Shug Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 Anyone have a spare pair at all? My A is sitting strangely low at the rear (they are lowering springs but not by that much!) so could do with a standard set to try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayman Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 how much are they lowered by as mine is minus 40 and still can see 3/4 of the tyre on 15" rims . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shug Posted July 28, 2011 Author Share Posted July 28, 2011 They are 30mm. car now sits on tyre. Somethings no right at all. Those are 185/70/13 tyres. ET35 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monzta Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 Are you sure you didn´t use the front springs in the back, and the rear ones in the front ? Its a common seen problem.. Springs should be marked for front and rear axle, like VA for Vorderachse (front) and HA for Hinterachse (rear).. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayman Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 (edited) Hi Shug ,have you got an a series axle under it as a b is wider.Got 35 offset and ive had to put 10mm spacers on to bring em nearer to the arch.Got a set of standard springs you can borrow if all else fails Edited July 29, 2011 by rayman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shug Posted July 30, 2011 Author Share Posted July 30, 2011 It's Avo springs I've got and ones on front are marked f. Ones on rear have no markings. Just measured axle and it's approximate 52 inches wide backing plate to backing plate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayman Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Will throw a tape over mine tomo just to check it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monzta Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 The width of the rear axle has nothing to do with the lowering as the springs are located at the same place on the 2 cars (same distance). I would say that AVO has sent you the wrong rear springs, it doesn´t make any sence that it is that low in the rear ! Looks like 120mm springs If i where you i would talk to AVO and send them the pic.! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shug Posted August 2, 2011 Author Share Posted August 2, 2011 These weren't actually listed for the manta A. They were listed as ascona a and I figured they'd be exactly the same. They were special order so can't return them (and it was a few years ago anyway!) Manta B ones should fit ok tho, shouldnt they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shug Posted August 2, 2011 Author Share Posted August 2, 2011 Just been looking for other springs and found AVO ones for a Manta B, but the part no is exactly whats printed on my springs 70-020 Bugger, I'm confused..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shug Posted August 2, 2011 Author Share Posted August 2, 2011 Hmm, just found this pic of my old manta. You can clearly see there is a lot more clearance around the wheel (even allowing for the big drop now, it would sit inside the arch more) Its that very axle from that car thats now on current car. How on earth could an axle get wider? If the halfshafts werent in properly surely the wheels wouldn't turn properly, and the brake drums wouldnae fit right? But they do. diff seems to do its job turning one wheel with it jacked up, other one turns opposite way. I had the halfshafts out to have axle blasted, and put new bearings on halfshafts but rest of axle was untouched. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monzta Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 (edited) When doing extreme lowering the rear anti roll bar (panhard) will push your rear axle to one side. That is why an adjustable panhard is preferible when lowering a Manta (both A and B series). I´ll bet a case of lager that the other side looks fine ...? Check it out. Everything is connected to those springs i think ! Are the springs used, can someone have shortened them down ? Have you mounted the rubber bushings at the top and bottom of the springs before installing ? If you check out my Manta A project you can see on some of the first photo´s how it sits with 40 mm rear springs from www.fahrwerke.de They are also pretty cheap so that could be an alternative to the AVO springs., I would still contact AVO asap and talk to them about it... Edited August 3, 2011 by monzta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shug Posted August 3, 2011 Author Share Posted August 3, 2011 I have polyurethane bushes above and below the springs. Confused why this axle is now wider than it was when it was on the old car. All I did was change wheels bearings on it and surely the halfshafts are in properly but why else would it be wider. New shell wouldn't be narrower! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayman Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 (edited) Hi Shug I got 52 as well back plate to back plate Still got standard ones if you want to try em Edited August 3, 2011 by rayman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shug Posted August 3, 2011 Author Share Posted August 3, 2011 Cheers Rayman. So if the axle is fine why is it pushing wheels further out? Could only be drums? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayman Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 Yes but surely the drums only go up to the flange on the half shafts and if you have same brake set up im baffled Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mantaray Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 If the plate with the 4 bolts, which holds the bearing in place, clamps up agenst the axel , then the half shafts are fitted corectly. The bearing should be sitting about 1 / 2mm inside the axel. It sound like Monza may be correct, are both sides the same ? If one is worse than the other, then the pan hard rod will be pushing the axel over towards the Drivers side (I thing the pan rod is conected to the axel on the drivers side) If it not that then cheak the offset is E35 cause that the only other thing i can think of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shug Posted August 4, 2011 Author Share Posted August 4, 2011 Both sides are the same. Wheels are et30 tho. Not 35 as I thought. drums sit on halfshafts fine (so it looks) and the retaining plate is definately bolted on. I dunno, I sometimes think this car has gotten too comfy and doesnt ever want to see the road! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monzta Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 With that kind of lowering the rear axle will be pushed to the driver side if you don´t have the adjustable panhard rod.. That is a law of nature, so i would definatly check again if they are the same. On my a series there is about 2 cm difference from left to right side regarding wheel being pushed out.. Another question. Have you changed or repaired the rear flares? If so it is possible that you have actually made the car a bit more narrow than original? Also the red one could be a bit wider. I don´t think that 2 cars will be identical when that old, but it sure looks strange. Those are "only" 6x13 ATS classic rims, and they don´t normally look like that on a car. They should look like this There is most certainly something off regarding your rear axle. Are the wheels properly mounted (are they all the way in there on the drum?) Are you sure it´s the same rear axle and that it´s not from a B series car? Are you running spacers? Check again and see if the massive lowering can influence the sideways position of the rear axle Have you changed the rear flares, and if so, how, and are you sure you didn´t accidently made the car more narrow? Loads of stuff to check up on, but again, i agree with you something is off ! Very interesting actually... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shug Posted August 4, 2011 Author Share Posted August 4, 2011 I have replaced the arches (and funnily was discussing that with guy at work this morning!) but wouldn't have thought it would be easy to "misfit" They were repair sections from Dr Manta. Easier to see arch in this pic: Its definately the same axle as the red car, and as rayman measured, seems to be an A axle. No spacers on the rear wheels. I'll double check the axle but I'm sure I was having the arches rest on wheels on both sides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mantaray Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Just found this site, which gives the Offset for the A as being 31 www.wheelfitment.eu handy site to work out which wheels from other cars are simlar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monzta Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 It looks like the arches are sunk in to the body just a bit. That combined with the extreme lowering you have experienced i would say that a cm or 1½ would be easy to misfit on the rear arches when replacing them. Combining this with the lowering you would have one arch that will have trouble with clearing. I discovered this regarding the panhard stabi when i owned a Manta B CC years back. This car was lowered 60 front and rear, and i mounted 7x13" ats classic with 205/60 tyres. They touched when the car was loaded (backseat passengers) but only in the left side of the car. I then noticed that the wheel was well clear of the arch in right side, but was very close in the left side ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shug Posted August 7, 2011 Author Share Posted August 7, 2011 Double checked and both wheels are pretty much same either side. Could try opening out arches somehow. Those springs are definitely useless tho. The top 4 or 5 coils are sitting on top of each other. There's not much weight on back of manta so god knows how they'd be of any use in any car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shug Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 Not much light so excuse the shoddy picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monzta Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 No doubt that those springs are worthless. I have bought springs from www.fahrwerke.de many times and those springs are very good, they also have a set for the A series. Pricing isn´t too bad either. We have something called an arch roller here in demark don´t know what its called in english but you mount it on the car instead of the wheel and then you can roll out you arches to give more space, that could be an option for you if you have misalligned the arches during welding ? Would give you that extra half inch you need? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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