jabbahutt
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 posted on 9/9/08 at 07:15 AM |
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chicken and egg problem with suspension
Morning all
Well once again I'm stumped. Trying to sort out camber, ride height etc for my Indy.
From various posts 100mm front and 120-125 rear seems a good starting point. Problem is my car at the front is at about 110 and my jack won't
go underneath, I cant rotate the spring seats with the weight on the car.
So if I had the weight off the wheels and adjusted the spring seat how would I know whether I've achieved 100mm as I won't be able to
lower the car because of jack clearance?
The same with camber, I need to remove weight from the wheels to remove the top ball joint to adjust but if camber is adjusted with the weight off
surely it won't be the same when the front wheels are under load.
so I'm stumped as to how to proceed, what order to do things?
Any help much appreciated. Sods law it's the last couple of jobs that are causing me the most head scratching.
Cheers all
Nigel
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chris_smith
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| posted on 9/9/08 at 07:24 AM |
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how deep is your jack?
The secret of success is to know something nobody else knows."
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v8kid
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| posted on 9/9/08 at 07:27 AM |
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Use a different jack?
Use a hoist to lift front of car?
Use a plank of wood as a lever to lift front of car and trust mrs to stand on it?
Put wheels on planks of wood which gives extra ground clearance for existing jack to go under
Question - how are you going to change a punctureif the jack wont fit?
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jos
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| posted on 9/9/08 at 07:30 AM |
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drive onto a couple of short planks so that the front is lifted up to give you and extra inch or two clearance so you can put your jack under
measurements are all relative so if you have -2 deg camber and you want -3 then when you lift up adjsut what youve got by -1 deg and then put it all
back together and measure. if you get -1.5 then you know how much to adjsut on unloaded settings to get the resulting loaded settings
.: Motorsport / motor racing circuit / track wall art Apex Traxs :.
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jabbahutt
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| posted on 9/9/08 at 07:30 AM |
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it's a clark trolley jack 135mm minimum. It's done everything fine so far and I don't really have the funds for an expensive jack.
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jabbahutt
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| posted on 9/9/08 at 07:31 AM |
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it's a clark trolley jack 135mm minimum. It's done everything fine so far and I don't really have the funds for an expensive jack.
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adithorp
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| posted on 9/9/08 at 07:31 AM |
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You have to measure it, jack it up, adjust it (guesstimate how much), put it back on the ground, roll/bounce it, remeasure and then start again! Use
the difference between the first and second measurements and the amount you altered it to refine how much you adjust it the second time. Keep
repeating (and checking the tracking/toe-in to see that that hasn't altered) then untill its right then ...start again!
enjoy!
adrian
"A witty saying proves nothing" Voltaire
http://jpsc.org.uk/forum/
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smart51
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| posted on 9/9/08 at 07:33 AM |
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My jack won't go under the nose of the car but will go under the wishbones. A small piece of wood between teh jack and the bone, just under the
shock mount lifts the front of the car enough to put a block under the front tyre. The jack can then be removed and then used to lift the front of
the car by the chassis, releasing the wheel / wheels. It's a bit long winded but it works.
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stuart_g
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| posted on 9/9/08 at 07:34 AM |
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I think most people have the same problem.
I wheel my car onto some wooden ramps then jack the car up, do any adjustments then roll it off the ramps. It is a bit of a pain doing this but it is
the only way.
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dogwood
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| posted on 9/9/08 at 07:34 AM |
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If it's a trolly jack you are using.
Take the wheels of it, that will lower the jack by a good inch or so
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dogwood
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| posted on 9/9/08 at 07:35 AM |
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If it's a trolly jack you are using.
Take the wheels of it, that will lower the jack by a good inch or so
OOOOOps!!!
Dont know how that happened
[Edited on 9/9/08 by dogwood]
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jabbahutt
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| posted on 9/9/08 at 07:35 AM |
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V8kid, I haven't seen a jack that's affordable that goes lower. Changing a puncture is another problem as I doubt I'll have planks
of wood and the wife handy to stand on the end or an engine hoist 
Surely other builders have experienced this problem? or is it another that only for some unknown reason affects me.
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dogwood
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| posted on 9/9/08 at 07:36 AM |
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Take the wheels of the jack, that will lower it by a good inch or so
Sorry computer got hiccups
[Edited on 9/9/08 by dogwood]
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jabbahutt
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| posted on 9/9/08 at 07:40 AM |
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If I take the wheels off the jack will it still be safe (stable side to side?)
Good idea if it's safe.
Thanks all, I considered jacking under a wishbone but didn't know if it was safe to do so and also was scared rigid I'd break something.
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JoelP
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| posted on 9/9/08 at 08:09 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by jabbahutt
Thanks all, I considered jacking under a wishbone but didn't know if it was safe to do so and also was scared rigid I'd break something.
you have to be careful doing this, if it moves to far in from the spring it can jump off violently as the bone pivots. Mr Smart only suggested doing
it enough to get a block under the wheel.
How about spending a day making a quick jack F1 style?
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Humbug
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| posted on 9/9/08 at 09:47 AM |
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I've got a trolley jack for major lifting, but I've also got a small ex-hatchback jack - usually found in the spare wheel well. It goes
lower than the trolley jack and it was cheap.
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JimSpencer
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| posted on 9/9/08 at 10:13 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by jabbahutt
V8kid, I haven't seen a jack that's affordable that goes lower. Changing a puncture is another problem as I doubt I'll have planks
of wood and the wife handy to stand on the end or an engine hoist
Surely other builders have experienced this problem? or is it another that only for some unknown reason affects me.
Jabba - you have U2U re a jack.
As for punctures - that's what the can of tyre foam is for - or the RAC if the tyre was toast
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James
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| posted on 9/9/08 at 10:31 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Humbug
I've got a trolley jack for major lifting, but I've also got a small ex-hatchback jack - usually found in the spare wheel well. It goes
lower than the trolley jack and it was cheap.
That's what I use too... a car scissor jack (liberated from an abandoned car near me*) to lift the car an inch or too, then the proper jack to
do the rest of it.
Remember! Don't do work on a car supported by a jack- if the seals leak a bit then they will lower the car onto you! Scissor jacks are even
worse... the threads can strip and drop the car on you! I know someone it happened to....
HTH,
James
*I used to 'recycle' stuff from smashed up abandoned cars quite often... recently chatting to a copper friend of mine.... he's just
prosecuting someone for this!!!
EDIT: Now, if Hellfire were here, he'd be saying fit a bike engine then you can just pick the front of the car up with one hand! 
[Edited on 9/9/08 by James]
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"The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses, behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights."
- Muhammad Ali
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britishtrident
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| posted on 9/9/08 at 02:12 PM |
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I have been toying with idea of a lifting beam --
A length of 50x50 2 or 2.5mm wall thickness to make a beam that goes right under the car.
At each end of the beam would have a bracket welded on to take a cheap bottle jack.
For additional stability the bottom of the bottle jacks can be tack welded on to a 300x300 3mm thick steel plate.
With two such beams and bigish bottle jacks you would get the car up a fair height then put stands uder the beams.
[Edited on 9/9/08 by britishtrident]
[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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clairetoo
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| posted on 9/9/08 at 04:28 PM |
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Low jacks aren't expensive - my Clarke 2 ton cheapy trolley jack go's down to 100mm , and if you remove the swivel bit , 90mm !
I think it was under £20
Its cuz I is blond , innit
Claire xx
Will weld for food......
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