-60mm springs! Confusion!

4th March 2013, 00:04

Right, wanted to see what kind of height I wanted my car and I got a set of -60mm springs ages ago that were just thrown in the corner unused so, put them on the car and looked at the height and it wasn't right, compared it to my mates 106 that's on the same size wheels and tyres ect. with -60mm springs and it's nowhere near as low, he's is atleast 20-30mm lower! So we cut a coil off my springs and put them back on (THESE WERE JUST TO TEST THEY WILL NEVER BE GOING ON A ROAD - before I get the usual lecture on cut springs) and it hasn't changed at all... is they're any explanation for this?

sorry if it's a bit long winded but was hard to explain

4th March 2013, 00:13

Did you adjust the torsion bar to suit? Just changign the front sprigns could probably make the whole car look slighjtly higher than it could be if you adjusted the rear aswell

4th March 2013, 00:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karlb1

Did you adjust the torsion bar to suit? Just changign the front sprigns could probably make the whole car look slighjtly higher than it could be if you adjusted the rear aswell

Yeah torsion bars been done today that's what made me want to do the front haha

4th March 2013, 00:19

Not sure then mate.

The springs may be 60mm but are they specifically for a 1.1? If they're for a different engined model then they won't lower as much as stated.
Eg if they are meant to be 60mm on a Vtr then they may only lower 30 or 40mm on a 1.1

4th March 2013, 00:20

Do you know what model the springs were made for? If they weren't made for you're specific car model then the height could differ due to different engine weights.

4th March 2013, 00:22

As said engine plays a massive part, mine is lowered 40mm all round, but since i had a 16v installed its made the back look slightly higher as the front has been pushed down more due to the extra weight.

I doubt he was 20-30mm lower than you though!!

4th March 2013, 00:22

Beat you to it faggot

4th March 2013, 00:22

As above, my furio was on 40mm springs and I went to a 16v engine so the front sat around 50mm

4th March 2013, 00:23

Yeah the springs were for a 1.1 so they're definitely the right ones :/ Could I be sat on the bumpstops on the front?

4th March 2013, 00:29

Can't comment on that as I have no idea how low the 1.1s go before they start to rear on the stops but I highly doubt it

4th March 2013, 00:32

That's the only thing I can think that it could be to be honest, gonna try to cut a bit of the bumpstop off and see if it makes a difference

4th March 2013, 00:37

1.1s are higher from factory than 1.4/1.6s...

I bet the springs aren't 60mms.

4th March 2013, 00:41

Yeah I know, and I was thinking the same! But it wouldn't explain why there was no change when we cut a coil off the 60mm spring to the normal 60mm one... But if it's sat on the bumpstops then it wont go any lower on the stop will it? So If I cut part of the bumpstop it should be able to sit lower... In theory!

4th March 2013, 00:50

These aren't the best of photos but it shows the difference! On the photo with the white one you can just see the top of the tyre, and it's definitely noticeably lower than mine! (The red one)

Untitled by Pug-123, on Flickr

4th March 2013, 00:50

If you cut the spring and it sat the same as an uncut spring then the springs aren't the issue i would guess!!

Bumpstops it must be.

4th March 2013, 00:54

Hmm bit puzzling. Was gonna say the springs do take time to settle but if you cut a coil and its the same then it must be caught on something else. Take a good look at the strut assembly etc before you cut anything so you can be sure it's the bumpstop.

Talk to Tom5190 (think that's his username). He's got a slammed flat arch and knows his stuff

4th March 2013, 00:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlawlan69

If you cut the spring and it sat the same as an uncut spring then the springs aren't the issue i would guess!!

Bumpstops it must be.

Yeah, we cut one side first to see the difference with the normal 60mm one and that's when we noticed! Just gonna cut half the bumpstop off

4th March 2013, 00:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karlb1

Hmm bit puzzling. Was gonna say the springs do take time to settle but if you cut a coil and its the same then it must be caught on something else. Take a good look at the strut assembly etc before you cut anything so you can be sure it's the bumpstop.

Talk to Tom5190 (think that's his username). He's got a slammed flat arch and knows his stuff

Yup

Yeah that's what i'm thinking! Because it won't go any further up than the bumpstop if that's what's causing it!

Cheers i'll have a look!

If you look at them two photos just above it shows the difference, mine is the red one on the side with normal 60mm spring, and the white one is the one I was comparing it to on uncut 60mm springs and there is a big difference

4th March 2013, 19:23

Did you loosen the lower trailing arm when exchanging the springs? If so did you by any chance tighten it up while the wheel was liftet of the floor? The trailing arms need to be tightent with the whole suspension rested on the floor, or simular hieght. You either put the wheel on and tighten it while is on the ground or you lift the whole arm up with a jack and the tighten it.
If it is not the trailing then the only other thing preventing it from getting lower must be the damper/bumpstops...

4th March 2013, 19:33

The full strut was changed mate, went from 3 stud to 4

spoke to a few people and everyones said bumpstops are the problem

4th March 2013, 19:58

Just a theory & I don`t know for sure,but could it be that the length of the struts between different models is different?

4th March 2013, 21:48

Dunno pal, just gonna cut the bumpstops tomorrow because 7 people so far have all told me that the bumpstops are at fault

Cheers for the help lads!!