Suspensions

[SKY 34]

how do you read those spring rate stuff? what does it mean?

what do ppl mean by pineapples?

shokies are the small hydraulic looking thingy in the centre and the springs are the coiled stuff...the pillow ball mount are the triangular looking thingy where the suspension mounts on the chasis...what is the function of bushes? where does it come in?

what does it mean by caster camber and toes? what are circlip grooves used for? stabiliser bar?

the height of the suspension is dependent on the spring or the shokies? how bout the stiffness? those height adjustable suspensions, as you lower the suspensions, means the spring is under more compression, means stiffer?

I have bilstein shokies in my car, however I think the springs are stock, how do I check if the spring is stock? how do I indentify if the suspension setup is height adjustable?

thanks

[salad]

Wow, a lot of questions...

how do you read those spring rate stuff? what does it mean?

Spring rate measures how stiff a spring is and how much it resists a force to deflect. A 5kg/mm spring will take 5kg of weight to deflect 1mm.

what do ppl mean by pineapples?

Pineapples are bushes used for rear subframe alignment. They are placed above or below the mounting points of your subframe to tilt it for more/less antisquat geometry. They also locate the suframe to the chassis much better.

shokies are the small hydraulic looking thingy in the centre and the springs are the coiled stuff...the pillow ball mount are the triangular looking thingy where the suspension mounts on the chasis...what is the function of bushes? where does it come in?

That is all right. They are only pillowball mounts if they use spherical bearings instead of bushes though.

what does it mean by caster camber and toes? what are circlip grooves used for? stabiliser bar?

Castor is the angle of your steering axis, tilted back is positive. So when you turn the wheel you get camber, negative on the outside wheel and positive on the inside wheel

Camber is the angle with respect to a horizontal plane, i.e. how much the top is pushed in/out compared to the bottom. Top of the rim pushed into the centre of the car is negative camber.

Toe is the angle with respect to a vertical plane. If the front of the wheels/tyres are facing outwards, that is toe out (negative), if the fronts are facing inwards, that is toe in (positive)

the height of the suspension is dependent on the spring or the shokies? how bout the stiffness? those height adjustable suspensions, as you lower the suspensions, means the spring is under more compression, means stiffer?

Height is determined by how tall the spring is, gas preload in the shock, mounting point of the spring, spring stiffness, etc. If the spring is taller, it will still compress the same amount with the weight of the car but the top of the spring is higher compared to a shorter spring, so the car is higher. If the mounting point is higher, the whole spring gets moved up, so the car is higher. If the spring rate is higher, it means the car wont drop down as much when the weight of the car is on it, so it will be higher, same goes for gas preload. Monotube shocks (usually run much higher pressure than twin tube) usually sit higher than twin tubes with everything else equal.

Lowering the car does not compress the spring more. Compressing the spring more does not affect the rate for linear springs.

Most height adjustable struts lower the lower spring seat. Spring doesn't get compressed, only thing that compresses it is the weight of the car (or preload)

I have bilstein shokies in my car, however I think the springs are stock, how do I check if the spring is stock? how do I indentify if the suspension setup is height adjustable?

Stock springs are usually plain black. If they're painted/powdercoated a different colour, chances are they're aftermarket.

If your shock doesn't have the spring seat welded to the shock body, then chances are they're adjustable. If you can see thread where the springs seats are, then they are height adjustable. If not, and there are no welds, then the spring seat is probly held with a circlip. Getting more grooves machined in will allow for height adjustment. If you already have these grooves, you can adjust the height.

Edited December 15, 2006 by salad

[ashleyr33]

Have you ever tried to do your OWN research?

[SKY 34]

salad come to the rescue again~~

cheers