billg Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 I'm about to fit an anti-roll bar on DZ 1104. The current lowest points on the front of the car are the ends of the chassis rails.(bumper brackets may be slightly lower?) I read once that you can flip the forged lower suspension wishbones and this drops the front suspension by about an inch? I may have done this when I built the chassis as there's not a great deal of distance to play with now as the anti roll bar will become at least 1" Lower than the chassis rails. What's the lowest safe clearance when static? 4"? Assuming road use. Not Trials! New standard springs fitted all round. Tyre diameter pretty much standard. Regards Bill G@NB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lebro Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 Looking at the front on view of the suspension (in the TR3 workshop manual) "flipping" the lower wishbones (if possible?) would not alter the ride height. Bob. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
McMuttley Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 Page 26 of Roger Willams' 'How to Improve - Triumph TR2-4A' (which i just happen to have read on the train to work this morning) states: "All the TR's are easy to lower by about 15mm - by assembling the from wishbones, shown in picture 2-3, upside down." Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lebro Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 I was about to edit my previous post to "if it is possible to reverse the wishbones" (which I now realise it is) then the body will be lowered" BUT The correct way round is for the ends of the wishbone to be lower than the centre part. If that is how you have them - then your ride height should be correct, especialy since you have new springs fitted. Note. There are two types of spring available, 1 full length one which is fitted on it's own, & a shorter version (original fit on older cars) which use an aluminium spacer above the spring to achieve the correct height. I don't think it would be possible to fit the short one without the spacer - the chassis would probably end up on the ground ! Bob. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rodbr Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 Hi Bill, Not sure which Roll bar you are fitting but the bar itself sits parrallel with the chassis rail under static conditions and the attachment link to the suspension fitted in the upper position (the only one that allows the bar to sits flat) means that the link with superpro bushes is the lowest part. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ianc Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 The way Rod has his bar fixed is similar to that on 4VC, where the mountings are attached to the welded-in skid shield - that way, ground clearance is preserved, which is what you need. You really don't want the ant-roll bar dangling below the chassis - far too vulnerable! Ian Cornish Quote Link to post Share on other sites
billg Posted March 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 Hi Ian and Rod, My chassis fixings are similar to Rod's. See recent posting of bar for sale. It's not arrived just yet. The fixing to the lower spring pan is different but looks straight forward. I'll need to get new poly bushes or rubbers I think . Hopefully the links will be fine. Tidying the garage today so that I can crawl under in comfort. Just fitted the Halda Speedpilot and Mig clock. It may not help win rallies but the dash looks the part! Now to regulate bothe blocks and calibrate the mileometer in the Halda. Found a quirky guide on how to (not) do this on YouTube! Regards BillG@NB Ps If this weather continues I'll need to take the Hardtop off Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rodbr Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 (edited) Hi Bill. This is probably the way you want to fit. The mountings I used make alignment of the bumper irons extremely challenging, for that read ball a**e as they sit outside the brackets. You also have to remove a half moon chamfer from bumper mounts to accommodate the height of the roll bar. This is the sump guard for my TR2 and the roll bar mounts to this with two saddle clamps. If you want to make your own here's the fabrication drawing Speedpilot is a hell of an expensive piece of bling for the dash board. If you need period rally map light let me know as i have two. Edited March 17, 2014 by Rodbr Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bigmalcy Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 I'm confused... from what I understood there are 2no. lower wishbone types, with 1 of each required for each side of the car. Right front is the same as Left rear and vice versa. I wouldn't have thought that it would be possible to install a wishbone 'upside down'... or do you mean swap the wishbones from front to back / back to front as well as flipping them over... I can see how that would move the wheel 'up' (and therefore the front of the car down). Is it possible that my excessive ride height is due to incorrectly assembled wishbones!? Can't see how it would, and using this method to drop it down would only mask whatever issue is causing it in the first place. The only thing i can think of is that there is something in the suspension turrets that the spring is butting up against... no idea what it could be, though. Have there been any cases of springs being too long or having incorrect stiffness? And no - the old spacers have not been installed or accidentally left in place. I specifically remember one falling out with the original spring, and I'm pretty sure the other came out with a bit of persuasion.... if i'd accidentally left only one in I'm pretty sure the car would be sitting pretty wonky! Now I think about it, all my grease nipples on the outboard end of the lower w/bs are pointing to the floor which I presume means that i have installed the w/bs in the 'correct' orientation? On the plus side, the old girl fired up first time after her 4 month hibernation so I shouldn't complain to much... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 Mine, made by an Dutch enthousisast with a Suzuki A/roll bar. Menno Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EdwinTiben Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 Mine, made by an Dutch enthousisast with a Suzuki A/roll bar. Menno Have the Same kit, Nice quality! Can be used with poly bushes from a Suzuki Swift or grand vitara. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
billg Posted March 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 Thanks for all the photos supplied this will be a great help. Hi Rod The Speedpilot will be functional and will be going to Monte Carlo. Still to decide whether to go in the Summer or on the Tour that follows the Glasgow starters for the Monte Carlo Rallye Historique in January 2015 The real Rallye sadly costs 4500 to enter! Plus Perhaps the R&P might be frowned on! Regards Bill G@ NB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
iain Posted March 18, 2014 Report Share Posted March 18, 2014 Hi Bill I have an Original Speedpilot MK3 instruction sheet I can copy if that is of any help? PM me your mail address if you would like a copy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ianc Posted March 18, 2014 Report Share Posted March 18, 2014 There are 2 different lengths of coil spring - one requires an alloy block at its top end, the other does not. I am wondering whether you have the longer spring AND the alloy block - this would increase ride height by quite a lot! Grease nipples on the outer end of the wishbones should point downwards. Ian Cornish Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rodbr Posted March 18, 2014 Report Share Posted March 18, 2014 (edited) Hi Malcolm, Another thought to ponder, did you remove the isolators in the turret before fitting the new longer spring and perhaps superpro type isolator? I mean the second isolator used above the alloy distance piece which sits very tightly up in the turret. This would stack the height up a bit if you ended up with two. i had the reverse issue when the car was fully loaded. The PO or restorer had fitted a similar length spring but a softer spring rate. Think it was possibly TR4 spring. Edited March 18, 2014 by Rodbr Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bigmalcy Posted March 19, 2014 Report Share Posted March 19, 2014 (edited) Rod To be honest, I can't be sure if those second isolators were removed. All I remember is one spacer dropping out, while the other needed to be 'persuaded'. We painted inside the turrets, though, so you'd think we would have noticed if the old isolators were in there. Even if they were in there, having been squished for 50 years, I wouldn't have thought that this additional thickness of material would have resulted in much of an increase in ride height? One day i might take take the springs off and investigate... for now though she seems to drive well and the extra ground clearance isn't necessarily a bad thing... so that job will have to wait. Ian C - I'm 99.9% positive that the aluminium spacers were removed... one fell out on disassembly and the other I seem to remember was persudaded out. I'll double check in the junk box this weekend that both spacers are there... Malcolm Edited March 19, 2014 by bigmalcy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rodbr Posted March 19, 2014 Report Share Posted March 19, 2014 Hi Malcolm, To be fair, you could miss them 'cos over the years they could look like a spring seat unless you knew they were there to be removed. Normally what happens is that the alloy spacer either sticks to the spring end and comes away They do sit very high into the turret and they originals lasted much better than modern repro ones and may not have even looked perished. Did you fit Superpro type isolators top and bottom. These do take a little time to settle plus if using Superpro bush kit fitted dry with nuts horsed up tight these can also cause issues until they settle. I could not be sure of exactly what I had so bit the bullet and fitted TT4006 springs and Supepro isolators. Ride height perfect and with adjustable Gas Spax and the 7/8th Roll bar suits my driving style. Not sure exactly what the increase in ride height you think have but increased height is not the best thing without other mods. Remember that you are effectively reducing the suspension travel in one direction. If the rear is bog standard then the balance is wrong and the car is not level to get the best from the suspension. Also, you are if I remember correctly using much wider wheels than standard Just my humble opinion but it really does not take that long to swap and check to get it right, everything comes apart dead easy and if you think it's good now then you will notice the difference. Talk soon. Rgds Rod Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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