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Pedders lowered on FE LTD :(

 
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n00bus m@x1mus
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 12:11 am    Post subject: Pedders lowered on FE LTD :( Reply with quote

Ok i didnt check this out entirely but i thought i would ask here first as the answer might come to me alot sooner.

I have completely rebuilt the whole suspension/driveline in my 86 FE LTD and have fitted pedders lowered springs all round.
Now when i first picked up the car it sat up like crazy and there was a good 5-5 1/2 inches between the top of the tyre and the wheel arch cut which ment she had to come down so down she went.
I fitted a set of low springs but not too low as i had a very low xf once (same setup) and it was a pig always riding on the bump stops so i didnt want to go as low as that but i wanted the wheels to fill the arch "as u do" right?

So any ways that is what happened but i always felt like the front should have come down more but i thought, ah, she will settle when i drive her a bit.
Well i have just purchased another parts car (86 FE LTD) and complete with factory suspension (ie same shocks from factory and all) she sits about 1/2 inch !LOWER! than mine does????????? WTF

So an investigation on mine shows that the id stickers are labeled as 2160R +2160L fronts and 2130R + 2130L for rears which is correct for lowered suspension for my year model and a 6 cylinder engined falcon/fairlane according to pedders website.

Now upon closer inspection i have noticed that i have fitted the ones labeled 2160L (left) on the right (drivers side) and the rears also.
IDK what happened there but i did it somehow so anyways the question is-

What difference will this make?

They fitted perfectly fine so there cant be any physical difference, but all i can think of is that the springs are in upside down and they might sit better in the saddles and mounts than they do now but to me they are sitting as they should like nothing looks out of place or anything.

Anyone know what i am talking about and can shed some light this way, i am going nuts with this thing riding higher than this other stock LTD.
I dont want to start cutting some coils off to drop her some more.
Anyone?
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elf100capri
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 10:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

the rear springs have r and l to let you know what side to fit them on. the right spring is usually 10-15mm higher to compensate for when the driver sits in it,sit the car level. when you fitted the new springs did you loosen off the suspension mounts (controls arms) and tighten them with all wheels on the ground. the other car you bought could be sagging too.
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V8 Ghia Mike
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 10:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A set of drop-spindles will get her down into the weeds without shorter coils. The X series front ends are just terrible when lowered aren't they?

I used King's springs in my old XD V8. It sat nice without all the bottoming out. Pedder's may do a shorter front shock which may help when the LTD comes down.

Mike
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n00bus m@x1mus
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 11:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have never seen anywhere i could purchase a set of drop spindles, this would do the job alright as i am liking to get the front down more but i do not want to stretch the suspension anymore than i already have.
I want more to keep her riding as smooth as i can than to compromise this just to drop her another inch and be thumping every little bump in the road against the bump stops.
Have u ever seen a set of drop spindles for an XDEF front end?
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V8 Ghia Mike
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 11:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not positive on this, but the Castlemaine Rod Shop usually has something for everyone.

Google around and see what you can come up with.

Mike
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relaxed_diplomacy
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 11:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

There may be scope to modify the bump stop position so there is more upwards travel, but i haven't investigated this direction. You would need to check clearances and limits to joint movement, etc.
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n00bus m@x1mus
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 6:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

relaxed_diplomacy wrote:
There may be scope to modify the bump stop position so there is more upwards travel, but i haven't investigated this direction. You would need to check clearances and limits to joint movement, etc.

Yeah i had done a lot of figuiring out on this when i put it all together and i have shaved the bump stop by half (about 25mm) and spaced the cup at top of the strut tower as u cansee in the pic below about 25mm so it has the clearance but like u mentioned the iffy parts are the ball joints as they are pushed to the verry edge at full travel
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relaxed_diplomacy
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

n00bus m@x1mus wrote:
relaxed_diplomacy wrote:
There may be scope to modify the bump stop position so there is more upwards travel, but i haven't investigated this direction. You would need to check clearances and limits to joint movement, etc.

Yeah i had done a lot of figuiring out on this when i put it all together and i have shaved the bump stop by half (about 25mm) and spaced the cup at top of the strut tower as u cansee in the pic below about 25mm so it has the clearance but like u mentioned the iffy parts are the ball joints as they are pushed to the verry edge at full travel

The problem of course with shaving bump stops is that when you do hit
them they are all the harder. Halving the height doubles the stiffness, just
like with a coil spring, for example.

I figure the engineers would have made the ball joints able to
accomodate a missing/destroyed bumpstop.

Consider that a rubber bumpstop will compress to about half under full
impact, so if the original was 2", it would go to 1", whereas yours would
be 1", and would go to 1/2". So the difference would only really be 1/2",
which is not much really.
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