New springs - ride height

This section is for technical Q & A
Please try the search function before starting a new thread.
Forum rules
Many subjects will have been discussed before. Please try the search function before starting a new thread.
Check in the Know Your 2 as the information you need may already be there.
The forum Administrator has chosen to advise you that this topic is 2 years and 1 week old and that you may wish to begin a new topic or use the search feature to find a similar but newer topic.

Topic author
arctichotspur
Posts: 31
Joined: 20/01/21 8:00
Years of MR2 Ownership: 1
MR2's Owned: 1
Gender: Male
Location: Norway
Has thanked: 2 times

New springs - ride height

Post by arctichotspur »

Hi.

I just replaced my lowering springs on my 86 MR2. I replaced with springs from MR2-ben which was going to give me stock ride height. I changed all dampers at the same time.

I now have 64,5 cm from bottom of wheel to center of wheel well in front and 61 cm in the rear. I have read that the car is lower in the rear, but I was hoping for a more even height.

Have I done anything wrong or is it possible that the front springs will settle some additional cm?


User avatar

jimi
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 5164
Joined: 17/05/04 1:00
Years of MR2 Ownership: 18
MR2's Owned: 1
Gender: Male
Location: Glenrothes: The Kingdom of Fife
Has thanked: 45 times
Been thanked: 116 times
Contact:

Re: New springs - ride height

Post by jimi »

Not sure what your measuring to ? (top of the wheel arch) how you know that is a valid datum ? are they supposed to be the same height from the ground ? I'm not sure they are :no:
Also haven't come across this before
I have read that the car is lower in the rear,
Any idea where you read it ?
Mr T measures the ride height a different way, check page FA3 in the BGB for how, here's the page for info
Note that the rear measurement is less than the front, 205mm vs 221mm
that doesn't mean the car is lower at the rear, just the the pivot point is lower
FA3.jpg
If those values match then the car should be sitting level and any variation is normally down to springs. Front springs will take longer to settle than the rear (less weight) so it would be worth leaving it a week, driving the car will help everything to settle out quicker. If I get time I'll do a quick check on mine which has bog standard suspension (springs have been on many years) still rides and handle fine

Image
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Black is not a colour ! .... Its the absence of colour
Image

Topic author
arctichotspur
Posts: 31
Joined: 20/01/21 8:00
Years of MR2 Ownership: 1
MR2's Owned: 1
Gender: Male
Location: Norway
Has thanked: 2 times

Re: New springs - ride height

Post by arctichotspur »

Thanks for your response. You are probably right, but I was hoping the car would look more "evenly balanced" with these springs. Maybe they will settle and everything will turn out nice.

I took two pictures. I measured the ground clearance in front and if I measured from correct point it looks as it sits 2 cm higher than it should. This could be due to settlement.

There is also one picture of the car with the new springs.
Skjermbilde1.JPG
Skjermbilde3.JPG
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
User avatar

jimi
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 5164
Joined: 17/05/04 1:00
Years of MR2 Ownership: 18
MR2's Owned: 1
Gender: Male
Location: Glenrothes: The Kingdom of Fife
Has thanked: 45 times
Been thanked: 116 times
Contact:

Re: New springs - ride height

Post by jimi »

Definitely looks a little high at the front, I thought there was a figure for the spring length, but I can't find it in my notes, a search online for the spring specifications should find it. IIRC rear springs are longer than the fronts by around 20mm
Your front wheel looks off centre in the wheel arch, the gap between the wheel and the rear of the arch looks very small ?

Image
Black is not a colour ! .... Its the absence of colour
Image

Topic author
arctichotspur
Posts: 31
Joined: 20/01/21 8:00
Years of MR2 Ownership: 1
MR2's Owned: 1
Gender: Male
Location: Norway
Has thanked: 2 times

Re: New springs - ride height

Post by arctichotspur »

I hadnt noticed/looked, but you were right regarding wheel being center in wheel arch. The other side was even worse in the opposite direction :blush:

Now its even on both sides.

Im going for an alignment on friday and Im going to wait for some weeks regarding the front height and see if it comes somewhat down.

Thanks again :th:
User avatar

jimi
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 5164
Joined: 17/05/04 1:00
Years of MR2 Ownership: 18
MR2's Owned: 1
Gender: Male
Location: Glenrothes: The Kingdom of Fife
Has thanked: 45 times
Been thanked: 116 times
Contact:

Re: New springs - ride height

Post by jimi »

arctichotspur wrote: 16/03/22 11:37

Im going for an alignment on friday and Im going to wait for some weeks regarding the front height and see if it comes somewhat down.

That's the best idea :th: A full 4 wheel alignment I hope ? I got mine done after refurbishing a load of suspension parts, well worth the money if you can find a good place to do it :cool1:
Star alignment.jpg
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Black is not a colour ! .... Its the absence of colour
Image

Topic author
arctichotspur
Posts: 31
Joined: 20/01/21 8:00
Years of MR2 Ownership: 1
MR2's Owned: 1
Gender: Male
Location: Norway
Has thanked: 2 times

Re: New springs - ride height

Post by arctichotspur »

Im going to try a new place now as last time they didnt get all my boxes green 👍🏻
User avatar

jimi
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 5164
Joined: 17/05/04 1:00
Years of MR2 Ownership: 18
MR2's Owned: 1
Gender: Male
Location: Glenrothes: The Kingdom of Fife
Has thanked: 45 times
Been thanked: 116 times
Contact:

Re: New springs - ride height

Post by jimi »

You can adjust everything on MK1 suspension so barring a twisted/damaged body there's no real excuse to them getting all the boxes green.
They were at mine for a couple of hours, if everything is free to move and lubricated it makes life easier for them, I think they are more inclined to spend time getting it right if everything is free to move, the tech who worked on mine did say it was great not having to free/clean things before he could make adjustments.
It certainly made a big difference to how the car handles, it was OK before, but outstanding afterwards :th:
Post up with how you get on :)
Black is not a colour ! .... Its the absence of colour
Image

Topic author
arctichotspur
Posts: 31
Joined: 20/01/21 8:00
Years of MR2 Ownership: 1
MR2's Owned: 1
Gender: Male
Location: Norway
Has thanked: 2 times

Re: New springs - ride height

Post by arctichotspur »

So I had my alignment done on Friday. The mechanic was luckily born some years ago and used to own a MK1 so he really enjoyed to work on this car again. Very rare he got the chance to put his hands on one these days he said. He had to do some extra adjustments, but he got the alignment as good as he could get it.
Skjermbilde 2022-03-21 kl. 08.33.49.png
I haven't had the chance to drive the car much over the weekend, but my very biased impression driving back from the shop was that it handled very good. :D

Ride height is still the same though
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
User avatar

jimi
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 5164
Joined: 17/05/04 1:00
Years of MR2 Ownership: 18
MR2's Owned: 1
Gender: Male
Location: Glenrothes: The Kingdom of Fife
Has thanked: 45 times
Been thanked: 116 times
Contact:

Re: New springs - ride height

Post by jimi »

Looks like he got everything pretty close, all in the green :th:
Black is not a colour ! .... Its the absence of colour
Image

Quick Reply

   
The forum Administrator has chosen to advise you that this topic is 2 years and 1 week old and that you may wish to begin a new topic or use the search feature to find a similar but newer topic.

Return to “MK1”