...and is this idea a good one.
Not strut replacements or conversions, but this sort of thing:
With a bush at both ends, like on a jag irs and all sorts of independent front ends on rods and kit cars.
I'm thinking about the possibility of replacing the springs and shocks on the front of the benz with a coilover unit so that the adjustable spring platform can used to raise the car for normal use and lower it for showtime.
The lower spring cup is bolted to the lower control arm, so this could be unbolted and a lower shock bracket fabricated and bolted on in its place. The spring cup for the top of the spring is in the inner wing, so again a shock mount on a round plate could be made and either welded into the spring cup or bolted up through to be made removeable.
How would you then go about selecting the correct length coilover unit?
Presumably you would choose one where your desired ride height was at the mid point between the shocks maximum extension and compression?
And to work out the maximum extension and compression you would measure the distance between the fully compressed, and fully extended suspension position. It seems likely that this would have to be less than the stock travel because the shock part of the coilover would be shorter.
Are all measurements taken from between the shock mounts.
I know that the spring rate, and the damping need to be concidered too but at the moment i just working ou how to decide if the coilover unit is phisically the correct size. What else would i need to measure/calculate. What figures do i need to tell the supplier, or look for in the ebay listing for second hand parts.
Not strut replacements or conversions, but this sort of thing:
With a bush at both ends, like on a jag irs and all sorts of independent front ends on rods and kit cars.
I'm thinking about the possibility of replacing the springs and shocks on the front of the benz with a coilover unit so that the adjustable spring platform can used to raise the car for normal use and lower it for showtime.
The lower spring cup is bolted to the lower control arm, so this could be unbolted and a lower shock bracket fabricated and bolted on in its place. The spring cup for the top of the spring is in the inner wing, so again a shock mount on a round plate could be made and either welded into the spring cup or bolted up through to be made removeable.
How would you then go about selecting the correct length coilover unit?
Presumably you would choose one where your desired ride height was at the mid point between the shocks maximum extension and compression?
And to work out the maximum extension and compression you would measure the distance between the fully compressed, and fully extended suspension position. It seems likely that this would have to be less than the stock travel because the shock part of the coilover would be shorter.
Are all measurements taken from between the shock mounts.
I know that the spring rate, and the damping need to be concidered too but at the moment i just working ou how to decide if the coilover unit is phisically the correct size. What else would i need to measure/calculate. What figures do i need to tell the supplier, or look for in the ebay listing for second hand parts.