce tyre wear on the front end,
Yes. I am sure it has! Does make a big difference.
comdiver said:
after the original said "nothing wrong".
The factory geometry settings for SP cars was very aggressive and lead to extreme tread wear on the inside of the tyre. Many dealers later revised settings to zero toe in to eliminate this wear, so it maybe the first dealer was working off the original factory settings? Or maybe they were just a bag of....?
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