Daveyboy20 Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 My Cav is far too low, it looks great but is SO uncomfortable to drive, it hits bumps so hard t sounds like it's gonna snap in two - I'm expecting the front struts to come through the bonnet at any point. I want to replace the springs, not with new ones but with lowering springs that still make it look low but will have some comfort - what advice would you have? Anyone have experience with different heights? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biffy1984 Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Are your shocks bottoming out? Or is it sitting on the bumpstops? I have both those problems and my car is the same. I'm going to cut the bumpstop cones down and fit shorter shocks, hoping that will sort the banging. Don't really want to heighten it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*energy* Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 ye see....i want my cav to be mega low:-) iv read that mini shocks are shorter and fit the cavalier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biffy1984 Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Mini back shocks for the front if you're going really low, I got these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brand-new-pair-of-mini-rear-GMAX-shock-absorbers-/151171367739?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item233284033b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmanta Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 (edited) Bumpstops are touching. Cut them down by about an inch or so and it will improve dramatically. When I restore entire front ends I always do this regardless of whether the car is getting lowered or not, the factory bumpstops were simply too long. Edited January 20, 2014 by paulmanta 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*energy* Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 do you just chop an inch out and move the end bit down? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmanta Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Cut the bottom off so you have the drain holes and the mount for the rubber bush and then cut about an inch of so off the tube, then weld the bottom bit back on, grind, paint and you can hardly tell its been done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daveyboy20 Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 Already been cut down by the looks of it! So mini shocks will allow more travel then? The back is fine but the front - it's like there is no suspension whatsoever! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmanta Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 With the car on the floor take a look at the distance between bumpstop and the lower wishbone, it ought to be a few inches gap at least. If there is a gap but you still have no movement then I think your dampers might be bottoming out, pop some shorter ones in. its not hard to find shorter ones, just take one of your old ones into a good motorfactor and ask them for "one like this but X inches shorter" the top and bottom mounts are not special, just try and go for dampers that are a similar size tube and reasonably stiff rate. At the moment it sounds like you have no suspension so it would be hard to make it worse 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooie811 Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 go down the same road as me an fit airbags? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooie811 Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 go down the same road as me an fit airbags? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daveyboy20 Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 I'll have a look, it's very difficult to see under the bugger as it's so low. When I changed the oil I had a quick look at the bumpstops and they were very short and seemed to have been bolted back down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmanta Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 If you put the car on a kerb with both the passengers side tyres just on the kerb you can then get under to have a look. The bumpstop is the cone and rubber blob that runs down the inside of the coil spring. You ought to be able to see the rubber and there should be a gap of about an inch or two between the rubber and lower wishbone where the bottom of the coil lands on the big flat spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daveyboy20 Posted January 30, 2014 Author Share Posted January 30, 2014 Whizzed the wheels off and found that the cones haven't been cut already, so I'll be cutting them down - can you pop a hacksaw between the coils or is it a spring off job? I have very little time at the moment so I'm trying to work out how long it will take. How much can I chop off without the standard shocks bottoming out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmanta Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Take the springs out, it is lowered anyway so when jacked up it will not be under any tension ! The best way is to undo the bottom ball joint and lever the wishbone down. You may need to undo the anti roll bar. That will give you lots of access to the cone, cut it off as per my pictures, then take the rubber out of the cut off bit, if you just pull the rubber it will break and they are not available easily anymore. I use a flat screwdriver to help poke the rubber out of the end so it does not split the little mushroom head off it. Then cut the excess off the end and weld the little disc with the holes in back on the remaining cone. you might find it best to measure the disc and work out how far you can cut, if you don't you might end up with a disc that is too small to weld back in the cone because the higher you cut the bigger the cone gets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daveyboy20 Posted February 1, 2014 Author Share Posted February 1, 2014 Mine doesn't have rubber in the cone, it has rubber blocks bolted to the bottom wishbone - I take it that's not standard? The drivers cone has crumbled at the bottom and has about a 1/2" more clearance than the passenger side as a result. If I cut - say 3" out of the cone (my Cav is VERY low!) and fit the mini shocks - will it be about right? I'm wondering what tha maximum amount is that I can cut out of the buggers if I fit those mini shocks. I'm also thinking of cutting it this weekend and ordering the shocks to fit next weekend - will a week of driving it with the standard shocks and cut down cones be doable? At present it literally has to sniff a grid that's 1/2" below tarmac and it smashes so hard that the wires come off my coil and it cuts out - I have to avoid EVERYTHING, just going over the raised paint lines at the pay booth for the tunnel causes comical bashing and I'm driving it 50 miles a day at the moment to get to work. It's exhausting! My eyes have to scan the tarmac more than the road ahead which isn't too safe either :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmanta Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Ahh, ok, so the bodgers have been at it. There is a possibility that it is actually too low, there is a thing called "Scrubline" which it is quite a good idea to observe and keep in mind. Scrubline is the point at which you have enough clearance to still control the car in the event of a complete tyre failure. Put simply, you measure the tyre sidewall and then measure the height of the lowest point of the car. The tyre figure needs to be less, if not the car will hit the road and you may well not have control if you get a blowout. Big rims offset this a bit, obviously you have less sidewall so less tyre height to lose if the tyre fails. I would be looking at fixing the broken bumpstops, lifting it a little and making sure the scrubline has clearance if the worst happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason b Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 ^ Echo above, be very wary of the scrubline when lowering cars! - I've seen some pretty dodgy examples on retrorides and similar where people have rendered their car a (much more) serious accident in the event of a blowout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmanta Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Tell you a story about scrubline, we run a fleet of trucks and one of the Artics was having a complete refurb, we had prepped it for paint and it was booked into the local paint shop to be done, we measure the top of the cab and the booth and decided it would go in, just. Came to the day of the paint job and we got the lorry to the paint shop and found that actually it would not go in by about 4 inches, we had measured it wrong and the stripping of stuff like tanks, doors, interior had made it way worse. So, I decided to remove the front wheels and fit wheels with no tyres, then drive it in the booth, there was only a few inches clearance underneath the lorry like this and it showed me how critical scrubline is, in this case it helped me out but if you lose air in a tyre or even 2 then it could mean you can steer out of trouble. When I airbagged the V8 I made sure that when there is zero air pressure in the bags I still have clearance to roll even if I have a blowout. I am running skinny tyres though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.