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Having spent the winter rebuilding the suspension on my TR8 I've got it sitting back on it's wheels & it looks like a jacked up monster truck. The wheel arches are sitting about 15" above the hub centre. The rear end is polybushed with KYB shocks & standard springs. The front is polybushed with KYB shocks & 130lb springs which should be set to standard ride height. The entire car appears to be about 1.5" too high. I was thinking of slackening off the bolts & re-tightening them with the weight of the car on them, would this help?
Any suggestions welcome.

Andy
1981 UK SPEC TR8

Yes - it should be settled down with the bolts all slack.

Hi Andy,

In a ideal world suspension bolts should always be tightened with the weight of vech on them and tightened to the correct torqued so not to cause any binding, springs and suspension will settle down for sure.

Cheers John

LIVE LIFE A QUARTER OF A MILE AT A TIME!
1979 3.5 FHC(STATUS PENDING!!)

1982 2.0 DHC NOW A 4.6,ON THE ROAD NOW KICKING AR5E !!!!

I read the same, the bolts securing the suspension bushes including the anti roll bar, should be torqued up with the car's weight on its wheels.

Easier said than done with slightly lowered springs on an already low car. I found moving the front wheels from lock to lock gave enough access there but the rear needed some low ramps under the wheels to help me out.

Adam



TR7 V8 DHC Jaguar Solent Blue. 9.35cr Range Rover V8, Holley 390cfm, JWR Dual Port, 214 Cam, Lumention, Tubular Manifolds, S/S Single Pipe Exh, 3.08 Rear, 200lb Spax & PolyBushes all round, Anti- Dive, Strut-Top Roller Bearings, Capri Vented Discs & Calipers, Braided Hoses, 4 Speed Rear Cylinders, Uprated Master Cylinder & Servo, AT 5 Spokes and Cruise Lights, S/S Heater Pipes, Replacement Fuel Tank. No Door Stickers. Mine since July 1986, V8 from 1991

Looks like I've got a couple of evenings coming up laying on the garage floor with my spanners. [:p]


Andy
1981 UK SPEC TR8

As stated the cars weight should be on the wheels when tightening down suspension bolts. It can be set on Ramps etc. to do this so you can get under car (keep safety in mind).

The other thing is it will sit high when lowered off of jack stands until you roll the car back and forth a bit allowing suspension to come to rest. My trolley jack can be removed easily from cross member when first set down but won't fit under when when first trying to raise car when suspension is a true rest.


TR7 Spider - 1978 Spifire - 1976 Spitfire - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra

Well I slackened off all the nuts & bolts, lowered the car, pushed it to & fro, steered it around in the garage, bounced it up & down and pushed it around some more. Then I measured between the floor & the arches - Rear 24.5"/ 25" Front 25.5"/ 26" with the LH side of the car higher than the RH side. It would appear that the front uprated springs are both too long & different lengths!! If I remove the front wheels & jack the car level at the front, the rear sits level at 24.5" both sides which is pretty good. I'm going to junk the uprated srings & replace them with a pair of standard ones to match the rear, hopefully everything will sit down nice & level. Should still handle OK with the polybushes & gas shocks but not be too harsh.

Andy
1981 UK SPEC TR8

Unless the car is SORN'd I'd be tempted to put a few gentle miles on the car and see if it sits level before stripping down the struts again.

Did your front springs look equal before you fitted them? When I last replaced my Spax shox, I could hardly move them out of the box yet on the car they work fine. Even now when I push up and down on the wings there's next to no movement and I'm over 14 stone. Uprated srings and shox means I make very little impression on them. I reckon your bushes and shox need to settle down on the road which can't be be replicated stationary in the garage. If it's not sorted by then you may well have unmatched springs.

Adam



TR7 V8 DHC Jaguar Solent Blue. 9.35cr Range Rover V8, Holley 390cfm, JWR Dual Port, 214 Cam, Lumention, Tubular Manifolds, S/S Single Pipe Exh, 3.08 Rear, 200lb Spax & PolyBushes all round, Anti- Dive, Strut-Top Roller Bearings, Capri Vented Discs & Calipers, Braided Hoses, 4 Speed Rear Cylinders, Uprated Master Cylinder & Servo, AT 5 Spokes and Cruise Lights, S/S Heater Pipes, Replacement Fuel Tank. No Door Stickers. Mine since July 1986, V8 from 1991

Swap the front springs over, side to side - then when you sit in the car - it will be level!

Today I removed the front struts & replaced the springs with a pair of standard ones. I was right in thinking the springs were different lengths, one was half an inch longer than the other! (you can see the difference quite clearly in the picture). Wish I'd checked before I put them in.
Anyway the good news is the car is now sitting down were it should be & it's level. [:D][:D]

[img][IMG]http://i473.photobucket.com/albums/rr92/REPLIC8-2008/small_P8270552.jpg[/img][/img]

Andy
1981 UK SPEC TR8

no this is a tr7 monster truck[:D]



if you factor in the earth's rotation, we are all speeding

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by birminghamtr7</i>

no this is a tr7 monster truck[:D]
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

LOL!! hahahahahahahaha [:p]

Johnny

Glad you sorted out the issue Andy. On the downside you're back to the std springs........96lb IIRC for a 7, is that the same for a 8? I'd find that far too soft to go back to myself.

I've seen one 4x4 TR7V8 before. It was a shortened Range Rover chassis and running gear with a TR7 shell plonked on top. Bizarre..



Adam

Yep it's the same spring rating for an 8. I wouldn't mind uprated springs but I can't lower the car or I'd ground it out getting into my garage. It only clears by about half an inch as it is. I'll see how it goes, but the the new shocks & poly bushes with new springs ( the old ones had sagged about an inch) should improve it no end. [:)]

Andy
1981 UK SPEC TR8

Don't forget that there is more than one answer to the spring argument.

I have both, the 8 with everything heavy duty, springs shocks, [adjustable], very heavy anti roll bars, all bushes throughout, & very low. The thing is really good on smooth roads, particularly on the faster stuff.

The 7 with almost everything stock, it is just lowered a little, & has the heavy roll bars, & bushes, is very nice to drive, everywhere, & very fast on twisty bumpy/wavy back road.

On these roads the 7 almost ignores the kind of lumps & waves that unsettle the 8 so much mid corner, that it is no faster, & perhaps slower.

I'm sure that on a race track, even without the power difference, the 8 would disappear out of sight in a lap or 2, but for normal road work, particularly long distance, it's the 7 every time.

Only on expressways & highways would I prefer the 8 for a long drive. On back roads I hate the feeling I am wrecking the car as it crashes & thumps on the pot holes so hard.

Hasbeen