rear suspension help

M

mr impact

New Member
Having finally sorted the oil leak on my P6, I took it for a spin round the block at the weekend and discovered it looks lower on the drivers side rear corner than the passenger side. It seems to be abit more 'wollowy' on the road too. Im pretty new to the P6, but when the car was restored by its last owner a couple of years ago, he sorted the de-dion tube, so Im thinking its a broken spring. Unless there are any other reasons why it should drop on one corner?

Also, has anyone tried air suspension conversions on a P6? Seems a fairly common thing on modified cars now so you can lower it for shows and raise it for the road. But with the complicated suspension on the P6, Im guessing is abit of a challenge, anyone tried?

Or are there any upgraded suspension options? Im sure there are no off the shelf coilovers for a P6 Rover, but has anyone made any?
 
the only way to find out if spring broken is to get under and look mate--not being funny but could be not seated properly.As for suspension that goes up and down like customs use---you need Air ride---this replaces springs with rubber airbags--little compressor will fit in boot too---these kits are not cheap-but its possible to do even on front--dont go for side to side option though as it will crack body after a while mate
 
Sometimes the base units aren't level and you need to shim the springs.... Chris York posted about this a couple of years back.
 
Hi,

There is very little in the way of off the shelf suspension modifications but what's there can be "improved" or possibly better put "tailored" as standard the suspension does exactly what the designers intended but if you're planning on doing something with the car that the designers didn't really intend then modifications can be made.

We use our car in Historic road rallies and the suspension has gone through a few iterations, all of which are covered in Gav's blog, at the moment the car sports a narrowed Jag IRS rear end https://p6v8.wordpress.com/2012/09/20/b ... d-jag-irs/ this certainly improves the car for what we do and surprisingly enough the P6-ness of the drive is not completely lost :)

Personally I really don't like the look of aggressively lowered cars, to me they just look silly and impractical but each to their own.

Tim
 
I have some coil over shocks under Sparky.



Be aware when checking the suspension height that the front suspension incorrectly shimmed can make the rear look out, even when it is in fact perfectly set.
 
Thanks for the replies guys, yeah will have a proper look underneath when Im next at the shed, was just thinking if it needs new springs, was wondering what other options there could be. It is modified and using bigger wheels than orginal, but I dont want to lower it too much if any as that will then cause rubbing issues that will end up needing the arches rolled and things like that. I can guess the air ride systems are expensive but would make the car abit more unique and I do like the 'slammed' look when cars are parked up, but you are right, it kills them for the road and I do like how comfortable the car is, just an idea to make the car handle abit better so will have a look at the link.

Its been sat with the front end on car ramps since xmas, so weather that has forced the rear spring out of its seat or something. I'll have a proper look when Im next there. At least the engine is 95% oil tight now anyway!
 
Suspension is pretty easy to modify to shorter springs and coil overs at the rear - I am sure it has done many times before but my build thread shows how I happened to do it. I went for 2.5" springs as they are cheap, readily available and if you fancy a different weight or length, it's only a few quid - unlike the original springs.
 
Ive only noticed its lower in one corner than the others since having the car sat on drive up car ramps over the winter. Im thinking its more of a sagging shock than a broken spring as you cant hear any knocking or clonking either when you drive or when standing next to the car and pushing on it.

What are the coil-overs from? I dont really want to make the car any lower as I'll get wheel rubbing issues as its got bigger wheels already, and dont really want to put rock hard shocks on it either as I like how comfortable and soft it is on the road!

Getting spare time to even look at the car let alone drive or or work on it is abit of a challenge just lately tho!
 
Hi, sorry to be pedantic, (I can here Harvey tutting) but the "sagging shock" as you call it has
nothing to do with the ride height of the car, that lies with the spring.

Colin
 
colnerov said:
Hi, sorry to be pedantic, (I can here Harvey tutting)
Click to expand...

Personally I find that rather than calling it an affliction as some might, it's better to treat it as a positive character trait, so you won't hear any complaints from me.... :LOL:
 
The coil overs for the rear were made from ordering bits and making it work. You don't need to buy a coil over "kit" - buy a shock to suit your application and slide a spring (the smaller type, designed for coil overs) and standard coil over thread over the top of it. Coil overs do not need to lower your car - you match the spring length and weight to get the ride height to be whatever you want it to be. You can make a complete system front and rear for not a lot (£50 for the coil over threads all round plus the price of the shocks). It's in my build thread if you fancy it

Rears:
rearcoilovers_zpsb11cedfc.jpg


Fronts:
20140507_2222531024_zpsdab4270c.jpg


End up with adjustable ride height with a c spanner, damping and you can change your springs to different weights if you fancy it. Long term it works out cost effective as replacement springs become a lot cheaper and readily available.
 
Your car has the classic symptoms of one that used to have a York air conditioning compressor. There is a shim behind the left side spring on Air Con cars which makes it sit higher and consequently the back goes down to match...You could have a look at the base of the spring and match it left to right but be aware the shim isn,t very thick. Better to stick a 10 kilo weight on the front left corner and see if that lines things up. If it does youcan either pull the springs and remove the shim or stick a weight there permanently.
 
Your car has the classic symptoms of one that used to have a York air conditioning compressor. There is a shim behind the left side spring on Air Con cars which makes it sit higher and consequently the back goes down to match...You could have a look at the base of the spring and match it left to right but be aware the shim isn,t very thick. Better to stick a 10 kilo weight on the front left corner and see if that lines things up. If it does youcan either pull the springs and remove the shim or stick a weight there permanently.
 
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